A comfortable day

We had arranged to go out this morning to visit my cousin, Janet, so we were up and about fairly early for a change. And it’s been a very ‘comfortable’ day.

We always know we are going to have a good old natter when we, Janet, John and I, see each other and this morning was true to form. Didn’t stop talking all morning; drank two cups of coffee and demolished a whole coffee cake. Fabulous. Had to drag ourselves away.

Janet was very well and on top form. Sad, naturally, at some of the memories we evoked when we were talking about Brian, who has recently passed away, but we had some laughs and we shared our ‘mother’ stories. I was curious about some of the family history, because it’s been such a long time since we got together. “What did your Mum die of, Janet?” I asked, while we were making the second cup of coffee. “Cussedness!” came the immediate response, and we both laughed. Janet told the story of how her Mum hadn’t been satisfied with the ‘every day’ cups when a guest came to visit and insisted on climbing up to get the ‘best’ instead, only to fall and break her hip – and from there, pneumonia and so on.

“Ah, yes,” I nodded wisely, “Probably a family trait. My Mum likes to put on a show too. Come to think of it, I’m a bit like that…” John raised his eyebrows, and grinned. “I couldn’t possibly comment!!” he said, as we all joined in with the laughter.

Heaven knows what else we talked about but talk we did. It was so easy; so cosy and agreeable. The conversation flowed from one thing to another without stopping, until I realised that it was coming up to one o’clock. “Gosh, I think we should be making a move now,” I suggested. Everyone agreed, but reluctantly. No-one had realised how time had flown. However, we have plans for another get-together so we’ll be able to carry on where we left off in another few weeks. That’ll be very nice.

This afternoon, possibly as a result of buying some drawer organisers and perhaps as a result of some discussion this morning about housework, John got on with re-arranging his bedside cabinet. It had become a jumble of drugs, wires, hankies, books and other accoutrements, and he was struggling to see the wood for the trees.

As he started the work, he saw that the dusting of the bedroom was a ‘job to be done’. One of my least favourite pastimes, as I invariably cough and wheeze through the process, so I put it off for as long as I possibly can. I mean, what’s the point of raising the dust to breath it in? Let it lie, I say. Anyway, I was rather pleased that John was game. So, duster and polish in hand, he’s pretty well polished the cabinets so you can see your face in them. First rate. Thank you, John.

Meanwhile, I spent the afternoon sifting through some of Mum’s papers again. This is a job I have neglected and have kept promising myself that I’ll ‘do tomorrow’ and never do. I managed to sort one pile, anyway.

Most of the documents related to the 1990s and early 2000s. Mum had been clearly afraid to throw anything away ‘just in case’, including P60s dating back donkey’s years. They say: ‘DO NOT DESTROY’ in large capitals, so she didn’t. Bless her. At least the papers that were under the bed are gone now. Just got to tackle the stack in the corner that is currently glowering at me.

After our evening meal, it was Quiz Night. Another cracking quiz set by Linda and we all enjoyed it. We’d missed a week out last week because the others in the group were going to a wedding and, in any case, I wasn’t up to it, still feeling under the weather. So it was just lovely to see everyone again. Although I say, ‘everyone’, we didn’t see Caroline – her camera wasn’t working, so we just heard her voice occasionally instead. Hope they can get it sorted for next week.

Ah…. friends and family. So very comforting. So very comfortable. So very nice.

In the meantime, in COVID-Land, more people have been infected, more people have died and more people have been admitted to hospital. Not so comfortable, comforting or nice in that world, methinks.

Nigel and Hazel, for example, didn’t get to the wedding last week because of COVID. Their son-in-law and their in-laws have all been very poorly with it; and their daughter has it but hasn’t been ill. Naturally, they thought it was too risky to be mixing with a group of people at a wedding when there was a chance they might bring the infection with them. Such good sense, which may just have broken a chain of infection there.

41,299 people, then, have tested positive for the virus today; 217 people have died with it; and 888 people have been admitted to hospital.

Every admission to hospital for this virus has a knock-on effect for the NHS. They cannot treat others while they are dealing with COVID. Therefore, many people are waiting and waiting with chronic conditions, or conditions that shouldn’t be delayed, or conditions that need further investigation. It’s just not right. I do hope the government will see sense soon and stop with this blind, headstrong belief that ‘herd immunity’ is the way forward. It isn’t.

Rant over.

Take care everyone. God bless.

And Susie Dent’s Word of the Day? ‘Malversation’ (16th century): the corrupt administration of power. She’s good, isn’t she?