You may recall that John suggested we spend a day doing the housework. Each week. Well, we decided that a Thursday was it. So we were up and at ’em this morning, keen as mustard…..
That is, after John had gone back from the Doctor’s surgery having had his three-monthly treatment for prostate cancer. And then, of course, we needed to consider that on a Thursday morning I go to yoga. And recently a friend suggested I might like to join her playing badminton on a Thursday afternoon. Hmmm…… doesn’t seem to leave much space for house-cleaning, does it?
No matter, we set to. I started on the ensuite. John started on the kitchen. Erm…… oh, and I cleaned the downstairs cloakroom, while John cleaned the shower room. And between us, we cleared the utility room (more or less). John vacuumed the kitchen and mopped a bit of the floor. I made the bed and hung some washing out. And there we are. That’s all we did. There’s a lot of house still to clean…… I did wonder whether we’d get it all done in a day…… ah, well, there’s always tomorrow.
Yoga was bliss this morning, as usual. Peace in body and peace in mind, making way for a little sliver of spirituality. Nice.
When I got home, I fretted a bit about going to badminton. It’s an awful long time since I played. I’m not fit; I won’t remember the rules; I won’t be able hit the shuttlecock; I won’t keep up with the play; and so on, ad infinitum. John pursed his lips and said, “You’ll be alright. Honestly, stop worrying about it! Just enjoy yourself.”
As it turned out, as is so often the case, I suppose, my fears were unfounded: I was fitter than I thought – it’s all that running up and downstairs and looking after the grandchildren, I think; I half-remembered the rules – but I didn’t need to really because everyone else knew them; I was able to hit the shuttlecock and only missed as often as the other players did – phew!; and I kept up with the play for the whole hour. Ta-da!!! And…. I was in the winning team three times out four. Now, that helped me feel better. I might be stiff tomorrow though.
When I got home, John was out, house-hunting with Michael and Danielle. Great excitement: the house they were going to see looked like it might be the one. I had just got out of the shower when they got back, and I went out to greet them, “How was it?” I asked, in great anticipation. “Rubbish,” was the chorused reply. Darn it!! Those pesky estate agents do know how to photograph something, and describe it, to make look and sound sooooo appealing, don’t they? Clearly not the house of their dreams after all. Back to the drawing board.
I promised undignified photos of us at the zoo yesterday, didn’t I? Not so undignified is this lovely one of Freddie, getting into the spirit of it:
And here’s another one of me and Freddie pretending to be Meerkats…….gosh, we were having fun!
We watched a bit of the cricket before the close of play today and were astonished to see how well England had done during the day. Must be a good wicket. I hope it’s exceptional play by the batsmen, too, though – you can’t always tell, can you?
Whilst watching TV, I saw a bit of the news and thought what a ‘good vs evil’ day it has been. The bombing at Kabul airport – how cynical that is; and the delight of our Paralympians, as they raced to gold medals. Such a contrast.
My attention was also caught by some of the stories emerging about shortages. In particular, the one story about GPs having been asked to hold off taking blood samples for a week or two as there is a shortage of phials to put the blood into. We now know why John was without his eye serum (made from a blood product) for nearly three weeks. Answers on a postcard, please, as to what these shortages may be attributed to?
In COVID news, scientists are warning of high infection rates to come – presumably greater than the current rates, which are already scaring the hell out of me. 38,281 people tested positive for the virus today. 140 people died in the community and 63 people died in hospitals on 24 & 25 August. 818 people were admitted to hospitals with the virus in the last 24 hours.
Do keep your distance, wear masks and keep indoor areas ventilated everyone. Our lives may depend upon it.
Take care and God bless.