Time Out

At this time of the year, as the winter months begin to take a back seat and spring hoves into view, I am normally to be found in a different habitat for a few days. A habitat that boasts of swimming pools, spas and treatment rooms. A habitat that is peopled by wonderful friends. A time of ‘time out’.

This year, sadly, there is no ‘time out’ in a spa retreat. No walking in the fields, candlelight stretches or walloping great dinners. No hanging the bottle of Prosecco out on the external windowsill to cool, no night-time swimming under the stars, or cosy ‘heads together’ as we puzzle over a crossword. This year, it’s a ‘do-it-yourself’ job and I intend to drift about at home in my dressing gown for a day or two, pretending I’m at Ragdale.

With that in mind, I made myself some Atholl Brose for breakfast (without the whisky, I hasten to add), spent half an hour in meditation and prayer this morning, and then had an hour at yoga class. It was good, but it wasn’t Ragdale…… And, as soon as I finished yoga today, I found myself even more wistful than before. Never mind…. there’s always next year.

John is still on the mend and the doctors are pleased that his lungs are not too bad, with the scan showing no deterioration since the last scan in November. The doctors are still bothered by the situation in his kidneys, however . “How much are you drinking, John?” Hmmm… a couple of jugsful of water and a few cups of tea/coffee a day. “Ok. We’re not sure that that’s enough. Try drinking a bit more. We may have to do a biopsy to see what’s going on if the kidneys don’t respond to the hydration therapy.” Crikey! If he drinks much more he’ll be afloat.

Fingers crossed, everyone, that 24 hours of drinking loads of water/tea/coffee will do the trick.

By now, of course, the ol’ man is getting a bit fed up. He’s run through his repertoire of listening to stories on his phone and Kindle Fire, reading his poker books, scrolling social media and watching telly. I said I’d take his laptop in. At least he could play poker if he wanted to. The only problem is, of course, is that the Wifi in the hospital is pretty naff. I normally buy some data on a SIM for a dongle when he’s in hospital, but we hadn’t done it this time, because we weren’t expecting him to be in this long.

Getting him some data for the dongle proved a little more difficult than normal. The Vodaphone shop is closed due to lockdown. The only thing I could get from the local OneStop shop was a ‘pay-as-you-go’ SIM card. Whether that will do the trick we don’t know. We’ll see.

In line with a ‘Ragdale habit’, I am planning to get into bed now and read my book. Might fall asleep. When I am at Ragdale, I spend a lot of time lying in bed asleep – catching up, usually, on a year’s worth of lost sleep and expended energy. I am going to try and take some ‘time out’ at home. I wonder how long that’ll last? Probably until tomorrow morning when I find a job to do…..

• 9,983 people tested positive for the virus today
• 323 people died in the community with the virus in the last 24 hours
• 135 people died in hospitals with the virus on 23 & 24 February
• And the days grind on in lockdown: Lockdown 3: Day 50; Lockdown 1: Day 338; self-imposed lockdown: Day 346

Take care everyone. God bless. And enjoy this, from Pam Ayres – made me smile, anyway.

For many months now, we have felt on the skids
We can't meet our friends, and we can't hug the kids
But friends, be emboldened! All may not be lost
For the crocus of hope, she has poked through the frost.