Month: November 2021

Bonfire Night – again! We love our double celebrations these days, don’t we? I remember as a teenager waiting feverishly all day for the end of school to come so we could get home for the one day a year that we had a bonfire and a few fireworks.

Lessons at school would usually end with the teacher saying,”….and your homework tonight is….” whereupon there’d be a great howl and audible groan at the thought of homework on such a night, “…..to enjoy the fireworks and your bonfires! Have fun!” Much cheering and grateful relief followed. I played the same trick on the kids I taught, too – tee-hee!!

Being located where we are, we have such a privileged view of the fireworks though. They are thrilling to watch because they are mostly professional or large ones these days, flying high into the sky. Beautiful. We’ve been treated to the display by the Lions this evening from our back garden. Nice.

I’d have loved to have captured the patterns in the sky – it’s ‘a lot’ blurry, but this is as much as I got:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have floated about all day, doing a bit of this and a bit of that. I have been mostly distracted with me papers and searching for the lost voucher. St Anthony? Are you on it, please?

However, a good news story in that regard: I emailed the company that is offering the trip, and played the sympathy card that John had had a difficult year with his illnesses and so on, and could we extend the voucher until April next year, please? Yes, we can, came the reply!! Well that’s a relief. Still got to find the blessed voucher though…..

For me, it’s been a day of tying up loose ends, a little bit. I bought a couple of lovely ‘tell-the-time’ clocks for the grandchildren for Christmas. I told Sons Nos #1 & #2 that I’d done so and was that alright? Erm…. yes and no. William already has one……So I when I popped into Solihull today, I returned it. Tick.

For some weeks now, I have been unable to find my credit card. I thought I’d had it with a loyalty card but, when I came across that, there the credit card wasn’t. So another little job that’s been on my mind: order a new one. Pretty sure it’s in the house somewhere and, no doubt now that I’ve ordered a new one, the darned thing will turn up!! But anyway, another Tick.

And there’s so much to watch on TV!! Both the rugby and the cricket were on today. Which to watch?? We recorded one (John fell asleep) and watched the other. Both absolutely thrilling matches and well worth the Sky money. Loved it!

John, despite a little snooze in front of the TV this afternoon, has been busy, busy. He’s been tinkering with the car; then he mended Andrew’s bike; followed by a rummaging down in the man-shed for a part for Andrew’s bike – apparently, you don’t have cotter pins in your crankshafts these days, and something else was needed….. and after all that, he did a bit more brushing of the sand into the cracks on the front drive. Finally, just before we thought we might have a bite to eat at teatime, he suddenly remembered he needed something from ScrewFix – so off he popped there as well. Gosh, it’s been full on! No wonder he feels a little tired tonight!

This evening, we strolled round to Pete and Dawn’s for some good company and a chat. Where does the time go? No sooner have you arrived than you look at your watch and realise it’s time to leave. There’s so much conversation to pack in! Enjoyed it and lovely to see them looking well, despite all their stresses and strains!!!

The COVID figures show another decrease in infections with 30,693 people having tested positive for the virus today; 155 people died in the community; and 1,005 people were admitted to hospital.

Take care folks. Hope you’ve had wonderful bonfire celebrations and the weekend is good to you. God bless.

Today’s ‘Blast from the Past – another ‘a lot’ blurry photo – from the fashions, anyone guess the year?

Yesterday’s answer: I was about 17 and John, 19; David (John’s brother) in the middle of the photo would be in his early 20s. Can’t do the Maths at this time of night to calculate how old John’s parents were….

Still feeling a bit under the weather, I couldn’t get going this morning, but John did, and he brought me a cup of tea in bed, for which I was very grateful. We both lazed in bed for a bit after that, and then I told John that I might have a bath before launching myself over to Coleshill to see Mum this afternoon.

In the end, I never did get my bath. I am easily distracted.

When I was at work, my friend, Simon, and I used to have ‘piles’ meetings. That is, we would sit with one of the secretaries and go through our ‘piles’ of papers, allocating the documents to various destinations. I could do with one of those meetings right now. Oh, Secretary Sue, where are you now? I have different piles of papers in the computer room still in the ‘to be dealt with’ tray.

I know there is a theory – at least, that was how one of the chaps at work operated – that you should only touch a document once and then deal with it. However, I must have handled these papers hundreds of times…… at any rate, I manage to get them all muddled up at a vast rate of knots and am unable to find anything very much when I need it.

Hence the distraction. Before I ran my bath, I just thought I’d see if I could find a voucher that John had bought us for a night away, and which I had kept very carefully on my desk for ages, only to move it recently, thinking ‘I know where I’ll have put that’. But I don’t, darn it. And can I find it? Harrumph. I must have put it somewhere safe. Oh, dear, I must do better.

What I did come across though, was a VISA statement that had a puzzle on it. A double entry payment. I got onto Amazon for whom the transaction applied. “Oh, yes, that transaction is for Amazon in France. You’ll have to ask them.’ Whaaat? I don’t think so. ‘Could it be fraud?’ I wondered. ‘Oh, Ok, we’ll put you onto the fraud team….’ Email might arrive tomorrow to start the ball rolling. We’ll see.

In the meantime, John was downstairs watching the TV, I think, oblivious to the fact that I wasn’t bathing in ewe’s milk and anointing myself in oils. When we finally caught up with each other, he was surprised I was still in my dressing gown. ‘It’s too late to have a bath now,’ I said, ‘I’ll have one later.’ But I never did. You know when you’re cosy in your skin and really don’t want to be shivered out of it? Well, I was like that all day. Maybe it’ll be a bath tomorrow.

Anyway, I nipped over to see mum this afternoon, half in trepidation really, as it’s almost four weeks since I went over and I wondered whether she’d have been pining. I had planned to visit a couple weeks after I last saw her but I was ailing with my tooth so I postponed the visit. Then, when I phoned up last week to get a visit date booked they had no availability until today.

Anyway, I needn’t have worried. Honestly, I swear, she gets better almost every time I see her. She looks the picture of health, as fit as a fiddle, and continues to be happy as a sandboy. No, she can’t remember who’s who and what’s what, but she doesn’t care and is just happy strolling through the day with whatever it sends.

Mind you, she has got a new song. Today it was ‘Que Sera, Sera’ at frequent intervals and sung with meaning. Made me smile every time. I suggested she sit on the bed while I visited, as this is what she normally likes to do. Yes, she wanted to do that but, instead of hopping onto the bed today, she hopped into it. In so doing, she found she had a nice, ready-made imaginary piano keyboard in front of her, so she had the perfect accompaniment to her new song. Wonderful – made us laugh.

We had a rather pleasant and unexpected Bonfire Night this evening. Paul had invited us over to watch their fireworks, but neither of us quite felt up to it, so instead we watched the neighbours’ fabulous display from within the confines of our own home and had a Friday night take-away. Couldn’t be better, could it?

Regrettably, I can’t furnish you all with the data on COVID today. The server that offers us the latest figures seems to be down, so perhaps they’ll be available tomorrow. I do know that figures are not as bad as they were and there are murmurings that the infection rate might be plateau-ing. I’d like to believe it. Watch this space.

However, I was interested in this graph that was published yesterday. Not so much the figures, although as they relate to deaths in children I find it distressing, but the incidence. Anyone notice any pattern here? Who says schools aren’t transmission hubs for the virus?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Here’s a blast from the past. Anyone recognise anyone? Bonus points if you guess the ages….

No more toothache! No more tooth….. farewell dear friend. You’ve been a good servant. I wonder if the tooth fairy will call tonight? Mind you, I have nothing to put under my pillow….. ah, well.

I had originally intended quite a full day one way and another today and, although I got up early to let the shopping delivery across the threshold, I went back to bed for an hour or two and forwent yoga, so really didn’t do a lot this morning. I had a headache. No idea why – just a thumping headache that wasn’t keen to ease, even after a cup of tea.

So, this morning it was just a potter about in the kitchen putting things away; exclaiming over the things which hadn’t arrived; cursing the things I’d forgotten to order; and delighting in the things I had.

John, meanwhile, spent all morning on the computer and chatting to his agent regarding the houses in Corby. One of the houses is in multiple occupancy and there are things to do, like make sure the contracts are up to date and the smoke alarms work, and so on.

“Will you be ready to go shortly?” I asked John as I started to prepare myself for the dentist’s chair. “Yep, all ready,” he said. I was very thankful that he drove me there and back. To be honest, I was expecting the dentist to tell me he’d have to extract the tooth, as I was pretty sure it had broken. But I was hoping not. And, sure enough, broken it was – clean in half. No saving that, then.

However, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, at all. A few wriggles with his pliers and there we were. As always, it’s the blooming injections that get you, isn’t it?? And, as I said to John, this is the first extraction of an adult tooth that I’ve had, so I think I haven’t done too badly. I’d like to have kept all my teeth in my head all my life, but it wasn’t to be. Too much chocolate, do you reckon? Or wine? Or just old age and lack-of-calcium teeth?

This afternoon, I spent it just pinned to the sofa. “I am just going to sit on the sofa, John, and take drugs,” I declared. So, paracetamol and ibuprofen at the ready, that’s exactly what I did. Although I didn’t feel too sorry for myself, I just enjoyed the opportunity to rest, which was nice.

I have been oblivious to what John has been doing though. I suspect he’s been faffing about on the computer mostly, but he hasn’t puffed and sighed, so it can’t have been all bad.

In COVID news, I had a chat with an anti-vaxxer/anti-masker in the dentist’s waiting room today. She arrived, sans mask, so I asked her if she had one. “Nah… you’re alright,” she replied, “I don’t believe in all that mask stuff.” And thus we fell into conversation. She wasn’t sure what was in the vaccine, so she wasn’t having any. She thought it was all hype on the news, “You can’t believe what the BBC say, can you?” (she might be right…) and wearing masks didn’t do anything.

I did my best to set information I’ve picked up from the scientists’ research before her, and my final comment was something along the lines of: “So I’m wearing my mask to protect you; and if you wear a mask, you’ll protect me.” She seemed rather struck by that. But whether she’d have forgotten it by the time she walked out of the room, I have no idea. Whichever way it goes, I do hope she doesn’t catch COVID. The majority of patients admitted to hospital are now those who are unvaccinated.

37,269 people tested positive for the virus today; 214 people died in hospitals; and 70 in hospitals in the last 48 hours. 1,005 people were admitted to hospital. That is over a thousand a day for the last seven days, on average.

In addition, over 108,000 children and young people (<25) are now stuck with Long COVID in the UK, according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics). Eeeh, dear.

Look after yourselves and your loved ones everyone. And wear a mask. God bless.

Susie Dent’s Word of the Day? ‘Flarnecking’ (19th century) – vulgar flaunting and shameless ostentation.

Happy Diwali, everyone!

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?

I left John home alone today. He didn’t get up to any mischief, as far as I know, but tinkered with the Lotus for much of the day, on and off. I think it was quite successful – and he wasn’t too tired when I arrived home about four o’clock either. Result!

For me, a lunch date was in order. As I was leaving, I said, “Will you be alright getting yourself something to eat at lunchtime?” Yes, yes – he’d be fine – now off you go and enjoy yourself! So I did. I think he also enjoyed himself polishing off the last Halloween doughnut that I’d bought on Sunday. “Did you have the doughnut for lunch, John?” I wondered when I got home. “Erm…. no, I had it for breakfast!” he grinned. Then he thought for a minute before saying, “No, actually, I did have it for lunch!!” Glad he enjoyed it. It got it out of my way anyway! You never know, I have been known to eat doughnuts occasionally!

I was late setting off to meet up with my friends, but missed the messages that chronicled the tardiness of everyone else and the suggestion that we meet at 11.30 instead of 11.00. Oh……

Having found the messages too late, I arrived just after 11.00 so thought I’d sit and listen to some music while I waited. Not long after, my friend Sue arrived – I recognised her by her blue bag – and she hadn’t picked up the messages about the others arriving late either!!! So we toddled off together to await the other few yet to arrive.

Once everyone was there and the group was quorate, we had a marvellous time. First, we had some teas and coffees. Then we took a walk and visited a beautiful church, which raised all sorts of questions in our minds. It being All Saints Day, we wondered about the Saint for whom the church was named and what he do to be so famous? Then we wondered about the stained glass window. What did it all mean? And finally, we puzzled over the history of the church. When was it built? So we all took home our homework to research the questions and share with the others later. It was so delightful to be in the company of like-minded people. Them’s whats enjoys the beautiful countryside and history…… oh, and a good laugh. Marvellous.

After our walk, we had gained an appetite so we headed back to a pub for a bite to eat. And very nice it was, too. We lingered over lunch, enjoying each others’ company and making each other laugh with our various stories of everyday life, which are not at all amusing in the re-telling, but suffice to say, we laughed like drains about some of them.

True to form for the day, I left John home alone again this evening. It was the little Bible Study group that I go to. At the last meeting, I had been swayed by my peers. I had planned to wear a mask but they were reluctant to wear theirs, so I allowed myself to go bare-faced. I regretted it afterwards but fortunately, there were no ill-effects. This time, I resolved to be strong and wear my mask. I was the only one to do so, but I was glad I had, because the news is that someone in congregation on Sunday has tested positive for COVID. Note to self: Do not be swayed by others!!! Stay strong.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Bible Study though. We are reading a book called ‘Walking Backwards to Christmas’ and it considers individuals in the Nativity story by their personal narrative. Really interesting, because it threw up a lot of questions for us to research. Uh-oh!! More homework!!

Meanwhile, back in COVID-Land, there have been 33,865 people reported as infected with the virus today. The lower figure is likely to be as a result of the half-term lag, so expect to see more cases in the coming weeks, unless the government reminds everyone to wear masks, keep their distance and ventilate rooms. There were 293 deaths today in the community; and 85 in the previous 48 hours in hospitals.

On Twitter, Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP tweeted the following: ‘More than 50 #COVID19 cases in Parliament. U.K. still highest infection, hospitalisation & death rates in Western Europe. Still virtually no mask discipline among Tory MPs. Dwindling on public transport too. #Covid19UK‘

I know I am banging on about it, but I am still wondering why on earth the politicians think this is OK and why they are not leading by example. It is madness of the first order in my opinion.

The JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) has recently published long-overdue minutes from its meeting for the last six months, failing to have published previously. They are troubling reading. The Committee appears to be advocating children be exposed to the virus, rather than offered vaccinations as a first port of call. Apparently, 100 children have now died from COVID and many are suffering from Long COVID. Why, oh why are they playing Russian Roulette with our kids’ lives? It isn’t acceptable – for me, anyway.

Do take care everyone. God Bless. He loves you, you know.

Oh, and before I go…. Susie Dent’s word of the day is: ‘bloviation’ (19th century) – empty rhetoric and a good deal of blah.

Another Monday. Gosh, they don’t half come round quick, don’t they? And I still haven’t done half the things I promised myself I would. Never mind, I thought, I’ll get on with some of them on Monday. Only, I forgot you need sleep to be be able to function each day, don’t you? And I was sorely short of that last night. This is the second night in three nights that insomnia has kicked in. Hello? What’s going on? No idea. Fingers crossed I find the ‘snooze’ button tonight.

“What are you doing today?” John asked. I planned to try and sort through some more of Mum’s papers this morning, then a COVID jab and a Zoom session with Sue and Rod. Ha! Ha! The best laid plans and all that…. I suddenly remembered that I was in the middle of getting everything ready for the baking the Christmas cake, so my reply was thus: “I’ll do the Christmas cake first, then go through some of Mum’s papers this morning.”

This Christmas cake, however, has been a struggle from beginning to end….. First, no mixed peel. So, with much love and labour, I made my own. I overcooked that, but managed to salvage some. Then I failed to read the recipe properly for the cake and plopped the sugar and almonds on top of the flour in the ‘waiting to be put in’ bowl. Only to read that Delia said to beat the butter and sugar…. as you can imagine, it took me while to fish out every grain of sugar. Then I curdled me mixture; then I forgot to put the black treacle in and had scoop the mixture from the tin back to the bowl to mix it in.

And then…… and I overcooked what-I-am-calling Version One of the cake. Twenty minutes too long. Let’s say, although it might be tasty, it’s a bit toasty. Might be following in John’s Mum’s footsteps……Version Two on the drawing board. And I never did get to sort any papers out today.

After all my efforts with the cake this morning, we sat down and watched the T20 cricket again. Another exciting match which (almost) went to the wire. John had spent most of the morning fiddling about with rental contracts on the computer, so was in need of some light relief.

I walked down the hill to the Doctor’s surgery this afternoon for my COVID booster. It’s a well-oiled machine now with lots of us doing the same thing: walk in here; sanitise your hands there; read this leaflet; queue here; go in this room there; give me your arm; sharp prick; go and sit in the waiting room for fifteen minutes and away you go. Felt like I’d been through the sausage factory.

Once home, it was time to Zoom Sue and Rod. It’s a while since we’d ‘seen’ them having hoped to see them in person in September. However, their plan to come down to the Midlands didn’t materialise so we thought we’d chat over Zoom instead. We had a lovely chat. I love catching up with old friends. It’s as if we’ve never been away. Smashing. And John was on top form as well, so that was good. Here’s us all grinning at each other:

We finished watching the cricket before we had our evening meal. After that, John did more rental contract stuff. “You OK?” he asked. ” I am tired,” I replied. Yes, tired out. Come on, sleep! Do your stuff!!

40,077 people tested positive for the virus today. 40 people died in the community; 20 in hospitals in the last 24 hours.

Still wearing my mask. Good to see some people at COP26 wearing theirs, but shocked at the lack of leadership in those who weren’t. Have they never heard of ‘setting an example’?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Susie Dent’s word of the day is one we all need: ‘respair’ (16th century): fresh hope; a recovery from despair.

#COP26