Just another day….

Oh, dear, John is going stir-crazy because we’re not busy. Nothing to do (!!) and nothing to look forward to. Gulp. I apologised because, as I’m not whizzing about, it feels dull and flat. And, naturally, the things we might have been doing in the last week, we’re not.

However, tomorrow is another day and, if I feel a bit better, then Freddie might come for a few hours. That should brighten the ol’ man up, shouldn’t it? I mean, who wouldn’t want to see this gorgeous little boy?

In the meantime, it was another day of lolling about really. We stayed in bed for hours this morning, before I thought I really ought to get up. Once I was up, I cooked brunch and, when I took it to John in bed, he said “Ooh, lovely! Lunch?” Made us both smile. It’s the little things, folks…the little things…

After I cooked brunch and tidied the kitchen I thought I might get on with making my candied peel. Washed the oranges and lemons….

……..but then John called me through to look at some small print, and all of a sudden, I went tired. Oh, crikey! I’d only been up a couple of hours and I was having to have a sit-down already! That was it then, until about three o’clock – just couldn’t get going again.

By mid-afternoon, though, I was after more drugs. We’d run out of Ibuprofen, so I ambled up the road to the pharmacy and bought some. While I was out, I enjoyed the fresh air – despite the rather dull day – and thought I’d nip up to my neighbour’s, Carol, whose husband recently died. I had a little bag of goodies that I thought might cheer her up.

“Do you want to step in?” Carol asked, as I stood on the doorstep. Well, just for a minute then…. so we had a lovely chat for about half an hour. I hope I cheered her up a bit, but to be honest, I wasn’t my best, lively self, so I am not sure that I did. But she was pleased with the goodies anyway.

John was still sweating away on the computer when I got home. He’s trying to source a new part for Andrew’s broken bike. You know, a widget, a thingummy bob, one of those tiny things that you can hardly see. I think it’s a struggle.

I did that fatal thing of sitting down again when I got home, with a cup of tea – and time went on…. Finally, I remembered that I was supposed to be doing my candied peel, so I got on and did that. Well, sort of. It’s not turned out exactly as I would have wished.

The instructions said to let the peel boil for an hour. So I put the timer on for fifteen minutes, then another fifteen and so on, so that I could keep checking on it. When it gets to 120°, the instructions said, turn it off. Hahahahaha……..

John had offered to cook the tea. Well, thank you very much! Meanwhile, I sat in the lounge, waiting for the timer to go off every so often. When the final buzzer went off, I trotted through to the kitchen to find the peel boiling like fury and the thermometer telling me it was 136°. Yikes!

We now have candied orange and lemon brittle. I’m trying soaking it in brandy – do you reckon that’ll work? A pic, I hear you ask? Maybe tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a disaster. A tasty one though, if you can get your teeth through it.

Working round me and my disaster, John cooked a fabulous meal for us this evening. A really delicious curry, which he took his time over – and it was just perfect. Thoroughly enjoyed having something cooked for me.

I think he might have started drinking a glass or two of wine while he was cooking however, because by the time he came through to the lounge, he was already in a state of devil-may-care. But not altogether buoyant. TV palled. He sighed – all the programmes are the same. So he had another glass of wine to relieve the monotony.

And he wanted me to ask you this question: ‘When was the last time you had fun?’ Answers on a postcard please. I think he’s looking for ideas.

43,941 people tested positive for the virus today. 207 people died. 68 in hospitals in the last 48 hours.

Take care everyone. God bless.

And here’s my current prayer, which I have on repeat:

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen