Isolation Day 89

More goodies arrived in the post for the ‘project car’ today. Honestly, every day is like Christmas at our house. And, instead of the materials just sitting on the side waiting to be cherished, the ol’ man has started to fit some bits in earnest. The headlining in the roof of the car is going in. The bulldog clips have come into their own, and one of the two sets of headlining has been liberated and is having a whale of a time draping itself over the newly painted rods.

Today’s delivery was more sound deadening material, because you need two types of sound deadening, don’t you know? This time it’s a ‘Dodo Dead Mat Hex’ sound deadening mat. How’s that for a snappy title? I thought, “Eeeh, you couldn’t make it up.” And then had a second thought, with a little chuckle “Oh….. but somebody did!!!”

My adventures for the day started with persuading Mum, finally, to try out the new-fangled seat that lifts you up and down in the bath. Having resisted since we took delivery of it last week and insisting on the ‘good body wash’ instead, she agreed to dive in this morning. To be honest, I wasn’t sure she’d take to it, but she did. Not only that, it seemed a lot less effort than all the other faffing about we do to keep her clean. After the initial squeal as the seat started lowering into the water, she loved pedalling her feet and legs as if she were swimming and then catching the bubbles with her hands. If we’d had a rubber duck to put in there, she’d have wanted that too.

Of course, there’s always the trip to the ‘hair salon’ as well which she enjoys, and today, she looked at me fondly and said, “Thank you for doing this for me, dear.” I thought that was a nice thing to say, given that she often forgets her pleases and thank yous these days.

I was thrilled to get a video call today from William. Well, Michael did the calling, but William had said, “Let’s phone Grandma and ask her.” They’d found a weird and wonderful looking bug in the garden and wanted to know what it was. I didn’t know what the bug was, but I looked it up and was able to let him know that it wouldn’t hurt him, so it was good to be kind to it. It did look a bit like a wasp, but we figured that it was probably a black and yellow longhorn beetle. I love it when the grandchildren ask these things – I love learning with them.

The day had a contented rhythm to it. Nothing too hectic, nothing too much, just a gentle pattern of tidying ourselves up – gratefully taking delivery of shopping from Malcolm and Chris P, putting clean sheets on the bed, washing and ironing, prepping and cooking food, clearing the old ‘office’ and pottering out in the garden. I had, in fact, just planned to get on with the ironing when John thought it would be nice to sit in the garden together. It was. For a little while this afternoon, the clouds parted, the sun shone and we spent an idyllic half an hour just idly chatting to each other before inspecting the flowerbed and enjoying the plants in it.

Of course, all of that was the calm before the storm with the weather breaking so dramatically this evening. Thunderbolt and lightening (very, very frightening me… Galileo, Galileo….) and lashings of rain. The front drive looked like a lake, the duvet cover I’d left out to dry was absolutely sodden, dripping water everywhere as I brought it inside, and the gutterings overflowed, gushing their contents in all directions. It took out the satellite signal as we were watching TV, drove rain in through the open windows and generally stirred our very souls. It was spectacular.

Today was otherwise one of both celebration and distress from what we have seen on the news. The Queen’s official birthday, and many, many people delighted to be visiting the family or friends in their chosen ‘bubble’, have both been causes for celebration. However, there have been protest marches across the country which have had unpleasant side effects, especially in London, with violence aimed at the police and innocent strangers. Shocking images captured by people with mobile phones are truly upsetting. Pandora’s Box, would you say?

In the meantime, though, I am so very grateful for friends and family who lift us up. The gentle question, “Are you OK?” along with offers of help and practical suggestions of things we can do to lighten our mood is just wonderful. As my friend, Margaret, reminded me this evening, keep smiling! Yes, a smile uses for fewer muscles and takes much less effort than a frown. I’ll do my best.

So, the COVID-19 figures for the record: 181 deaths in all settings; 1,425 people infected as of 9 o’clock this morning. 14 deaths in hospitals up to 5 p.m. yesterday according to the NHS figures, with 38 confirmed for the day before.

Peace be with you and all your friends and families, and peace be with everyone you and they meet.