Category: Uncategorized

Today was William’s birthday and I felt sad that we weren’t going to be there to celebrate with him. However, looking at all the photos of the day they have had, it looks like we wouldn’t have been able to keep up. He looked so happy in every photo – and I was particularly moved by the little video of him as his birthday cake arrived to the song ‘Happy Birthday’ – it was an absolute picture of pleasure and anticipation. Heart warming.

Harriet called in first thing this morning to collect the one or two gifts we’d got here for William as she had a very large gift for him that needed transporting across. I was delighted to see her again today and, once she’d arrived in Sutton, there was a lovely doorstep photo she took of Freddie and the Sutton Sleaths. Melted my heart.

So, despite the disappointment of not being there in person, I was a very happy bunny with the updates early on – set me up nicely for the day ahead – and throughout the rest of the day.

We needed it as we’d decided that we’d go on another furniture hunt today. John looked up as many furniture stores as he could find in the locality and we set off on a little jaunt to sit on a lot of sofas and at a fair few dining room tables. Had great fun, but after a while, all the sofas started merging into one, and we weren’t sure which ones we liked and which we didn’t and which stores they were in. Might have to do it all again now that we’ve come home and measured up again.

In some ways it was quite an enjoyable trip. We sank into each sofa to try them out and we put our feet up. We’d sit there for a while to test them and even, on one or two occasions rested our eyes to test them for sleeping size. We found quite a lot of sofas that we definitely don’t want, and some that were positively revolting. John, however, was seduced by one arrangement that had a little centre piece in it which was designed to hold your cups of tea. I was seduced by one that was in the shape of an arc. But we both agreed on the fact that we’d like leather again. Our existing sofa has served us very well.

As we left Coventry to make our way to Solihull, John noted a McDonalds. “Would you like a Big Mac, John?” I wondered. “No, it’s alright,” he said, with longing in his voice. As we arrived in Solihull we drove past another McDonalds. “There’s a bit of a queue at the drive-thru, isn’t there?” John observed. I gave a non-committal answer. As we left Solihull, we saw McDonalds in the distance. “Do you want a McDonalds John?” He smiled, “Oh, go on then, if you insist.” So we bought a Big Mac each and parked in a lay-by to eat it. It’s long time since we’ve done that (it’s not on the diet sheet, you know) and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We’re both keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t pay the price for it tomorrow one way or another.

Not much else to report today. We came home, and John did a little bit more stone-shifting while I inspected the back of my eyelids for a couple of hours. I was woken up by the cat making himself comfortable on my lap, using his claws to mash a nice little place to sit. Ouch.

We decided that the TV viewing that was on offer this evening wasn’t our cup of tea so we resorted to picking up programmes we’d recorded, such as the one about the serial killer Dennis Nilssen, which we found fascinating.

We didn’t watch any news today but I gather that the Corona virus figures are still high and the debate goes on about what we must do to mitigate the risks. I also understand that the government ministers are now saying it’s ‘all our fault’ that the virus is spreading. Possibly. Nothing at all to do with the push to get everyone back to work and out into pubs and restaurants, of course….. But we’re going to be briefed tomorrow morning by the scientists, I hear, to ‘explain how the virus is spreading and the potential scenarios’ as we go into winter. That’ll be Christmas cancelled then.

Anyway, 3,899 people have been confirmed as having been infected in the last 24 hours; 18 people have died in the community but just one in a hospital setting yesterday.

We are hoping that our shopping trip was COVID-free. We did our best to sanitise, mask up and keep our distance, but we were sitting on sofas….. that was a scary thing to do. But we are now taking the view that we can’t hide at home for ever – there has to be a balance for our mental health’s sake – until they tell us otherwise and the inevitable second lockdown is announced!!

What else to say, other than take care everyone? My daily prayer, of course. Look after yourselves and all those you love. God bless.

You know what happens when you drink too much pop of an evening don’t you? You find that you might not be able to focus on your blog after all…… let’s see, shall we?

In essence, it’s been a rather good day. John chose to do as much stone-washing as he could in the time available, i.e. before we set off to meet the Kenilworth Sleaths in Abbey Fields. I chose to do housework. This entailed clearing out the clobber in the utility room and generally vacuuming and mopping floors. But there is still more to do. I fall back on my time-worn phrase of: maybe tomorrow? Oooh, now there’s something to look forward to! Who’s with me?

Come lunchtime, we abandoned our chores and prepared ourselves for an afternoon with the family. Just before we met up, we thought we’d pop into the furniture store in Kenilworth and look at the goodies that are in the sale. Of course, we didn’t buy anything. We never do. But we had a good long look at a few things which gave us ideas and things to dream of. “What are you actually looking for?” asked eldest son. To which we replied, “Oh, we don’t know! Everything!” I think we are just fed up of feeling tatty. Mind you, tatty is our middle name and we are likely to stay that way. Might not know ourselves if we change now.

We then joined up with the Kenilworth Sleaths on their picnic blanket in Abbey Fields. We sought out the sunshine for warmth and used the wind to experiment with Freddie’s holiday gift of a large bubble-making kit. That was fun and he was excited by it. The unfortunate thing was, so was the Mac, the dog. He was so excited that he couldn’t stop woofing, and Paul had to take him home again.

Had a great afternoon watching Freddie play in the playground and chatting to Paul and Harriet. The sun was shining and, all in all, it was a very pleasant few hours. The farewell was sweet sorrow, as usual, and, because I haven’t seen them for a while, I found myself welling up as we said goodbye – honestly, I really need to pull myself together!

Home again and we both found ourselves quite tired. John was tired, in my opinion, because he’d been sorting stones out before we’d set off for our fun-filled afternoon. And I think I was tired because I’d been a-hoovering and a-mopping before thoroughly enjoying myself this afternoon.

Disappointment plays a part in fatigue too, though, doesn’t it? And we had disappointedly accepted that we would now not be looking forward to wall-to-wall sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren all weekend, as Michael has a cold, which he has passed on to William and Thomas. So we’ve reluctantly agreed to avoid meeting up tomorrow for William’s ‘birthday bash’.

And so on to the evening, which was filled with more love and laughter with Pete and Dawn and Jack via Skype. Not sure how we managed it, but we spent nearly three and half hours chit-chatting. Mind you, it’s possible that in the last hour everyone was trying to get away and close down the discussion, but I had imbibed a few glasses of Prosecco by then, so I wouldn’t have noticed….

We lamented the new lockdown restrictions that mean we can’t meet up in our houses or gardens even though we only live round the corner from each other, but thanked God for Skype and ability to operate the technology. It really is a blessing.

In other news, those of you who have held your breath wondering whether I have pills for the month ahead, will be relieved to know that I did remember to go to the pharmacy today and collect my prescription. I didn’t, however, get to the Co-op for cereal for Mum in time to deliver it, so it’ll be toast and jam for her again tomorrow morning. See? You wanted to know that, didn’t you?

Anxiety on the COVID-front was relatively high for me ‘out-in-the-field’ as it were, today, and it transpires that the incidence of cases continues to rise, with 4,422 people confirmed as infected, 27 deaths in the community and 10 in hospitals over the last couple of days.

Fingers crossed that the dreaded lurgy was nowhere near Kenilworth Fields today….. take care everyone. God bless.

A better night’s sleep. The spring clean seems to have done the trick. Perhaps it’s psychological….who knows?

Once again, we took our time getting going this morning, shilly-shallying around and generally not wanting to get into our jobs today. John was semi-keen on shifting stones today, in that he wants the job finished, but it’s jolly hard work and he wasn’t so keen on that. That being said, once he did get going he really stuck at it, and it’s almost there.

I faffed about with clothes washing and a bit of tidying up before I ran up to the Post Office with the key to the Norfolk house all parcelled up ready to be sent off to Nuneaton, following my abortive attempt at its delivery yesterday. While I was at the shops, I wanted to collect my prescription too, but it wasn’t prepared, so would I like to call back later? Oh, yes, I said blithely, then bought a couple of visor-masks, which promptly wiped my memory. Have just spent fifteen minutes this evening puzzling over what the heck I did with the tablets I ‘brought home’, and thinking over all the steps I’d taken once I had walked through the front door this morning. It’s only just dawned on me that I didn’t bring the darned things home at all! I’d forgotten to go back for them, hadn’t I? Eeeh, but this ‘lockdown’ fever is very worrying…… my brain is definitely addled.

In other news, I had done a ‘click and collect’ order from Waitrose, due for collection at lunchtime, so I toddled off to the Kenilworth branch, where I was disappointed to find that I had to actually go into the shop. I wasn’t best pleased about that. In Norfolk, where I’d had my first experience of such a novelty, there were members of staff on hand outside the shop at the waiting area, to run in to collect your ‘click and collect’ order for you. And not only that, the staff member dealing with my request here, promptly helped herself to fingering my phone!! I was holding it out to her to show her the order number and she just started scrolling through it without so much as a ‘how’s your father’. Goodness me, keep your hands to yourself, luv.

I brought the shopping home, dumping all of the bags onto the kitchen floor and just had time to wash and sanitise the fridge stuff before I took myself up the hill to church, where I was meeting the ‘Exploring Faith’ discussion group. One of our members, Kaye, has sold her soul to get us access to the church hall for our fortnightly meetings and, on pain of death, we must sanitise every square inch that we’ve been in and certainly not touch anything we shouldn’t. Or go to the loo. I only realised that half-way through the meeting, when the children were streaming out of school and a random child tried the hall door to get in to use the toilet. Christine B said, to no-one in particular because, of course, the child couldn’t hear her, “No, you can’t use the toilet. We can’t, so you can’t either.” Kept my legs crossed for the rest of the meeting and, at the end of it, ran home very fast.

With the shopping order I had bought a few things for Mum and, as I hadn’t actually visited her since we got home on Tuesday evening, I thought I’d better drop the groceries round this afternoon. I had thought this morning that I would contact the manager at Mum’s accommodation to check how things were before I got there but, in fact, she beat me to it. She phoned to let me know that Mum was beginning to wonder where we were. And that she’d run out of loo rolls. And cake.

Mum was surprised, but delighted to see me. She said she wondered what had happened to me as it had been a while. I admitted that we’d been away on holiday and I also admitted that I hadn’t told her beforehand. She nodded and said, “Well, I think that was probably wise. I think I probably would have worried every day if I’d known you weren’t here.” Crikey. Could have knocked me down with a feather.

Mum was very well and quite happy. Even happier when she knew I was the bringer of all things good in her eyes. “Ahhh…. toilet rolls!!” and her eyes lit up, “I was needing some of those.” she said with a grin. “Oooh, and cake!! Oh, thank you!” Thrilled, she immediately tucked into a couple of mini bakewells with her cup of tea.

I stayed for a little while, and was still there when the ‘bedtime’ carer came. It’s the first time I’ve met one of the girls and she was lovely – bright and breezy and teasy, and knew just how to manage Mum. So I left then with three bags full of washing and some shopping ‘returns’ – “I don’t like Shreddies, so you can take those away, and I’ve got enough cheese for now, thank you.”

Back home, it was time to finish the ‘shopping washing’ and think about eating. John had suggested we might have a curry take-away this evening and, at the time he suggested it, I’d turned my nose up. However, the thought of having to get cooking didn’t appeal, so I stepped out of the front door to shout over the sound of the stones being riddled and jet-washed, and let John know that I’d changed my mind, and we’d have the take-away. And. by the way, did he know it was already ten past seven and he really should be calling it a day now?

A bit of a funny old day really, one way and another but the essence of it has served to remind me to be thankful and stop belly-aching about perceived hardships. So there we are.

And here we are – 4,322 people infected with COVID-19 today and 21 deaths in the community and three in hospitals yesterday. And Wolverhampton now on the ‘lockdown’ list. I think my brain might implode just thinking about it…..

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to meeting the Kenilworth Sleaths in Abbey Fields tomorrow and the Sutton Sleaths in Sutton Park on Sunday.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We had a plan this morning. I was going to meet Danielle and the boys at a garden centre. Got quite excited at the prospect. John was going to stay home and talk medical stuff with one of his consultants. Well, the latter happened but we didn’t get to the garden centre, as William has a sniffle and we thought we’d better not risk it….. ah, well, next time maybe.

The upshot of John’s medical consultation was, ‘Let’s send you for (another) MRI scan.’ If in doubt, scan it! Hopefully, the scan will tell us what is making John’s back ache and feel crunchy. Fingers crossed. Then, they may be able to offer suitable physio, or an ointment, or a tablet, or something. And then maybe he won’t be so uncomfortable. Hope so anyway. On the other hand, they may say that shifting stones in the front garden isn’t to be recommended for a bad back? Best not say that too loudly though, as he’s half-way through and doing a grand job and we’d both like it finished.

So John was up and at ’em pretty promptly this morning, keen to get the reluctant stones sifted, cleaned and put back into place, and I was still in a ‘drifty’ sort of mood since my original plans were thwarted.

However, having had another disturbed night last night, coughing and spluttering, I decided the best course of action was to try and track down the source of the problem today – so that became my mission for the day. As far as either of us can tell, the irritation to my asthmatic chest isn’t coming from the garage. There are no discernible pots of paint, cans of petrol or thinners open to prompt a reaction. I wondered, then, if it was simply the house dust mite. Having been away for a few days, perhaps they’d had a proliferation spree.

I set to, therefore, in spring cleaning our bedroom. I mean, it’s not long since I did a deep clean, but perhaps it wasn’t deep enough. On and off, we both laboured at our individual tasks trying to break the back of them until all of a sudden it was half-past six. Good grief. Where did the time go? “Are you Zooming with your girls this evening?” John asked. Oh. Do you know, I had totally forgotten it was Thursday. “Gosh, yes! And I am supposed to be hosting as Anita is away!! Better get on with some food then!” I exclaimed.

We ate and then I dutifully set up the Zoom meeting. Had a grand evening with everyone, who were in good spirits despite anxieties about medical issues and the latest COVID situation. “Will we be still Zooming at Christmas do you reckon?” Liz asked. “If we are, we’ve all got to wear Christmas hats.” Linda laughed – she had found a whole load of silly Christmas hats in her cupboard just today as she was looking for something. As sure as eggs is eggs, I think it likely that we’ll still be video-conferencing at Christmas, more’s the pity. Strikes fear into your heart, doesn’t it?

Despite that sinking thought, we had a very good natter this evening. The Zoom session didn’t time out as anticipated after forty minutes and we chatted on for two hours. It was very comforting.

The reality of the COVID situation, and the local lockdown in force which says we can’t visit each other’s homes, hit me like a train this afternoon. I was planning to drive over to Nuneaton and drop the key back to the house we had borrowed in Norfolk. Blithely made all the arrangements and was mentally preparing my afternoon, when it suddenly hit me that I couldn’t go. That’ll be sending the key in the post then. Grrr……

With 3,395 cases of the virus confirmed today and 21 deaths in the community, and six in hospitals yesterday, the figures remain alarming, and more measures are being put in place to try and contain the spread. Newcastle was another town being put into localised lockdown measures today, and we are seeing the whites of the politicians’ eyes as they try to defend their management of the pandemic in our country. Locally, it’s generalised to state that there have between nought and two cases here.

Well, we’ll keep plodding on and hoping for the best. But it’a bit wearing now, isn’t it? I’d just got my hopes up that we were going to be able to widen our social circle physically but, nope. Not yet. Testing us just a bit more. However, I am thankful for everything we have – the kids, the grandkids, friends, neighbours and relations who come up trumps – it puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it? Reminds us as to what is important in our lives.

Keep washing your hands, keep your distance and keep soldiering on – that’s now my motto. Take care everyone. God bless.

So we’re home and back to standard stuff. John has been out in the front garden shovelling and washing stones again, and I drifted around the house in an attempt to get things into some semblance of order. I also drifted round the garden a bit but couldn’t find the energy or wherewithal to do any gardening. Feeling a bit too deflated at being home and no longer on a lovely, relaxing holiday to want to get stuck in.

I hadn’t slept all that well last night – I either imagined it or could actually smell fumes emanating from the garage, over which our bedroom directly sits. I tossed and turned, developed a headache, my sinuses filled and I began to cough. Eventually, I resorted to sleeping in our old bedroom – that way, the psychosomatic or real symptoms, whichever they were, would be alleviated.

The poor night’s slumber resulted in me oversleeping this morning and I was awoken by the front doorbell ringing. It was the neighbour, calling in to ask me to open the side gate to let the arborist into the back garden. He’d been called in to tidy up the trees that straddle our border. She was very apologetic for getting me up, but really, I didn’t mind.

Thereafter, it’s been a long line of chores today really – put the washing on, tumble it dry, fold it up, put some of it away, put the rest into an ‘ironing pile’; and then, in between times, clean and tidy bits of the house that I’d left in a horrible muddle before we went away, unpack the remaining bags and stash them away, pay a few bills, do the on-line shopping and so on. Nothing to see here.

The days was enlivened, however, by the cricket. England won the toss and opted to bat. Great move we all thought, including the Aussies, who would also have batted first if they’d won the toss. First men in, however, were very soon out, and we were no runs for two wickets. What a horrible start. The team did pull it round a bit and ended up with a respectable score of just over 300. And, when the Aussies stepped up to bat, they also had a horrible start and we thought it might be a good win for England in the end but, sadly, no. The Aussies scraped over the line and we lost the series after all. Very exciting cricket all round though, I have to say, so you don’t mind losing when it’s a close-run thing.

The day was also cheered on with a video call from the Sutton Sleaths and a nice little conversation with William, and a lovely few moments of cooing to Thomas. After much thought, we have finally decided to meet up with them in Sutton Park on Sunday to celebrate William’s birthday since we can’t meet in either of our gardens. Seems a bit mad to me, as I would have thought that the park poses a greater risk of infection (because there’ll be lots of unknown people around) than our back garden. But there we are. We have to follow the rules – even if they are a bit of an ass and a rather blunt instrument to crack a localised nut.

In other exciting news, I was upstairs paying my bills in the computer room when I heard a squeak. I stopped and listened. It stopped. A few minutes later, I heard it again – a bit more persistent this time. I paused and listened again. I couldn’t think where it was coming room, so I followed the sound. I finally traced it down in the kitchen. A baby squirrel, locked in Shadow’s growling jaws. Oh. Oh, dear.

Rio was looking on. Hmmm….. what to do? I gave Shadow a hard stare. To no avail of course. Shadow was in full control of the delightfully soft baby in his mouth. I shut the kitchen door and gave him another hard stare. He began to look a bit sheepish and, ever so slowly, released the squirrel from his grip.

The squirrel sat in the corner, shivering. Rio, bored, yawned and paced his way out of the kitchen. Shadow looked longingly at the squirrel but made no more attempt at catching it again. Instead, he started to miaow for food and stomped over the cupboard. Seizing my chance, I popped food into the cat’s bowls, shut the other kitchen door and scooped the squirrel up to deposit it outside. It shrieked extremely loudly, but the cats were eating their food and didn’t turn a hair.

I put the squirrel out in the front garden under the hedge. I didn’t really fancy it’s chances, to be honest. I thought it might die of shock, but it wasn’t badly mauled so it may survive – unless the cats decide to have another go, of course. We’ll probably find out in the morning.

As the day drew to a close, we were delighted to enjoy another quiz this evening. John was Quiz Master and was very helpful as we worked our way through some tricky questions, saying things like, “OK, move on!” when we’d got an answer right, or, “Well, you’ve haven’t actually said the answer yet…..” as we circled and circled possible solutions to seemingly insoluble questions. Great fun and great company as usual. Cheered me up and reminded me that being home isn’t all bad after all.

However, there have been nearly 4,000 people infected with the virus today and twenty people have died in the community and three in hospitals yesterday. Locally, the figure for Balsall Common still remains at three cases.

Keep smiling. It’ll be alright on the night.

Home. That was our destination today. We didn’t really want to go, damn it! The weather was so glorious that it seemed a shame to be simply packing our bags and then onto the road travelling. But, hey-ho, that’s what it had to be be. The late summer/early autumn idyll was at an end.

In keeping with not wanting to leave, I woke up early, felt grumpy and determinedly stayed in bed for another hour. However, I knew the inevitable must come, so I forced myself upright and into the day. And that was more or less it, then, for an hour or two – pack this, pack that, wash this, tidy that, unplug this and fold that.

Midway through the packing up proceedings, I prepped a brunch for us once John was up and about. Then, once we’d eaten, John asked what could he do? The trouble is, I am not a great or organised packer. So almost every bag was half-packed. So I was flustered then, trying to think what to get ready first so that he could get things packed into the car. In the end, one by one, the bags were filled and closed, then placed by the front door and John dutifully took them out to the car to find a suitable space to put them into.

And, finally, we were done. “Shall we go to the windmill, for one last cream tea, before we leave?” I wondered. John thought it sounded like a good idea and that it would be churlish not to. So that’s what we did. It was lovely to sit there in the sunshine with the ‘naughty but nice’ food in front of us. I shouldn’t have a cream tea because of my cholesterol levels, and John shouldn’t have it because it can unbalance his system. But we were on holiday still, so it was our ‘last hurrah’ before coming home to austerity.

“I’ll drive,” said John as we got up from the table to go. “For a bit, anyway. We’ll see how my eyes are.” Well, his eyes were pretty good. Not only did they see alright to be able to drive, but they behaved sufficiently well that he was able to drive all the way home. Good job.

It was tea-time when we got back and we were pleased to see that the house was still in one piece, and the cats were still prowling. They knew it was tea-time too. Had a scrap, with fur flying, to prove it. Same old routine – cats are hungry; Rio casts mean eyes at Shadow; Shadow shifts uncomfortably on his haunches and starts to back off; Rio pounces; both cats scream in anger and fur flies all over the place. There! That should do it. We’ve got the humans’ attention now, do you think they’ll feed us? We feed them. And they walk away, tails high – as smug as smug as smug that their fighting tactic worked – again.

So there we have it. Back to the old routine. After we’d fed the cats, we fed ourselves and watched a bit of TV. Too late to get the washing on, we thought. We’ll do it in the morning. Too late to unpack everything – we’ll do it in the morning. Yep, the old routine has kicked in – they die hard, you know, those old habits. It’s a ‘maybe tomorrow?’ scenario once again, folks. I expect ‘Worry’ and ‘Anxiety’ to appear stage left shortly.

Being on our holiday, in rural Norfolk and surrounded by not very many people, the pesky virus has not been at the forefront of my mind. Of course, now we are back in the Midlands where there is a high infection rate, it immediately raises its ugly little head. 3,105 people have been infected today (that’s still a lot, isn’t it?) and twenty-seven people have died in the community and seven in hospitals on Sunday. And there are between 3 and 9 cases here in the Balsall Common area if the app I’m using is accurate. So, what to do? Sell up and move to Mars, I reckon – or is it Venus?

Take care everyone – let’s try not to be a statistic this time around. God bless.

Woke up to the most glorious, wall-to-wall blue sky and sunshine this morning. Honestly, I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been with the weather on our week away. The most I’d been hoping for was no rain, but this amazing spell of good weather has made us both very happy. On our last full day here, what more could we have asked for? It’s been wonderful.

We’ve accepted by now that we’re not early risers, but we were up earlier than some of the other days. In fact, I got up early enough to roast a chicken before we set off this morning so that we could come back to something nice to eat rather than setting to on the cooking front at nearly seven o’clock at night.

Our plan was to have a beach day today, so we set off for Brancaster. We weren’t disappointed. The beach is a great stretch of sand, and the sea, being relatively shallow as it encroaches on the beach, was warm, having been heated up by the sun.

We strolled down onto the sand, and sat in its softness ready to people-watch. After a little while, we lay back, faces to the sky and eyes closed, listening to the birds wheeling in the sky. It was warm and very relaxing.

After a short while, I was conscious of the heat on our skin and thought we’d be better off taking a walk to the far end of the beach, to the inlet where a colony of seals play.

I know I am a soppy old thing, but I was so excited to see the seals. John, being a little more cynical, hadn’t expected to see any at all, so even he was delighted. The tide was out and seals were in a small pool carved into the river inlet by the meeting of the sea water and the river water draining from the land. They were just diving, then popping up again, looking surprised, which made me laugh. It was as if they were saying, “Hey, look!! People!! Let’s watch them and see what they do!”

As we watched, the tide turned and started to come in. Surprisingly, it rushed into the pool area with a fairly strong current, which the seals took full advantage of, by swimming out a bit then relaxing into the flow of water and taking the ride back – a bit like a water shute at a water park, only for seals not humans. It looked like great fun.

Soon, our parking time was nearly up, so we moved on, making our way back to the car. I paddled the whole way back, and John laboured over the sand. It’s not easy, walking in soft sand. But there was a reward beckoning.

Must be time for an ice cream? Well, yes. We are on holiday after all. And another cream tea? Yep. Let’s go in search of one. And do you know what? We haven’t had a Cromer crab sandwich yet….

We drove to Blakeney where we knew the hotel would have both a cream tea and a crab sandwich. We also knew that Blakeney’s a delightful place to be and just one of the best places to do a bit of crabbing. Not that we intended to do that, as we hadn’t got the kit or the kids with us, but to re-live our beautiful family holiday of last year.

We were disappointed, however. The hotel was only accepting pre-booked customers. Ah, well, the pub’ll have to do. Good pub, nice garden, excellent organisation on the COVID safety measures and delicious crab sandwiches. But no cream tea….. Not to worry, the crab sandwiches made up for lack of a scone and clotted cream.

We sauntered down to the promenade, where all the crabbing takes place, and I had to smile as we watched a new father get his bucket and crab-line out and prepare to drop the line down into the water. The baby was all of a couple of weeks old, but you know, a father’s got to show the child the ropes, at whatever age they are, hasn’t he? Great excuse for going crabbing, eh?

We had intended to walk on towards the sea, but fatigue overtook us and we opted for the return journey instead. There was a nice roast chicken to come back to after all. What a lovely day. Just all the right ingredients and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

In contrast to a blissful day in the Norfolk country/seaside, there seems to be discontent in the political scene. Nothing new about that, I know, but there’s a veritable mess that I think will have a horrible sting in the tail for us in the years to come.

Couple that with the pandemic and I’m beginning to think I could do with a permanent holiday in Norfolk….

And for the record, fewer than the last couple of days, but over 2,500 cases of COVID-19 infections in the last twenty-four hours and 9 deaths.

Let’s celebrate what we can, when we can – and keep our chins up, folks! God bless.

Things sometimes go bump in the night and you’re not sure what’s going on. Last night was one such night. Well, except that we knew exactly what was going on – the edge of the bed was too close, the floor was inviting, so John tumbled out of bed with a bump. The air was quite blue as I surfaced from my slumber, quite startled and quite concerned. “I’m alright,” he said, between expletives.

The thing is, the ol’ man is conscious that sometimes, in the middle of the night, he whacks me with a fist cos he thinks he’s defending my honour and in his dream I am the enemy, or he kicks me thinking he’s scoring a goal. So his conscious self tries to keep his distance. Only last night, the distance was a bit much and the floor met him coming up, as he went down.

No harm done though, much to our relief. Apart from pride, of course. But I like to think it’s because he’s looking after me.

Of course, night-time shenanigans means that we’re always knackered the next morning. And this morning was no different. We both woke up a bit bleary-eyed, wondering whether to get up and start our day. We did, of course, and John brought me cup of tea in bed which was lovely.

We had originally thought we’d go to the beach today but I was a little anxious, on account of it being a Sunday and the weather being absolutely gorgeous and …… there’d be a lot of people.

Catherine had told us that she rather liked The Old Vicarage Garden at East Ruscot, a good hour and ten minutes away. At first, I had thought we might not venture that far but, having been to Cromer already, I was game. “John, instead of the beach, where it’s likely to be very busy today, how about we visit the gardens today and do the beach tomorrow, when it might be quieter?” I said. “Good idea,” came the response.

The gardens opened at noon, which suited us well as we are now very slow-starters in the mornings. We aimed to set off at twelve-ish and be there 1.30-ish. Whereupon we surprised ourselves and pretty much made it to time, despite having to stop off at the garage to sort the tyre pressures out.

The gardens were a revelation. I love all that stuff, but generally speaking, John’s not that bothered normally. However, even he was interested. Stunning, for what is, after all, a private garden. I loved it. Felt totally inadequate regarding my own efforts but, as John said, “You just have to research it to know what plants to put in where.” Yes. If it were only that simple. The trouble is, I get muddled up and daunted……

We spent all afternoon there, marvelling at the owners’ lifelong work before imbibing a cuppa and indulging in yet another cream tea. I also indulged in a purchase and bought myself a rosemary plant, my own having snuffed it a few years ago.

We probably overstayed our time there because we both fell into the car tatered. But we were still on for a bit more sight-seeing before setting off back to our holiday home. We decided to take a look at the church and the lighthouse in Happisburgh, that we had spied from the The Old Vicarage Gardens.

Oh, the serendipity of visiting Happisburgh. It certainly was was a ‘happy stance’. Brilliant beach and pretty little hamlet. Exquisite Norman church and a lighthouse to boot. Oh, and ice cream. Can’t say fairer than that. And I had a paddle.

And then it was “Home, James, and don’t spare the horses!!”. We had a very good run back, with the sun lowering itself slowly in the sky, glittering through the trees and occasionally glaring at me wildly and directly in the eyes, then steadying itself into the most amazing orange orb just hovering on the skyline, before dying the sky pink.

Needless to say, we arrived home late and dined late. John keenly watched the Grand Prix he’d recorded as I cooked our meal. And what started as a likelihood of cars processing around an excellent circuit, it turned out to be very exciting with no less than two re-starts.

We’d no sooner got over that excitement than we plunged into viewing the cricket. We joined it just as Australia were in the ascendency and bound to win. The game, however, had a thrilling finish and England bowled the Aussies out to win the game. Good bowling? Yes? Poor batting? Maybe. Enjoyable though.

A great day. So, do we really want to know the COVID-19 figures? Hmmmm……I’ll say it very quietly…. shhh…. 3,330 people infected; 5 deaths in the community and 2 deaths in hospitals…. shhh….

Take care everyone. God bless.

Rather than go rushing about today, we took it easy. We spent the day close to our holiday home and mostly ate, drank, lounged, and watched TV.

We had bought punnets of strawberries and raspberries from a local roadside seller yesterday, so we feasted on those for our breakfast. Nectar in a bowl.

To be fair, breakfast, I say, but it was nearer lunchtime before we got up. Such a luxury to be able to stay in bed if you want to. Not to feel pressured into doing anything. To leave behind chores and the growing grass in the back garden. It feels like it’s doing us good just to ‘let go’.

It was soon time for the qualifying round of the Grand Prix however, and John’s thoughts turned to settling down on the sofa to watch it. John prepared drinks, and himself, ready for the thrill of qualifying. I decided I would rather go out into the countryside. The sunshine was beckoning and Catherine had pointed me in the direction of a circular walk. “Do you mind if I go for a walk, John?” I asked. “Not at all,” he said, ”I thought you might,” He’d clearly looked at weather too and knew I’d been hoping for a country walk. “I’ll stay and watch qualifying,” I smiled. “I thought you might.” I said.

I got ready for my walk and off I set. It was such a glorious afternoon and the path was easy, taking me first to the village pond – without geese, who’d been shipped off somewhere because they’d become a nuisance, but with ducks and swans. Then on to the ruined church, covered in ivy, and the graveyard overgrown with weeds and brambles. A listed building, allowed to fall into total disrepair, such a shame, but the grounds echoing the times gone by as I read the inscriptions on the gravestones.

I strode on, along the path past woods, fields full of crops yet to be gathered and fields shorn of their bounty. I watched the birds and animals in their own habitats before finding an oak log upon which to sit and savour the world. Food for the soul. Not bad this life, I thought. I had the time to sit and stare.

As I neared the village again, I popped into the local shop and bought a couple of scones. To go with the Jersey cream and blackberry jam we’d bought yesterday, you see. John was thrilled to be eating another cream tea. That’s the third one this week! We’ll be rolling home.

After such a busy day, we naturally ensconced ourselves in the sofa for a bit of TV watching this evening. But honestly, what rubbish Saturday night viewing is. I thought I might watch Britain’s Got Talent but after ten minutes I switched it off. John had already decided there was nothing on he’d like to watch so was laid out on the other sofa listening to his audio book. At least, that’s what he said he was doing but there was a bit of snoring going on….

Our evening was enlivened, however, with looking at pictures on our phones – first, views of their ‘garden-in-progress’ from Graham and Gail; then scenes of love and laughter from the family barbecue at Michael’s. An early birthday party before lockdown for William. We enjoyed dipping into a bit of life on the other side of the world and back in the Midlands. It’s not all doom and gloom after all.

It may not be all doom and gloom for now, but for some, there’s a shocking reality as they contract the COVID virus and, perchance, die from it. 9 deaths in the community by the new counting system today; 6 in hospital on Thursday and one yesterday; and over 3,500 people infected. The experts say it’s going to get worse. Which makes me miserable as we will be all looking over our shoulders all the time. Oh, dear, Lord preserve us.

Whatever we have to do, let’s do it with strength and hope. Take care everyone. God bless.

Our plan this morning was to get up early-ish and zip over to Holkham for a bit of a visit to the grounds of the Hall before making our way to Cromer. We didn’t get going very early though, so we just went to Cromer.

I have to confess to having been anxious about the trip. Even though the children are back in school, if Wells-Next-The-Sea was anything to go by, it was going to be busy. With people. And we’re not really doing people mingling. We’re still trying to avoid close contact with the ‘great unwashed‘. Just in case.

However, we went. It was busy. But we decided to at least take a walk to the pier. It was cloudy with the occasional break when the sun shone through, so it was pleasant enough but it was a bit windy. We strolled at a nice, leisurely pace down to the ‘front’ via the back roads so as to avoid the throng. We looked down on the pier. “Are we going down the steps?” we asked ourselves, knowing we’d have to walk back up again. Yes. So off we went.

Had a lovely walk along the pier but there were far too many people, so we found ourselves a nice little sheltered corner near a couple of sea anglers and sat there for a while, admiring their skill and nonchalance at their catches. People walked by but we were well back so felt safe enough. The sun was shining then and the wind was the other side and we were nice and cosy.

“Fancy a coffee?” says John. We looked at the tables in the bar area. All full. “Nah, we’ll give it a miss.” We walked on. A bit further down, there was the cafe. Tables were well distanced, and there were very few people sitting there. We stopped for a coffee. Someone had fish and chips. “They look good,” John commented. “Shall we have some?” I asked. “ Go on then, let’s treat ourselves,” John grinned. It’s not on either of our diet sheets but we’re on holiday after all. They were delicious – with curry sauce. Mmmmm…..

After we’d eaten, we carried on with a little walk further on towards the RNLI Museum which, to our disappointment was still closed. Never mind, I’ll have another paddle…… The beach was very sparsely populated and I had the waves to myself, apart from a small shoal of surfers just learning how to ride the waves. Bliss. Although, to be fair, the wind chill factor took the edge off just a bit!!

After that, we called it a day. We made our way through as many of the back roads as we could but, from where we’d ended up we had to walk through the town. We kept our masks on and our fingers crossed.

Once back at the house, we kicked off our shoes and sank into the sofa with a cuppa….aaahhhh…… that was nice. We didn’t sit long though, because it was time to ‘click and collect’ again in Swaffham. Successful trip with a fill-up of fuel, a purchase of our journey companions, Minstrels, and the pleasure of seeing yet another super sunset to boot. Grand, eh?

Not so grand though, was the WhatsApp conversation going on between the family members, revealing the horrible truth the we’re going to be in lockdown as of Tuesday. It’s William’s birthday celebrations next weekend – all planned, a barbecue, people coming from various parts of the country….. but not now….. can we bubble? Can we? Should we? Shall we? Oh, dear… here we go again. I don’t think I’m a happy bunny now!!

Talking of bunnies, we saw hares in the fields today. That was a bonus. I do love to see a hare racing across the field.

And, so, what can I say? 3,500 people infected with the virus today. The rate of infection doubling every seven days and predicted to increase over the next week or so. Hospital admissions up and death rates up.

We hope we’ve done all the right things to avoid infection while we’ve been on holiday. We thought we’d be bold and go out, but who knows? Fingers crossed.

Stay safe everyone and take care of yourselves for your own, and your loved one’s sakes.