Month: August 2021

Well, I managed to get something right this afternoon.

I had decided to spend the afternoon on some of Mum’s admin, but I had a tortuous afternoon trying to get some organisations to do the simplest of tasks, while a couple of others processed information quickly and efficiently, which made me realised that it wasn’t all my fault.

Three guesses as to which was the worst organisation to deal with? Scottish Power, of course. That organisation nearly gave John a nervous breakdown a few years ago when we had used them for our power supply – and they nearly gave me one this afternoon, too. One hour and nine minutes later….. Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.

I was so angry that I ended up waking John up from his nap as he heard me shouting down the phone to the donkeys on the other end – I think I raised my blood pressure by several notches ………grrr…….

Three guesses as to which was the best organisation? Coventry Building Society, of course. One email, one reply and the job was done. Boom! See? I did something right! And it restored my faith in human nature.

I was still recovering from the apoplexy I felt having dealt with Scottish Power, when the phone rang. It was Paul. “Dad, OK?” he asked. “Yes…..” I replied cautiously… “Only I texted him an hour ago,” Paul went on, “and he hasn’t replied.” Ah – that would be because the ol’ man was having an afternoon nap – shattered by the excitement of our afternoon of entertaining yesterday.

“Well, anyway, we’re coming round shortly,” Paul said. Right. I went downstairs to tell John, who nodded sagely. “Ahh…. he’ll have his new car to show us.”

Paul duly arrived in his new car and goodness me, it was exciting. An absolutely stunning Mustang. Here’s me, looking like the cat’s got the cream before Paul took me on a test drive:

When we got back, I was a bit flatter than when I went – the G-force pinned me to the seat and I left half of myself behind. It was brilliant. Can’t wait to go again. Meanwhile, John was also half of his former self, having had to peel himself from the seat, too. Oh, what fun!!

Other than that, we’ve simply pottered about today. The dishwasher and washing machine have been in overdrive while we have put our feet up. Thank goodness for machines – I wouldn’t want to go back to all that hand-washing, would you?

The COVID story continues to be a horror one. 37,314 people tested positive for the virus today; 114 people died in the community and 57 people died in hospitals on 18 & 19 August. *Shudder* Doesn’t bear thinking about, so I’ll stop.

In keeping with the autumn theme I started earlier on this week, you may be pleased to know that I picked a rather healthy-looking bowl of blackberries from the garden today. Yes, I know….it’s still August!! But there they were, in all their glory, glistening blackly at me, inviting me to eat them. Yum, yum, yum.

And today’s inspiration after my meltdown on the phone? From Eckhart Tolle, German/Canadian spiritual teacher and author: “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” Yep, got that, thank you.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Fabulous day, today. Full to the brim of lovely stuff – physical, mental and spiritual.

We were up reasonably early this morning to get ourselves a bit ready for friends Pete & Dawn, Alison & Peter, and Sally & Leigh, coming round this afternoon for lunch. It was one of those…. ‘If the weather’s fine, we’ll have a barbecue. If not, we’ll eat indoors.’ The weather was predicted to be unpredictable, however, so we decided to abandon the barbecue idea altogether.

I asked the girls what would suit them for lunch instead. ‘A ploughman’s?’ ‘How about a jacket potato and different fillings?’ ‘We could bring a picnic?’ In the end, I opted for a posh ploughman’s with a jacket potato. It was lush. Plus puddings, which John was pleased about. I think he thought it was his birthday.

Well, it wasn’t John’s birthday, but it was Pete’s yesterday, so we pushed the boat out a little bit – hence the ‘posh’ bit of the ploughman’s – and we were also thrilled to be drinking champagne that Pete brought round. That was lush, too. It really is my favourite drink.

I left John prepping the salad just before eleven o’clock, while I toddled off to yoga. Oh, I needed that class today! I missed last week due to baby-sitting duties, and I have been failing generally to keep up on a daily basis. The class was perfect. Stretched and calmed me in all the right places. Refreshed the spiritual me, too.

When I got back, John was exhausted with the all the prep – he’d worked hard while I’d been out. Equally, though, he didn’t feel great today, so it felt an effort to do the work. “Go and sit down,” I said, “Have a rest.” He said he wasn’t going to argue – a rest was what he needed.

Prepping finished, we were delighted to welcome our lovely friends. It’s a while since we’d seen everyone together and there was lot to catch up on. Oh, yes – no-one stopped talking all afternoon and into the evening. Brilliant.

This evening, I had more chat – this time with the college crew on Zoom, while John rested and watched a bit of TV. Once again, it was a sight for sore eyes to see dear friends and to talk to them without any need to hold back. I do love the friends that I have my life. Thank you to every single one of you for being there.

A bit of bother on the COVID front however, with the incidence of infection increasing again. 36,572 people tested positive for the virus today and 113 died in the community. In the last week the numbers have gone up by 7.8% and 9.6% respectively. And the schools haven’t gone back yet. Worry, worry, worry. 46 people died on 17 & 18 August in hospitals – and it’s no longer just the elderly now, although the majority are over 60 – oh, heck, that’s our age group, gulp!

I am finding it hard to compute that ‘people’ are no longer being cautious and seem to be happy to let the virus just run. We need a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in my opinion, which may just hold the virus at bay and see the likelihood of mutations diminished. Our current policy ain’t working, as far as I can tell. Someone tell me I am wrong, please…..

In the meantime, I am doing my best to stay upbeat and came across a part-poem that I thought was rather helpful. I found the whole poem and I offer it to you here, and hope you enjoy it. God bless.

The Good Life….Gives No Warning – by Mark Strand

Usually we think that only difficulties come without warning………harmony and abundance can seem to come without warning as well:

You stand at the window.
There is a glass cloud in the shape of a heart.
There are the wind’s sighs that are like caves in your speech.
You are the ghost in the tree outside.

The street is quiet.
The weather, like tomorrow, like your life,
is partially here, partially up in the air.
There is nothing you can do.

The good life gives no warning.
It weathers the climates of despair
and appears, on foot, unrecognized, offering nothing,
and you are there.

Filched from ‘improvised life’ website – a treasury of inspiring ideas

‘Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.’ So says Melinda Haynes, American Novelist. So I am. Just writing for myself and hopefully sharing life’s ups and downs with any of you who are still interested. That’s where I’ve got to in my thinking, folks – and thanks to those of you who were kind enough to help me get there. I hope I shall stop angsting about it all now.

Anyway, today has been a productive day for me one way and another, but not so much for John.

We said we’d pop back to Michael and Danielle’s today to help sort out a few things that they needed a hand with but, in the end, John stayed at home to wait in for the Smart Meter Man – to be known from now on as the SMM. The scheduled arrival was from 8 until 6. I love that, don’t you? No idea when they’ll turn up but just hang about all day, why don’t you…..

So the SMM hadn’t arrived by one o’clock when I was ready to go out. That meant that John had to stay in. He said he didn’t mind, and I am sure he didn’t. It gave him a chance to have a tinker in the garage on the project car.

When I got back from my little trip over to Sutton Coldfield, John was in the garage still tinkering. “Did the SMM arrive?” I asked. “Yes, he did,” said John, “but he didn’t do anything. He said our equipment was too old for him to deal with, and we need another man to come and sort it out before we can have smart meter.” Oh……. back to the waiting game then.

I wondered how John had got on this afternoon with his car. “Well, I haven’t done much.” he said. “I’ve been in the garage for a couple of hours, but most of that was spent sorting the right tools and repairing them before I could repair the car….” I am sure you know how it is. I certainly do – my whole life seems to be like that. It’s always a case of, “I’ll just do this before I do that, so that I can do the other.” Heh-heh-heh!

This morning was a case in point. Yesterday, I had all but finished the painting in the utility room and I gleefully pulled off the masking tape – only to rip off some of the careful painting I’d done round the doorway. So, this morning I had to just clean that, then sand it, then paint it before I could finish painting behind the radiator …..honestly, it seems never-ending! And now there’s the equipment to clean up. Hmmm, not so keen on that bit, but it’s got to be done, I suppose. Sigh.

Other than that, John had a successful trip to Oakes’ Farm Shop this morning and came home laden with goodies, while I waited in for the SMM; and I did a load of clothes washing, tumbling and ironing before I went out this afternoon. Not a bad day’s work, to be honest.

Meanwhile, out in the big wide world, COVID is still doing its thing. We are due to see friends tomorrow, so lateral flow tests will be out in force to keep us all safe. Well, half-safe. We know they are only 50% indicators but that’s better than nothing isn’t it?

Apparently, there’s a new variant of the virus to start worrying about. A variant of a variant, it seems. Arrgghhh!!!!

However, here are the figures for fun – or not, if you are one of the ones currently infected with the virus, or it’s already taken its ultimate toll:

• 33,904 people tested positive for the virus today in England (pop. 55.98 million) Compare this with 39 people in New Zealand (pop. 4.68 million)……
• 111 people died in the community and 34 in hospitals on 16 & 17 August. Compare this with 26 in total in the New Zealand since their first case
• 773 people were admitted to hospital today with the virus. Compare this with 2 people currently in hospital in New Zealand.

I know, I know, it’s like comparing apples and pears…. but still, that made us giddy, didn’t it??

Keep yourselves safe as best you can, everyone. God bless.

After a lazy day yesterday, we feel much improved. Well, I say ‘we’ – John struggled with his breathing this afternoon, but otherwise OK.

In fact, I felt so much improved that I decided to put on my pink overalls this morning and finally attempt to finish painting the utility room. I thought I may have to go and buy more paint, but I just had enough. There is one last bit to do behind the radiator, which isn’t easy, and possibly needs one more coat over it. It’s the size of a pocket handkerchief so the last dregs of paint in the tin will do the trick. It’ll soon all be finished…. yay!! *Does a little dance*

This morning John cleared away the Scalectrix (sob!) that we had got out for the grandchildren the other day, so that there was a clear way through for a repair man to come and sort out one of the sofas that had gone kaputt over the weekend. The seat had got stuck in the fully reclined position and no amount of coaxing enabled it to be in the upright.

I phoned the shop we’d bought it from, Thomas Hearn, and asked them to sort it out. At first, the girl thought she’d get onto G-Plan, the manufacturer, and she’d phone me, ‘….next week. On Monday? Will that be OK?’ Erm…..no. The darned thing was sticking out into the middle of the room and was a hazard. She phoned back and said someone would be out today. And…. guess what? They actually came. Not only that, but they came when they said they would. And repaired it.

I was delighted of course, because I’d been looking at the worst case scenario thinking we might have to live with it like that for weeks to come. But no!! The engineer came, saw what the fault was, had a spare part in the van and was able to sort it out, no bother. Thank you, sofa gods.

After the repair man had been, we took a trip over to see the Sutton Sleaths for an hour or two this afternoon. Thomas is still a bit unwell, but we suspect it’s a teething problem rather than anything else. Anyway, I had the delight of taking him for a walk in his buggy to give the family some respite and to see if he would have a nap. He was awake all the way round until the last ten minutes…… but immediately woke up as we came home when he heard the neighbours’ dogs yapping. Grrr….. Ah, well. at least they half an hour arms free of the ‘Cling-On’.

Grandpa had the delight of entertaining William – and he was a willing subject. Especially when William said, “I want to watch a programme on telly. Can we watch ‘Ring of Fire’, please?’ Grandpa had no idea what that might be, but he was attracted by the idea of settling on the sofa with William in the crook of his arm. His idea of bliss.

I haven’t watched a great deal of the news today, but what I did see was still very focussed on the situation in Afghanistan with many observers and commentators in tears, for fear of what may happen to those left behind. Our own politicians seem to have been asleep to the threat of the Taliban taking control, and I was amused by Susie Dent’s ‘Word of the Day’, which is commentary in itself without a single word to suggest that it is so. Her word is ‘imprescience’ from the 19th century, meaning a total lack of foresight and foreknowledge. Apt, eh? ‘We had no idea…….’ say the politicians. Harrumph!

We still have our eyes on the COVID situation but there seems to be a complacence about the numbers now – or is that just me surmising that? Anyway, 26,852 people tested positive for the virus today; 170 people died with it in the community and 127 people died in hospitals over the last four days. 773 people were admitted to hospital today. 0.1% of the adult population was added to the ‘first vaccination’ list overnight and 0.2% to the ‘double-jabbed’ list – so not much change to the figures I reported yesterday.

Every day I try to find inspiration from somewhere to keep me going. I don’t often share the nuggets with you, but I enjoyed this one from Finnish author, novelist, painter and illustrator, Tove Jansson, when she was asked what kept her going. It has helped me enormously in the last year, so thought I’d offer it up to you all, in the hope that you may take inspiration from it too.

“Do not tire, never lose interest, never grow indifferent – (do not) lose your invaluable curiosity and let yourself die. It’s as simple as that”

Take care everyone. God bless.

I know I am going to be in trouble with John for saying this in the middle of August, but there was an autumnal feel about the day, today. Not least because the sun is rising later and later each day, but also because the nights are drawing in, with the sunset at half-past eight this evening.

I felt we needed comfort today, so, with that in mind, we cosied ourselves in the lounge with an open fire, toasting our toes, and we watched some daytime TV.

I chose not to tackle all the jobs that are still outstanding and we just hunkered down, while I tried to regroup my thoughts about the situation in Afghanistan. I know the country isn’t actually on our doorstep, but the news coming from there has upset my equilibrium and I’m feeling the collective guilt of the role we have played over the years.

I wasn’t awfully successful in that my thoughts flitted all over the place, but I kept to the plan of staying comfortable – supported by chocolate, wine and chamomile tea – in the hope that, by tomorrow, I’ll feel a bit better and, once again, be able to tackle all obstacles in our way.

John did a fair bit of snoozing – the fire was so warm and he’d had such a dreadful night’s sleep last night, that he felt very tired.

Apart from a plan to entertain friends on Thursday afternoon, we have no real plans this week, so we felt at liberty to take our time to rest today. ‘Why not?’ we thought. We are retired, after all!

So there we are – not a lot to report and probably about as boring as watching wood warp, but still……

The COVID news is as follows:

• 28,438 people tested positive for the virus today
• 882 people were admitted to hospital with it
• 28 people died in the community where it was mentioned on their death certificates
• 7 people died in hospitals on 12/14 August
• Nearly 90% of the adult population has had its first dose of the vaccine
• 77% of the adult population has had both jabs
• The government tells us that if we’ve had both jabs we don’t need to self-isolate if we’ve been in the company of someone who has tested positive
• Scientists, on the other hand, are telling us to make sure we get a PCR test to reduce the risk of unknowingly spreading the virus further.

Look after yourselves and your loved ones as best you can everyone – God bless.

🎵🎶🎵 .…all our troubles seemed so far away…….oh, oh…..🎵🎶🎵

My plan was to tell you all what a wonderful day we had yesterday – which we actually did. But I have woken up to the shocking news of what is happening in Afghanistan and all thoughts of happy times have been clouded by the awfulness of the situation there.

Our day yesterday was not clouded by anything horrible at all. We had a cosy, family day with Freddie and Lily who had slept over. We had a fabulous Sunday roast at lunchtime and then another lovely, cosy time with Paul and Harriet, when we took the children home at about 4 o’clock.

John and I companionably watched a James Bond movie in the evening (part of our Quiz homework, but I am not sure we actually learned anything much) and then gratefully sank into bed – tired but happy.

I knew the situation in Afghanistan was very unstable and had feared for the inhabitants there when I saw the news the other day, about the Taliban seizing control of the major cities. I thought to myself then, that it may be only a matter of time before Kabul fell, too. And now it has. Whatever we did while we were there, in that country, supporting the government, was clearly futile and unsustainable.

I have no idea what we can do now to help the country, but we must surely be offering to evacuate all those people who were alongside us while we were in occupation? If we don’t, their lives will surely be lost.

Oh, dear Lord, what a mess.

Take care everyone. Count your blessings. God bless.

Yesterday, John suggested that we spend a day a week doing the cleaning of the house. “Good idea,” I said. Not long afterwards, John wondered if I thought it really was a good idea. “Of course!” I replied, surprised. Apparently my tone had suggested otherwise.

Anyway, this morning, as I was vacuuming the house, tidying the kitchen, making up beds and shopping in readiness for a Freddie and Lily sleepover tonight, I wondered whether we would ever manage it. I am game to try, of course, but tell me, can you get all your household jobs done in one day?

Before we went to collect the Kenilworth Sleath Juniors, we nipped over to the other side of Warwick to look at a house with Michael, who was on his own today with both children, while Danielle has some girl time away with her Uni friends. We were able to relieve a little bit of the children pressure while he had a look round, and then we had an hour at our house, in the garden, with the Sutton Sleath boys and the Kenilworth Sleath Juniors.

The boys had a whale of a time in the garden, running around like lunatics. Each, in their own way, wanting to show the other what they could do, and getting more and more extreme in their antics. Quite hilarious until they fell upon each other and clonked their legs together, whereupon tears ensued. Oh, the joys of being a three- or five-year old!!

William, to his credit, was an absolute star when it came to home-time. We were all expecting tears and tantrums and the wailing of: “I don’t want to go home….” but, once he’d been told that they were leaving in five minutes, he struggled with his inner self and his reluctance to leave, and allowed me to carry him to the car, find him a sweet treat from the sweetie tin ‘for the journey home’, and buckled up like a man. Well done, that boy.

We had our evening meal and then it was Freddie’s bath and bedtime. He, too, was as good as gold and settled to bed with no fuss at all. I told him a story about a little boy whose Grandma had a cupboard he liked to play in. I told him about the space ship inside the cupboard, and all the knobs and buttons that the little boy pressed to transport him and his Grandma into space, around the earth and to the moon and back. And how they were back just in time for tea.

Freddie looked at me with a knowing look and grinned. “Pat me,” he said. So I did.

We didn’t forget darling Lily this evening though. Having done so well with her results on Thursday, we celebrated with a film on Netflix – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – a ‘Monster’ drink (normally forbidden) and a packet of lime and coriander poppadums. We had a lush evening.

Naturally, we, being old, were ready for ascending the staircase before Lily. John went to bed after the film and I came upstairs to do my blog. We left Lily watching ‘Friends’ with the promise that I’d be back downstairs soon. Not long into my ‘blog world’ I could hear some clonking downstairs. It was fairly consistent and persistent, so I thought, ‘Oh, bother! I’ve put a pan/plate/baking tray into the dishwasher at an odd angle and it’s catching on the paddle as it goes round.’ I ignored it for a bit, but then thought I ought to go down and rectify it.

There was no trouble with the dishwasher at all. Lily was on her knees in front of my food cupboard tidying it up. Wow. That girl’s a keeper. The cat had been sniffing at the cupboard in an attempt to persuade Lily that it hadn’t been fed for years. She opened the cupboard door and saw what a jumble everything was, so thought, ‘Why not?’ Well, I am forever grateful. She’s a wonder woman.

Back to earth with a thud, though, as we consider the COVID stats. Today’s test results show that 29,520 people proved positive for the virus and 93 people died in the community. It’s too many, isn’t it? Just too many.

Still, I’m still celebrating our wonderful children and grandchildren who light up our lives every day in one way or another. Naturally, all those families who have lost loved ones to the virus are in my prayers, but I am rejecting the idea of dwelling on that sadness just now. It’s too hard.

Take care everyone. You are in my prayers, too. Whether you believe in God or not, I pray that whatever is needed to support you in your lives, you find. God bless.

We have had a cracking day today, having whizzed up the M1 Motorway to see Carol and John for the day. It was so lovely to see them and spend a really companiable day together.

We had planned to be there about 12.00 but, before we set off, we toddled off to Sutton Coldfield to have a look at a house for sale with Michael and Danielle. The house was very interesting and has potential in my opinion. However, the price is well placed on the ‘come and buy me’ scale, and there is lots of interest in it, so whether the Sutton Sleaths will be in the running for it if they like it enough to put an offer in, is another matter. Watch this space……

Our visit was attended by drama, however……We parked up outside the house and the Sutton Sleaths parked opposite. Suddenly, we had our hearts in our mouths and jelly in our legs, as William shot across the road the minute he saw Grandpa. I think we all shouted at him to ‘mind the road’, which frightened him to death as John ushered him back to safety and Michael scooped him up out of harm’s way. Oh, my. For a moment there, we were all frightened to death, too. Thankfully, William was safe and sound, and hopefully, a lesson was learned.

After the visit to the house was complete and a few minutes of chat about it finished, we ploughed on up the motorway to Carol and John’s, arriving almost on the dot of the newly-appointed time of one o’clock.

So lovely to see them. Although it’s not that long since we last saw them, it’s a while since we have made the journey north. We had a wonderful day, sitting in the garden for the afternoon, sunning ourselves and battening down all hatches as the wind gusted across the patio area with a fair bit of ‘oomph’ in its sails.

The boys, in particular, caught the sun and we finally went indoors about 4.30 to smooth our hair and straighten our clothing – both of which had been well blown about as we sat, engrossed in our chatting, oblivious to the elements. Carol and I left the boys to carry on their discussion downstairs, while she and I went up to her workroom to play some music on her keyboard.

What a lovely time that was. Neither of us play the instrument well, but we bashed out a couple of tunes and even went so far as to hum along too. Really enjoyed it. I think it’s the first time we’ve shared a hobby like this, despite all the years we’ve known each other!

We finally bade Carol and John farewell about half-past eight, and we were home by just gone 9.30. Tired, but very happy for having had such a good day.

We gave little thought to the COVID situation going on in the world today but it is, of course, still happening – 32,700 people tested positive for the virus on this day; 100 people died with it in the community, and 42 people died in hospitals on 11 & 12 August.

Wishing everyone a good weekend, whatever you are doing. Enjoy what you can, when you can, as best you can. God bless.

This morning we went over to the Kenilworth Sleaths to babysit Freddie while Harriet went for a job interview. We had a lovely, relaxed time.

Freddie was watching TV when we got there, so we carried on with that for a little while. Then he played Minecraft on his tablet which baffled me no end. Apparently, you add TNT to flint and steel (or something like that) to make an explosion…. add a pumpkin head to iron to make a golem….add this and that to make a creeper….. goodness me, it was a whole new language and a whole new world. Fortunately, there were parental controls on the tablet so the session didn’t last too long. “But, Grandma,” said Freddie hopefully, “I can play some more if you know the password?” Sorry, Freddie, but I really don’t know the password!!

For a while after that, we played ‘I spy’ in the lounge – but I was even baffled by that, too. It wasn’t ‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…. a letter’. No….. it was something beginning with a colour, or a number. Fortunately, Grandpa was there and he got the hang of it quite quickly, so I was saved.

Eventually, we went outside on a bug hunt. It was such a beautiful day that I really didn’t want to stay indoors for very long if we could help it.

At one point in the morning, however, I thought we had lost the dog. Harriet had said that the dog-walker was coming at 10.30. It wasn’t long after Harriet had left that I realised it was very quiet. It was only 10 o’clock so he couldn’t have gone on his walk yet, surely? Ah-ha! Yes, he had!! We were about to go on a dog hunt, when the dog-walker returned him. Phew….. he’d had an early walk and I hadn’t heard her arrive. Be still, my beating heart.

It was results day today for the GCSEs and Lily had one subject she’d done early, so when Harriet came home, following a good interview, they went down to the school to see how she’d done. I am delighted to report that she’s done well and got a ‘B’. Whoop! Whoop! What a year those poor kids have had one way and another – just to get through the work has been something, but to get a good grade as well deserves a fine celebration.

This afternoon, I went over to visit Mum, who continues to be in fine fettle despite the memory loss, which doesn’t trouble her at all. She was pleased to see me as usual, and we had a lovely chat. She had some of her old spark in her, however, as she pointed out that I was getting fat around my waist, and one of my friends looked very old. Well, thank you, Mum. Good to know you’re still in there! She was thrilled to be looking at photographs of the family and cooed over all the great-grandchildren. She said she’s happy. And that makes me happy too.

On a totally different topic: the COVID figures for today, are as follows:

• 33,074 people tested positive for the virus
• 94 people died in the community
• 46 people died in hospitals with the virus on 10 & 11 August
• 89.2% of the adult population has had the first dose of the vaccine
• 75.7% of the adult population has had both doses of the vaccine

It’s still not over, so we still have to take care, don’t we? God bless.

Gentle feelings of envy ….. for a fair bit of the day today. Some days do that to you, don’t they? The feelings were sparked by the fact that we were on the hospital trail again. I thus had ‘a feeling of discontent’.

There was no ill-will, begrudging or resentment – just an undercurrent of bother.

As I woke up this morning, I considered the day ahead…. chores loomed, a trip to the QE hospital in Birmingham, followed by another trip to Heartlands hospital in another part of Birmingham. In between times, a haircut and blow-dry, then a return journey to collect John from Heartlands, before Quiz night tonight.

What bothered me in the early morning sunlight, as I pondered the our plans for the day, was the sensation of being unable to keep on top of our household jobs. For a nano-second, I was envying all those who are seemingly able to keep houses clean and tidy with hardly any effort at all.

Later on, the bother was the commitment to the hospital appointments. Usually, it’s John who is puffing and sighing at the time taken sitting in waiting rooms or in queues of traffic. Today, it was me.

We arrived in good time at the QE and waited. The appointed time came and went. There was a lady nearby, anxious to get in to see the doctor as she had treatment booked. Her anxiety fed mine. “We’re going to be late getting to Heartlands, John,” I said. “Chill,” he replied. I arched my eyebrows at him. Chill? Where’s your normal foot-tapping and fidgeting gone then?

We finally got in to see the doctor just three-quarters of an hour late. Which, in turn, led to us getting to Heartlands three-quarters of an hour late. We had thought to phone ahead to let the nursing staff know that John would be late for his treatment, but no-one was answering the phone. Ho-hum.

Having left John at Heartlands, clearly with his patience bag very full for a change, I drove home for a bite to eat. With ten minutes to stuff food down my neck before I needed to get off for my hair appointment, I felt a little envious of all those people whom I imagined were having time to sit and eat a leisurely lunch. Honestly, doesn’t your mind play tricks with you?

The journey back to collect John was fairly tortuous, with traffic jams all over the shop. Poor John had been sitting outside waiting for me for half an hour by the time I got there. How we would like not to have to be doing this. Some people don’t, it seems. Oh, crikey, there was that envy again….

This evening, however, was Quiz Night and an excellent evening all round. Great quiz, nice to get some of the answers for a change, and very good company. Chased away those feelings of envy as I was reminded of just how fortunate we are to have such good friends.

Tomorrow is another day, and I don’t expect to wake up with any feelings of discontent – it’s going to be a Freddie morning and a Mum afternoon. That should chase away the cobwebs, shouldn’t it?

Meanwhile, John has been patience itself today. He has taken the day as it came and gently accepted it, warts and all. Amazing – must take a leaf out of his book…..

What news on the COVID front, then? 29,612 people tested positive for the virus today and 104 people died in the community. 36 people died in hospitals on 9 & 10 August. As you can imagine, this is one area about which I am not envious at all.

Stay safe everyone and look after yourselves and your loved ones. God bless.