The Daily Echo: Day 221

Well, I am dead impressed with myself and the hairdresser. I am also impressed with John who was up and about before I’d finished my bath this morning. That’s good news because, although he still feels tired and is constantly out of breath, he felt well enough to face the day at a reasonable hour today. Yay!

I was impressed with myself for not feeling too nervous about going to the hairdresser’s and I was impressed with the hairdresser because she took absolutely every precaution going to keep her, and me, safe. Mask, goggles, visor, hand gel, temperature check and distancing as far as she could, given the job she had to do. All good and I came out feeling like a ‘new me’. See me grin…….

After I’d been and had a haircut I went over to Paul’s for a cuppa. It was lovely to see him and have a chat. He was ‘working from home’ but he hadn’t done much working at that point, having been tied up with a bit of tidying up and then chatting to me. I didn’t stay very long – just long enough to down a welcome brew – and then left him to it so that he could get on.

I walked up into Kenilworth to go to Boots because, having had my hair cut, I thought it looked like it needed some more hair colour on it now, so braved going into the shop for box of ‘Nice ‘n Easy’. While I was in there, I saw a shelf full of photo albums, all reduced, so I bought the lot. I recently found a few bags of photographs that are still snuggling into their original wallets from twenty years ago, so plan to slot them into albums……. one day……

The open air market was on in the square today so I stopped and bought some fresh fish and vegetables for tea. I bought a fish I hadn’t heard of before called ‘Megrim’, which was very tasty. It’s a flat fish, a bit like plaice, and it has an alternative name of ‘Whiff’……. glad I didn’t know the alternative name before I bought it!

I tottered back to Paul’s where I’d parked the car, laden with bags. It’s all very well buying stuff in the square, but it feels like a long walk back up to the end of the High Street when you’ve got a heavy bag or two. I almost fell into the car.

John had spent the morning on self-care, warming his sore eyes with an eye mask, resting on the sofa and then having a tidy-up which tidied his mind too. Once I was back in through the front door he was out in the garage tinkering with wooden boarding on the walls. The idea being that the wooden boards will accommodate hanging things up. That’ll be a first. You know what we’re like….. we’ve spent our lives with a ‘floordrobe’ for clothes and tools…… Mind you, he’s done a good job and it’ll be good to have a place for everything.

I washed the shopping and put it away, prepped lunch and then, after we’d eaten, I was about to get my paintbrush out when I took an excited phone call from Philomena. Thrill of thrills, she has just been told that her new flat is ready. “Come and sign on the dotted line,” they said. I am over the moon at the news. It’s so exciting. She has been telling me about this particular accommodation for a year or two when she put her name down for it, and she’s been waiting patiently ever since. Not that we’re gloating, but it’s one in the eye for one of her friends who said, rather meanly, “You’ll never get one of those.” Well, she has, so there! Big hugs to Phil.

The paintbrush didn’t get picked up in the end. Instead, I wafted about the house trying to decide where to put the new painting that Paul and Harriet had bought us. In the end, I found a nice little spot in the lounge. The only trouble was, the floor lamp that was in the corner didn’t suit the new arrangement, so I spent a while faffing about with different lamps from different areas to get the effect I was after. The upshot of all that is – the painting is on the wall; an old floor lamp is in a new place; and I will be buying a new lamp for the now naked other corner of the room.

The photo I’ve taken of it isn’t great, but I am keen to share the lovely painting with everyone, cos I love it! Ta-da!

After we’d eaten our evening meal we both flopped onto the sofa and just stayed there, scrolling through the TV channels. After all, we’d both had a busy day one way another, don’t you know!!

Of course, we did watch the headlines of the news and are informed that 21,242 people were infected with the virus in the last twenty-four hours; 189 people died in the community in that time and 99 people died in hospitals on 20 & 21 October. No comment…….

Take care as best you can. God bless.