Triumph

We are delighted to report that March is at an end and the totting up of miles walked and monies raised for the Anthony Nolan Trust’s ‘Jog 30 miles in March’ have been counted. Total miles ‘jogged’ i.e. walked? 30.5 miles. Total monies raised between the Facebook Page, John’s JustGiving Page and private cash donations? Just over £800. We are calling that a result!!!

What a triumph over adversity. John, whose middle name is ‘Mr Determined’, never gave up and doggedly bashed out the miles come rain or shine. I was ready to stand proxy ‘just in case’ but was never needed. He did it all himself. What a man.

John has declared that he intends to carry on walking as often as he can because the exercise has really helped in conditioning his strength – great news that he can climb the stairs to fetch what he needs now, without necessarily having me run the errand. Let’s hope that the motivation will continue.

And so to today. John felt a bit tired this morning and had a bit of a snuffly nose. No idea where that has come from – the fields of rapeseed, which are bursting out their pollen just now? Maybe. But, just in case, I jumped into my panic suit and insisted that he do a Lateral Flow Test, because we planned to visit Carol and John this afternoon. All clear – phew!

My test was clear, too, so off I went to yoga, which was great. Felt so much better for the class, apart from the fact that balance wasn’t my thing this morning and those side planks? Oh, Lordy!

Once I was back from class, we bustled about to get ready to go up to Carol and John’s for lunchtime. John was still snuffling, so I jumped into my panic suit again, and insisted that he do a PCR test ‘just in case’. The only trouble was, he’d not long had his breakfast and then he was just enjoying a cup of coffee. Oh…can’t do it yet. OK, we’ll wait half an hour then. “I’ll just nip up to the Cross household while we wait,” I said to John, “I’m just going to drop a ‘get well’ gift in for Jack on the doorstep.”

I chatted to Pete and Dawn from the drive for ten minutes or so and then went back home. John was still drinking his coffee. Oh, blimey! “At this rate we’re never going to get going,” I groaned. “I’ll do the test in the car on the way,” John suggested. I jumped into my panic suit again, and thought that might not be the safest way to conduct the test. John waved away my concerns and so we set off.

Half an hour into the journey, John rummaged in the glove compartment, “Want a chocolate?” he asked, as he popped a couple of Minstrels into his mouth. “No, thank you,” I replied, my eyes glued to road. I wasn’t saying anything. 30 seconds later, the penny dropped. “Oh, damn! I’ll have to wait another half an hour before I can do the test now,” John grinned. Hey ho.

Anyway, he did the test when we arrived and we posted it off, so I got out of my panic suit for a few hours – especially as the snuffles seemed to be disappearing the longer the day went on.

We had a fabulous afternoon at Carol and John’s. Dear, lovely Carol was celebrating her birthday today, so how brilliant that we could join in. We socially distanced as best we could and had windows open and all negative LFTs, so we were confident in enjoying each others’ company.

We ate posh snacks and posh cookies and drank pink Prosecco adorned with raspberries; Carol and I went for a walk while the men nattered; and then we had a Christmas dinner. Yes, that’s right – a beautiful 3-bird roast and all the trimmings, roast potatoes and all the veg. Oooh, it was delicious!!

I say that the men nattered – well, they did, non-stop all afternoon. Ha! But so did Carol and I – non-stop all afternoon and well into the evening. I might have said this before, but it is so good to be among dear friends.

Here’s the Birthday Girl, looking fabulous.

Take care everyone. God bless.