It’s all tickety-boo…

We’re getting there….. that’s what someone I used to meet at church said all the time and I wondered, each and every time they said it, where are we getting to? Well, after all these years, I still don’t know, but all I know is – we’re definitely getting there!

In this instance, I am, of course, referring to our DIY exploits. And specifically, the lounge. Nearly there – although you wouldn’t believe it, but we have found another job to do in there now, on top of the curtain shortening I mentioned the other day. I rounded the corner and made my way into the library area to admire the radiator cover, so nicely installed. Oh. I didn’t like it. Unfortunately, the radiator itself is as tall as the windowsill. So the radiator cover is a good centimetre proud of the windowsill and looks very silly. In fact, it looks ashamed of itself. I mean, you can almost see its hunched shoulders as it tries to squat down to the right height. It knows it’s all wrong. Hmmm….. whatever shall we do?

There are three options: 1) have no radiator cover at all; 2) leave it as it is in all its gloriously embarrassing state; 3) replace the radiator. Now, which one do you reckon we are going for? The easiest option of no cover at all? Nope. The most difficult option, of course! Replacing the radiator. John just loves a challenge.

However, having made that decision, we have now cleared out all of the tools from the lounge and we actually sat in there feeling less like we were in a hotel lobby this afternoon. I must have felt comfortable because I fell asleep on the new sofa. There, that’s acceptance and contentment for you.

I was tired, but it wasn’t as if I’d done a great deal today at all. I had pottered about with housework and some ironing and looked into paying a few bills for Mum. We had then taken ourselves over to Sutton to gather up some cardboard to take to the re-cycling centre on Sunday. John has booked a slot as we have a bit of our own cardboard to take (as per my photo on Monday) plus some empty paint tins and, no doubt, other stuff we’ll be able to find between now and then. So, we thought it would be worth our while to take the pile that the Sutton Sleaths had gathered over Christmas.

In fact, I was weary enough to suggest, once we got back home, that we get fish and chips for tea this evening. We have a fridge and freezer full of lovely things, but to have to think about what to put together felt beyond me today. But the fish and chip supper is a blessing in disguise. There’s not a lot to clear away or wash up after we’ve eaten. Oh, whoopee!

So, why is it all tickety-boo? Well, things have felt good. For example, the Kirby man came and serviced the vacuum cleaner this morning (I made him do it in the porch), so that feels good; we’ve cleared the lounge and it’s tidy, so that feels good; we have done a good deed on the cardboard front, so that also feels positive; I paid bills – and that always makes you feel virtuous, doesn’t it? I phoned the supplier of the fitness wrist band I’d bought John, only to find it is faulty – and they said they send a new one, so that was a result.

And then, it was leisure time this evening with Quiz Night. And that always makes us feel wonderful. There is always the mental challenge of course, trying to answer questions that you think you might know the answer to; and then there’s the chit-chat about how everyone is and what is happening outside our own four walls; and finally, there is always laughter. Someone always says something to make us chuckle.

If that wasn’t enough, the news today has been upbeat. The vaccine seems to keep the infection rate at bay in a lot of cases, and those who are being monitored for antibodies, having previously contracted the virus, are shown to have immunity at least 6 months later. Positive stuff which stirs hope.

And finally, finally, I feel good because I managed to video myself doing one of the readings for next Sunday’s service and send it on a new-fangled platform called ‘wetransfer‘. I expect you will all have heard of it, but it was new to me. And I navigated it perfectly. *Does a little dance*

Meanwhile, people clapped for Captain Sir Tom and the NHS at 6 o’clock this evening – although we didn’t. All this clapping malarkey feels very hollow to me. It shouldn’t take a 100 year-old man to be raising millions of pounds for the NHS. Neither should it be that the reward for the exhausting, draining work the NHS staff do, is just applause. We have to get better than this. I don’t know how – other than writing to my MP and signing petitions to force a debate in Parliament – but clapping on our doorsteps just doesn’t cut it now that we are a year in, in my opinion.

• 19,202 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,322 people died in the community from it in the last 24 hours
• 313 people died in hospitals on 1 & 2 February

Restrictions are still in force until at least 8 March. I think I might be OK with that, if we can have more tickety-boo days like today. Fingers crossed that we do. We are now 29 days in to our third lockdown, and I am praying that those less fortune than us will be blessed and find the strength and wisdom to get through the next 30 days without a nervous breakdown. It’s a long haul – 321 days since we shut in last March but Spring is on its way. There are snowdrops and daffodils out already.

And baby Arthur is a little character and doing as well as he should be – thank the Lord.

Take care everyone. God bless.