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Despite my best intentions, I never did complete any job really, today. I was too busy enjoying myself doing other things.

We got up reasonably early and pottered about, getting breakfast and tidying the kitchen, which seems to have a mind of its own and is always untidy. I started on a little clear-out of the dining room, but didn’t get very far before I left John to his medical ministrations and whisked myself upstairs to Zoom in on dear and lifelong friends, Sue and Rod.

I don’t think we’ve been in touch since just before Christmas, so it was delightful to see them and chat away. They both looked so very well and happy, even though lockdown is as frustrating for them as it is for the rest of us. They thought I looked well, too. It’s amazing, isn’t it, that lockdown makes you look well even when you’re feeling a bit off par because you’re missing your family. It was also amazing that we found so much to talk about, and the time went by so quickly that it was soon lunchtime before we knew it and the goodbyes were said.

By the time I got downstairs, John had finally finished his medical stuff and was suggesting it might be time for something to eat. Between us, we prepared lunch and, then, after we’d eaten, because it was such a glorious day with the sun shining on the fast-disappearing but sparkly snow, we thought we’d take a walk.

John took ‘Puffing Billy’ with him on the walk and we stopped at various times to ‘admire the scenery’. It was chilly, but exhilarating. We took a short circuit along the path that takes you round the marshland area in Lavender Hall Park, and enjoyed several interludes with dogs and their owners. Some really cute dogs in the park today and very nice owners.

Once we were back at the house, we thought we’d hop in the car and run over to Sutton to drop off an essential item that had been left behind with the washing the other day. It was a lovely run there and back, and we were pleased that the Sutton Sleaths had a moment to spare to say ‘hello’ before they got back to their busy lives. We also brought back a whole pile of junk that is to go to the tip when we next go. We’ve got a slot booked for next Thursday and we are beginning to think this is the new highlight of our lives, and something to look forward to.

I decided I really didn’t want to carry on faffing about in the dining room when we got back, so we made a cuppa and I sat and watched ‘The Chase’ while John investigated something on the computer. And then, after our evening meal, it was Quiz Night again. How quickly the days rush by and how quickly a Wednesday appears on the horizon once more. It’ll soon be our turn to be Quiz Masters again and we’ve only just got over the effort of doing the last one!

However, it was a great evening. Interesting quiz, to which I had almost zero answers and, it’s at times like these that I realise how little I know about politics, music, geography, IT and history. Oh. That’s pretty much a whole quiz, isn’t it? Ah, well, thank goodness for the rest of the team members who knew stuff and made me laugh throughout with their wit and clever answers. Quiz night = keeping me sane, thank you very much.

All in all, it was a day of nothing startling or dramatic, but we made our way through it gently and took it easy. No rush, no pressure, just as it came.

Of course, not everyone can do that, so once again, I am thinking of everyone who is in trouble or pain, from whatever cause, today, and sending positive vibes.

• 13,013 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,001 people died in the community from the virus in the last 24 hours
• 315 people died in hospitals from the virus on 8 & 9 February

The lockdown is having some effect, but we really don’t know how to plan our lives and what we will be allowed to do and when. I am hoping for garden visits at the very least in early March. John’s got his heated blanket to keep him warm, we’ve got a patio heater and the rest of us can run about like lunatics to keep ourselves warm.

In the meantime, I am delighted to feast my eyes on the rather beautiful amaryllis I had for Christmas, which is just beginning to bloom, and to succour my soul with poetry. See what you think – see if it does the same for you. God bless.

Sunshine is my dawn
Moonshine is my night. 
This, from the day we were born, 
Forever, engaging light.

Be thankful for the gift you've been given.
Help those in more desperate need. 
Bring sunshine to their dawn, 
And into their eyes, rays of light.

I think it’s about 30 years since John built the little extension on the side of the house, to make the lounge into a little L-shape. A cosy area, away from the thrum of daily life – first it was John’s study area and then I encroached, working from home. Over the years it’s been many things – and mostly, just recently, it was the children’s play area until we made it into the library. I waited and waited for a library and now, I’ve finally got one. I thought I was made up at that. But what we have now, must surely put the icing on the cake!!! We have a windowsill in there! Just one – the other one is yet to be crafted, but what a beauty the one we’ve got, is.

You may ask, didn’t we have windowsills before now? And the answer would be, no. We had painted plaster but not proper, wooden sills. With the advent of the lounge decoration, John has thought how nice it would be to finish it all with a flourish and create lovely sills in front of our new windows. *Does a little dance* Eeeh…. he’s gone and done a proper job – and, you never know, we might be civilised yet. Thrilled, I am, thrilled.

In other news, I spent the morning reading in bed. John also spent much of the morning in bed, but he did get up before me. But I was determined to finish my book. It’s the ‘Bibliophiles’ Book Club on Friday, and I didn’t want to be embarrassed at not having finished it. It was a cracking book, too. I really enjoyed it. ‘The Birth of Venus’ by Sarah Dunant, if anyone’s interested.

Once we were up and about we both had jobs to do. Obviously, John’s was creating, from scratch, the windowsill I may have mentioned. Mine, was to finally vacuum and mop the floor in the porch following its makeover with new windows and door, and generally start to get it ready for painting. Yup, another paint job. Of course, the cleaning spilled into the downstairs cloakroom, the hall and up the stairs, so everything took a little longer than I expected. But it’s a bit tidier anyway.

However, it feels like we’re living in one of those little sliding puzzles we used to have as kids. Remember them? You move one tile along so that you slide another onto a different row, before shifting it, or another one, to get it into place.

So…. in order to set up the lounge and library, I cleared it all out and stuck things I didn’t want into the dining room. Now then, I’m aiming to have a go at decorating the dining room at some point. So I’ve gotta move all the stuff upstairs. With me, so far?

The children’s toys and the Christmas decorations were also transplanted from the lounge and library into Andrew’s ‘living room’ on the first floor i.e. ‘upstairs’. Hmmm…… I don’t think I can move the clutter from the dining room until I’ve shifted the stuff ‘upstairs’ into the loft, or taken it to the tip…… *shudders at the thought of throwing things away*. Still with me?

Anyway, the first step in the sliding puzzle was to sort out the porch. Confused? Well, it was so that I could move the chair and walking stick stand back to their rightful places from where they were ensconced in the dining room. I’ve taken one step in the right direction anyway. The full picture is yet to emerge……..Next!

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted just writing about it, so you can imagine that after we’d eaten our evening meal we just flopped on the sofas and relaxed this evening. More sliding puzzle games tomorrow, no doubt – unless I get my paintbrush out. Now, which is it to be, I wonder?

In the wider world, we are hearing that many of our friends are now moving along the escalator towards having the vaccine, with several having had the jab, and others having got them booked. Good news that. Not that it’s going to make a vast deal of difference to our way of life from what I’ve been reading. We’re still likely to catch the lurgy but, joy of joys, not so likely to clog up the hospitals because the infection won’t be quite so severe. Mind you, I wouldn’t want it to be much more severe than the reaction to the vaccine – it wasn’t very nice, even that.

Prayers, then, are with all those who are suffering from the virus and its effects, as well as all those who are struggling because of the lockdown situation. It’s exceedingly hard for everyone, but for some, it’s an especially tough time in these winter months. Mind you, I did declare to John, with some glee, that it was light at about 5.30 this morning and was still (nearly) light at 5.30 this evening. That’s 12 hours of daylight folks!! We just have to get up to see it……..

• 12,364 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,052 people died in the community with the virus in the last 24 hours
• 265 people died in hospitals on 7 & 8 February
• The rate of admission to hospitals is declining – down 22% last week.

We are not absolutely sure when our lockdown will end now, of course, given the concerns about the new strains of the virus and so on. I am counting the days. Today is Day 35 of Lockdown 3 and Day 327 (I think) since Lockdown 1.

But how confident are we of those who are making the rules? It feels less and less liberal – or perhaps I am reading the wrong information – when you hear that someone coming to the country could face 10 years in prison for failing to declare the original country from whence they have travelled. Ten years? Goodness me – there’s generally a lot of sticks and not many carrots being offered now, as far as I can tell. People behave best when there’s reward, don’t they?

Take care everyone. Stay safe and God bless.

After the last few days of sleeping in and hugging the bed, we were awake and fairly compos mentis early this morning. I looked out of the window and saw a gentle frosting of snow all over the garden. It looked so very pretty. It was as if each blade of grass and each leaf on the trees and plants had been carefully piped with icing. The contrast between the green and white was lovely. I watched for a while to see if there were any takers on the bird table, but no. Although I did see one or two blackbirds and a few sparrows dotting about the garden. One blackbird in particular, had taken to worrying a patch of leaves near the bird table, so I continue to live in hope.

Despite being awake early, we didn’t get out of bed immediately, but stayed there supping our tea for a while. It was very pleasant. Even more pleasant was the fact that the bedroom was warm. We had decided to leave the heating on overnight against the blast of the ‘Beast from the East’ which had howled all night long. The fabric of the whole house was toasty and we enjoyed it.

We had one or two things to do today and so we knitted a plan together to fit them in. First of all, it was a telephone consultation with John’s shrink. Well, that was easily planned. Stay in bed until the phone rings at ten o’clock, then answer it. Afterwards we decided to have a cooked breakfast….well, alright, brunch then, while we waited in for some new rugs to arrive. And, while the sausages were defrosting, I ran up to the chemists to buy some shampoo ready for a shower after breakfast (or brunch, if you like). See? It was a neatly woven plan.

Luckily, the rugs arrived early in the proposed delivery slot, so that left us free to nip over to Sutton to drop the last of the washing in to them. It’s now all done and I have no doubt that every drawer and cupboard is bulging and over-flowing with sweet-smelling freshly laundered clothes. Well, it’s better than the laundry basket over-flowing with dirty clothes, isn’t it? Gosh, I don’t envy any family struggling to get the washing done – I remember how it was when our kids were little and I’m glad I’m not there any more!

On our way back, it was snowing a bit. Not massively, or we wouldn’t have ventured out, but enough for me to suggest we might like some hot chocolate when we got back. Mmmmm…. that sounds like a nice idea, says John. Yes, says I, it’s a pity we haven’t got any cakes to go with it. Well, naughty us, we popped into Sainsbury’s and bought a couple of cakes…. illegal, non-paleo… tut-tut.

“Shall we light an open fire when we get back?” I wondered out loud after we’d agreed on the hot chocolate and cakes. Yes, we’d light a fire. So we had all the cosiness we needed. It was lush. The snow was falling outside, we hugged our mugs and truffed our cakes and toasted our toes before the fire. Marvellous. That’s the way to do it.

Not only that, but we were rather enamoured of our new rugs, which are rather soft and fluffy, so we revelled in the newness of those too. Mind you, we already had a accident on the nice, cream-coloured rug in front of the fireplace….. spilt coal dust on it, didn’t we? Even vacuuming didn’t bring out the greyness that the dust had left behind. Had to get the shampoo out….. Fingers crossed you won’t notice it tomorrow.

As I say, we spent the afternoon in front of the fire – John playing poker on his laptop and me reading my book. And the afternoon just drifted away until it was six o’clock already. “Hungry, yet?” we asked each other. Nah… not yet. Having had a full English this morning and a cake this afternoon neither of us were remotely hungry. In the end, we didn’t eat until eight this evening. Crikey! Our body clocks really are up the creak!

So, it was pleasant day, after the last few days of feeling neither here nor there, thank goodness. And I felt a lot more cheerful today, too. Of course, over 14 thousand people won’t have felt so great today as they tested positive for the virus; nor would the families of those who died: 333 in the community today and 219 in hospitals on 6 & 7 February.

As we conclude Day 34 of Lockdown 3 (Day 326 since Lockdown 1) I am sending positive thoughts and prayers for all those affected by the pandemic now, in whichever way that is. The impact is severe on us all even if we don’t fully realise it.

Here’s to you my dear friends and family. Stay safe, look after yourselves and keep smiling. God bless.

Another short-ish blog today as I am feeling rather bleurgh…. very much improved from feeling grotty, but it’s almost like post-viral blues today and I’m feeling grumpy. Nothing to feel grumpy about, mind you, but still, I’ll find something if you’ll let me…..

I mean, we had an exciting appointment in our calendars today. It was ‘Visit the Tip’ day, today. What more excitement could a girl want? We had a successful trip out and managed (after some higgledy-piggledy) to park in an appropriate spot, not a million miles from the point of jettison. We ploughed back and forth with our various items and felt that we had done rather a good job of clearing out our house, the car and our minds. It was bitterly cold though.

It was also another day of rugby, with a highly anticipated match between Wales and Ireland. Ireland were tipped to win of course, just as England had been yesterday. But if you will have a man sent off in the first few minutes it’s not going to help much is it? It was an enjoyable match though despite that, and it almost went down to the wire.

Also rather excitingly, we saw Danielle today and briefly had sight of the children, as she called in to collect a much-needed toy and some of the washing I’d been doing. Unfortunately, with restrictions as they are, there was no stopping and chatting and playing today. William was zonked out in the car anyway, so it was just a check-in on their little faces in the car and a wave goodbye.

Also very excitingly, we saw Paul today. How he was a sight for my very sore eyes! We haven’t seen him for a while as they are so busy with work and family commitments, including home-schooling for a 5 and 15 year-old, and hospital liaising over Harriet’s Dad, who has been there for six weeks now, and likely to be in a bit longer. My heart was as full as could be when he arrived with essential supplies. He did chat for a while on the doorstep, which trickled some cheer into our hearts and will keep us going a bit longer.

John played poker for most of the evening after our evening meal and I caught up on some TV viewing. I am not sure whether it was the telly programmes I was watching that made me grumpy or not but, as the evening wore on, I suddenly felt very rebellious and decided to stay up. Not sure who I was rebelling against, but there we are…. no doubt I shall stay in bed again tomorrow morning and me body clock’ll be all to cock once more …. ah, well, I’ve enjoyed my bit of rebellion now.

But oh, the days do seem long. I do hope that the longer days of spring make them seem shorter – and soon. And we’ve still got no birds on the bird feeder other than very fat pigeons. I put some sunflower seeds out to try and encourage different birds but no, there were just plenty of pigeons guzzling their way through them. Time to move the feeder and think again…..

In the meantime, people are still suffering out in the great world outside our doors from all sorts of things. The newspapers are full of terrible stories of murders, domestic violence, companies going bankrupt and the people dying from COVID or lack of treatment because it has been delayed. Oh, Lordy. I don’t know what to think.

• 15,845 people tested positive for COVID today
• 373 people died in the community with COVID in the last 24 hours
• 228 people died in hospitals on 5 & 6 February

The numbers are slowly coming down and there continues to be hope that with the vaccine being rolled out things will ease even further. Unfortunately, according to research reported on today, the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t seem to be efficacious against the South African variant of the virus. Well, that’s not very welcome news, just as we’ve had the blooming thing on Thursday…….eeesh.

Stay safe everyone. Take care. God bless.

What to tell today? Not a great deal has been going on at all, mostly because I was still feeling a little naff although not as bad as yesterday. We stayed in bed all morning again – this is now a habit. A nice habit, but there’s always a guilty feeling that we should be up. Anyway, we decided it was brunchtime, so we made banana pancakes again as a treat, with berries, nuts and maple syrup. And, what’s more, I felt well enough to cook it.

After we’d eaten, I thought I’d sort out some clean washing into piles of clothing and bedding so that they were ‘peopled’ – a pile for each person. Once I was done, I had planned to do a spot of ironing of those clothes that required it. Ah. Maybe not. By the time I’d ‘peopled’ the piles, I was knackered and had to go and have a sit down.

John, meanwhile, was having another delve into poker before it was time to sit and watch the rugby. And that’s what we did all afternoon. No more tasks, thank you, just good old-fashioned enjoyment, sitting back to bask in the glory of England, the winning side. Oh, no!! We lost the Calcutta Cup. We couldn’t quite believe it. But to be fair, Scotland played pretty well. And it didn’t really affect the enjoyment too much of watching rugby again after all this time.

Because I’d sat on my bum all afternoon, I felt up to cooking the evening meal, so I left John watching the dying throes of the England match in the lounge, while I went and watched it in the kitchen as I prepped the food. Cooked a lovely meal but I only managed half of mine, which was unexpected. Appetite not 100% yet either. Ah, well. I will definitely be better tomorrow I am sure.

Although I was tired, I was really looking forward to a Skype session with Pete and Dawn. So, John got the laptop all set up and we sat and had a lovely evening with them – mulling over what is happening in our lives, chewing the cud, philosophising a bit, and having a laugh at some ridiculous comment that one or other of us had said. I did wilt a bit half-way through but managed to keep up reasonably well until it was time to say goodbye. Thank heaven for dear, understanding friends. They didn’t seem to mind that I closed my eyes momentarily whilst John was chatting……

And that’s about it. Little Arthur seems to be coming on, and I was delighted to see a video of him having his lunchtime feed today. He’s going bring so much love into the family, I am sure.

We haven’t watched any news today, so I am not sure of the commentary behind the COVID figures, but for the record, I offer them to you once again.

• 18,262 people tested positive for the virus today
• 828 people died in the community with the virus in the last 24 hours
• 319 people have died in hospitals with the virus on 4 &5 February
• It’s Day 32 of Lockdown 3; Day 324 since Lockdown 1 ….and still counting…….

Hope all of you who are eligible get the vaccine soon. Hope everyone stays safe in the meantime. God bless.

With apologies, folks, but I am not blogging much this evening. I am experiencing the after-effects of the ‘jab’ and have had a headache all day. John seems unaffected apart from a sore arm, so I am quite jealous.

I stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself until lunch-time then, chiding myself for being a ‘wuss’, got up and thought I might do a few bits and bobs. But I didn’t, I sat on the sofa, bleary-eyed and inert. I brightened up a little bit when Andrew phoned and I chatted to him to for maybe half an hour but, in the end I passed the phone to John and lay down on the sofa again with a pounding headache.

John, on the other hand, has been on good form. He was sorting out monetary stuff for a while and then had a hand or two of poker, before he cooked something for our tea. I brightened up a little after we’d eaten to speak to Michael, but didn’t feel great so cut the conversation short.

This evening, we had a good time ‘Zooming’ in with John’s Uni friends, by which time the paracetamol had worked sufficiently for me make a contribution or two. John, as I said, was on top form, and got everyone giggling at some of the things he said. We were sorry to hear that within Kelv’s family there is COVID and they were unable to join us today, so we’re sending much love and all good thoughts over to them.

• 19,114 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,014 people died in the community with it today
• 350 people died in hospitals on 3 & 4 February

So that’s it. Hopefully normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

God bless. Stay safe.

I was just in the middle of my singing lesson when the doorbell rang. I left John to answer the door as I expected it to be a delivery for him. The next thing I know, John has hot-footed it upstairs and is standing at the doorway, out of breath, and telling me that it’s the nurses come to do our vaccine injections. Oh, wow!

I suggested John go and have his first and then I’d go down afterwards. When it was time to go, I ran down the stairs and flew into the hallway, sleeve up and arm at the ready. There was a sort of stunned silence for a minute, which I took to mean that I was in the wrong place. I hurried into the dining room and sat down where John had clearly been sitting moments before.

“Well, you don’t look like you’re housebound,” said the senior nurse, her eyes glittering with disapproval. “I’m not,” I replied. “Why are you having the vaccine then? I don’t why you’re on the list.’ she said. Now I understood the stunned silence. I explained that I’d had a text; I wondered if it was perhaps it was because I was John’s ‘carer’? I told her that I’d phoned to chase up the vaccine and explained then that I wasn’t sure if the text was meant to be for me or not. But, I was told that both John and I were on the list, so here I am.

The nurse looked at me stony-faced as I scrambled to work out what to say next. Did she need to see the text? I didn’t want to jump the queue……. but if she thought I shouldn’t be having it, should we………? The more junior nurse stepped in, and said, “Well, you’re on the list and we’re here now so we will do it.’ Ok – thank you. And there we are, job done. Twelve weeks until the next instalment.

I went and finished my singing lesson before we grabbed something to eat for a late lunch. Afterwards, I decided to have a rest this afternoon and have a day off. Well, that was nice. John spent the time on the computer playing poker – and he’s being successful now. He’s getting the hang of it, going from two thousand chips to seven thousand. Can’t be bad, eh? He says there’s still a lot to learn, but he’s still enjoying it.

Then this evening it was ‘Zoom’ time with the girls from college. So lovely to see everyone and we had a good old natter hearing everyone’s news – a new baby, daughter with COVID, a worried daughter whose house purchase may fall through and so on. Although I put my foot in it by being bossy, as usual, and will be needing to make an apology for doing so…… eeesh! Not sure if I’ll ever learn……

In the meantime, we hear that the virus infection rate is slowing and the vaccine is contributing to that, which is rather good news.

• 20,634 people tested positive for the virus today
• 915 people died in the community with the virus in the last 24 hours
• 370 people died in hospitals on 2 & 3 February

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that soon, very soon the vaccine machine will work its magic and so many people will have had the jab to make it easier to ease restrictions. I want to meet up with my family, obviously, but it would be rather nice to meet me mates again too.

Take care everyone. God bless.

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.

Not content with just dreaming about Ragdale Hall yesterday, I decided to full-on embrace the vibe today. I may not have a swimming pool or a spa area, but I do have a bath. In went the special salts to remind me of the Volcano Salts room, and I breathed in their aroma and the steam. I took myself to the ‘beautician’ where I treated myself to a face mask and lay quietly while it did its work, contemplating what might be whenever we’re allowed out. I sat and flicked through a magazine, imagining that I was in the Atrium awaiting the next treatment. At the ‘hairdressers’ I had a makeover and a hair colour. I took in a pedicure and manicure. I drank freshly-drawn and filtered water as a rehydrator. And I wished for my friends to join in. Some did, in the form of playing interactive puzzles – and it felt very nice, thank you. I do hope we can do it for real again one day. In the meantime, I might take myself off to ‘Ragdale-at-home’ again in the not-too-distant future to lift my spirits up until we can. DIY with a difference, eh?

John, on the other hand, has had a busy day. He was up and sorting out all his medications in good time this morning, because he was going out to play. Bryan called for him and they took a socially-distanced walk around the village. He thoroughly enjoyed it, although it’s probably the furthest he’s walked for a long time. It’s amazing what you can do when you’re motivated, isn’t it?

Once he was home, he sat and recovered, savouring a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but not for long. He was keen to get the long radiator cover finally put together, which involved joining two medium-sized covers. He has beavered away at the job really well and done a good job – you can hardly see the join. And it does look smart.

I’d post a photo except that my phone is still objecting to sharing its photos. This may have something to do with the fact that I’ve got too many on there, but I can’t, for the life of me, work out how to save the blooming things on the computer and take them off my phone. Up until about a year ago, I used to just plug my phone in and transfer the pictures across. However, I suspect an ‘upgrade’ changed all that and I can no longer do the simple exchange. Might have to phone Mr Apple up and see if he can help…..

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the radiator covers…. there is a down-side to the new covers. I now have another job. I will have to shorten two lots of curtains…..God, it’s never-ending……

After we’d eaten our evening meal, I was looking forward to having a natter with the old school ‘gang’ on Zoom. I thoroughly enjoyed the chat – it was great, but only half of us could make it. Rob had texted to let us know that Kaye wasn’t feeling well, and Dave and Chris didn’t log on. When I texted them, they replied to apologise and say they couldn’t make it. Ah well, next time, I hope.

The rest of us did have a good natter. It was nice to see Richard for a change and, of course, George and Sue, who are always great company. Mind you, we repeated ourselves a bit – the others were aware of what we’d been up to, because they’d read the blog, and Richard had phoned John on Sunday, so they’d already talked about the issues with the Lotus. It was lovely to hear everyone’s news – especially George’s tale of how he had his shed installed. Made us giggle a bit at that. I am not sure that we had a great deal of news, but that didn’t stop us doing a lot of the talking! I do so love my friends – I am so thankful for them being there for us. It’s wonderful. More Zoom-ins, I think.

On a more mundane note, there was no phone call or text message today to tell John he would be attended to for his vaccination. So I phoned the Community Nurses up to see what was what. They only hadn’t got his name on their list, so it wasn’t going to happen any time soon! I was glad I phoned. Apparently, the surgery had failed to tell the nurses to put him on the list. Anyway, he is on the list now and someone should be calling within the next week. John was hoping they’d say the next day but clearly not. Fingers crossed they are true to their word.

• 16,840 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,449 people died in the community in the last 24 hours, including Captain Sir Tom Moore who, at 100 years old, had walked 100 laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS
• 386 people died in hospitals on 31 January & 1 February

It’s a month – 28 days – since we started Lockdown 3. And it’s 320 days since we began this sad and sorry state of affairs. But there is hope on the horizon, despite the fact that we’ve a way to go in the lockdown stakes. And, on a positive note – all our new ways of behaving have reduced the incidence of, and deaths from flu, too. So it can’t all be bad, can it? Just got to keep our chins up.

Take care everyone. God bless……

Morning!! It’s not a bad morning. As I pull the blinds up I see that it’s bit cloudy and a bit damp, but not unexpected at this time of the year. I think I’ll just have a little doze in bed for a bit – unless you are going to to bring me a cup of tea? Oh, you are? How wonderful. I might stay in bed a bit longer and play games on my phone, if that’s OK? What do you reckon? Whatever……. he says, as he puts the tea down and repeats, a few times, here’s your tea, look, here’s your tea – just in case I forget it.

I whiled away the morning in bed. I pretended I was on holiday. Nay, I pretended I was Ragdale Hall with my friends and relaxing, looking forward to the infinity pool later. Or even the spa area with the outdoor pool. Ah, yes, in my mind, I was there, with me mates, giggling our heads off at some silly remark, or sympathising with the latest difficulty. Clearly not going to miss going to Ragdale this month – not much, no. Oh, dear….. wish I were there…..

Ah well, I finally got myself out of bed at mid-day and then got on. I had eventually got to the point where I really could clear out the kitchen. Everywhere else was packed with cardboard, or screws and power tools, or bits of radiator covers. I’d share all the photos I took if I could, but my phone doesn’t want to share. However, this one’s good, don’t you think?

John, bless his cotton socks, has worked and worked and worked today on the radiator covers. The thing is, nothing is ever simple, is it? In order to cover the large radiator in the lounge, John had to order two medium-sized ones, and now he’s got to put them together. Cut a bit off here, drill a hole or two there, glue a bit over there and then, *expletive, expletive, expletive*, does that look level? Oo-er, maybe, maybe not?

We are nearly there, honestly. The lounge will soon be all done….. I mean, I even fitted a curtain rail fixing today, that I’d found rolling about the floor….Although, to be honest, I don’t think I am destined to be sitting in a finished room, ever. There’s always something to be done. As John says (as did his Dad before him), “Do you want it finished, or do you want to be able to use it?” We always opt for the latter, of course…..

In between times, when we were having a rest from the strenuous efforts we were making to try and get things finished, John sat and watched the programme called ‘Narcos’ on Netflix, and I sat and did a puzzle or two. Gotta keep those brain cells working, y’know!

After we’d eaten our evening meal, we both sat down to watch the TV but, as I chose ‘Bridgerton’, John went and fiddled on the computer. Everyone says what a great series this is, but I am at the stage in the programme where there are big misunderstandings and big disappointments looming. Can’t quite cope with that just now, so I might give it a miss for a few days.

We had a lovely face-time with Thomas though, which cheered me up no end. He was in the bath and chuckling away as water trickled down first one arm, then the other. These grandchildren just fill my heart to bursting. Had to laugh at Christiana though, this evening. Ever-mindful of ‘elf and safety’ she posted a video of herself, chortling away, as she tested out the non-slip material under the playmat for Alexander. Honestly, I had it on a loop several times as it was so funny. Nothing like laughter to make you laugh, eh?

That’s what we need now to boost our spirits – laughter. Hoping to have some of that when we ‘Zoom’ in to chat to friends this week.

While we’ve been going about our little chores at home, there are still people struggling with blooming COVID-19, however.

• 18,607 people tested positive with the virus today
• 406 people died in the community
• 209 people died in hospitals on 30 & 31 January

All of that looks like the figures are coming down and we’re on the right track at last. But wait! Did I hear Boris talk about ‘opening things up’? Oh, my giddy aunt! We’re going to be on this rollercoaster forever, aren’t we? And John still hasn’t heard about his jab…… lots of grinding of teeth in our household right now.

So, on Day 319 of Lockdown 1 and Day 27 of Lockdown 3, I can report that young Arthur continues to make progress. And, we saw some beautiful pictures of him, stretching his very long legs out today. Don’t know if I am allowed to say this, but he didn’t half look like Liz in one of the photos. Oh, my heart.

And in cat news, the little devils are still shunning their new beds, although they did have a rummage around in amongst the catnip for a while, so maybe they’ll use them…. maybe? Nah… I think they prefer sofas and beds.

Take care everyone. God bless. Oh, wait, did you know that double-masking is the thing now?