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Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest, Till your Good is Better, And your Better is Best.

We learnt this new saying today when Dawn quoted it while she and Peter were round for coffee. We hadn’t heard it before and we thought it was rather good and something to follow, being as we’re currently in the doldrums! Apparently it’s St Jerome – the chap who translated the Bible into Latin in the Middle Ages.

I had hoped to get to yoga class this morning but couldn’t quite manage all the things you have to do before you get out of the door by nine o’clock, so missed it once again. So I’m not even ‘good’ yet! Hoping to do ‘better’ and get there next week – fingers crossed, anyway.

We had a lovely chat, of course, and thoroughly enjoyed Pete and Dawn’s company this morning. Fortunately, they don’t ask much of us, so there’s no rushing around trying to impress. Although I did apologise for the state of the porch which was still bearing witness to the muddy flood we had before Christmas. “I hope that the next time you come, I might have mopped the floor!” I said, laughing, as they went out of the front door. And do you know what? A miracle happened this afternoon and someone had been and mopped the floor……. there are angels after all! Thank you, Peter!!

John shot off to Tudor Grange Sports Centre at lunchtime after we’d said our goodbyes to Pete and Dawn. He’d been referred to another exercise class to help with his breathing. He had a consultation with them and they agreed to take him on for a six-week course. After that, it’ll be access to the gym under his own steam. That’ll be interesting.

Once John was back, I grabbed the car keys and popped over to Linda and Brendan’s to drop the laptop back to them that they’d lent us months ago, when John was in hospital. I enjoyed a cup of tea and half an hour of their company before I went on to the hairdressers in Kenilworth for a haircut.

Home again, and we watched a programme that John had put on, about the American financial fraudster, Madoff – but we both fell asleep watching it as it ploughed on with its documentary.

We are both amused and bemused at our constant fallings-asleep-on-the-sofa-in-the-afternoons, but we are hopeful that our new regime of walking most days will strengthen us up and it’ll be a thing of the past as Spring emerges in a few weeks time.

And, because I didn’t post any photos at Christmas, I thought I’d post one now. We’re keen to start feeling as happy as we were then……. such a good time we had!

Take care everyone. God bless.

I was up with the lark this morning because the roofer arrived not long after 8 o’clock. He was simply tidying up the last few bits and clearing away the debris. There are, however, some roof tiles to replace that were damaged as the work was done, so he’s promised to come back and do that sometime. Now, what do we think folks? Will he be back? What odds are you offering? My money is on him returning – but don’t know when.

John was also up relatively early, too, so that was good. He did a bit of fiddling about with his tax return while I nipped up to the pharmacy to get my prescription. And then, we said, “Shall we go to another park for a walk?” So we did.

I grabbed the picture frame we’d bought yesterday so that we could exchange it for a larger one, and I also picked up the trousers that I’d bought for Andrew at Christmas to exchange them, too. Off into Coventry we went. Did the exchanges and drove to the Memorial Park.

It’s such a long time since we’ve been there. We had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, it was flat and John was able to walk without too much difficulty and we didn’t bless too many benches with our bottoms today. We walked as far as the Aviary and had a little look at the birds before sitting in a sunny corner for a rest.

We then moved on to the coffee shop in the Formal Garden and bought ourselves a cuppa and a piece of cake there. The sun was shining beautifully and it was warm. As I looked over John’s shoulder, I thought it looked lush, almost as if we were in the Mediterranean, with a bright blue sky, sunshine, palm trees and ‘Le Bistro’. What do you think?

We had promised ourselves a McDonalds on the way home, so fought our way through various roadworks cluttering up the byways of Coventry and settled in for a ‘meal in’. At the time you have a Maccy-D’s you always think it’ll be great, but the by the time you’ve eaten it, you always feel like you shouldn’t have. John was excited because they had a strawberry milkshake on the menu – something they haven’t had for ages. Thoroughly enjoyed it at the time and then found it had offered him a little bit of indigestion, if he’d like?

Home again, and John cosied himself on the sofa for a sleep while I popped the TV on for a bit of a rest. Oh! Alright then. Sleep. We were both a-snoozing away for a while.

I had plans for the evening – colour my hair, compile a photobook, change the bedsheets….. but I was jiggered and all I got done was the bed. Yawn….. must be bedtime now.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We actually got ourselves out of the house today. We had a long lie-in of course, despite my best intentions, and then faffed about until lunchtime. We had thought we might try walks in a variety of different parks to give us a change of scenery and a little bit of exercise over the coming days and weeks, so John suggested St Nicholas’ Park in Warwick today, so off we set.

On the way, I said, “Did you pick up a stick, John?” He was dismissive, “Nah, don’t need it,” he said. And he managed very well without it, as we went along arm in arm.

The weather was balmy, the sun was shining and the coffee shop was open. Had a lovely little walk and then called into the café where we ordered hot chocolate and a toasted teacake for John. and a chamomile tea and coffee cake for me. It was lovely.

We took ourselves for another little walk stopping by the riverside, before we set off home, to watch the fishermen as they dipped their rods, catching the occasional fish. We enjoyed ourselves and were pleased we’d made the effort.

On the way home, taking the scenic road along the ‘Leisure Route’, we called in at Hobbycraft in Coventry to buy a frame for the jigsaw I’d done of the family. “Oh, bother! I didn’t take the measurements!” I exclaimed as we drove there. No worries, John thought we’d be able to tell the size. And we were able to tell, exactly what we needed. Except we forgot to take into account the bit of border you need to make it pretty. It’ll be another trip into town tomorrow then!

Once we were home, John watched TV and I toddled into the garden with my RSPB checklist to see if I could spot any birds. I had planned to get up early to do this little bit of bird-watching, but I was too lazy. I thoroughly enjoyed looking out for the birds but by mid-afternoon I think they were having their afternoon siesta so didn’t see that many.

And there we are. An evening meal, a spot of evening TV and the day is done. Weary, because we seemed to pack a lot in. We chuckled to ourselves that we’d had ‘a busy day’. I really can’t wait to be back on top form – all this post-Covid lark is irritating me now!!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

Blogging is a bit hit and miss just now. Wiped out by Covid for most of January, I thought I was on the mend and had three days in a row this week where I thought we were on the up. Ha! So much for that hopeful thought!

I had a horrible headache and wobbly vision on Thursday; felt washed out on Friday; and not a great deal better today. Although, I have to say, that Michael bringing the children for a short visit to our house this morning cheered us both up.

John is feeling a lot better Covid-wise and has tested negative for the dreaded lurgy, but he’s not feeling wonderful. It’s often the way at this time of the year. And, of course, he is totally fed up of being an invalid. We can’t decide if the lethargy comes from not doing anything very much, or from feeling under weather and not wanting to do anything.

For example, Centre Stage have been putting on their panto. I was disappointed not to have gone to see it last weekend, but promised myself that we’d make it this weekend once we were feeling better. But when it came to it, we had no energy to get ourselves out of the door this evening. Arrgghhh!!!

Ah well, we keep plodding on and are sure things will look up soon. The nights are drawing out and the weather is just a bit warmer so we’ll welcome that and trust that we settle on an even keel as the Spring arrives.

John had a hospital visit yesterday and took himself there, leaving me in bed to snooze on. Mid-morning, however, I was delighted to hear the door go, footsteps come up the stairs and see Paul pop his head round the bedroom door. He had come to keep me company for a hour or so until John got back. How thoughtful of him. Very much appreciated.

The trip to the hospital wasn’t a great success though and John came home disappointed. He had been hoping to get shot of his plumbing works and undergo a trial yesterday, but they hummed and hawed and finally sent him away telling him they’d need to discuss his case further with the consultant. So hard to deal with and live with.

In the meantime, the roofers have been clattering about above us, knocking old mortar from the ridge tiles and re-setting them anew. They have more or less finished, and will come back on Monday to tidy up the last bits and pieces. We’re not sure when the scaffolding will come down though and we’ll have the satellite dish working again. Watch this space.

Flowers from Graham and Gail to cheer us up this week though…..

Take care everyone. God bless.

We had a lazy morning. John stayed in bed until lunchtime and came down looking a bit bleary-eyed. But he is ‘better’ in the sense that his Covid test was negative today. I haven’t done a test but am feeling better, too.

I sat and watched a bit of the Australian Open Tennis that we’d recorded last week, chuckling like billy-o at the antics of the veteran players in the doubles, and it cheered me up no end.

After lunch, I sat at the computer to set up the Quiz for this evening. I wasn’t sure how we were going to fare, but it worked out well. Putting the quiz together though, took me ages – a lot longer than usual, and I felt quite tired by the end. John, meanwhile, was working on his computer, too, trying to get the accounts done for submission to HMRC. Will he manage it in time? That’s the question. Covid has put it all back, so maybe not…..

We were delighted to welcome the Original Kenilworth Sleaths, who came for tea this afternoon. Paul had texted on Sunday to say they were coming, which we were thrilled about. However, as the week wore on, I realised that I wasn’t yet up to catering for them and suggested we have a Fish ‘n Chip supper. ‘No worries,’ Paul texted back, ‘I’m bringing the ingredients and I’m cooking.’ Well, how very lovely!

We had a really enjoyable time and John and I were able to sit back to be fed. Marvellous. Paul cooked a very tasty pasta dish with turkey and then for dessert we had the option of fruit salad with ice cream, or hot cross buns. “…….or Hot Cross Buns and ice cream,” grinned John. Freddie concurred. “Yes! I’d like hot cross buns and ice cream, too!” he squealed. So that’s what they had! Hot Cross Bun Ice Cream Sandwich. Nice, apparently.

After the family left, we were on for Quiz Night. It was really good fun, although just before 10 o’clock John was saying he was planning to abandon ship and go to bed. We persuaded him to stay on for the last couple of rounds and I think he was glad we did, because those rounds turned out to be amusing and he was on top form with his puns and comments, making us all laugh.

However, by 10 o’clock we were both very tired and so we didn’t stay for chatting late on into the night. All in all, a day in which ‘normality’ started to reassert itself. Good-oh. Who knows? We might be on top form next week. Fingers and toes crossed.

Take care everyone. God bless

There’s something very evocative about the lyrics to that incredible song, Space Oddity by David Bowie, isn’t there? You can almost feel the emptiness of space and the eeriness of the connections being cut. ‘Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong. Can you hear me Major Tom?’

And indeed, our circuits are dead and there’s something wrong today. We can feel the emptiness of the space and the eeriness of silence.

And here’s why……the scaffolders arrived this morning to set up in readiness for the roofer to come and mend the ridge tiles. One of the chaps knocks on the door and says, “We’re going to put a plank down just above your satellite dish. Keep an eye on your reception and let us know if it goes off.” Yep, OK! Switched the TV on. Kept my eye on it. All seemed well.

Pahahahaha!!! Until this evening, of course, when we find we can only get BBC1 and the programmes we recorded yesterday or previous to that. The connection is cut…..

Hey-ho. A phone call to the scaffolders tomorrow and maybe they’ll be able to sort it out? Or maybe we’ll be without our fabulous selection of TV programmes for a week….who knows? Lordy! Whatever will we do?

Anyway, today was a better day. I actually got up and had a shower relatively early this morning and John was also out of bed by about 10 o’clock. We were expecting guests.

Pete and Dawn called in for a coffee and, boy, how good it felt to see them. We had a good old chat for a couple of hours and felt that civilisation may now be within reach. Mind you, no sooner had they left than I promptly fell asleep in the armchair. I was exhausted.

We lazed about until about half past three, recuperating from the morning’s exertions, and then I suggested we go to Kenilworth. I wanted to exchange a Christmas gift before the receipt quite ran out; we needed some bread and cat food; and I had a party dress to take to the cleaners.

The trip was good and uneventful – although, having parked in Sainsbury’s and walked up the Warwick Road to Robert Dyas and the dry cleaners, I found I had to take it very steady. No speed-walking for me just yet. I left John in the car.

When I got back, we both went into Sainsburys to get the few groceries we needed. John found it hard work but was pleased he’d made the effort.

At home, we remembered that we were supposed to be saving electricity for an hour or so at tea-time, so we lit candles and John had a well-deserved snooze. Looks lovely and cosy, doesn’t he?

Take care everyone. God bless.

In the absence of doing anything much of note in January, other than lay low with Covid and crawl back out of the black hole that enveloped us, I did manage something nice. A happy family jigsaw!

We’re still looking for the missing piece….. but what a picture, eh?

Christmas was nice – we had a lovely time at Paul and Harriet’s, singing our heads off to carols on Christmas Eve; stuffing our faces with Christmas Dinner and all sorts of other goodies on Christmas Day; whooping at all the gifts we exchanged; drinking delicious wines and fizz; playing chess and generally being competitive. Lovely.

On Boxing Day, we had a note from Jack, who was looking after Rio, to say that the cat ‘was off his food’. We came home a day earlier than planned and set to work on saving the cat. The vet looked mournful and gave us all the options, suggesting it was probably a forlorn hope. Andrew (whose cat it is) didn’t want to give in and said, “Let’s try for a bit longer.” This resulted in us spoon feeding the cat, hourly, for days on end. However, I am pleased to report that Andrew’s perseverance paid off and the cat is still with us.

Just as I succumbed to Covid, early on in January, Paul and Harriet had to make the painful decision to take Mac to the vets for one final time. Upsetting for everyone concerned but he just wasn’t himself any more.

Upset over the cat, the dog and then in the throes of Covid, I lay in bed, shooing John out of the room every time he came in. Regrettably, germs were clearly in the air, so a week later John succumbed, too. Fortunately, Andrew was here and looked after us. John went to the hospital to be infused with antiviral drugs and we’re both on the mend, but its been a very long haul. We have lost most of January and are still in recovery.

Thank you to all the lovely folk who have checked in on us and sent get-well wishes, brought gifts to the door or sent them in the post, wondered where the blog was and offered us help should we need it. Very much appreciated and the love felt.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Every year, John is charged with the task of decorating the Christmas cake. It’s Tradition, you know …… and this year has been no exception. The ol’ man has, once again, come up with the goods.

We’ve gone for the traditional look this year and some nostalgia. Not gone mad at all and simply put John’s Mum’s decorations on the cake. Happy memories.

The only trouble was, we couldn’t find our little ‘Merry Christmas’ sign that we normally put on the cake. We rummaged in the ‘Teddy Tin’ where we keep all the cake decorations, but it’s gone AWOL. So we’ve made do with (my) wonky writing, which says it all.

Enjoy whatever you are doing to mark the season, everyone! God bless.

We had plans today. But we didn’t quite fulfil them as we thought we might.

John planned to decorate the Christmas cake, but after a walk up to the shops, he thought better of it and slotted the job in for tomorrow instead.

I planned to visit Mum this morning, but thought that, as I’d be visiting her on Christmas Eve morning, I’d gather all the bits together and take them to that visit instead. That decision gave me a bit of breathing space to deliver the remaining Christmas cards round the village. Yay!

We had also planned to visit Pete and Dawn for a cuppa this afternoon, but Dawn and I decided that there were too many Christmas preparations to make right now, and we’d be better off waiting until the dust has settled after Christmas.

John and I had just settled back into the sofa after lunch, to enjoy watching an old film, when the doorbell rang. It was Richard from over the road. I hardly looked at him as he stood there though. My gaze was drawn to the river of water pouring down our drive and lapping at the front door. “The water main has broken,” Richard said, gesturing towards the road just outside our house. Crikey.

The water had lifted the pavement and the grass verge up by a couple of inches, spilled rocks and lumps of clay onto the path and drive, before gushing down the road, over the blocked drains, down into any low area it could find – including our drive, the path down the side of the house and into the back garden. It had stopped short of the garage and, fortunately, hadn’t ingressed.

I went to get John, so that we could come up with a plan of action. We struggled to find our wellies, then went out to see if we could unblock the drains on our drive to ease the water through. All the neighbours were out and making suggestions as to how to alleviate the mess.

Callum, Richard’s son, had a garden fork and was lifting the drain covers to dig out the blockages in the drains along the roadside. Jane, our neighbour, was on the phone trying to get hold of Severn Trent, the Fire Service, the Council or anyone who might be able to help. Will, from over the road, suggested sandbags in front of the drives to prevent the water pouring down. Sally and I carried sandbags to the neighbour’s drive, before some more men came along and joined in.

To be honest, at that point, I could see that the men were loving the excitement of it all. One came bearing more bags to be filled with rubble to help dam the drives; another came running along with an electric pump; yet more stood about discussing how to combat the stream of water which had now cascaded along Station Road, reaching Kemps Green Road before rounding the corner and into the ‘new estate’.

Our ministrations on our own drains and the dam that we made at the top of the drive helped us and the water eased and flowed down the drains. Our neighbours weren’t so lucky, with water pouring into their garages.

Peter and Jack called in, anxious to know if there was anything they could do. They had driven past and seen the chaos. How thoughtful and wonderful to have such friends. As it was, there was nothing more to do, so they went home to Dawn to finish off their Christmas preparations.

John spent an hour holding on the phone to try and get through to Severn Trent, who eventually answered and said yes, it was clearly an emergency and high priority, and someone would be here to deal with it by 10 o’clock tomorrow morning. Hahahaha……. John was so cross that he threatened to get on to ‘ATV Today’ to publicise the issue……

As luck would have it, a member of the council happened to drive by and saw the mess we were in. No, it couldn’t be left until tomorrow morning. He would arrange for one of the pumping lorries to come and pump out water, and he’d get on to Severn Trent to come and effect a repair.

We are not sure what the impetus was for the workmen to come, either the Solihull Council Official or the volume of calls from us all in the neighbourhood but, about six o’clock, Jane called round to say they were here and would call on us.

John was just doing his second job of the day and attaching the VW car battery to a battery charger (it wouldn’t start the other day and it’s been languishing ever since….) when the Severn Trent chappie came and explained we’d be without water ‘for a few hours’ while they sorted it out. They’ve been beavering away ever since.

Meanwhile, we held our regular Quiz Night this evening (at least one of our plans came to fruition), at which we were Quiz Masters – and it was all about Christmas. It was a bit of fun and quite high-scoring because there were lots of bonus points this week.

The last round was especially good fun, because it was a singing round. Points were scored if the team could sing the next line of a carol. Well, of course, they didn’t stop at one line, did they? Raucous singing all round. John was particularly vocal, having drunk the best part of a bottle of wine. Marvellous.

Eeh, we’ve had some fun and games today, haven’t we?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Are we allowed to grumble at Christmas? ‘Cos if so, I’d like to.

It’s not the preparations for Christmas that are difficult in themselves, but there’s just such a lot of it, isn’t there? And not only that, but there’s an awful lot of decision-making to do, which somewhat addles the brain. And then there’s guilt. Oh, gosh, did I write the card for so-and-so? ‘Cos we’ve had one from them. Oh, yes, I see I did write the card, but did I post it? No? Oh, crikey, it’s still in the pile to be hand-delivered. And when I am going to do that?

We are all trying to make the day perfect. We see the adverts of happy families, everyone laughing, with their rosy cheeks and eyes shining, looking lovingly at each other. Where is the image of the grumpy teenager, who flounces out of the room because her make-up isn’t just so? Or the crying child in the corner because they are overwhelmed with the festivities? Or the grizzly Grandma or Grandpa who can’t keep up with the conversation? It feels like we are not supposed to have any of those situations, doesn’t it? But we have them, because that’s family life.

So I’d like to grumble at the onslaught of ‘happiness’ thrown at us at Christmas. I’d like to grumble at the ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda‘ stuff that makes us feel less than adequate. I should have gone to the Carol Service on Sunday? Well, I’d have liked to have gone, but we were spending time with family for the day who were here from overseas, so didn’t go. And then a little devil sits on your shoulder and says…. ‘Aaah, but you didn’t make the time did you?’ Oh, go away, little devil!!!

I’d quite like to remember the reason we’re having this massive celebration in the first place (Winter Solstice, Paganism, Christianity – take your pick), and put away some of those commercial considerations, but I’m human and find myself influenced, every year, by our traditions – including buying lots of presents…….. so I’m grumbling, folks.

Ah, well, we’ll keep wading on towards Christmas and trying to stay cheerful through the preparations and I’m sure I’ll feel better soon. Maybe tomorrow?

And now I’ve got that off my chest, how’s everyone else?

Take care and God bless.