Fun and Games

The Sutton Sleaths made their way back from Jersey today, so it was one last walk with Chester over the fields this morning. I made the most of it and walked each field for a farewell. Chester was appreciative. He was also appreciative of the treats I offered to prevent him from chasing any of the other dogs we encountered on the way. All in all, it was a good walk.

I hurried back, thinking that the junior Sleaths might be arriving to collect Chester at any moment, but all was well as they were a bit delayed, and I had plenty of time. There was a great flurry of excitement from everyone when they did arrive on the doorstep. Mostly from Chester and William and me, to be fair. Chester barked his head off, William bounced up and down just like Tigger, and I grinned from ear to ear for a very long time.

One advantage of the lockdown has been the family ‘togetherness’ and close bonding with Thomas, born in the middle of lockdown. The flipside of that, of course, has been very little socialisation of baby Thomas. This has meant that, in Jersey, it has been a struggle for Danielle to be out of his sight for more than a nano-second. Not much better here, either, really, but we were keen to let Michael and Danielle have a little rest before they set off home with a woofing dog, so we said we’d look after the kids while they had a rest on the bed for half an hour.

Thomas was good for about ten minutes…. then he started to cry. Danielle came to see what was what. “We’ll take the kids to the park,” we said, “Please don’t worry, go and lie down!” We strapped Thomas into the pram, and William, bless him, curled up in the shopping basket part of the pram for a ride rather than a walk. Not a peep from Thomas. He sat as good as gold for a little while until he dropped off to sleep. William had a whale of a time watching the world from a different angle and John had a great time pushing the pram. I walked alongside William for safety’s sake.

We had a cracking time. We even managed to play on a couple of pieces of equipment at the park, having wiped the wet away with a tiny tissue. We made our way back on the promise of stopping at the café for a hot chocolate. Hmm…. great idea in theory, but there was a thunderous and very large rain cloud on the horizon. I was still waiting for the goodies to be served in the café when it started to rain. John put his head round the door, “I’ll start back,” he said. I nodded – a good idea. No point in us all getting wet….

Hahahaha…….rain? It was a deluge. And thunder, too. I ran as fast as I could to get home, catching up with John just opposite the house. We hurried across the road, as Michael came out with an umbrella. “I was just coming to pick you up,” he said, grinning. Too late, we are wet through. Oh, but those lovely hot chocolates, hot Cornish pasties, hot sausage rolls and a Rocky Road soon put us right.

William didn’t want to go home – he was keen to stay and play but it was soon time to go. We packed our car with some of the items emptied from Michael and Danielle’s car so that they could get Chester in, and we promised we’d be on our way to deliver them ‘as soon as Grandpa has caught his breath….’ We closed the front door and sat down, surveying the damage….. reminded me of the ‘Wrinklies’ greetings card:

To be fair, it wasn’t that much of a mess. I exaggerate. Michael had cleared the pots away and we had already put away the Duplo, so there really wasn’t anything to do. It just felt like that. After so many months of a quiet life, it was wonderful to be busy with the children for a short while, even if it was a shock to the system……

We are gearing up for the easing of lockdown and we really can’t wait. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the easing doesn’t bring more, exponential infection in its wake, of course, being a person of great anxiety in these matters.

People with positive COVID tests today were up slightly (2,474) as were the number of people who died in the community (20). Those who died in hospitals numbered 7 on 8 & 9 May – difficult to evaluate what is happening there.

Take care everyone. God bless.