A Walk on Wednesday

We had our priorities today. First up: go for a walk. The weather was fine and, buoyed by yesterday’s success, John was up for another stride out. I was up first and popped to the Post Office to send parcels to Australia while John had his breakfast and a strong cup of coffee to get him revved up for stepping outside the door.

We had a bit of a debate as to where we should go but, in the end, we plumped for Katharine’s Wood. Being a Job’s Comforter, I thought it might be a bit far. However, John donned his determined apparel and we set off.

Sure enough, the ol’ man made it and we had a really good time. We met a gentleman on the way and he walked with us for a while, chattering all the way before we parted company and made our way back. I was delighted that we’d had such a nice walk. More of the same, please.

John was also delighted to have a lovely long chat to Richard on the phone once he was home. It’s been a while since we’d been in touch, but it was wonderful to hear Richard sounding so well and relaxed. There are plans afoot for a visit, so fingers crossed the current situation with the virus doesn’t stop those plans.

This afternoon I left John downstairs while I did some prep on the computer for our Quiz. John settled into his chair and inspected the back of his eyelids while I was away, exhausted from his ramble this morning.

And then, of course, this evening was Quiz Night and great fun was had by all. It’s so lovely to catch up with everyone on Zoom, and we plan to continue now that half of our number are scattered to other corners of the country. We had a laugh as usual and there was a great camaraderie amongst us all. Lovely.

Sorry to say that Nigel was in bed nursing the after-effects of his booster vaccination this evening, so didn’t join us. However, Hazel made up for it and she had plenty of right answers to the quiz.

Lots of people have tested positive for the virus today: 48,374; with 171 people having died with it; and 706 people having been admitted to hospital. The numbers of people who died in hospitals in the last 48 hours count up to 50 in the last 48 hours; and there are increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with the new variant of Omicron, with 8 more cases in England today. Not many, and we are waiting to see how it pans out, so watch this space.

In the meantime, I don’t know about you, but I am beginning (after nearly two years’ experience at it now) to settle into a rhythm of how to manage our time, our visits to friends, and to entertain. Zoom and Skype have been wonderful inventions enabling us to catch up with friends and family across the world; and along with the vaccination programme, masks and keeping our distance, the Lateral Flow Tests have given us some confidence to mix.

Take care everyone. Keep up the good work. God bless.