It’s Friday……!!!!

Friday night and a couple of beers. That’s nice isn’t it? Roll on the weekend!! Although, to be honest, I am not sure that a weekend feels much different to a weekday, but I plan to pretend it is.

Our day has been chalk and cheese. Slow in the morning, but on the go in the afternoon. John is feeling tired and a bit lethargic, so started the day playing poker and a-snoozing, I think. He did, however, feel emboldened to go out into the garage and put a wheel back on the car this afternoon. Galvanised by the delivery of concrete blocks on which he is going to place the body of Lotus when he removes it from the chassis, he thought he ought get out there and ‘do a bit’. Poor man was exhausted after his efforts. But he still cooked the tea…..

I also had a sedentary morning and spent it on the phone and computer, cancelling this, that and t’other, as well as talking to the care home about the care plan for Mum. It’s all a bit awkward, because I can’t settle Mum into her room. She is in isolation for 14 days, so it’s a bit of a struggle to know which of her items to set aside to take over, and exactly how much room she has got in the drawers and wardrobe over there. Currently, Mum’s wardrobe in her flat is full of clothes and it takes up a whole wall of the room. Her wardrobe in the care home is a quarter of the space.

This afternoon I went over to Mum’s flat to remove any valuables there might be. Well, I didn’t find much. I remember when we moved Mum from her house to the flat that I made a mental note that there was nothing of any real value, and it is no different now. But I did bring her purse home with me, which contained a tenner. Whoo-hoo! She’s rich!! I wonder if she’ll need the tenner in the care home?

As I say, John was tired after his heavy afternoon, and I was tired as well, so we opted to grab something from the freezer and re-heat it for our evening meal. John, despite his tiredness, said he’d sort it all out. And he did. The food was delicious.

Afterwards, we both slumped in front of the TV. I pressed play on three or four recordings, such as The Sewing Bee, The Great British Menu (two episodes) and Our Yorkshire Farm to while away the evening, not wishing to be challenged in any way. Just gentle stuff…..

I was surprised that I had felt emotional this afternoon, sifting through some of Mum’s things. Was it the anniversary card that Mum had kept from Dad? The inscription, ‘Happy belated Anniversary, Darling’ conjured an image of Dad, with a sheepish grin, having been given short shrift for forgetting the anniversary…..ah, dear Dad. Or was it all the cards Mum had kept from every family member and friend who are now dead? John’s parents, John’s Nanan, our grandma, our aunts and uncles – gosh, there were so many of them. And then, of course, there were the cards from the boys when they were little…… here’s one example, which I suspect was from Paul…..

Eeeh…. nostalgia! Gets you right there, doesn’t it?? But anyway, onwards and upwards as they say! There’s lots to look forward to, so I’m not dwelling on anything.

Paul and Harriet moved into their new home today, lock, stock and barrel. We texted them to see how it had gone and the reply came back: ‘We are in, just got to unpack the boxes!! Sitting in front of the fire instead.’ Well, that’s sensible, isn’t it? Pace yourself.

And the news continues to be full of Prince Philip, COVID variants and shootings of black Americans. It’s all a bit depressing, isn’t it? The COVID figures are still stable though, so far, so that’s good news.

• 2,596 people tested positive for the virus today
• 34 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
• 6 people died in hospitals with the virus on 14 & 15 April

• And it’s Day 19 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
• Day 5 of our new, limited freedoms;
• Day 389 since Lockdown 1; 
• Day 395 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Have a good weekend everyone. Look after yourselves. Enjoy the (slightly) improving weather and love your neighbour. God bless.