It’s Sunday already!

Crikey! Sundays come round fast don’t they? It seems only yesterday that it was Sunday. And today is the first Sunday in Advent. Counting down to Christmas and the birth of Jesus in a stable. Not really counting down to gorging ourselves on fine food, fine wine and fine gifts, honest guv……but, given the sort of year that we have had, I am not at all surprised that lots of people want to start counting down early. Christmas decorations are up in the village and houses are bedecked already. I have even ordered my turkey, just in case we might need it.

Still having a faith wobble, the Advent season started me thinking about the significance of the Christian teachings. Everything that Christ taught makes sense for a peaceful world, so it’s no wonder that his word has been picked up and acted on over the centuries. Being kind to each other, avoiding the jealousies that arise, and having a day’s rest is all good advice. But did I have a day’s rest? Ha! No. I forgot to take him at his word. And this is what we do, isn’t it? We forget to abide by the gentle things in life. We’re still hell-bent on ‘getting back to normal’ and driving forward as hard as we can. I don’t know what the answer is, but I do pray for peace and harmony.

And there was peace and harmony in my life today, despite the fact that I didn’t have a day of rest. John and I wafted through the day quite nicely – although if truth be told, John was asleep for a fair bit of the afternoon, so perhaps that’s why I thought we were getting along quite well. Tee-hee. I popped over to Mum’s where I found that she was very well, happy to see me and contented just to chit-chat.

Mum was funny though. We always have a bit of a giggle and today was no different. We pottered about putting her washing away, made a cup of tea and went through her post. I had a bit of a shock with the latter though – there were two empty envelopes. Mum never has empty envelopes. She keeps letters in them for ever – even from the 1980s. And she had no idea where the contents were. We didn’t find the contents either. I am sure they’ll be there somewhere in the flat but where, exactly, is anybody’s guess. Mum chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.

Then we sat down for a chat. The conversation paused for a minute or two and then she suddenly stood up, out of her chair, humming to the tune ‘I was born under a wandering star’ and started to jiggle a little dance. Once she’d finished, she said, “I do do some funny things sometimes.” and sat down again, adding, “And now I’ll have a silly little sit.” Well, we both roared with laughter. I mean, there’s not a lot you can say to all that, is there? She knew she was being a bit daft and laughed at herself, inviting me to join in, too.

I showed her pictures of all the family and the things that had been going on since I last went round and she was delighted to see them all. She wanted to hug everyone, and made that gesture each time a new photo came on the screen before turning a rather baleful eye at me and saying, “I wish I could hold them all.” Me too, Mum. Me too.

When I got home, John was awake and watching the Grand Prix. What a shocking race with such an horrific accident, with Romain Grosjean’s car bursting into flames. We were reminded of the Niki Lauda crash many years ago and feared that Grosjean might suffer the same fate, but the introduction of the ‘halo’ in the Formula One cars undoubtedly saved his life and his lungs. Technology has its uses after all – he was within the inferno for at least ten seconds – so what a relief when we saw him climbing over the barrier.

So, my day of ‘doings’ – painting, ironing my newly washed ‘library’ curtains and visiting Mum, is over and an evening spent in front of the TV and trashy programmes is just the ticket. John has taken his cough and ‘Puffing Billy’ chest to bed, in the hope that tomorrow he’ll feel a bit better. I hope he does, because tomorrow, all being well, is a Freddie Day!!! Woohoo!

Today’s COVID figures look a bit better, so here are the stats:

• 12,155 people were confirmed as having contracted the virus today
• 215 people died of its effects in the community
• 145 people died of its effects in hospitals over the last couple of days
• Today is Day 25 of Lockdown 2, and it’s
• Day 256 since we started our isolation in March

Take care everyone. Keep safe. Enjoy what you can and God bless.