I woke up early. Then listened. Was it raining? No, it didn’t sound like it. I lay for a while and then peeked out under the bedroom blind to confirm the state of the weather. It was overcast but dry. I decided to go for a stroll before the dog-walkers were about.
I didn’t see anyone, but I did see a bus coming towards me. I slowed to avoid a repeat of yesterday whereby I am walking on the pavement, the bus is travelling on the road, the bus ploughs through a deep, dastardly puddle and I, not suspecting a thing, get soaked. Ha! Missed me today!!
The walk did me good and I felt refreshed, ready for the day. Not that I’d got plans as such, but the house tidy-up is now required after a few days of ignoring the bits and bobs laying about. Especially with John labouring away at the ‘office-cum-gym’, I feel an imperative to complement his work. So, today it was a clear-out of the utility room which was still strewn with tools, paintbrushes, plant pots and spare drugs that had yet to be installed in their rightful box.
All tidied and mostly cleaned – apart from the floor – it’ll be the shower room next and then onto the painting of the newly floored room, I hope. The more I think about the room, the less I like the new name, ‘the gym’. Admittedly, it does have the cross-trainer in it, but I’m leaning more towards a little ‘snug’. I’ll let that sit with us for a while and see what we think.
We had a generally relaxed sort of day. Snoozing on and off in between chores and jobs, picking up TV viewing for a little while – there was the 1993 Women’s Final from Wimbledon and a Test Match to look forward to. Well, Wimbledon, at least, wasn’t rained off……
John pottered in the garage with his Lotus for a bit, tinkering with the final pieces of sound-deadening in the boot area and tidying it up, before he had a lie-down in bed to inspect the back of his eyelids. I prepped the evening meal, popped it in the oven, before sitting in the lounge and inspecting the back of my eyelids. Not sure if Mum did her own eyelid inspection this afternoon, but I doubt it, as she didn’t get up until one o’clock.
I was relieved though today, not to hear those oft-said words, “Anne, are you asleep?” just as I’m dropping off. I thought maybe she hadn’t noticed my somnolence, but as soon as I woke up it was, “You’ve been asleep, haven’t you?” And is it just me, but is there an accusation in there somewhere? Surely not.
Just before our evening meal, the doorbell rang, and it was one of the managers from Mum’s sheltered accommodation delivering a handful of her post. I persuaded Mum to come to the front door. “It’s Mandy, come to say hello.” I said. Mum shook her head – she had absolutely no idea who I was talking about but, dutifully, she did haul herself from her chair and away from watching ‘The Chase’ to see who it was. “Hello, Mandy,” she said, as she neared the door – clearly, she did recognise her after all.
After we’d eaten this evening, it was quiz time. John was Quiz Master for our Centre Stage friends and we had a cracking evening. The questions were hard, but enjoyable, and there was no dispute over the answers until just before the end. Ah-ha! said Nigel. I know the answer to this one. I know because I compiled a quiz on the exact same question. We demurred a bit and suggested an alternative answer. No. Absolutely 100% sure it’s Greece. We acquiesced. The answer came. It wasn’t Greece. It wasn’t our other proposed answer either. We all laughed. Nigel was still sure it was Greece.
We spent the next fifteen minutes giggling our heads off, cheeks aching, sides splitting, as Nigel justified his answer and why John’s answer wasn’t right. Maps were consulted, Google was brought into play, more maps pored over, degrees latitude were considered, and no matter how it was presented, Nigel was adamant. Oh, but it was just soooo funny. And Nigel is such a great sport. He took all our laughter on the chin and joined in himself. “I’m a bit competitive.” he said sheepishly, as we drew the quiz to a close. We don’t mind – in fact, we quite like it.
So, what’s new in the COVID-19 picture? Very little. It’s still there, people are still catching the darned virus, and still dying from it. The government report that 126 people died in all settings up until five o’clock yesterday. The report also tells us that 630 people were confirmed as infected. Deaths in hospitals, according to the NHS report, were 4 people yesterday and 11 confirmed for the day before.
Better news, though, is that the government have some plans to support people in getting back on their feet. The proof will be in the pudding as the packages announced today roll out, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will ease a bit for all those suffering the most – although there is bound to be the devil in the detail……..
Take care. God bless.
I feel you are more ‘snug’ people than ‘gym’ people – gym implies competitive, snug is all warm, welcoming and, well, snuggly 🙂 xxxx
Ahhh…… that’s true, but John tells me he thinks he might prefer to call it the gym. What does that say about us??😂😂😂