Yesterday…

We said farewell to Harriet’s father yesterday. As funerals go, it was a very good service, with the celebrant embracing everyone with her words, and Harriet and Jess, Harriet’s sister, paying tribute to their father with beautiful poetry and eulogies.

John hadn’t felt great in the morning, so opted to stay at home, while I went to the service but came home afterwards. Twenty-five people were gathering at Paul and Harriet’s and, although there was no indication of any virus anywhere, we decided not to risk it. According to the reports, the wake was good, too, with Harriet’s Dad being sent off in style with a champagne toast.

John had had a notification that a fourth jab of the vaccination would be helpful, and yesterday morning the surgery phoned to make an appointment for him. I was pleased about that – saved us having to check with the hospital – and so, in the afternoon, he went off down the road to see the nurse. No ill-effects so far.

Meanwhile, I popped round to Pete and Dawn’s to have a look at some colourways for Dawn’s ‘mother of the bride’ outfit. The colours that she has chosen are lovely and suit her very well and we were able to put together a little portfolio of her preference to share with her dressmaker. I can’t wait to see her in the final outfit – she is going to look gorgeous.

Last night, John and I sat up watching TV and didn’t go to bed until well past midnight. On retiring, I said to John, “I’m having a lie-in, in the morning!” And that’s what I did. It was lush.

However, once up, I busied myself in tidying and cleaning the kitchen. I was still, it seemed, digging it out after Christmas…….pottery was still out and waiting to tucked away ready for next year; toys were still adorning the work surfaces; the sweetie tin was still ready and waiting for young hands to delve into; and, of course, the Christmas cake is still inviting us to eat it up – which John is doing very ably indeed.

Meanwhile John was eying up his TV viewing with Wasps versus Toulouse in the Rugby Champions League. We watched the first half together, but weren’t hopeful of a win for the Wasps as one of their number saw a red card. I left John watching the second half and went over to Kenilworth to drop the washing off to the original Kenilworth Sleaths, fully expecting to come back and find John disappointed in the rugby result. But no, they had held on and won, much to our delight.

I hadn’t intended to stay long over at Paul and Harriet’s but Paul was in on his own – the others having gone out for a walk – so I stopped and had a cup of tea. It was lovely just to sit and chat together for a while. Harriet and Jess and the children soon came back from their walk, however, so I had another cup of tea before I said my goodbyes. Nice.

This evening we decided to watch The Hobbit. However, half way through, we remembered that it was a long film. “I think I’ll stop watching in about half an hour, John, and go and do my blog. It’s not due to finish until 10.30.” “OK, let’s stop watching now, then.” he said. Something to look forward to tomorrow.

And that was us: John feeling a bit fed up and me feeling a little bit better but not best. John is hankering after a break away – and I don’t blame him – it’s tough going at times. “Shall we go out somewhere tomorrow?” I wondered. “Good idea,” says John. But where shall we go and what shall we do? Not a clue yet………

99,652 tested positive for the Coronavirus yesterday, Friday 14 January 2022; 270 died; and 2,423 were hospitalised as of 10 January. Today, Saturday 15 January 2022, 81,713 tested positive – which seems to be better news. However, 287 people died and no new data regarding how many have been hospitalised this week.

Take care everyone. There may be sunshine on the horizon – hoping so anyway. God bless.