Being a Sunday…..

…… I went to church. I wasn’t sure that I was going to get there after the cocktails last night, but I was awake in time and so I got up and went. The theme for the day? The Wilderness…… made me smile. Okay, Okay, I get it! We’re in the wilderness where we find stuff out about ourselves….. all is not lost, and from the emptiness there are new beginnings. Right. Thank you. I won’t despair then. I’ll just be patient and wait for different times.

Once I was back from church, John was getting up so we had nice little elevenses together at the breakfast bar. Then, it was time to get on. I was on the final straight on the sprucing up of the annexe room. A lick of paint on the door and a tidy up of the emulsion at the bottom of the wall and……voilà! There we are, all done. Just got to sort out the furniture in there now.

When I’d finished the bit of painting it was lunchtime, so I sat down for a rest before setting off to Mum’s. I left John watching the final of the rugby. He was, of course, rooting for England, but he wasn’t sure that they’d win. The French are always a tricky side and unpredictable. In the end, England did triumph, but only after extra time. John wasn’t so sure they deserved it but, as they say, a win’s a win no matter what.

Mum was very well today, but her memory is shocking. I thought I’d get her thinking about sending a few Christmas cards and went through her address book to see which labels I needed to print out. “Do you want to send a card to Judith?” I asked. She had no idea who it was I was talking about. I went through the relationships of how she knew Judith. Nope. Not a memory of any of the people to whom she was related. We decided to send the card anyway. But that was the pattern throughout.

We got to talking about whether she’d like to send gifts to people. “Well, yes, I’d like to send a present to the people who are important to me,” she said. OK. Which people are you thinking of? Who is important to you, Mum? She was stumped. No idea. I thought I’d kick-start her thought processes, and ask if I might be on the important list. She teased, and thought hard as to whether I was important enough for a present. But it didn’t kick-start any ideas at all. And really, she was sad that she couldn’t remember people. I told her it doesn’t matter, as long as she’s happy. And yes, she said she was. So that’s a bonus.

John thought I’d been a long time at Mum’s. I was a bit longer than usual as I didn’t want to hurry her and cause anxiety. I was only there a couple of hours, but I think it seemed longer to John. Anyway, he’d been thoroughly enjoying himself, first with the rugby and then the Grand Prix that was just starting. So much enjoying himself, that he offered to cook the tea. And he did a brilliant job – it was delicious.

Distressingly though, John is having a bit of a rough time of it. His eyes have been sore for a good few weeks now, so we were delighted when the consultant suggested some additional treatments which should make them easier. The consultant did warn John though, that one of them was ‘stingy and stinky’. We’re not so sure about the ‘stinky’ bit, but they sure are stingy. Poor John is having to put the drops in six times a day with the accompanying pain each time. It’s not an easy time just now. What with that and his chest still wheezing away like a concertina. I hadn’t asked, but prayers were said for him at church today. Hoping it’ll help…..

This evening, John whiled away the time by playing poker on the computer – a new hobby on the free games. Well, at least it’ll keep him off the streets! I spent an hour sorting out the office cabinet in the annexe room. Still one or two business-related items which are settled in there. Tidy, and staying put. Afterwards it was Strictly to find out who was getting the push today.

We haven’t watched much of the news today, but we know that the vaccine against COVID has arrived in the country; the Brexit talks are on a knife-edge and people are still getting COVID and dying from it. Stats below.

• 15,539 people were confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 397 people died from the virus in the community today
• 132 people died from the virus in hospitals over the last couple of days.
• Today is Day 5 of our Tier 3 since Lockdown 2 ended
• And we have spent 263 days ‘keeping safe’ since the first Lockdown started in March. We have been huddling at the back of our cave as much as we can.

Take care everyone. God bless.