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Up early again this morning. The birds were quiet, and I wondered why. When I looked out of the window, I understood. It was extremely misty first thing. It made the walk along ‘The Yellow Brick Road’ interesting though, as the trees emerged from the mist as I got near, dripping and sometimes creaking with the weight of water on their leaves. It was yet again a pleasure to be up and out.

One jogger and her dog, and two dog-walkers today. The jogger pounded past me at speed, but the dog wanted to stay and play. The other dog walkers were doing the same circuit as me but the other way round, so our passing each other was fleeting and wide distanced. All good. I wore my mask, but the others weren’t wearing theirs.

Spent the early part of the morning tidying round and vacuuming the downstairs rooms in anticipation of the District Nurse visiting, to come and do Mum’s blood test. Mum, bless her, did as she was told and drank plenty of liquids one way or another, got up and dressed, had breakfast, and was all ready for the dreaded poking and prodding of her arms by half past ten.

The nurse came, masked, gowned and gloved up and began what is now the ritual of trying first one arm then the other to encourage some blood flow. Nothing doing. “Has your Mum had plenty to drink?” she asked. I confirmed she had. More rootling around for a vein that didn’t wriggle away. Still nothing doing. “I’ll have to ask one of my colleagues to come and do it.” the nurse sighed, “I can’t get anything at all.” So, we’ll be on for another day of fun and games soon, I expect. Mum was as good as gold though, I have to say, throughout the whole procedure.

By the time the blood test drama was over, John was up and at ’em. He has also spent the day tidying – mostly moving stuff from one location to another. Stuff from the garage to the man-shed, and vice-versa – a repeat of similar activity a week or two ago. I expect it’ll all be repeated again in due course. He’s feeling a bit better and no longer coughing badly, but he is wondering why his back is playing up a bit now though……

We were both pottering about, John in the garage and me in the hall, when a van drew up outside. John has started selling one or two bits of equipment surplus to requirements and so, purchaser and seller carefully socially distanced and the transaction was made with money changing hands. John’s eyes gleamed – he can buy more bits for the Lotus now…….

Not long after, another vehicle drew up – this time, it was a big lorry with the laminate flooring we’d ordered. Ooh, exciting! We’re planning to put it down in what was the company office, but what we’re now calling ‘The Gym’. It might not be called the gym for long. Depends on whether we actually use it as one…… is there enough room to swing a cat? Not sure about that, but the cross trainer is in there, so we might have a little go at improving our fitness with that piece of torture equipment in the not-too-distant future. Maybe.

After lunch, Linda called with a little bit of M & S shopping. We had an enjoyable ‘path chat’ and I felt better for having had the company, even if it was only for a few minutes. She brought some ready meals for Mum, for those occasions when she doesn’t like what we are planning to eat and, of course, some little cakes. Posh cakes from M&S. Mum’s delighted.

A bit later on, I decided I’d adopt the same routine as yesterday and have another little rest upstairs on the bed. And, like yesterday, I dozed off and woke up two hours later. Clearly, I didn’t get much more done today!!! I mean, I had thought the idea of an afternoon nap might be a good one, but I have only ever thought of it as a power nap. You know, forty winks. Not a hundred and twenty winks. This is not going to plan.

By now, it’s tea-time and more food prepping required. Mum had wandered upstairs to her bedroom as she couldn’t find John or me. John was showering, and I was still coming to my senses. However, when I said I was going downstairs, she willingly followed me down, and was happy to help with prepping the veg. But she was miffed as we finished our meal when I reminded her that it was quiz night and we’d be upstairs chit-chatting away to our friends this evening. “Join us.” I suggested. “You’ll have company then, even if you don’t know the answers.” But she decided the lure of The Repair Shop was too great and she’d rather watch TV.

Once again, we thoroughly enjoyed the company of our Centre Stage friends. They are so easy to chat to and bring such humour to the proceedings that it sets us up for the next few days. It’s always a giggle. Counting my blessings.

I have mostly put the news and reports of the latest on the Corona Virus to the back of my mind today. I feel irritated with the politicians and I’m running out of patience with their nausea-inducing platitudes and sometimes bare-faced lies. However, I am still interested enough in the current situation to think of all those who are ill or who have died and remember them in my prayers.

For the record then, the NHS has reported 8 deaths in hospitals up until 5 o’clock yesterday, confirming 39 for the day before. The government has reported 184 deaths in all settings and 1,115 people confirmed as infected for the same time period.

May God bless them and you all in everything you do. And, at the very least, as my friend Margaret said today, take some time to smell the roses.

Having promised myself a new routine, I actually did do something different today. Not promising that it’s going to be a regular thing but, from time to time, I may adopt it.

I woke up just after six this morning. Lay in bed, listening to the birds singing their little hearts out and made the decision to go for an early walk. I knew that, at that time in the morning, I may meet dog-walkers or runners, but I hoped that they might not yet be out in force. I wriggled my feet into my trainers, which gave a squeak of surprise, popped on my face mask and set off towards the path that we fondly call ‘The Yellow Brick Road’.

It was a beautiful morning, already warm and very close, teeing up for the storms later on in the day. One dog-walker, doing the opposite circuit to me, on the opposite side of the road, and one very fast walker about a hundred yards ahead of me, stretching out his lead with every step. No-one else. Just me and a feeling of exhilaration that I had broken the bonds of isolation for the first time in ninety-one days. It was exciting.

Once home, I brewed a cuppa and savoured that deliciousness of having earned it. I took my breakfast outside and savoured that, too. Afterwards, I got on with jobs. Just pottering, you know, but hoping to get through them before anyone else got up.

A very large parcel arrived mid-morning, and I was thrilled to see that it was a new mother/daughter lamp, that I’d ordered the other day. I wasn’t expecting it today as the delivery people had promised it for Saturday. Wow!! A parcel that arrives early!! That makes a change!!

In the middle of the hall I promptly set to, to put the thing together. Mum wafted downstairs, picking her way past the bits of cardboard strewn across the rug and made as if to go into the lounge. I called to her to go and get her breakfast in the kitchen. I would be installing the lamp near where she sits, so she’d need to wait a while.

Well, the pesky thing took me a lot longer than I thought it would, and I was disappointed that I had to enlist John’s help in the end to hold it up while I fed the stand into the base and to help me with inserting the bulbs. Boooo…….I’d wanted to do it all myself. Ah, well. Looks nice though. Mum, bless her, was hovering in the kitchen doorway watching the proceedings, with an air of, ‘Can I come out yet?’.

Inevitably, in removing the old lamp I noticed that there was some cleaning to be done. So one job led to another and settees were shifted, coffee tables displaced, blanket boxes re-arranged. Hadn’t planned that!

The second part of my proposed new ‘routine’ was to take an afternoon nap. So I did. At three o’clock, I left John sunning himself under what was a really scorching sun and took myself upstairs to lay on the bed. Hmmm…. perhaps I’ll get into bed? It was two hours later before I woke up. Must’ve needed the sleep then.

While I was wrestling with the lamp, John was wrestling with the electrics. He’d bought some new sockets that include charging points for mobile phones and so he’d thought he’d fit them. That job took a lot longer than anticipated too. First, he lost a screw. Both of our eyes are dim, but between us we eventually managed to retrieve it. Then, thinking the job was complete, switched the power back on, only for a bit of a bang and the electricity to go off again. Not sure what was wrong as he’d definitely wired it up correctly. Decided to abandon one of the sockets and put the old one back on. But we have got one that works with a phone, at least. Yay!! We’ve arrived in the 21st century!

Whilst I was snoozing my head off this afternoon, John was beavering away in the ‘man shed’. He was finalising the garage door aperture and fitting the brackets ready to hang the door. Just needs to find some burly men to help lift it into place now.

The ‘man shed’ is still in a bit of a pickle, despite hours and hours of trying to sort it out. John has had another go at it today, easing out various pieces of equipment that he had for the business but which he thinks he may not need for his future personal needs. Having eased the equipment out, he photographed some of it and posted the photos up on t’internt to sell the stuff. No doubt, a bit like the wood situation, he’ll find he really does need the things once he’s sold them……

Mum, meanwhile, having had the excitement of the lamp-building and the socket-switching was a very contented bunny. Even going so far as to try to tell me how to re-connect the TV after it had gone off due to the thunderstorm, we were having this evening. Not only that, but I think we may be one step closer to her re-hydration. It goes like this…..

Since the debacle of not finding a viable vein in either arm last week for a successful blood test, we have been trying to get her to drink more. Pretty much to no avail. “Drink your tea, Mum.” we say. “I am drinking it.” she’ll reply indignantly, peering into her full cup of cold tea that’s lasted her three hours. Anyway, I decided to offer her a drink of water, not from an old-fashioned glass, but from a Martini glass. Guess what? It goes down a treat. If only I’d known sooner….. fingers crossed enough water has passed her lips for the nurse to find a vein tomorrow morning.

I haven’t watched the news today, but one highlight that I do know of is the ‘U’ turn made by the government in response to Marcus Rashford’s plea to make sure children don’t go without food over the summer holidays. His open letter just hit the right note and the mood of many.

Regarding the Corona virus, however, by nine o’clock this morning there were 1,279 confirmed cases of Corona virus in the previous 24 hours, and 233 people who had died in all settings. The NHS reported 11 deaths in hospitals up until five o’clock on 15 June 2020, and 43 having been confirmed for the day before.

Peace be with you all as you begin to circulate more, and may love be your guiding light.

A lazy day…….. one in which I stayed in bed, taking a tour of social media and e-games this morning, ate, then floated about the garden, ate again, before sitting down to watch TV this evening. It was a lovely relaxing day today. I was clearly still walking on Cloud Nine after youngest son visited us yesterday, joined by eldest and first grandchild.

I had intended to get up early, in actual fact, because I thought I might change my routine. Our current routine is clearly taking its toll on all of us, so I had the idea that I would resist the temptation to be pushing on every day. Ha! Ha! So much for the best laid plans!! New routine? Maybe tomorrow……

John, on the other hand, has overdone it, in my opinion. He will deny it, of course. He has been fitting the headlining to the roof of the ‘car in the garage’, which involves lying on his back, in the shallow shell of the car, tugging and pushing and easing the material into place above him. He asked if I wanted to inspect his handiwork – well, of course I did!! The inspection involved me also lying on my back, looking up at the roof interior. I was thrilled – it’s an excellent job so far – but I tell you, it was a b****r to get out of the car again…… not sure how John is managing it!! Oh, I remember now! He’s Mr Determined, Mr Never-Give-Up etc., isn’t he?

Mum also had a very lazy morning, rolling on into the afternoon, until it was quarter past two before she reluctantly got out of bed. She can’t see the point of getting up, and so loves her bed that, no matter how many times she gets up out of it in a morning to brush her hair, go to the loo, put her lipstick on, she always slides back into it again. Each time I think she’s up, she’s not.

We had a little bit of a battle today though, because John had suggested that I was doing too much for her, so I thought I’d see if I could get her to look after herself a bit more. She can do things, but she can’t remember what she’s supposed to be doing. “Do you want to butter the bread for your sandwiches, Mum?” I asked. “Yes, I can do.” she said brightly, and followed me into the kitchen. I put the bread in front of her, pulled the butter dish forward and handed her a knife. “What do you want me to do with this?” she wondered. “Butter the bread,” I almost hissed.

Later on, I reminded her that we’d agreed yesterday that she’d have a go at polishing her room. “I don’t feel like it now.” she objected. “Never mind, Mum, I’ll put the alarm on my phone on for twenty minutes and we’ll go up then.” The alarm went off. “Come on, Mum, let’s go.” Her reply? “Where are we going?” Of course, she couldn’t go just then as she was drinking her tea. And then she was too tired. We did go up though, and she sat on her bed. I offered her the duster and polish – but she wasn’t sure what she was doing with those. I illustrated the point and then said I’d leave her to it. Well, the room was done – of sorts, but no polish was liberated in the cleaning of the room.

I can’t decide which is more effort – me doing the work for her or trying to get her to do the work……I was exhausted!!

Anyway, the garden was very inviting today and we took several forays into it, sitting out and wandering about, either each on our own, or John and me together, Mum and me together, or all of us together. The air was balmy, the seats inviting and the flowers fragrant. Really lovely.

Had a lovely video chat to Michael and William as well today. William was excited as he’d taken delivery of a parcel….. it’s not his birthday, but I’d sent a ‘lock down parcel’ to break the monotony. We had a virtual game with him playing a shopping game, and he whizzed the SuperWings about across the screen. A happy boy. Happy Grandparents!!!

Had to laugh today, too. Andrew has chained his bike and mine to the railings outside his flat. But he’s lost the key. I prayed to St Anthony very fervently for a couple of weeks to no avail. Andrew said he’d get a hacksaw to cut the chain off. Unfortunately, as it was a D-lock, a hacksaw wasn’t going to cut it. (Get the joke??) John suggested better to use an angle grinder. Perhaps see if Andrew could borrow one from the chaps on the building site next door? In the event, of course, Andrew came home and so took John’s angle grinder back with him. He texted us this morning: “Took the angle grinder about 1 minute to go through bike locks…….also, how ironic that next door are using an angle grinder.” Chuckle, chuckle.

And that was about it!! Nothing much else to report, other than one of our friends, Carole, phoning me unexpectedly this morning, to suggest that I should cancel the order of plants for the garden we made a few weeks ago, which haven’t arrived yet. Apparently, Gardening Express isn’t express, nor so much garden either, by the time you do actually get the plants……. hey-ho, you live and learn.

Corona virus figures, then: 1,056 people infected; 38 deaths in all settings (govt numbers, 9 a.m. today); 6 deaths in hospitals yesterday and 15 confirmed for the day before (NHS numbers, 5 p.m. yesterday).

Stay safe everyone, keep your distance, wash your hands, and share love wherever you go. God bless.

Glory of glories today!! Youngest son made the journey from Cambridge to visit us and we didn’t know anything about it until he arrived!! I was just about to settle Mum into a chair in the garden, following her perambulations this afternoon, when the doorbell rang. I was a bit flustered and wondered who it could possibly be on a Sunday afternoon. And there he was, standing grinning at the front door.

Well, you know me, never one to overreact….. my eyes lit up and my own grin mirrored his as I sped round the side of the house to let him into the back garden. As he walked in through the side gate, I was jumping up and down, squealing with excitement and all the love I have for him, pouring out in bucket loads. I could hardly contain myself!!

I gestured for him to go down to the ‘man-shed’ where John was busily inspecting his garage door aperture. I ran into the house to grab the cushions for Mum to sit on and raced back again, listening all the time to John’s delight on seeing Andrew home. What a buzz! What a feeling.

We had such a lovely afternoon. The sun shone on us, as we sat so companionably in the garden for hours. We didn’t want to let him go, of course, so John asked him if he’d like to stay to eat. Of course, he’d like to stay to eat!! He sat one end and we sat the other at the dining table on the patio, and then we chased the sun round until it started to dip behind the houses and it shone on us no more. It really was time to go.

The glorious afternoon was made all the more glorious when Paul turned up with Freddie. Andrew had said they might, but I didn’t believe him as they are always so busy in their household, so didn’t hold my breath. But, sure enough, there he was. Another beauty with his offspring in my garden. Michael also phoned – his cheeky grin telling us that he knew all about the secret plan all along. Thank you, Lord.

All in all, it’s been an unexpectedly good day. I hadn’t anticipated anything other than the ‘same, same’ we’ve been experiencing recently but, honestly, I couldn’t have written a better script if I’d been writing it myself.

Being Sunday, I had intended to ‘go to church’ first thing, although I didn’t in the end. I felt guilty about that. I did make it to the ‘Zoom’ coffee meet-up afterwards and had a great three-quarters of an hour chit-chatting away to everyone and feeling uplifted by some of the comments that were made. Specifically, about how not to feel guilty…..well, that was a coincidence, wasn’t it?

Mum managed to winkle herself out of bed after I had ‘Zoomed’ and sort her own breakfast out at mid-day. A little while later, I suggested she have a walk in the garden, at which she turned her nose up. She peered out of the window and sniffed. “I’ve just got settled to watch my programmes.” she said. “It’ll be nice.” I urged. “I’ve still got to drink my tea.” she countered – as if that were the clincher and there was no more to be said. “Well, drink your tea then, Mum, while I go and find your socks.” *Mum promptly scuttles down the hallway and hides in the loo*

We did have a nice walk in the garden of course and, guess what? She thoroughly enjoyed it!! I have witnesses…….. She was, however, confused as to who Andrew might be. She politely and cautiously said hello to this apparent stranger, as any well-brought up girl would do. Andrew said, “Do you remember who I am?” She wasn’t sure. “It’s Andrew.” he said, and then, teasingly, “I bet you thought I was Graham, didn’t you?” She nodded and replied “Yes.” Later on, she thought he might be Michael? Ah well, she kept it in the family anyway.

In other news, John has been furkling about preparing the aperture to the man-shed, ready to fit the garage door. We were a bit like ships in the night as he went out the back door and back in through the patio door while I tried to catch up with him at the wrong door every time. Eventually, I found him at his desk perusing the Wickes’ website. He was looking at wood. I burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you’re ordering wood?” He looked sheepish. He was. Oh, the irony. We have only just waved goodbye to a skip full of the stuff that he couldn’t wait to see the back of……

We had another unexpected visitor today, too. Margaret called, bearing gifts. She recognised the low mood I was feeling so brought me a little bag of pampering goodies. “Make some time for you.” she reminded me for the umpteenth time. There’s no excuse now, of course. Thank you, Margaret.

And finally, Harriet had WhatsApped us to remind us that it was ‘Family Quiz Night’ tonight. We thought, in all probability, that we wouldn’t participate this evening. Me, because it feels like I don’t have two brain cells to rub together and John, because he really is feeling a bit knackered. “Let’s let her know a bit later on whether we’re going to join in or not, when we know how we feel.” I suggested. Good idea, John thought.

As the day wore on, we were more and more inclined to think we might not join in – we were so involved with youngest son that time went by without us noticing. Soon, it was nearly 8.30. “Oh, no! I didn’t let Harriet know what we were doing.” I said, a bit panic-stricken that I could be so rude. Fortunately, it transpired that we were not due to start until 8.30 anyway. John was definitely too tired. I thought I’d just join in for a short while – show willing, you know? But, in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great quiz and, although I was last but one when we ran the scores, I didn’t mind. George had patted me on the head at the start, much to my amusement, and said, teacher-like, “Just do your best, Anne.” Well, I had done my best and I was pleased with what I did know rather than disappointed by what I didn’t.

We are still shielding and being very, very cautious, but today’s figures suggest the virus is still slowing, with 1,514 people infected as of 5 p.m. yesterday, and 36 people having died in all settings. The NHS reports 4 deaths for the same period, with 29 having been confirmed for the day before.

Let’s pray for the trend to continue downwards and for people, wherever or whoever they are, to find wisdom in their hearts and their behaviours. God bless.

More goodies arrived in the post for the ‘project car’ today. Honestly, every day is like Christmas at our house. And, instead of the materials just sitting on the side waiting to be cherished, the ol’ man has started to fit some bits in earnest. The headlining in the roof of the car is going in. The bulldog clips have come into their own, and one of the two sets of headlining has been liberated and is having a whale of a time draping itself over the newly painted rods.

Today’s delivery was more sound deadening material, because you need two types of sound deadening, don’t you know? This time it’s a ‘Dodo Dead Mat Hex’ sound deadening mat. How’s that for a snappy title? I thought, “Eeeh, you couldn’t make it up.” And then had a second thought, with a little chuckle “Oh….. but somebody did!!!”

My adventures for the day started with persuading Mum, finally, to try out the new-fangled seat that lifts you up and down in the bath. Having resisted since we took delivery of it last week and insisting on the ‘good body wash’ instead, she agreed to dive in this morning. To be honest, I wasn’t sure she’d take to it, but she did. Not only that, it seemed a lot less effort than all the other faffing about we do to keep her clean. After the initial squeal as the seat started lowering into the water, she loved pedalling her feet and legs as if she were swimming and then catching the bubbles with her hands. If we’d had a rubber duck to put in there, she’d have wanted that too.

Of course, there’s always the trip to the ‘hair salon’ as well which she enjoys, and today, she looked at me fondly and said, “Thank you for doing this for me, dear.” I thought that was a nice thing to say, given that she often forgets her pleases and thank yous these days.

I was thrilled to get a video call today from William. Well, Michael did the calling, but William had said, “Let’s phone Grandma and ask her.” They’d found a weird and wonderful looking bug in the garden and wanted to know what it was. I didn’t know what the bug was, but I looked it up and was able to let him know that it wouldn’t hurt him, so it was good to be kind to it. It did look a bit like a wasp, but we figured that it was probably a black and yellow longhorn beetle. I love it when the grandchildren ask these things – I love learning with them.

The day had a contented rhythm to it. Nothing too hectic, nothing too much, just a gentle pattern of tidying ourselves up – gratefully taking delivery of shopping from Malcolm and Chris P, putting clean sheets on the bed, washing and ironing, prepping and cooking food, clearing the old ‘office’ and pottering out in the garden. I had, in fact, just planned to get on with the ironing when John thought it would be nice to sit in the garden together. It was. For a little while this afternoon, the clouds parted, the sun shone and we spent an idyllic half an hour just idly chatting to each other before inspecting the flowerbed and enjoying the plants in it.

Of course, all of that was the calm before the storm with the weather breaking so dramatically this evening. Thunderbolt and lightening (very, very frightening me… Galileo, Galileo….) and lashings of rain. The front drive looked like a lake, the duvet cover I’d left out to dry was absolutely sodden, dripping water everywhere as I brought it inside, and the gutterings overflowed, gushing their contents in all directions. It took out the satellite signal as we were watching TV, drove rain in through the open windows and generally stirred our very souls. It was spectacular.

Today was otherwise one of both celebration and distress from what we have seen on the news. The Queen’s official birthday, and many, many people delighted to be visiting the family or friends in their chosen ‘bubble’, have both been causes for celebration. However, there have been protest marches across the country which have had unpleasant side effects, especially in London, with violence aimed at the police and innocent strangers. Shocking images captured by people with mobile phones are truly upsetting. Pandora’s Box, would you say?

In the meantime, though, I am so very grateful for friends and family who lift us up. The gentle question, “Are you OK?” along with offers of help and practical suggestions of things we can do to lighten our mood is just wonderful. As my friend, Margaret, reminded me this evening, keep smiling! Yes, a smile uses for fewer muscles and takes much less effort than a frown. I’ll do my best.

So, the COVID-19 figures for the record: 181 deaths in all settings; 1,425 people infected as of 9 o’clock this morning. 14 deaths in hospitals up to 5 p.m. yesterday according to the NHS figures, with 38 confirmed for the day before.

Peace be with you and all your friends and families, and peace be with everyone you and they meet.

A startled start to this morning. The phone rang – it was Mandy, from Mum’s flats, to tell us that the District Nurse had been trying to see Mum for a blood test in the last couple of weeks. Apparently, the nurse had been round there twice, and was now on her third visit before anyone at the flats told her she was staying with us. I had told the doctor’s surgery, but obviously the message didn’t get through……

Anyway, the nurse said she’d come to us here, there and then. Mum was still in bed – wide awake, but looking bleak. Even bleaker when I told her the nurse was about to stab her with a needle. And even bleaker still, when the nurse couldn’t find any veins or any blood flowing through her arms after a couple of goes. “I’ll come back again, next week,” said the nurse. “Please make sure your Mum’s well hydrated.” I nodded – I’ll make sure she’s up, too – it was all a bit of a faff in Mum’s bedroom this morning.

The trauma over, we got on with the day. Mum did get up about an hour later and, to my great surprise, hasn’t mentioned anything at all about the stab wounds in her arms. I had been expecting a fair bit of flinching and pained expressions, to extract some sympathy, but no. She seems to have forgotten all about it.

John had an exciting day, for two reasons; firstly, he had to mend an outside light which had fused a whole pile of internal ones last night; and secondly, opening all the parcels that have arrived, full of goodies for his ‘project’.

Mending the light was a big challenge, and required drawing a wiring diagram (or two) to ensure the requisite earths and lives were in the right place and leading to the right switches. This light had given us problems before and we thought they’d been resolved, but clearly it was on the blink again. I suggested to John that he might like to ‘phone a friend’ to discuss the problem. He looked up from the drawing and said, witheringly, “Ah, that’d be no good. This is Sleath wiring.” Nuff said.

In the end, John was successful. He changed the whole outside lamp for a new one and, fingers crossed, everything seems to be working. That’ll be a relief to Mum (whose eyes are dim), having struggled for two nights just with a side lamp in her room, as the main bulb had gone; and then again last night, without the main light due to the fuse failure in that particular circuit.

The goodies for the car were spread out and pored over, and the ol’ man seemed pleased with them. Now they just have to be fitted. Well, it’ll keep him out of mischief for a few days.

My day, for what it was worth, had one or two highlights: a ‘path chat’, sewing a button on, ironing, falling asleep, and prepping food – another day of watching wood warp, really.

Linda dropped some ready meals in for my Mum and we had a nice little ‘path chat’ for a few minutes. The only trouble now, of course, is the traffic trundling by in front of our house. There’s a lot more of it and a distanced chat is sometimes drowned out. Our conversation was peppered with “Speak up! Pardon? What did you say? Oh, sorry I didn’t catch that.” Or just nodding benignly at each other and hoping for the best.

I hate sewing at the best of times, so I felt chuffed that I actually managed to sew a button on my cardigan today. The button has been missing for a long time, and I have often thought about replacing it. The thought became action today and now I have the full complement of buttons on my cardigan. Good for me.

After lunch and a spot of ironing, I sat down on the sofa for a few minutes’ rest. Fatal. I dozed off, resurfacing just before it was time to cook the evening meal. Crikey, I’d only just finished prepping lunch! Ah well – it is lock down after all……so why not, eh?

I was pleased for my single friends this week when they announced that they can form a ‘bubble’ with another family or friend. I have several acquaintances in this category, and honestly, the delight and excitement that shone through their messages has been truly uplifting. I do hope their ‘bubbles’ keep them going and lift their spirits for a good while to come. Hoping and praying that this next phase will be plainer sailing and easier for everyone.

And, for the record, 1,542 people were confirmed as infected with the virus as of yesterday at 5 p.m. with 202 deaths in all settings; and the NHS reported 10 deaths in the same period, with 48 having been confirmed for the day before.

If you are ‘bubbling’ now – enjoy. If you are not, keep on, keeping on. God bless.

I lay in bed this morning, enjoying my book, and then when it got too much, I checked on my emails and social media. Malcolm had sent us a YouTube clip of where ‘the bunny-wunnies’ came from, and I was just watching it when the doorbell rang. It was Malcolm himself bringing some muffler for John’s roof on the Lotus. “Still in bed?” he laughed. It was 10 o’clock. “Yes – as a matter of fact I was just watching the clip about the ‘bunny-wunnies’…..” I said sheepishly. He always catches us in bed. It turns out that we are no longer early risers.

Mum is certainly not an early riser any more and it was after lunch before she finally got up today. And that was after I’d been in a few times and each time she promised she was getting out of bed. The last time I went in, I felt a bit cross. I had told her that I needed to go out to pick up a prescription for John, and would she please get up so that I could be sure she was safe and sound downstairs? I didn’t want John having to be responsible for her if she fell on the stairs or tripped over the cat or something. Yes, yes, she was getting up. I went downstairs and got all ready to go, then went back up to see whether she was ready to be escorted down. Oh, Lord, she’d only gone back to bed again!!!

John has been coughing a fair bit over the last week or so, and we had the results back from the tests they did. He’s growing three lovely bugs in his chest, so a specific antibiotic was prescribed. Collection point: Heartlands. Oh, well, it gave me a run out in the car. And I was in and out in no time at all – so much so that I didn’t even have to pay for parking. Blimey, that’s a first.

Back home, we wafted about a bit, feeling at a bit of a loose end, before I suggested another go at watching The A Word. Good idea. That’ll get us out of having to do any jobs. Mum was amenable too, even though she was in the middle of Tenable – as untenable a game show that I ever saw, to be honest, but Mum likes it. We settled down and had watched about half of it before the phone rang. It was Michael, William and Danielle. They were a bit loose end-ish too. “Do you want to come over? Sit in the garden?” Yes, they did. “But what’s the weather like at yours?” Michael asked. Well, the thermometer showed 16 degrees. Should be fine.

Brrrr…….. we hadn’t accounted for the wind chill factor, of course. But it didn’t stop us sitting out there wrapped up in blankets for over an hour and half. We were warmed up by the love and laughter – particularly the laughter. Michael carrying William on his shoulders and running around the garden; William loving every minute of the precarious ride and laughing his head off. We, in turn, were laughing at their sense of delight and those deep belly chuckles from William. Oh, so, so good.

The garden needed watering, so William obliged. “Please will you fill my watering can up again, Daddy?” Again and again. In the end, we had to find a larger watering can to accommodate William’s industrious efforts. He did a grand job.

Our house is in the centre of the village. Near the shops. Near the chip shop to be precise. Sitting in the garden, when the wind is in the right direction, you can detect that lovely fish and chip smell which sets your taste buds going. Danielle is a sucker for chips. “Oooh, can you smell chips?” she said, her big, round eyes growing rounder with excitement. “Do you want chips?” Michael wondered. “Hmmm, well, I did have a McDonalds earlier in the week, so I shouldn’t really.” Later on, after they had left, they sent a photo of the three of them in the car, eating their fish and chips, looking as pleased as punch. Well, Danielle is eight months pregnant, so if you can’t indulge your wife at that stage in life, when can you?? Looked lush.

After our evening meal, it was the eagerly anticipated ‘Zoom’ time with the college girls. Historically, our contact has been intermittent in many ways – meeting up once (sometimes twice) a year to go to Ragdale Hall; then the annual trip to Sue P’s for a long weekend away; the occasional holiday together or trip down to Linda’s; cinema trips, the theatre or art galleries; shopping sprees and lunches out. Nothing fixed. But now, seemingly, I need my weekly ‘fix’ chatting to them all. It is so peaceful. We don’t all agree, all of the time. We often have things we’re worried about. But the conversation is like a soothing hand on my brow.

Something soothing is just what you need when you’re het up about the state of the country one way or another, and so I find I can look at the virus figures with less of a jaundiced eye today. 13 deaths in hospitals yesterday according to the NHS, with the previous day’s total finally confirmed at 42. Also yesterday, there were 151 deaths in all settings, and 1,266 people infected according to the government.

It’s still going. Maybe slowing. Still on my prayer list. Love conquers all, so let’s do that – just show love.

Oh…..the ‘bunny-wunnies’? It’s from a John Smith’s advert many moons ago. Want to watch? Fast forward to 3:48 to see the bunny-wunnies bit.

Because everything still seems a bit upside-down, I am once again stating the official figures in relation to the Corona Virus infections and deaths first, before I waffle on about our day. Just to get it out of the way.

The Government tells us that there are 1,003 people infected up until 9 o’clock today. And 245 people died. The NHS tells us that 11 people died in hospital up until 5 o’clock yesterday, with 50 having been confirmed for the day before. There, that’s it.

I still care, and I still think about those families going through the worry of it all, the bereavements and the heartaches when a loved one has been un-visited at the last. Then there’s aftermath of the illness to consider and sometimes a long period of recuperation. Plus, the doctors and nurses still putting their all into caring for anyone who is ill. The enormity of thinking about the hurt and hard work is overwhelming, so I’m not; for sanity’s sake, I’m turning my thoughts to the small circle I live in and am making the most of that for the time being.

First of all, there was the soothing admin job this morning, of hole-punching piles of paper to file the blog into the Family Album, along with the task of removing the sheets I’d already put into poly pockets, but now wanting them au naturel. I sat at the kitchen table, all spread out and carefully sorting each page.

It was nearly lunchtime as I sat there, tongue sticking out, concentrating on the task in hand, when Mum wandered down. I looked up. “Do you want to get your tablets, Mum?” She nodded and started off towards the fridge. Methodically, she started to get out all of her breakfast things, but not her tablets. She put it all on the square inch of table that was bare. I felt irritated. There wasn’t any room for her to sit at this particular table. It was plain to see that it was strewn with papers, and folders, and poly pockets. I sighed. Clearly, I’d have to gently move her elsewhere………

I was just thinking about moving on to another job, when Paul phoned. He and Freddie were going to get a McDonalds for lunch and eat it in our back garden. Did we want anything? I hesitated. I’d had a big breakfast and really didn’t need a McDonalds. “No, I’m alright, thank you, Paul. I’ll just ask Dad if he wants anything.” Well, John’s eyes lit up – ooooh, yes, please!! I mean, it’s not exactly on his diet sheet, but a treat now and then does you good, doesn’t it?

We sat outside, and it was quite pleasant, despite the dark clouds overhead. As usual, we were thrilled to be seeing Freddie and chatting to Paul. John thoroughly enjoyed sitting there and eating his food. He could actually taste it!! The last time we tried a McDs was not long after he came out of a long spell in hospital having been treated for GvHD. That time, the Big Mac had no taste – to John it had been like cardboard. Just shows how far he’s come in three years.

We spent a contented couple of hours together, forever mindful of the 2-metre rule. The swing was well used, leapt upon then spun round and round, to great squeals of delight from Freddie. The cherry stones that had been buried the other day were inspected. The fish were fed. The stilts were tried out. Every corner of the garden was explored. Great-Grandma was waved at through the patio window. And then waved at again through the kitchen doorway. And, when it came time to go, Freddie’s answer was always, “No, not yet.”

We had our phones with us, waiting for a phone call from the garage door delivery driver. Between 1 and 3 they said. Three o’clock arrived and no door. Five minutes later, John took a phone call. The driver’s forty minutes away. A little buzz of excitement. Paul said he’d wait and help lift the door down the side of the house. Freddie was pleased he wasn’t leaving just yet.

Sure enough, the garage door arrived and was duly delivered down to the bottom of the garden. As John looked at it, he remarked, “You know you said you didn’t know what was wrong with the old one? Well, have a look at the new one.” I did, and I can perfectly see why a new one was necessary. Plans are now being put in place for its installation.

We finally said goodbye to Paul and Freddie, the latter clutching a huge bunch of daisies picked out of the garden for Lily, who’d stayed at home feeling a bit sorry for herself, having had her braces tightened up yesterday. Hope the flowers cheered her up.

Had a lovely chat to Michael and William just before tea. They had been hard at work in their garden – although I think William may have been more of a hindrance than a help – clearing a space for slabs as a foundation for a ‘man-shed’. Like father, like son?

This evening we had a wonderful time. We quizzed again with our dear Centre Stage friends, and John was Quiz Master. Once again, he came up with a good quiz which, for once, we scored highly on, even though it wasn’t easy. What do you reckon, would you know this one? Without looking it up?

Question: Whose strap line was this? “Who wants to see the little bunnie wunnnies then?” Answer:………..??

Peace be with you all.

John decided to take himself to the hospital this morning for his lung function test. Mum wasn’t quite downstairs when he needed to leave so he told me stay home and look after her. Not that she needs much looking after. She came down all dressed today, with her lipstick on, and seemed quite upbeat for a change. After she’d had breakfast, I put some music on from the 1940s, and she spent a happy hour singing to all the familiar songs.

Meanwhile, I closeted myself in the computer room. Having had the idea to house the blog in the family album, I was intent on printing it off and getting to work. I had ordered some decent weight printing paper, and thought I’d put it all into plastic poly pockets to try and protect the sheets for the future. I was very successful up until Day 46, when I ran out of plastic wallets. At that point, I also found that there wasn’t much more room in the album either. So, on second thoughts, I am going to take the sheets out of their protective layers and put them in the album naked.

Back from the hospital, John reported that his lung function is not as good as it was a couple of years ago, and that’s as much as we know so far. We’ll await the CT scan to find out more detail shortly, I expect.

I carried on with printing and filing my blog into the album pretty much all afternoon. I was surprised at how much I have written, and how long administration of this kind takes. You think it’s going take an hour or so and then you can get on with something else, but no. Then, at the end of all of the printing, I realised that one of the ring binders wasn’t closing properly and a repair job was in order. It’s mended now, but there’s hole-punching and re-filing still to do. Well….. it’s slightly better than watching wood warp, anyway……..or is it??

Great excitement and anticipation has been in the air though, as John took a phone call yesterday telling him that his garage door is arriving tomorrow afternoon. Whoopee-doop! Armed with this information, John took himself off down to the bottom of the garden after lunch, to cut up the old garage door. I hadn’t noticed him moving it, but I did hear the angle grinder going. The sound of it caught my attention so I glanced up out of the window as I sat at the computer. Great puffs of smoke and dust and a very satisfying ‘clang’ as one half of the door dropped down once he’d cut through it. John stood back, looking pleased with himself, if a little knackered by the effort. Then my eagle eyes noticed that the ol’ man wasn’t wearing a dust mask. Oh, for goodness’ sake…… I took him a mask.

After we’d cleared away our evening meal, I thought we could watch a bit more of The A Word, which I am finding fascinating. I am not only interested in the family dynamics, of course, which makes the drama; but also hooked into how they are going to deal with this little boy, both socially and educationally. I’m not sure if the series will touch on that, but the suggestion that it might has tickled my interest.

In between times of course, there’s been the standard housework-y jobs including washing, with the resulting ironing pile glowering at me, which I am studiously ignoring. I had thought I might bring forward Mum’s weekly ablutions today, to try out a snazzy seat for sitting in the bath, which we took possession of last week. But I was so engrossed in my admin duties that this task will have to wait. Maybe tomorrow. (That’s such a good phrase…. )

Being in lock down – in shielded lock down – is beginning to pall now that the weather has chosen to be overcast again. Whilst we had good weather, there was almost a holiday feel about it, but the last few days have brought low moods to the household. Certainly my reading and TV material aren’t offering much light relief at the moment!! Hmmm…….. perhaps I should be trying something else? Never mind, I am hoping that the garage door delivery will brighten us all up. It’ll certainly give us something to think about as we try and work how to fit the darned thing!

COVID-19 today: 1,387 people infected. 286 deaths. (Govt figures); 20 deaths, with 46 confirmed for yesterday (NHS figures). It’s still not zero.

Time for a cup of tea, I think. God bless, and look after yourselves – get the kettle on! We always feel better after a cuppa, don’t we??

I am starting with the numbers of COVID-19 deaths and infections today, because everything seems upside-down, don’t you know? The NHS reports just 10 deaths for yesterday in hospitals and confirmed 43 for the day before, while the government ‘s numbers for today are 55 deaths (presumably in all settings) and 1,205 people infected. Can we do a little dance yet? What do you think? Not quite yet? Can’t quite copy New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden then, just before she was about to announce zero cases of the virus in the country.

We are still in limbo, not knowing what to think or what to do. John has more and more face-to-face hospital appointments, so we presume that the medics think it’s OK to risk it. But we don’t know. And it’s the agony of decision-making that floors you when there’s something nasty lurking in the undergrowth that you can’t actually see, hear or smell. Frozen – the fear of stepping forward and the fear of stepping backwards whilst listening to someone screaming in your ear, but you don’t know which way they are telling you to go.

However, for the time being, we are safe. And I have to smile to myself because each time I think of staying safe, I think of Paul, whose riposte to our: “Take care. Drive safely!” whenever he left the house, was, “Take care! Stay safe in your house!” and a cheeky grinned always followed.

Our day has been ‘same, same’ with a lie-in this morning, then a few exercises, a bite to eat, a bit of TV (in my case for about three hours, watching daytime TV…..), a bit of Lotus tinkering, another bite to eat and so on.

I did change the sheets on Mum’s bed, and I also fiddled about with a ‘picture poem’ for my friend’s (Linda) daughter, Laura. When the pubs are up and running again, she is going to be holding a dog-themed craft fayre at her pub, The Dog Inn, in Whittington. Linda asked us if we could create something. I am not keen on any crafting, so I demurred. Only for Linda to come back to me and say maybe I could write a poem in the shape of a dog? Well, I’ve tried, folks, I’ve tried……… not sure it’ll sell, though.

Before lock down, we had started having big family holidays together, either at Easter or Whitsun half-term. While we were all down in Dewlish a couple of years ago, we went to the seaside at Weymouth and had a good pootle along the front where we found a fabulous shop that sold leather goods, and Paul bought us a beautiful, leather-bound folder as a family album. I have had every intention of putting family stories and photos in it ever since, and have managed one or two items, but really have never quite got going on it. Mostly because I couldn’t think where to start.

However, today I thought I would put all of the blog in it, from the beginning when I started recounting John’s stem cell transplant, through his leukaemia-free journey to now, as I recount our lock down story. I have no idea how it will read but it will, at least, be a memory for the grandchildren in times to come. And it will be a Sleath family record of sorts.

With the backdrop to today’s activities still being #BlackLivesMatter and all sorts of righteous outrage one way or another over the statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader from Bristol, being tipped into the dock yesterday, I have found myself torn between admiring the folks who planned the toppling of the statue and wondering where ‘taking the law into your own hands’ will end. Emotions are running high on both sides of the fence, but it feels like there’s revolution brewing.

Mindful of my ignorance in the area of racism, lots of people have been recommending books to read, and I have started the book ‘My Name is Why’ by Lemn Sissay. I haven’t got very far into it yet, because already it’s a heart-breaking and very challenging read. Courage, mon brave!

So that’s it, folks. That was our day – other than a spat with John after tea about what to do with Mother, it’s been a quiet one. Take care everyone, watch out for things lurking in the undergrowth, and God bless.