Loo rolls. There was a shortage at the beginning of lock down and people were panic buying – remember that? Not me though, as we had taken delivery of a big box of them from ‘Who Gives A Crap’ just as it all began. I like to buy from them because it’s a little bit more ethical, using re-cycled paper and with profits going to charity.
The way it works is that they send you an email just before they are due to deliver. You say yes, that’s fine – or no, not just yet, and delay the order if you still have oodles of the things in your cupboards. The thing is, the email went into my junk folder, didn’t it, this time? So I didn’t say no, not just yet…… and I now have about 60 loo rolls lurking about the house. Mum is pleased. I have finally provided her with her own supply. She’s like a pig in clover.
I was sort of disappointed when the doorbell rang and it was only loo rolls this morning. I had hoped for a garage door. Nothing doing today though. I suppose it’ll all happen tomorrow just when we are taking John, his blood count and cough to clinic. Hoping not, as they’ll just drop it on the driveway I expect, if we are – and then what’ll we do?
On what has been a bit of a dank, dark day with the promised rain hardly amounting to anything at all so far, we spent our time indoors fiddling about with a mix of standard stuff (for me) and slightly more exciting stuff (for John). My day was made up of the standard washing, tidying and prepping food until tea-time, at which point I abandoned life downstairs. I raided the freezer, liberating one of the Magnums that I’d got nestling in there, and headed to my bedroom. It’s bad news when you’ve got to hide yourself away in your own home to enjoy a little treat, but I am not sharing those Magnums with anybody!!! It was illicit and delicious, I can tell you.
Whilst savouring my ice cream, I snuggled in bed and read my book. I am not tired, of course not. Not me. So how come I found my eyelids drooping and myself nodding off then? John came to see what I was up to. I’m awake! I’m awake, honest!! He was very kind. He offered to cook some tea for Mum – egg, chips and beans – which she loves. OK, thank you – and I’ll be down in a bit, I said. An hour later, I was woken from my second nap and blissful sleep by the front doorbell ringing in my ears. Crikey!! How was it that I’d fallen asleep again? I am not tired, honestly……
Whilst I was snoozing, John whiled away his time by sorting out the rods for his headlining on the Lotus. Very exciting. They just needed a little rub down where there was a bit of rust, and then a lick of paint. Can’t wait to see what they look like tomorrow. Step by step, little by little that car is going to be finished. By summer, John says. The only trouble is, he hasn’t said the summer of which year…….
In the end, the evening meal turned out to be an eventful affair. John carefully prepared the chips, I warmed up the baked beans in the microwave and then it was time to fry the eggs. The oil in the pan was a bit hot. The yolk on the first egg broke, and the white frilled up very nicely in the pan. I was doubtful. I didn’t think Mum would like it. You see, if it were just you or me, we’d say never mind, and we’d eat it. But that’s not how it works these days……. John threw it in the bin. Try again. Better second time around, but not before it had made John a little irritable.
For dessert, I was thrilled to be able to offer Mum freshly picked strawberries, courtesy of Malcolm from his garden. I considered what I should serve them with. No cream, but we have coconut yoghurt, plain milk yoghurt or ice cream. With the memory of Mum turning her nose up at plain yoghurt fresh in my mind, I chose the ice cream which she had so enjoyed last week, whilst John and I had the yoghurts as our topping.
Mum looked into her bowl and politely said thank you. Then she peered into my bowl, before looking back at her own. “What have you got?” she asked. She looked suspicious, her eyes flicking backwards and forwards over the contents of the two bowls. “Have you got cream?” she wanted to know. “I’ve got strawberries and yoghurt, Mum” I replied. “I’ve given you ice cream because I know you like that.” She poked at her ice cream and a strawberry, looking longingly over at my dessert. “Would you like to try a bit of the yoghurt, Mum?” Yes. She licked the spoon – mmmm, lovely. Oh, really……. She poked a bit more at her food. “What’s wrong, Mum?” Well, it was the strawberries you see. She didn’t like the strawberries……. so I served her just the ice cream, which I know she likes. More poking and sitting back in her chair. She was waiting for the ice cream to melt.
Fortunately, after our evening meal, we had a quiz evening with our Centre Stage friends. Heaven knows what might have erupted if we’d stayed downstairs too much longer……perhaps I am tired after all.
We enjoyed our quiz evening as always. Everyone is such lovely company and we always have a laugh and a good chat. However, I am saying my prayers for Brendan and all the family tonight, as his Mum is very poorly in hospital, having been rushed in on Monday. No visitors makes it especially hard to deal with and we have every sympathy with that scenario.
The NHS reports that there were 20 deaths due to COVID-19 up to 5 p.m. yesterday, 2 June 2020, with 66 having been confirmed for the day before. The government figures differ, of course, with 359 people having died in all settings and 1,871 people having been confirmed as infected. Still no data on how many people have been tested, but I have every confidence that when the target figure of 200,000 tests has been achieved, that data will be available to us.
Take care everyone – let’s not get slack on taking all precautions yet. I am not keen for a second wave of infection, are you?