Shielding and Bubbling, Day 151

I was pleased that I had got out of bed early and made a start on the day betimes today. Why? Well, late last night both John and I separately offered a continuance of our support for the Sutton Sleaths, but because it was late, we hadn’t had a reply. Early morning (well, eight o’clock anyway) and they’d texted to say they’d spend the day at our house. By nine o’clock they were walking through the front door. Glad I wasn’t still in bed!

Fortunately, no dog today, so no cat-chasing by him, just cat-chasing by William who roared through the cat flap at Shadow sitting outside. Shadow blinked a weary eye at him and turned his head in disdain. No, that roar didn’t bother him in the least, and he was brave enough to saunter about the house all day despite les enfants.

Cups of tea dispensed and pains aux raisins in the oven for elevenses later, saw Michael disappear into the dining room to settle into his work, Danielle settle into the lounge on the settee, and William running in to the rummage through the toys. “Come on, Grandma/Grandpa, (apparently we are now known as a pair) come and play with me,” says William, and we oblige.

The weather was still warm mid-morning with no real hint of rain, so we packed a little backpack for William, full of nice things to eat, and we set off on a ‘Bear Hunt’. We just went round the Yellow Brick Road, but I saw it in a new light as Danielle brought to life all the things to look for on a Bear Hunt. “Look, William, can you see the bear’s paw prints in the mud?” These? Dog prints in the molehills. “See, William, where the bear has leaned on a tree to scratch his back?” This? Two or three trees skewed over by the wind. “Oh, wow! Just look at that, William. The bear has been sharpening his claws on the tree.” This one? The striated bark on several trees. I thoroughly enjoyed my bear hunt – and so did William, of course. Only thing was, we didn’t actually find any bears, which was disappointing for both of us. Next time, maybe.

What we did find on the walk, though, were blackberries. Yes, I know you are all probably yawning and saying, yea, yea, we know all about them, but for me the volume of ripened fruit was a thrill in the middle of August. We grabbed a little bag and picked them. “Not the ones low down though, William…..” you know the rest….. So, we brought our haul home for our tea and made a delicious apple and blackberry crumble with custard. Lush.

We sat awhile on a bench for our snack, and then turned our footsteps home, William chattering all the way. Once home, elevenses were demolished, and it was soon lunchtime, then nap-time.

Michael emerged for his lunch and then took William upstairs to bed. William was soon snoozing away, having expended a fair bit of energy on the walk. Hmmm, snoozing ……. funny that. After lunch, so was I. And Danielle. And Thomas. And John (although he had no excuse, as he hadn’t been on the walk). Michael, apparently, had taken a break from work at one point for a bit of a chat, only to find that every single member of the household was fast asleep. Well, someone’s got to earn the money, haven’t they?

After our naps, it was playtime once more and then, with time vanishing fast, it was time to prepare an evening meal. Crikey! Where’d the day go?

Thomas, bless him, was once more as good as gold. Waking up to be fed, as pleasant as can be while awake, and grinning at us now. I reckon he’s going to be a cheeky boy!! I didn’t do much dandling today, but what I did was lovely. Thomas was asleep a lot of the time, or just awake in his bouncy chair or on the play mat, watching the world go by. “He must be growing with all that sleep,” said Danielle. He sure is. If you stretched him out, I don’t think he’d fit in his pram for much longer. Fortunately, he likes to curl his legs up and snuggle to the bottom of the pram, so I think we’ll be OK for a while yet.

We waved goodbye to them all as Michael pulled the car off the drive, only for him to screech to halt. What? What have they forgotten? Danielle, sheepish, leapt out of the car and retrieved her phone…. which she had left on the roof of the car. Phew. That was a close one. Bye! Bye! Bye then!! See you all soon.

We collapsed into the sofas and surveyed the room. Had we been burgled? Was it a war zone? No, just a visit from the grand kids!! Tee-hee-hee!

A touch of telly to relax, a nice cuppa, and the day strolled to an end. Lovely. So nice to be able to ignore all the horrible goings-on in the world and just envelope ourselves with love and laughter every day just now. Too soon we will be agonising over exam results for our youngsters, no doubt, just as they are doing today.

Let us hope that by then we will no longer be agonising over the COVID-19 death and infection rates. The government has published figures today on the new basis of deaths ‘within 28 days of a positive test’. 18 today, with 1,009 cases of people confirmed as infected – same number as yesterday. The NHS reports one death yesterday from the virus.

And there we have it – another ‘day in the life of village folk‘. A beautiful, gentle rhythm at the moment for which we are eternally grateful, thank the Lord. Take care everyone and God bless.