Never a dull moment…

Gosh, there’s such a lot going on, isn’t there? Not only is Christmas almost upon us, but the Winter Solstice is here, and everyone is very excited about that! No-one more so than John, because his mood will improve with every passing day now that the days are going to get longer and longer.

I offer you a pagan and heartfelt greeting that I have pinched from one of the priests I follow on Twitter, the Reverend JacquiT. Just this:

In addition to the excitement of the Winter Solstice we had those bundles of joy, William and Thomas, from Sutton Coldfield over today. What a blessing they are and how we love to see them. Honestly, they are just such good company.

It was play, play, play all day. Except when it was making the Gingerbread House, which was serious work undertaken by Grandpa and William. What a grand job they made of it and how they enjoyed themselves – especially William, who couldn’t stop sniffing the gingerbread, of which the aroma was just divine. Here it is, ready to be demolished and eaten by the children, big and little, on Christmas Eve…..

One of the good things about having the children round to play, is that they like to be upstairs, then downstairs, then upstairs and back again about a dozen times a day. It certainly keeps us fit – and helps Grandpa with his breathing exercises. He is so grateful…….

It also helps me tidy up my cupboards. Thomas has a penchant for opening each and every drawer and cupboard door that he can find, and then emptying the contents, very carefully, by passing each item to you, waiting for you to say ‘thank you’ before moving on to the next one. Wonderful. Sometimes he puts things back. We did manage that with the breakfast cereal cupboard, but not before he’d helped himself to a spoon, a bowl and some Cheerios first….

With every generation, I harbour hopes of an excellent musician emerging amongst them. My own sons, although they are keen on music and play a little – either guitar or keyboard – I would say they play for their own pleasure rather than anything else. Anyway, every time a child climbs onto the stool at the keyboard and plinkerty-plonks a tune, I have high hopes. Here is the next generation of the hoped-for brilliant musicians:

This evening, I popped over to Paul and Harriet’s to help with some gift-wrapping. After the hectic-ness of the last week following Harriet’s father’s death, time seemed to be running away on the Christmas preparation stakes. We had such a lovely evening. So companionable and cordial as we shared the wrapping of the gifts for the family. What a blessing to be able to do that together.

On the COVID front there is no decision by the government to prevent everyone gathering at Christmas, and we are grateful for that. Although we are taking our own precautions to try and prevent any spread of the disease among the family at least – and we are so very grateful to every family member who is helping to support us in the effort.

Nationally, there have been 90,629 people who tested positive for the virus today; 172 deaths in the community and 847 people admitted to hospital. 52 people died in hospitals in the previous 48 hours.

The data on the virus is interesting, with the figures on a plateau. I am hoping that because people are self-regulating a bit more, this will help keep the spread lower. Scientists are making some positive noises so that’s an uplift, isn’t it?

I didn’t make it to the live-streaming of the Carol Service at church this evening, but I plan to lift up my spirits and my voice by tuning in tomorrow morning. Put your fingers in your ears, folks!!

Take care everyone. God bless.