It’s a shambles now…

Well, whatever is there to say about today? I am referring, of course, to the situation on the border. No-one to leave the country – we’re banned. Which, of course, means that there’ll be trouble with getting goods in. No-one is going to want to come in if they can’t get back out, are they? Ostensibly, the ban is for 48 hours. And the fallout will last….oooh, well into weeks I should think. It’s beginning to feel like…..well, not Christmas anyway…..

The ban, of course, is because of a variant strain of the COVID virus that no-one quite knows whether it will respond to the vaccine we’ve set our store by. I do hope it does or we’re in for a lot of welly.

Not only that, but 35,928 people were confirmed as infected with the virus today. That’s a whacking great score whichever way you look at it. 326 people have died from the virus today in the community and we’ve breached the 2k mark on hospital admissions with 2,034 people going in – in one day; and 161 people died in hospitals in the last couple of days. ‘In the bleak midwinter…our people made moan…‘

Anyway, enough doom and gloom for now. We had a relatively good day. I spent all day wrapping parcels, thriftily using up bits of paper I had in the cupboard. I have got to the stage now, though, of coveting the three large rolls of paper I saw at my Mum’s the other day. I mean, she’s not going to be wrapping presents, is she? It’ll be me doing her wrapping, so I can have them, can’t I?

John spent all day with his head in and around the new dishwasher. He has managed to fit it into the space designated for it and he’s had it going. The only worrying thing is that there are lots of bits of the machine left on the work surface….. screws and widgets and such like. Fingers crossed the machine doesn’t need them.

Having said I wasn’t going to go into Solihull again, I did. I had an emergency purchase to make. We calculated when it would be the least busy and plumped on late afternoon, just before the shops shut. And right enough, it wasn’t rammed and I was able to keep 2 metres apart from everyone. The only problem was that I found myself at the wrong branch of the shop I’d ordered goods from. “Sorry, this isn’t here. It’s Sears Retail Park.” smiled the young lady behind the counter. Oh. Darn it. We had to get a dash on then to get to the Retail Park in Shirley before it shut. We did, but I had to wait in a queue which did my nerves no good at all. However, the shop was very large and airy and the doors were open, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed no bugs got past either my mask or my visor.

We had an unexpected visit from Paul today. The doorbell rang and there he was smiling at us on the doorstep. I can’t tell you how my heart flips whenever I see the kids at our door these days. Anyway, he’d been along to Costco to do the shopping and happened to see a ‘paleo’ product and thought of us. How thoughtful, eh? So, we had a bit of a chinwag on the doorstep before he had to go, but it was lovely.

It being a Sunday and the week before Christmas, I had made up my mind to go to the socially-distanced Service of Carols and Lessons this evening. John thought he might come along, too. This year, the plan was to have five carols and five lessons instead of the standard nine. And, of course, no singing. Although, to be fair, the intention was to have a few of the choir singing. However, with the ‘new’ bug and all, I wasn’t sure whether I was comfortable with the singing bit. Maybe we’d be alright if we sat at the back? Or in the hall? Then, two of my friends, who are in the choir, said they were not going to sing after all. So, in the end, we ducked out. I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t feel brave, but there we are. Better safe than sorry, I think.

So, that was us today. Take care. God bless us all and give us strength to face all the challenges coming our way – today and every day.