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Well, I didn’t intend to miss writing the blog yesterday, but we were so enjoying ourselves on New Year’s Eve, celebrating with a lovely steak dinner, a nice bottle of wine and a liqueur (or several) to finish, that I quietly got sozzled and was incapable of writing anything coherent. I am now ‘crambazzled’ – 19th century Yorkshire dialect, Susie Dent tells me, for looking prematurely aged from excess drinking.

There wasn’t a lot to tell of our doings yesterday particularly, although we did go for a very nice walk in the afternoon when the sun was shining, and people we passed all greeted us warmly. We didn’t go to the playground though so I didn’t get to practise my spinning on the spinny thing. Next time, maybe?

The big highlight of yesterday though, was seeing Andrew who was on his way to say hello to his friend, Tubsy. It was so wonderful to see Andrew and have a few minutes chat. We so rarely get to do that these days, what with one thing and another, so it was great to touch base. However, I think the Sutton Sleaths were disappointed to see him leave as he’s been great company, and he and William have got on like a house on fire.

Obviously, after a ‘sesh’ of drinking too many liqueurs the night before, I felt a little delicate this morning and really didn’t want to get out of bed at all. I finally sloped downstairs just before mid-day and had a light brunch of fruit and yogurt. It was all I could face…..New Year’s resolution? Guess what that’s going to be?

And this afternoon has been a funny old afternoon. I haven’t wanted to do anything much, so I have had a desultory shuffle of the jigsaw pieces, found I couldn’t concentrate, looked at what was on TV, didn’t fancy anything there, so ended up paying a few bills and doing an e-jigsaw on the computer. I am way behind on the e-jigsaws with the little group of Twitterati I share my times with, so it was nice to do. But the physical jigsaw is continuing to be stubborn. As I said before, in addition to the brown, there is some yellow. There is also some brown and yellow. And some brown and brown and yellow. Here they are sorted……….anyone?

John has been studying the rules for poker again and is finding out that it gets more complicated as you go on. He’s tried another few hands this afternoon and was reasonably successful, I think. He’s also looking at his long list of jobs and wondering whether to tackle any of them. He was encouraged to have another attempt at finalising the shower cubicle door today – watch this space. Might be fixed. It might not.

This evening, we joined in with the Centre Stage members on a picture quiz about the productions we’ve put on over the last 20 years. It was really good fun and fabulous to see the sets, the costumes and the people that have made up our history. There were 17 people linking in on Zoom, which made it just over thirty of us playing the game. I did enjoy it because it brought back such happy memories of yesteryear. And it was lovely to see familiar faces.

Meanwhile, the country is now facing a brave new world outside the EU and still grappling with the COVID infections. Heaven knows what the future holds, but I am forever hopeful. I was reminded of an Emily Dickenson poem about hope today – how amazing hope is, nestled in our souls.

Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune 
Without the words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Hospital staff are pleading with us still to stay indoors as they are run off their feet again and exhausted. With the figures as they are, I am not surprised.

• 53,285 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours
• In the last seven days, that’s a rise of just under 75%
• 613 people have died from COVID in the last 24 hours in the community
• 225 people have died in hospitals on 30 & 31 December from the virus

The government figures haven’t been updated for admissions into hospitals since 22 December. I am not looking forward to seeing the updated figures when they do come out.

We have now moved into Tier 4, here in Solihull, along with many other parts of the country, which means we can only go for a walk to exercise and meet one other person. That’s difficult, isn’t it, when the adults have the children in tow? It’ll have be more Zooming and Whatsap-ing I suppose.

So it’s Day 2, then, of Tier 4, and Day 289 since the original lockdown. It’s a very long haul now. And goodness knows whether Mum is to have her second part of the vaccination next Saturday…… that’s all confusion among the medics as to whether it’s appropriate to leave a longer time before the booster. I expect we shall be informed at some point.

But…..it’s the new year, a new dawn, maybe a new you – and we don’t know what the year ahead holds for us. I pray that it’s not horrible stuff and we can find plenty to enjoy in the next 364 days. Take care everyone. God bless.

We knew it was coming didn’t we? We’re now in Tier 4, which means we can’t really socialise. This tier brings tears for that very reason. To still be kept apart from family and friends is very hard. But thank goodness for all the media we have now. We can Zoom, WhatsApp, Tweet, FaceTime, Message, Email, Phone or Skype. Take your pick. And there’s Instagram and Facebook for general stuff. Plenty to choose from. So I expect that’s exactly what we’ll do, and we’ll be very thankful for it all.

While we could, however, we took the opportunity to take a walk in the park with Paul and Freddie this afternoon. We were just at home, minding our own business, when the front doorbell rang. On the front doorstep there they were. Having been swimming, they called in on the way back, just to say ‘hello’ and have a look at our Christmas tree from outside. We said we were planning to walk in Lavender Hall Park. “Can I come?” asked Freddie, his big blue eyes looking appealingly at me. Of course I wanted him to come, but wasn’t sure what their schedule was, so passed the buck. “Shall we see what Daddy says?” I replied. They came with us, of course.

As we got ready, donning our warm clothes and boots, Freddie went into the back garden to look at the Christmas tree through the window. Well, that was the plan. But there was so much snow to play with, and a great big circle of ice on top of the bucket, that he got rather distracted and never did look at the tree.

Had a lovely walk through the woods, though, and Freddie played on all the apparatus in the playground before we left, squealing in delight as he spun round and round on the spinny things. “Come on, Grandma, get on. I’ll spin you round.” OK……well, I’d forgotten what it was like to be spun around, so I got on, and then was promptly spun off again. Must get some practice in, I think.

It really was a great walk with a lovely twilight atmosphere as we hadn’t set off until late. The sun started to set on one side of the park, so we headed back, and we caught the moon rising on the other side of the park. It was so cool I just had to take a photo of it. Even Freddie was impressed with the remnant of yesterday’s Cold Moon, hovering over the hedge in the park.

Before the Kenilworth Sleaths arrived on our doorstep though, we had had a very sluggish day. Neither of us got up early and when we did, we swanned about, drifting from one thing to another. John was engrossed in the ‘Narcos’ series again, which I think is addictive. As one programme finishes, he thinks he’ll just watch a few minutes of the next one to see what happens…. and there you are, another forty minutes gone! I was engrossed in my jigsaw puzzle, which is still resisting my efforts to match pieces together. It’s still very brown, although, to be fair, I have found lots of yellow, too. And the jigsaw’s addictive, too. I think I’ll step away from it for a while, and then my eye alights on a particular piece which I then spend ages trying to fit in. And there you are, another half an hour gone.

I did spend a little while chasing up ‘a situation’ with Mum today, having taken two phone calls relating to her care. I had arranged for the carers to go in at mid-day, as from today, to serve her lunch for her. It transpires that she refused her lunch, citing that she felt unwell. The Manager of the flats called for the doctor who, in a telephone consultation, could find nothing untoward. She had a tummy ache and pain in her back – a common occurrence, which is usually solved by a paracetamol and a glass of water. Thus it was today. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

John finally tore himself away from the TV to spend a while preparing the quiz after we got back from the park. It was one of those situations whereby he screeched in at the very last minute, having compiled the last few questions just seconds before we were due to quiz. This, despite having had several days – ohhh, plenty of time yet….. to think about it. Every day, in fact, did John think about the questions, and jotted a few down. But naturally, it wasn’t until the eleventh hour that he realised time was actually going to run out if he didn’t get on with it.

In fact, the quiz was a good one. Really good questions which made us think and debate, discuss a bit more, and then go back to the first answer you thought of, and it might be right. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves all evening once again with such good company. Mind you, I hope they are still talking to me after I clicked the wrong button and cut us off at the very end before we had said our proper goodbyes….

All in all, despite our slow start this morning, we’ve enjoyed our day. Until we saw the news, of course, whereupon, I began to lament again. Oh, the figures, the figures!!

• 50,023 people were confirmed as having contracted the virus in the last 24 hours
• 981 people have been reported as succumbing to the effects of the virus in the same period. These reported deaths have a time lag however, and actually, the total for the last week is down ever so slightly by 1%
• No more up to date information of daily hospital admissions, however
• 233 people died in hospitals on 28 & 29 December
• And we’re on Day 14 of Tier 3 Part 2 and Day 29 of Tier 3 in total
• It’s Day 287 since our decision in March, to hide at home as much as we can.

Whichever Tier you are in, I hope you can make the best of it. Having had a slump after some high-octane preparations for Christmas, I am hoping to find some energy from somewhere to greet the New Year with pleasure and hope, in order to to make a silk purse of a sow’s ear. I am sure it’s possible. I shall definitely try, anyway.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Another long, lazy lie-in and, looking out of the window, in for another disappointing day weather-wise. The sky was leaden and we didn’t feel like getting out of bed. My phone pinged by my bedside and I slowly released my arm from under the warm covers to sleepily look to see who was texting. It was Danielle, with a gentle little video of the snow falling in their back garden. Harriet followed suit. Then, wonder of wonders, it started snowing here, too.

It lay thick enough in Sutton for the boys to go sledging on the field, and in Kenilworth for Freddie to play out in it, and here in Balsall for me to admire it dusting the lawn. You should have heard William chuckle his little head off as he hurtled down to the bottom of the hill on his sledge, and Freddie chattering about the snowflakes as they fell from the sky. Fabulous.

Despite being awake, I decided to stay in bed some more and read my book, which I did until lunchtime. John was already up and catching up on a Netflix series called ‘Narcos’, which is based on a true story of how drugs and drug barons flooded Miami, and the fight to clean up the town. I joined him while I had bite to eat, and then, despite my best intentions to do something active this afternoon, I whiled away the time by scoffing lots of chocolate biscuits, playing a scrabble game on my phone, scrolling social media and doing my jigsaw – which is resistant to any amount of coaxing. Not got awfully far with yet, as you can see. It’s all very brown…..

While I cooked our evening meal, John went to scrutinise quiz questions on the computer, ready for our Quiz Night tomorrow. John is Quiz Master this week, and he’s determined to make it a good one if he can. Especially as it’s the New Year coming up.

Not that any of us are going to be out celebrating, are we? We haven’t had the feed-through of numbers of infections from the Christmas period yet, and already we are at 53,135 people confirmed as infected with COVID in the last 24 hours. I nearly dropped my cup of tea when I heard the figures on the lunchtime news today. I certainly spluttered into it and waved my arms about a lot as I gestured my dismay to John.

That does it, then. I have been thinking about putting us into stronger measures of lockdown since the news of more and more people catching the blessed virus has been filtering through. And today’s news just confirmed it. No going out to the shops or non-essential journeys for us for the foreseeable. The hospitals are getting busier and busier, and if we can avoid being one of the many at their doors that will be a good thing – so safety first.

The news isn’t very cheerful at all, now that I have come back to watching it a bit, what with earthquakes, Brexit, our borders being iffy and the rise of COVID cases. I wondered out loud to John how we could have got it so wrong on keeping the infection rate down, but he thought that being a small, densely populated island we would always being fighting an uphill battle. I suppose, but it feels shitty. Can I say that?

So the figures are as follows:

• 53,135 people confirmed as testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours
• 414 people have died during the same period in the community.
• 2,322 people were admitted to hospital on Monday 21 December – no new figures, but, for a week ago that’s a lot
• 213 people have died in hospitals on 27 & 28 December – mostly the over 60s
• We are on Day 13 of Tier 3, Part 2 and Day 28 of Tier 3 total
• And it’s Day 286 since the beginning of our original lockdown in March

All the scientists are imploring us all to stay at home, keep our hands washed, wear our masks and keep well apart from everyone else. I know the politicians have a different view, but I’m ‘following the science’ – how about you? Hope so!

Stay safe everyone. God bless.

Gosh, is it really Monday? Didn’t feel like it all day. It was more like a Saturday. So much so, that we had a lovely long lie-in this morning. The sunshine was gone and it was a very murky looking day out there, so what better than to snuggle up under the covers for an hour or two longer?

I was disappointed though, not to see any snow. I was scrolling through social media for some of the time that I was lounging in bed, and people were posting lots of photos of snow outside their back doors and down their streets, with children making snowmen and throwing snowballs. None here in Balsall Common I’m afraid.

We finally winkled ourselves out of bed just after eleven and did a little bit of pottering about, still trying to have a tidy-up after the parcel opening the other day. Once we’d done that we thought we’d better eat, so John made banana pancakes – which were perfect. Mind you, instead of them being our breakfast they were now our lunch! Time had run away with us and it was one o’clock already.

I had a nudge from Andrew just before we ate, wondering if I’d delivered the parcel he’d bought for Freddie. Red-faced, I had to admit that we hadn’t – and not only that, I had forgotten that it was in the boot of the car when we went to the park yesterday, otherwise he could have had the gift then. Ah well, no worries, we made the trip over to Kenilworth to play Santa again. The Kenilworth Sleaths were out, though, so I just popped it in the hallway for when they got back. Duty done.

We are not sure what has happened to the rest of the day. We have watched a little bit of TV – we thought we’d start watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix as it has had such good reviews. We watched the first episode and thought it was very well done, so I think we’re hooked already.

Today was the day to get out the Christmas jigsaw, too. It’s been ready for weeks and it came downstairs just over a week ago ready for us to get started on Christmas Eve but, goodness knows what we’ve been doing, because it’s just been sat there until now. It is a beautiful picture of The Shambles in York and I have been eagerly anticipating getting it all out, but then the excitement wore off a bit, as I realised it’s a difficult jigsaw. However, the edging is all done now, as well as a couple of the windows. So…watch this space. Be warned, though, I shall update you daily on its progress!

John, on the other hand, spent a fair bit of time playing his poker game on the computer, with running commentary. Made me smile…. he said he’d enjoyed it and done quite well. I wasn’t sure he had, since there was a fair bit of tutting and sighing going on – presumably when he had a bad hand….. tee-hee.

We have had some exciting news as well, confirmed today, so I can tell all. Dear Lucy has got engaged. I am so thrilled for her and she looks delighted in the photographs, so we have a wedding to look forward to – COVID permitting, of course – in 2022. Apparently Tom popped the question on Christmas Day, which is very romantic, isn’t it? I tell you, it’s all happening in the Cross household, with Lucy getting engaged, Liz moving house and expecting a baby early in 2021. Such exciting times. I feel as excited for them all as if they were my own children. Lovely.

Meanwhile, back in the cold, hard world of COVID, the story is a poor one. There were over 40 thousand people confirmed as having contracted the virus today. That is one helluva of figure and the scientists keep reminding us not to mix at all. I think I might put my ‘first lockdown hat’ on and just stay home now.

The figures today then, are as follows:

• 41,385 people were confirmed as having been infected with the virus today
• 357 people died from it today in the community
• 186 people died over the last couple of days in hospitals
• Hospitals are beginning to fill up with poorly COVID patients now, putting pressure on other disciplines in the health service.
• Today is Day 12 of our second run at Tier 3, and Day 27 of being in Tier 3 altogether.
• And we have tried to keep ourselves shielded as much as we can since March, this being Day 285

Take care everyone. God bless.

Well, it was certainly a stormy night last night, with the wind howling round our house and rain lashing against the windows. But we woke up to the most glorious sunshine this morning and my thoughts immediately turned to going for a walk. First of all though, we had a bit of a clear up after Christmas…..

Christmas Day was very, very different for us. No longer the full family gathering at our house with bodies littering the lounge for three or four days on the trot. We did get to see everyone, but we travelled.

I went to the 8 o’clock church service, knowing that there wouldn’t be many people there, and we managed to get out of the house just before ten o’clock to whizz over to Kenilworth. The whole clan, Paul, Harriet, Catherine, Ellie, Lily and Freddie, had gathered in their lounge, the patio doors open, two picnic chairs, a blanket and a chimenea pulsing out warmth just outside for John and me. Everyone was pleased to see us and Freddy was particularly thrilled. I had taken the parcels over beforehand but they were still in the garage, so we played Santa which was quite exciting.

A little drop of Bucks Fizz and a whole load of virtual hugs and kisses later, we thought we’d better set off to visit the Sutton Sleaths, where we were greeted with another lovely sight of a burning chimenea and outdoor sofas for us to sit on. More Bucks Fizz, or beer, or wine if you wanted it and fabulous company. There was Michael, Danielle, William, Thomas …and Andrew, who is ‘bubbling’ with them over the Christmas period. This time gifts had already been opened so it was fun and games in the ‘Man-shed’ with a ‘Hot Wheels’ car track that Andrew had bought for William. I think all the boys loved that particular gift.

Dinner was nearly ready at the Sutton Sleaths, so we left to let them get on with it and then popped over to Mum’s. She was funny. She had absolutely no idea that it was Christmas Day and her Christmas Dinner was still sitting on the side, uneaten again. I soon served it up for her and she enjoyed her lunch. She exclaimed at our Santa outfits, giggling at us, so I said, “Well, it is Christmas Day, after all.” Is it? She wondered. “Is it, really?” Yes, it really was, so we got out the sack of parcels for her to unwrap. She was hesitant. “Are you sure it’s Christmas?” she said. “Am I allowed to open the parcels?”

Once she got going, she enjoyed her parcel unwrapping and the couple of hours that we spent with her. We watched the Queen at three and whom Mum hardly recognised, but there were photographs to look at and exclaim over; new hankies to be pleased with; chocolates to savour and a letter from Australia to pore over.

We left Mum’s at about 4 o’clock, intending to put our turkey dinner on to have an evening meal. As we were driving away, John said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking we might just have a ham sandwich. I’m knackered.” Well, to be honest, I was tired as well, having been up and on the go since seven in the morning. So, I didn’t think twice and agreed. “We’ll have our Christmas Dinner tomorrow.” we said.

Normally, at Christmas, we Skype Graham and Gail. I was getting worried. I hadn’t heard from them for nearly three weeks, and there had been no reply to my texts. In the evening, I thought I’d try getting hold of them again on a Messenger phone call. There was no reply. I tried again on a video call. Still no reply. I fretted. As always, John came to the rescue and phoned from the landline. He got through. And the reason for them being incommunicado was revealed. They had a new phone. Ah…… Messenger wouldn’t load up. Oh…I see….. but then, they’d been busy anyway. Gail hadn’t been very well. In fact, she was in hospital having an operation for breast cancer.

They do things fast in Australia. No sooner suspected, than tests were done, and then more tests, diagnosis made and whisked into hospital to deal with it before you can say ‘kangaroo’. Operation on Christmas Eve, Gail? That alright with you?

On Boxing Day then, we just spent the day opening the rest of our parcels, getting our lovely lunch ready, eating it and worrying about how Gail was faring. Traditionally, we eat a starter, the turkey dinner and a Christmas Pudding, but we were full after the mains. We’ll eat the pudding tomorrow, we said. We really are stringing out our Christmas Dinner. As we settled down in the evening to watch TV, still with Gail on our minds, there she was as if by telepathy, on the other end of the phone, having been discharged from hospital, reassuring us that everything had gone to plan and she was recovering well. Slightly relieved……

And today? Well, we went for our walk, over at the Lavender Hall park. John texted the family beforehand and asked if anyone fancied a walk with us? Yes, please. They did. All of them, apart from the girls, who were doing girly things. How blessed are we? Had a very lovely time.

And this evening, we played a Zoom version of ‘Articulate’ with the family. It was a bit of fun, but stilted and seemed to be an awkward process. There was a hiatus while baby Thomas was fed, and then we girls threw in the towel as we were trailing by what seemed like millions of moves. We stayed on Zoom and chatted for a while before tiredness got the better of us and we gave in.

So, on what is Day 11 of our second Tier 3/Day 26 since the start of Tier 3, and Day 284 since our March incarceration, here is a quick rundown on today’s COVID figures:

• 30,501 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus
• 316 people have died in the community
• 150 have died in hospitals in the last two days
• And, as of 20 December, over 2 thousand people a day are being admitted into hospital with COVID.

Hoping that you have all had a good, festive Christmas despite being apart from family, if you were. God bless. Take care of yourselves.

Well, there is a bit of a Blog today, but a short one. And I may take a rest tomorrow and Boxing Day. I am feeling exhausted. This is borne out of the will we/won’t we uncertainty, and the constant shifting of arrangements.

We’ll plan to do X, only to find we now have to do Y, but tomorrow it’ll be Z. The shopping was ordered to cater for a full family gathering. Now, obviously, a change of plan – deliver some of the food to the other Sleath households, including turkey, instead. We’ll come to you to exchange gifts/No, we’ll come to you. And so on….

So today we played Santa and trundled round the Midlands to drop off the toys for the children’s stockings, squirreling them away in secret places hoping the kids won’t seek out the hidey-holes and spoil the surprise. It was lovely to go round and see everyone, even from a distance.

This afternoon, I sat and watched Christmas TV – John watched some of it but pottered about finalising the shower cubicle. And then, just as we were about to cook the tea, there came a ring at the doorbell and rat-a-tat-tat on the door. There was our Andrew, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He’s come to spend Christmas with the Sutton Sleaths, and called into the village to collect fish, for their traditional Christmas Eve fish platter, from a friend who runs a restaurant in Henley-in-Arden. Ooh, it was so thrillingly exciting to see him!

He finally made it to Sutton, rather belatedly, as his journey hadn’t been an easy one, with hold ups on the A14. Once he arrived, he self-administered a lateral flow test for COVID, which proved negative, which offers everyone a little bit of reassurance. Although we know that the tests aren’t 100% accurate, so caution still to be exercised, but nevertheless, it’ll allow for a more relaxed frame of mind as the celebrations get under way.

John and I decided to open a few of our Christmas presents early as we are planning to do more trips out tomorrow to see everyone, and we’d like to be able to say a genuine ‘thank you’ when we see people. We had great fun doing it too – it felt illicit and was it really allowed? We were like a couple of schoolkids, giggling over our little activity.

There is no better news in the news, however, with the incidence of COVID infections still very high and the scientists advising that families shouldn’t mix. I think it is incredibly hard to say ‘no’ to a family member though, don’t you? We are hoping that our plans to be outside, masked up and well-distanced on our visits won’t prove to be a mistake.

• 39,036 people were confirmed as having contracted the virus in the last 24 hours
• 574 people died in the community from the virus in the same period
• Admissions to hospital are increasing all the time, with a 16.5% increase over the last 7 days. The latest data was from Sunday 20 December with 2,143 people having been admitted.
• 215 people died from COVID in hospitals on 22 & 23 December
• We’re on Day 8 of our second go at Tier 3 in our area of Solihull, which makes it Day 23 since we went into this tier
• And it’s Day 281 since John and I made the decision to stay home as much as we could.

Whatever you are doing over the Christmas period, I hope you enjoy the festival and it brings peace to you all. God bless.

I did watch the news today and heard how there are now two variants to the COVID-19 virus and much of the south of England needs to be in Tier 4. I also watched, in distress, how the lorry drivers – thousands of them – are stuck, either on the motorway or in a lorry park near Dover. Most of them have no prospect of hanging up their stocking for Christmas; nor do they have appropriate facilities and they are hungry. The Sikh community is coming to the rescue with food, which is a wonderful thing.

But, here in Balsall Common, we are getting ready for Christmas in some form or other – collecting the turkey, the ham, the sausages and a tree of sprouts; delivering parcels, listening to carols and watching Arthur Christmas and Fred Claus from the safety and warmth of our cosy sofa. Feeling guilty? You bet.

We recognise that, at our age and state of health, we are no longer influencers, movers or shakers, and can do very little to help. We watch, helplessly, from the sidelines and pray for better times – and perhaps better governance. Arguments rage about how best to tackle the crises that emerge and perhaps no-one really knows, but it does feel, to me, that we should be doing better. I mean, lovely as it is, is it really the best we can do – to ring a bell on Thursday to show support for lonely people?

Anyway, despite my angst about the situations across the country, we have managed a ‘tidy’ day, as Ness, from ‘Gavin and Stacey’ would say. John has really set to and had a jolly good look at the shower cubicle again; been disappointed that the bit he glued didn’t stick because I’d moved the heavy weight to keep it down; and he’s unhitched some of it to re-shape it. One day it’ll be finished. Maybe tomorrow?

I was up early, fumbling about in the dark, to get to Oakes’ and the butchers to collect the meat and trimmings for Christmas day. They had a brilliant queuing system, but even at 7 o’clock in the morning the queue was beginning to snake out of the door.

Once I was back, I sorted through the parcels and loaded the car with the gifts for the Kenilworth Sleaths and trundled them across to them there. It was wonderful to see Paul and Freddie for even a few minutes. Freddie’s’ gorgeous little face looking up into mine and clearly pleased to see me, wanting to run into my arms but hesitant, as Paul said, “Remember, not too close.” I couldn’t help but stroke his face though, as he stood before me, disappointment clouding those eyes for a moment.

Back home, I cooked the ham ready for carving cold on Christmas Day at tea-time, before sitting down on the sofa for a rest. That was when the afternoon films kicked in and we watched a bit of light entertainment.

There was also some light entertainment in the form of a WhatsApp phone call, too. We’d just finished our tea, when my phone rang. It was Anita. She was phoning, not only me, but all the girls in the College crew. We had a laugh. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but four of us stayed on the line and had a four-way chat. We were delighted for Anita that Jo and her fiancé, Rob, had made it out of London to spend Christmas with her and she wouldn’t be on her own after all. Not sure what they are going to do now about getting back though, as London is in Tier 4. Wait and see, I suppose. Wait and see.

And we commiserated with Sue P who has had all her plans scrapped because Jenny and the family can’t come now as they are all in Tier 4 or going into that tier. A shock for Sue, who was in Tier 2 only yesterday. Gosh, it’s hard, isn’t it?

This evening was Quiz Night and fun was had by all. The questions were brilliant in many ways, because they made you think and dredge your brain for long-lost facts. Or, alternatively, made you smile wryly as you knew you had absolutely no clue whatsoever as to what the answer might be. I am now going to try and learn the Periodic Table……

So, with a heavy heart, I record the figures for the day.

• 39,297 people have been infected with either the original virus or its English variant today
• There have been 744 deaths from the virus in the community
• And 245 deaths in hospitals in the last couple of days.
• We are trying to sit tight in Tier 3 and are on Day 7 of our second go at it, but Day 22 since the beginning of this tier.
• And it’s Day 280 since we started this malarkey.

Take very great care everyone. God bless.

There’s a quagmire to the left of us; a minefield to the right; a storm ahead and a maelstrom behind. Are we stuck in the middle? Yes. We are. But at the very, very centre of each and everyone of us is love. And all we have to do is retrieve it, use it, share it, grow it and manifest it for there to be a change in circumstances.

This struck home today when Danielle sent us all a Charlie Mackesy drawing, one of those inspirational depictions that he offers us, and which fans the flame of hope.

It felt particularly apt too, as the decision-makers agonise over the best thing to do regarding both the virus and Brexit, and we agonise over missing out on seeing loved ones at Christmas time. Love – that’s what I am holding fast to and I am sure it will see us through. Not least because it allows sacrifice, and if we have to sacrifice our traditions now, it doesn’t matter at all if it enables a more stable future.

And so, in the spirit of love I carried on finalising all the gifts I have bought, and distributed one or two around the village today. I got up early to do it and nip up to the shops before anyone was around, and I caught the most beautiful sunrise coming up over the hill. I was so enamoured of it that I took a photo – although it really doesn’t do it justice. But honestly, it was lovely.

I got what I wanted at the shops and beavered away to get the last bits sorted and my wrapping area, aka our old bedroom, tidied up. Then, after lunch I drove out as postie before ending up at Mum’s.

She was, as always, pleased to see me but she remains as confused as ever, bless her. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon and I found her lunch sitting on the side again, uneaten. “Mum? You haven’t had your lunch.” She thought she had and shrugged her shoulders. “Would you like it now?” No, it was too late in the afternoon and she wasn’t hungry. And anyway, she’d eaten cakes so she was alright.

I toddled down to see the manager to ask if there was any possibility of them reminding Mum to have her lunch once it was delivered. Sorry, but no. Not every day. Ah. I see. No worries, we’ll sort out with the Care Agency someone to go in at lunchtimes to help Mum remember to eat.

I had taken Mum a little basket of food things that I’d made up, with which she was delighted. But I haven’t any real confidence she’ll eat any of it. There’s a beautiful little Christmas cake, a Christmas Pudding, some chocolates and clementines, a miniature bottle of Bailey’s and a jar of cranberry sauce. I could tell from the look in her eyes that it would be more likely that she’d admire it all packaged up under its cellophane from a distance, rather than delving in. I suggested I might take the clementines out and put them in the fridge so they didn’t go off. She nodded agreement. We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted…..

Meanwhile, John was also finalising. Finalising the shower cubicle – I think, anyway. There’s still a lot of tools in there so not quite sure if it’s finished or not…..tidy up tomorrow, maybe?

This evening, I had a Zoom chat with the ‘Bibliophiles’ – the little reading group I’ve joined. Unfortunately, I hadn’t quite finished the book, so was preparing to wing it. However, fortune smiled on me and, as one or two members couldn’t make the session unexpectedly, we agreed to meet up next week instead. That gives me a few days grace to get the book finished – phew!

Despite the chaos around us, it’s been a nice day. I have felt relieved that the parcels are wrapped. I have enjoyed seeing one or two friends in the village and chatting to my reading group – and I have also enjoyed christening the library area of the lounge. It was so lovely and comfy that, mid-way through a chapter I found myself nodding off…..

But the virus situation isn’t any better, I’m afraid. Here’s the doom and gloom:

• 36,804 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus in the last 24 hours
• 691 people have died from it during the same period
• 229 people have died in hospitals in the last 48 hours
• The maps of the country show the relentless spread of the virus, bleeding out of all the Tier 4 areas now
• Hospitals are beginning to be overwhelmed again, already
• 3,000 lorries are stuck in Kent trying to get out of the country
• And Tesco has introduced rationed goods
• We are on Day 6 of our second Tier 3; Day 21 since the original Tier 3
• And it’s Day 279 since the original, original lockdown.

Please take care. God bless.

With Christmas Day a few days away, it is time to get into the Christmas spirit. And I intend to do just that, now that I have the link to yesterday’s church services. There’s the nativity – played out by puppeteers – and, of course, the carol service that we missed out on yesterday. I shall be singing my heart out to all of the hymns chosen, and listening intently to the lessons read.

Not only that, but I am looking out my party frocks to wear to all the ‘Zoom’ catch-ups over the next few days. I have even winkled out my costume jewellery to wear and bring back lovely memories. And, if I am not wearing my party frock, I might be wearing my ‘Mrs Santa’ outfit, like I did this evening.

What a lovely time we had. We zoomed in to meet up with Pete & Dawn and Carol & John to replace our traditional Christmas Eve ‘get-together’. We knew it was going to be different this year anyway, with or without the COVID situation, as Carol and John had no plans to be trundling down the M1 to visit the Coventrians this year. So, my plan was to get dressed up in my finest – well, anything that would fit, really – and partay….

Rewind to this afternoon when the post arrived with a couple of parcels on the doorstep. Both addressed to John. He sat down to open them and then threw one at me and said, “This one’s for you.” Oh? Whatever could it be? We cut open the parcels and found, to my delight, Santa outfits! One for me and one for the ol’ man. Ho! Ho! Ho! That’s what we’ll wear to our get-together then! And we did.

The Santa sets are very warm, however, and we both abandoned them half-way through our on-screen party. Fortunately, I was wearing a sea-green sparkly dress underneath that I’d found in the wardrobe and actually fitted. I also found jewellery that Carol had given me over the years that complemented the dress perfectly. A beautiful beaded necklace that she had made herself, and a very pretty chromium-plated bracelet, studded with pale blue sparklies. I loved my little bit of dressing up – it’s such a long time since we did it that I am going to make the most of it over the Christmas period.

In other news, we took delivery of our Christmas shop from Waitrose this morning, topped up by another little bit of shopping from Tesco. I am pretty sure we have everything but the turkey now for our Christmas celebrations. In fact, we are blessed with a bit more than we need, as I had done the order anticipating a large family gathering. No matter, I will give some away, and we have started on the festive fare already today. Those little pork pies with cranberries and the little hamburgers and hotdogs were delicious.

John spent a fair bit of time sorting out the shower cubicle in the ensuite again today – and he’s fairly confident that he’s cracked it. Even if he hasn’t, I think he’s going to leave it as it is and we’ll try it out for a while.

I spent the best part of the day wrapping presents again. I am so slow…… Mind you, it’s not surprising. I caught myself being just like Mum today, pouring over which particular ribbon and which specific label to attach to each parcel. In the past, I have lost patience with Mum as she painstakingly selected just the right thing to go on a present, and today, I found myself doing something very similar…..eeeek. And I even know that the recipients don’t take a lot of notice of how the parcels are wrapped when they receive them, yet I still did it! Note to self: Must get a grip.

We haven’t watched the news avidly today, and I certainly haven’t for a few days, to give myself a mental rest from all the shenanigans. However, we watched a bit of the briefing this afternoon and our hearts go out to everyone who is affected by the effects of the virus – especially those who are acutely affected by the ban on travel out of the country. What a nightmare for those stuck in the queues on the way to Dover – not knowing whether they will be home for Christmas; whether their perishable stock will last; whether they should turn round and go home or carry on into the continent; or whether, as they make the return journey to the continent, they will make it back home to loved ones.

It is very hard for many, many of the population in all four corners of the country with the rise in cases and the new variant thrown into the mix. I am frequently wryly amused, however, by some of those I see on Twitter claiming that there shouldn’t be any lockdowns. They are all living in areas where there is less impact of the virus and have no clear understanding of the horror of it. We are beginning to see NHS staff showing their worn-out, mask-imprinted, flushed faces again on the social media, so you know its impact when that starts. NHS staff are exhausted already. And all the scientists are saying the same thing: don’t mix. don’t get close.

• 33,364 people have tested positive for the virus today, including people we know
• 215 people have died from it in the community today.
• 107 people died in hospitals over the weekend

I am not sure there is much we can do to help the general population, given our circumstances, but we will not go into shops unless it is absolutely necessary nor will we socialise (with one exception) in an attempt to keep the spread rate low and prevent hospital visits. Our only exception will be on Christmas Day when we intend to wave at the family in their gardens, masked up and at least two metres apart from each other. We’d like to stop counting the days of our Tier 3 status soon, please, which stands at Day 5, since the announcement that nothing had changed for our area, and Day 20, since the beginning of our Tier 3. And it’s now Day 278 since kick-off in March.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Well, whatever is there to say about today? I am referring, of course, to the situation on the border. No-one to leave the country – we’re banned. Which, of course, means that there’ll be trouble with getting goods in. No-one is going to want to come in if they can’t get back out, are they? Ostensibly, the ban is for 48 hours. And the fallout will last….oooh, well into weeks I should think. It’s beginning to feel like…..well, not Christmas anyway…..

The ban, of course, is because of a variant strain of the COVID virus that no-one quite knows whether it will respond to the vaccine we’ve set our store by. I do hope it does or we’re in for a lot of welly.

Not only that, but 35,928 people were confirmed as infected with the virus today. That’s a whacking great score whichever way you look at it. 326 people have died from the virus today in the community and we’ve breached the 2k mark on hospital admissions with 2,034 people going in – in one day; and 161 people died in hospitals in the last couple of days. ‘In the bleak midwinter…our people made moan…‘

Anyway, enough doom and gloom for now. We had a relatively good day. I spent all day wrapping parcels, thriftily using up bits of paper I had in the cupboard. I have got to the stage now, though, of coveting the three large rolls of paper I saw at my Mum’s the other day. I mean, she’s not going to be wrapping presents, is she? It’ll be me doing her wrapping, so I can have them, can’t I?

John spent all day with his head in and around the new dishwasher. He has managed to fit it into the space designated for it and he’s had it going. The only worrying thing is that there are lots of bits of the machine left on the work surface….. screws and widgets and such like. Fingers crossed the machine doesn’t need them.

Having said I wasn’t going to go into Solihull again, I did. I had an emergency purchase to make. We calculated when it would be the least busy and plumped on late afternoon, just before the shops shut. And right enough, it wasn’t rammed and I was able to keep 2 metres apart from everyone. The only problem was that I found myself at the wrong branch of the shop I’d ordered goods from. “Sorry, this isn’t here. It’s Sears Retail Park.” smiled the young lady behind the counter. Oh. Darn it. We had to get a dash on then to get to the Retail Park in Shirley before it shut. We did, but I had to wait in a queue which did my nerves no good at all. However, the shop was very large and airy and the doors were open, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed no bugs got past either my mask or my visor.

We had an unexpected visit from Paul today. The doorbell rang and there he was smiling at us on the doorstep. I can’t tell you how my heart flips whenever I see the kids at our door these days. Anyway, he’d been along to Costco to do the shopping and happened to see a ‘paleo’ product and thought of us. How thoughtful, eh? So, we had a bit of a chinwag on the doorstep before he had to go, but it was lovely.

It being a Sunday and the week before Christmas, I had made up my mind to go to the socially-distanced Service of Carols and Lessons this evening. John thought he might come along, too. This year, the plan was to have five carols and five lessons instead of the standard nine. And, of course, no singing. Although, to be fair, the intention was to have a few of the choir singing. However, with the ‘new’ bug and all, I wasn’t sure whether I was comfortable with the singing bit. Maybe we’d be alright if we sat at the back? Or in the hall? Then, two of my friends, who are in the choir, said they were not going to sing after all. So, in the end, we ducked out. I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t feel brave, but there we are. Better safe than sorry, I think.

So, that was us today. Take care. God bless us all and give us strength to face all the challenges coming our way – today and every day.