We took the day easy today. No rush, no pressure.
This morning, we had a little lie-in before I finally got out of bed, aware that, if I didn’t soon, then the yoga class would start without me. We had a cuppa and breakfast and then, before I set off, John said he was going back upstairs and may have another lie down.
In the end, I think he did all of his medical stuff while I was out, rather than sleep. Always good to hear that he’s managed to get through it all.
The yoga class was great – all very gentle and just right for my old bones. Jaime is on holiday, so her friend, Julie, took the class, and she was lovely. Thoroughly enjoyed it and came home well refreshed.
This afternoon we sat and watched the Olympics. Some of it was a replay from overnight, some of it was live-ish. Our new favourite sports to watch are the skate-boarding and the sport climbing. They were so exciting! Amazing skills and daredevil stuff – we were on the edge of our seats. Marvellous.
Just before tea, Paul phoned. “Are you available for half an hour? Freddie is desperate to see you.” Yes, we were available, so round they came. Freddie and I had great fun playing at the top of the house – first with the cats, then with ‘Slinky’, an old toy from John’s childhood, running it down the stairs. We laughed and laughed at its antics as it slithered from one step to another. It filled my heart to hear Freddie’s belly laugh over and over again.
As we played, Freddie came up with lots of things to do: ‘Can we play with the Scalectrix? Can we make a den? Can we have a fire and melt marshmallows? Can we play with Slinky again?’ and so on…… Finally, I had to say to everything, ‘not today, but tomorrow when you come, we can do these things’. He accepted that and is looking forward to spending the day with us tomorrow. John is exhausted at the thought of it already.
This evening we had a wonderful evening. It is Dawn’s 65th birthday, so we celebrated with pink Champagne. As always, we nattered to our hearts’ content and could hardly drag ourselves away. John was on top form, telling some of his stories from days gone by – all of them amusing – to the extent that we were rolling in the aisles with laughter. Oh, it does do you good to have a good laugh, doesn’t it? Many happy returns of the day, Dawn!! Cheers!
And another piece of exciting news today – Michael has finished his formal tutelage at university. His final lecture was today. His thesis has passed muster and there’s just the final placement to complete before he graduates in September. Bring it on!! It’s been a very long, hard road and he deserves all the success the qualification brings.
On a totally different note, we hear that this wave of COVID is still slowing down, for which I am very grateful. 30,215 people tested positive for the virus today. Over the last week, cases have been down by 10%. Good trend. Long may it continue.
Deaths, on the other hand, have risen, which is to be expected. 86 people died in the community, thus contributing to the increase of 14% in the last seven days. The count in hospitals is running at 49 on 2 August, 29 on 3 August, and 7 yesterday, so far.
Hope everyone stays safe and keeps on with all the possible precautions to prevent further infection and death. It seems many of us are – which, again, is a good trend.
Take care everyone. God bless.