Oooh…. a bit of reading…. & excitement!

John has succumbed to a chest infection*. We got back from our lovely weekend away and he was coughing a bit. By Monday morning, it was a full-on bark and by evening he was struggling to breathe and had a bit of a raised temperature. So, yesterday morning, I phoned the doctor’s surgery. I expected the third degree from the receptionist and then the offer of a telephone consultation. However, I only had to phone three times to join the queue of eight, and then the receptionist said, “Yes, can John come down at 9.50 this morning?” Well, blow me down with a feather! Yep – that’ll do.

John is still struggling to breathe and he’s coughing very well, but he has antibiotics and some steroids, so fingers crossed he’ll be out of the woods shortly.

Meanwhile, despite struggling with his health, the ol’ man has been having a go at the classic car in the garage. Not only has he been having a little tinker with it but…. drum roll, please….. he’s started it up and driven it out of the garage and back in again. Boom! Howzat??

Honestly, I was so excited when I walked home from the shops to see it parked on the drive! Marvellous! The only thing is, though, that John had forgotten how hard it is to steer a car without power steering……. he’s going to have to build his muscles up to drive it. Get out the weights and start lifting!! Hehe.

Having got the car to the point it is now, John thought he might clear up the garage a bit. There’s bits and pieces everywhere. So that’s what he’s been doing the last day or two in fits and starts.

I, on the other hand, have generally been faffing about. Both John and Michael asked me the other day what I was going to do to change my mood. “If you keep doing the same things, you’ll get the same results,” they grinned. Hah! They are right of course, so I set to thinking about it.

The result was a slight change of direction today. Not much, but hopefully a bit of different steer.

It started with a visit to church this morning. One of our former parishioners, Claire, has now been ordained and had returned to take the mid-week service this morning. I was so glad I went. It was lovely to see her and people whose company I enjoy. Claire and I spent ages chatting after the service, exchanging anecdotes about our families. One piece of information I was particularly interested in was that Claire’s son is doing an apprenticeship in classic cars. Now there’s someone it’ll be useful to keep in touch with!!!

When I came back from church I took the bull by the horns and popped into the carpet shop to order some new carpet for our bedroom. We’d had samples the other week, but not made the order. So I went and did it. Decisive. For a change.

Home again and chores loomed. Oh, bother! Didn’t fancy it. So I picked up my book by Linda Stratmann, which had been recommended to me ages and ages ago, went into the garden and lay on the swinging chair in the warmth of the day and read for nearly an hour. In the middle of the day. I mean, that’s unheard of these days. But I didn’t half enjoy myself.

After lunch, I popped over to see Mum. She was dozing in the lounge when I got there, but she soon came trotting through to her room where she sat on the bed to watch me arrange the flowers I’d taken. “Where do you want them, Mum?” I asked. “Put them with those flowers there,” she said, “you know, the everlasting flowers…….” Ah…..I see – and here they all are. A selection of real, plastic, silk and paper flowers. Nice.

Mum was very well but rather tired today. I think maybe the heat had an effect and, half-way through looking at the latest batch of family photos (there really weren’t that many), she suddenly said, “I’ve had enough of looking at those now. I’m tired.” And she snuggled into bed and promptly fell asleep. Well, I suppose I had interrupted her doze in the lounge, hadn’t I?

Before I left though, she was awake and wanting the tightest hug as we said our goodbyes. “Another one,” she said, drawing me in close to her once more. So we hugged some more.

Take care everyone. Hold your loved ones close. God bless.

*The Lateral Flow Tests are clear…....