Is it Thursday? Yep, it sure is!! Oh, goody – bin day! I have raced around the house, finding every waste paper basket to empty and chucked their contents all in the bin, ready for collection tomorrow. It’s the highlight of the week…..so cathartic. There is something good about throwing away debris and defunct items leading to new beginnings, just so that you can do it all over again next week, isn’t there?
Anyway, despite the racing to empty waste paper baskets, we have moved at snail’s pace today. I was in the doldrums first thing, despite another cup of tea in bed courtesy of the ol’ man. I felt dodgy. Didn’t want to face the day, really. And I think John felt similarly as he took his drink and went back to bed.
By the time I thought about getting out of bed, I found I had tweaked my calf muscle overnight due to a ‘touch of cramp’ (an in-joke, if you’re wondering) and my arthritic joints were objecting to several of my movements. I am sure that the planned yoga class would have sorted me out, but I really felt too dodgy to try. I also felt too dodgy to try singing today, too. In the end, I cancelled both lessons and gently propelled myself downstairs and into the day.
I cooked breakfast and was pleased to hear the bedroom door open and close, then footsteps coming down the stairs just at the right moment to eat the food I was preparing. We sat at the breakfast bar and savoured the food, each other’s company, and the moment. It was lush.
“What are your plans for the day?” John enquired. “Erm… I think I am going to start sorting out the messy room upstairs and at least try and get the Christmas decorations into their respective boxes.” I replied. “What are your plans?” Poker. John planned to play poker all day. He did, however, think that a walk might be on the cards. I was pleased about that – see if we can strengthen him up a bit.
We set off mid-afternoon for our walk and planned to try a different path at the far end of Station Road. Regrettably, the path was exceedingly muddy. We ploughed through the first couple of hundred yards and came to a second gate, through which a lady was passing. She greeted us and said, looking at our footwear, that she thought we probably wouldn’t get very far from hereon in. It was rather boggy. We turned round and drove to the Lavender Hall Park instead – our favourite haunt – and enjoyed Katharine’s Wood. It was lovely.
Back home to a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a rest on the sofa. John had a little snooze, but I popped back upstairs to do a bit more sorting, before preparing the evening meal. I was able to sort nearly all of the Christmas stuff, with just one more box to go. I heard John’s words ringing in my ears, however, “We need to chuck some stuff out.” so I was mindful of this as I climbed to the top of the house. I had a little look at things I might throw out. The Moses basket – needed by a charitable organisation in Birmingham – that can go. Paul’s punch bag – does he still need it? I’ll ask. The old rucksack – what do you reckon John? Can that go? We’ll sell it, came the reply. Hmmm…. might need to wash it first….
There was the collection of badges – keep those; the collection of postcards – ooooh, keep; Nanan’s mirror – ah, I’ll just hide that at the back. I love that mirror even though I have nowhere to put it at the moment. And so on….until I came to a little selection of stickers with Paul’s name on, which choked me up – and then these… which made me smile. They’ve got to be thirty years old at least – but how apt!!
This evening I Zoomed with the college girls – and what balm for my soul that was. It is so good to see their beautiful, smiling faces. To hear their news and to share our lives with each other. I have said this before, so apologies for repeating myself, but their friendship is like a lovely, well-worn slipper. Just fits perfectly and so comfy. Long may it last.
John spent the evening playing poker and watching TV – catching up on programmes he’d missed out on while he was in hospital, I think. This morning, we were both hanging our heads with exhaustion, but by this evening, John looked heaps better. Must be all those good vibes everyone is sending across – thank you.
The national situation on COVID is still looking promising, although there are new variants being discovered at frequent intervals now. The vaccine looks like it might hold these at bay though, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
- 6,573 people tested positive for the virus today
- 242 people died in the community with the virus in the last 24 hours
- 80 people died in hospitals with the virus on 2 & 3 March
- Nearly 21 million people have had their fist injection of the vaccine; and nearly 1 million people have had their second.
We’re still locked down for the third time (Day 57) but everyone is preparing to go back to school next week, so the kids are on a high, really looking forward to seeing their friends, and their parents are on a high as they whoop with joy at no longer having to do homeschooling. Baby steps….
Take care everyone. God bless on this, the three-hundred-and-forty-fifth day since Lockdown One, and the three-hundred-and-fifty-third day since John and I huddled at home in March 2020.