leukaemia-limbo-dance

It’s Tuesday. We’d like it to be ‘Choose Day’ and have the wherewithal to find something exciting to do but, with John still being a bit under the weather we chose not to do a lot, after all.

We were up early and out to Solihull Hospital for a 9.30 appointment this morning, for John to have his eyes checked. Lovely girl who checked him over and then she said, “I’ll just let Mr Patel know the results,” Mr Patel is the boss and has been monitoring John since the very first days of his eyes going haywire. “Hmmm… ” says Mr Patel, ” Your eyes are very dry. In fact, they are the worst I’ve seen them since I first saw you. Make sure you keep on with the eye drops as often as you can.” OK. No wonder John’s left eye is so sore.

However, when we got in the car, it suddenly dawned on us that we failed to mention that John hadn’t been using his serum for the last five days, since the freezer breakdown. In our heads, that explains it….. fingers crossed it’s just a blip.

“When we get home, I’ll pop some pains aux raisins in the oven and we’ll have an elevenses treat, shall we?” I suggested, plumping on something to cheer us up. And they did cheer us up a bit. We really enjoyed them.

By the time we were tucking into our pastries, we had slouched in front of the telly again and were wondering what to do. I thought I’d pop back into Solihull to continue the impulse buying theme that I’d started on Saturday, and see if there was anything there suitable for birthday gifts. Michael, Danielle and Andrew all have October birthdays and are to buy for; and Gloria, too, to get a card for. No idea what to get …..although it seems that household goods are wanted by the Sutton Sleaths, so I had a browse round John Lewis, Dunelm and Lakeland.

I’ve got to say, though, there’s not much choice. In other stores, such as in the House of Fraser, there were empty shelves and things spread out sparsely across the shop floor; shops like ‘Le Creuset’ and Marks and Spencer’s have both closed. In addition, of course, all of the stores that are/were part of the Arcadia Group are closed too – Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Topshop, Topman. It was a bit depressing, to be honest.

However, as I walked past Millets, I noticed that they were advertising reductions on Berghaus waterproofs. Ah-ha! My own is a good few years old now and has a rip in it, where it caught under the wheel of the buggy last year, having been wrapped round one of the grandchildren to keep them warm. ‘I’ll just have a little browse,’ I thought to myself. I am now the proud owner of a brand new jacket in a lovely shade of….. ‘when I am old, I shall wear purple‘. Feel a bit like me Mum, now….. and John says it looks a bit small on me….ah, well.

Home again, and it was more telly watching for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I do love a bit of ‘Bake Off’, ‘Saving Lives at Sea’, and ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’. So, we did have a bit of a ‘Choose Day’.

Numbers on the COVID front remain high and, I have to confess, I was very cautious in town. There are so many people mask-less. Anyway, 38,520 are reported as having tested positive for the virus today and 181 people have died in the community. 43 people died in hospitals in the previous 48 hours.

No surprise that the all-party inquiry into the government’s handling of the virus in the early days has come in for some sharp criticism in their report, published today. But hindsight is such a wonderful thing, isn’t it? I’d be a bit more cheerful if they’d take the blooming thing seriously now! I expect there’ll be another report in a year’s time loaded with criticism, too, looking back at autumn 2021, but it’ll all be too late.

Take care everyone. Keep your distance; wear your masks; wash your hands and ventilate your indoor spaces. God bless.

Apparently, according to Andrew, my best blogs are those that come on an email that says say ‘no blog tonight‘. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have time to read them.

So I thought I’d thrill him by writing a ‘mini blog’ today. One that says: we got up late because we are tired (John at one o’clock!) and we did almost nothing all day, but sit on the sofa and read books or watch telly.

I arranged and re-arranged medical appointments for John this morning, went for my flu jab at lunchtime and went to a yoga class at tea-time. That’s it!

Mini blog done. A longer one tomorrow I expect, if we’ve had a full day. Take care everyone. God bless.

• 40,224 people tested positive for the virus today…..
• 28 deaths reported in the community
• 9 deaths reported over the weekend in hospitals
• 816 people were admitted to hospital
• And Balsall Common is still purple…..

I spent this morning, it being a Sunday, in spiritual contemplation. “Are you going to church tomorrow?” John had asked last night. Actually, I had been thinking I would go but, having learnt that the village is rife with COVID, I thought better of it. I watched the service live online instead. It’s not as good as being there in person, but it gave me food for thought.

Peter’s sermon was interesting because he reminded us that, in order to get to where you want to go, or get something you need, you might have to move something. Just looking in one place may not get you to where you should be. And advice often comes from someone who loves you. OK. Noted.

After I’d watched the service, I went out into the garden where the sun was shining and it was rather warm. Sat myself down on one of the loungers and did a spot of meditation. The trouble with meditation is that, sometimes, you fall asleep. You are not meant to but, you know, with the conditions being so warm and comfortable, the eyelids droop and………. well, before you know it, you’re a-snoozing……..

Over an hour later, I heard a cough and then the back door opening, as John made his way outside. “Do you want a cup of tea?” he asked. Good idea, I thought, as I opened a bleary eye, it might wake me up. We sat outside for another forty minutes or so, just enjoying the garden and the weather. Gorgeous.

Then this afternoon, I thank you, Lord, for my Mum who, at the age of 95 and without much memory, is happy, cheerful and pleasant.

I spent a very happy couple of hours with Mum this afternoon. She was, as always, delighted to see me, giving me a huge hug and a beaming smile. She was delighted with the bits and bobs I’d taken over but, once again, wasn’t sure she was allowed to open the box of chocolates. “Why don’t you want to open them, Mum?” I asked. “Well, because I shall just eat them and eat them,” she replied, with a grin.

She did show a flash of her former self at this visit – something she’s done just once before recently – when she objected to the blouse I was wearing. “Whatever have you got on?” she said, searchingly. “It’s a blouse, Mum,” I replied. “Well, it looks a bit crumpled.” she said, “and you don’t look like yourself at all.” Oh….. well, truth to tell, the blouse is supposed to look a bit crumpled but, I hadn’t ironed it either….. she shook her head despairingly and tutted. Ah! That’s the Mum I used to know…..

Other than that, we had half a dozen renditions of her favourite song ‘I was born under a wandering star’ and a whole lot of reminiscence as we looked at photos of Lockdown 2020 and her 90th birthday album. Not only did we reminisce but there was a lot of giggling too. At one point, she was laughing and laughing, which made me laugh longer, until we both looked at each other, tears in our eyes, and laughed some more. Lovely.

She pored over the photographs and paused over the photos of Graham, her fingers fondly tracing his features. “How long is it since they went to Australia, did you say?” Eleven years….. gosh, what a long time ago……”I don’t suppose he’s changed much, has he?” she said wistfully. “No, Mum. He hasn’t changed at all. Still the same.” She nodded, satisfied. And then, “Send Gail my very good wishes for her recovery the next time you see her, won’t you?” Yes, Mum, I will……. must confess, I think there was something in my eye…..

It’s amusing to me now, though, when I visit, because there is always the same little routine of delight when I arrive and laughter during the visit; reluctance to open her chocolates; singing her song ad nauseum; searching for her hankies; and the shock of finding me in her room when she comes out of the loo, having totally forgotten that I am there.

When I arrived home, John had been busy. We had a leak under the sink in the utility room, so he thought he felt better enough to try and fix it. Despite all the spare parts he’s accumulated over the years, he couldn’t find the right piece for that repair, so he nipped to Screwfix to buy the right bit. Once home, he duly fitted the piece and….. voila! It looks like it done!

But you know that song about ‘The Gas Man’? Hmmm…. it was a bit like that….. the mending of the leak required moving both the washing machine and the tumble dryer and the shelf in the cupboard plus all its cleaning materials, which were all over the floor.

Buoyed up the success of mending the leak, John thought he’d have a look at the washing machine, which has been walking into the middle of the utility room whenever it’s on a spin cycle. I arrived home just at the right moment. “Here, hold this.” “Can you get the torch?” “We need a hammer” and, leaning the washing machine over at a 45 degree angle: “Have you got it? Safe? Not going to drop it?” and so on….

The thing about John is – he never gives up. I was all for having a tidy up and ‘leaving it until tomorrow’. But no, Mr Determined is his middle name. And, with me in a supporting role, he got it fixed. Boom.

“I’ll just put the tumble dryer back then,” I said, only to find that the hose on the tumble dryer had a gaping hole in it….had we got a spare? Erm… that’ll be a ‘no’. “I think I threw it away when we had the skip because we thought it was surplus to requirements,” I said. Yep, we’d chucked it out. Oh, well, that’ll be a job for tomorrow then.

COVID news tomorrow folks – can’t face it today.

Take care everyone. And to quote Dave Allen: ‘May your God go with you’.

Saturday. And a day in which we had nothing in the calendar. Well, that’s a first for a long time. So, what to do with the day?

John got up and made a cup of tea this morning and then not long afterwards he got up, up and came downstairs, dressed and ready to watch TV. “Are you feeling better, John?” I asked. He didn’t know really, but I think he’s a bit better because he didn’t stay in bed all day. And because he’s resisting my ‘healing’ suggestions. However, he’s still coughing very well, so not out of the woods yet.

“What are your plans for the day?” John asked. “Hmmm…. I don’t know really,” I replied. “I’ve got a long list of jobs…” John protested. “But it’s Saturday!” Yes. I know that but, to be honest, every day is like any other these days, so I just shrugged. “Maybe I’ll do a bit of shopping. Go to Waitrose in Kenilworth and buy you some chicken broth.”

I whiled away the morning, therefore, with housework. There is always something to do, isn’t there? John whiled away the morning with the TV on and his eyes closed. Hmm.. he’s still not well.

This afternoon I did go to Waitrose – ostensibly to buy chicken broth. However, I made a firm decision that I was going to impulse buy. After all, Halloween is coming up soon and there’ll be a demand for tricks or treats. And then there’s Christmas not long after that, and there’ll be advent calendars, and chocolate tree decorations needed. And, if more excuse were needed, I thought it might make me feel good – or better, at any rate. The blues descended on Thursday and, although there have been some happy times, I still have an underlying feeling of despondency. Irrational, I expect, but there we are.

John spent the afternoon watching qualifying for the Grand Prix and then inspected the back of his eyelids again for a few hours. Poor man – it’s hard work, all this coughing. We’ll see how he is tomorrow. Might have to take action……

After the shopping spree, we chose to watch that ‘Murder Island’ programme, where novices try to solve a murder. Made us chuckle, really, and realise just how brilliant the regular detectives are. Then, this evening it was Strictly, which was a cracking programme in my opinion. John wasn’t keen and listened to his book instead, but I really enjoyed it. Some of the dances were just brilliant. Who’s your favourite?

In COVID news, there’s still a lot of it about. 34,950 people were reported as having tested positive for the virus today. 133 people died.

One of my friends from church sent me a news update this evening from our local Neighbourhood Coronavirus Community Champion (didn’t know we actually had one of those until I received it today….). Apparently, the area we live in is now one of the worst affected areas in England, with 66 people in Balsall Common having been infected with COVID in the last 7 days. Gosh, that was a shocker!!! We are almost deep purple – deep purple being the colour on the map that shows the highest infection rates. I haven’t been checking local figures recently so hadn’t been aware of this at all. Schools? Do you reckon? Probably.

Take care everyone. It’s nearer than you think. God bless.

Ho-hum….. true to form, no sooner have our guests gone home, thinking they have left John happy and healthy, than he starts….. Yep. The ol’ man is unwell. Coughing well and now taken to his bed. He is now taking the ’emergency’ antibiotics in the hope that they do the trick. We’ll see……. fingers crossed, people!

So, this morning, I toddled down to the doctors surgery with test tubes to be tested, and then had a little walk up to my friend, Chris’s house, to take her a card and gift as it’s her birthday today. I met Jack on the way – he was waiting at the bus stop on his way to work; and I was delighted to hear that he’d started a new job in Solihull and got over the disappointment of his previous job having folded.

Home again, and I fed John with chicken broth, cups of tea and coffee and some sandwiches for lunch. I was just about to go out, when Danielle phoned. They were on their way home and passing, and could they please call in to change a rather stinky nappy, please? Of course, I said ‘yes’, although, disappointingly, I didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them because I’d promised to be round at Dawn’s at about half past two.

Despite the short stay, it was such a delight to see them – especially as both William and Thomas had the biggest grins on their faces as they came through the door. Marie, Danielle’s Mum, was also among the party. She is over from Jersey for the weekend to support Danielle, while Michael and Marie’s sons and friends enjoy themselves in Manchester on a stag do.

Thomas was standing on his own two feet for much of the time that he was at our house, and was encouraged by the lure of chocolate buttons to walk over to get some. Yay! That’s a result! Walking at last!

We waved a chocolatey goodbye as they went on their way and I set off to Pete and Dawn’s. I was just in time to catch Lizzie with baby Arthur, who gurgled and chatted and waved his arms at me the whole time we were there together. Such a lovely, bonnie little boy.

After Lizzie left, Dawn and I sat at her dining table and set to serious work. With a wedding in the air next year, she is planning her outfit. We sketched, made notes and deliberated about what would be the most comfortable/fashionable/crease-resistant day wear for the ‘Mum of the Bride’. Had a lovely time mulling it all over. Next stop: the tailoress to find out what’s do-able….

In the meantime, John was still feeling unwell and had his evening meal in bed. However, the desire for pudding drove him to get up and come downstairs to find some. “Well,” he said, “You weren’t coming up with my pudding were you?” Erm… that’d be a ‘no’. Alas, I never think about pudding.

COVID is also in the air, still, of course, and there were 36,060 people who tested positive for the virus today; 127 deaths in the community and, in the previous 48 hours, 37 in hospitals.

I feel a little bit of despair creeping in. Never mind, a glass or two of Prosecco numbed that this evening – although the feeling of helplessness remains.

Take care everyone. God bless.

A bit of exercise does you good, they say – although John would want to know who ‘they’ are, of course – and, do you know what? I find ’tis true. Well, it has been in my case today, anyway.

I have no idea why, but I felt blue this morning. I had been bed-hopping overnight to avoid John’s very restless sleep. When he finally found which room I was in and brought me an early morning cup of tea, he said, “You did the right thing. I had a terrible night.”

Poor John – it’s so annoying to be so restless and continually up half the night, nipping to the loo. It’s no wonder he’s exhausted most of the time. But then I realised that that’s what made me feel blue. The helplessness and inability to solve this particular problem. I’ve made all sorts of suggestions, but nothing seems to help, so we are both at a loss as to know how to remedy the situation. Perhaps something will turn up…….

Anyway, I whiled away most of the early morning reading my book in bed and playing e-games on my phone. John also went back to bed, and had a bit of a lie-in to catch up on his lost sleep. I eventually got up at ten and got ready to go to yoga for eleven o’clock. Not sure how, but the time sped by and I ended up being late for class, so had to creep in because everyone else had started.

I was glad I went though. It wasn’t my usual class – although one with which I am very familiar, having attended it frequently in the past – and it was so delightful to see everyone and to be able to take their greetings and best wishes back to John. Several enquired after him and told me to send him their love and hopes for him to feel better.

The class suited me down to the ground and I came away feeling much better. However, for some unknown reason, I still felt a bit stressed and found myself worrying about all sorts of things – sons, husbands and mothers mostly. Yes, yes, I know – there’s no need to worry……

Once home, I had a bite to eat before I was due to set off for badminton this afternoon. My phone pinged. It was Harriet. Could I babysit tonight, please? She and Paul wanted to go out for a bite to eat to ease their stress. Well, of course I could babysit. Nothing better than seeing the grandchildren. John thought he might come, too. Even better.

I enjoyed the badminton this afternoon. Whacking a shuttlecock as hard as you can doesn’t half relieve your feelings. There were only four of us and normally we swap partners, but today, we kept the same partners for all the games, which meant that me and my partner (who used play league badminton) won all the games. That cheered me up!

Home again, to find John painting. He’d done the second coat on the side gate and was now onto the blacking of the wood that surrounds the garage doors. I left him to finish off while I popped up to the shops to grab something for Freddie’s tea. When John came in, he looked absolutely jiggered. “Do you still want to come with me to babysit?” I wondered. No. He didn’t – he was way too tired to be thinking of getting ready to go out and try and entertain a nearly-six-year-old. “I think I might have a bath,” he said. Good idea. Rest those weary limbs.

I toddled over to Kenilworth and was absolutely delighted to see the family. It’s a while since I saw them….ooooh, might the whole of a fortnight…. and I had had withdrawal symptoms. Freddie dashed in from school and was equally delighted to see me, too. Warms your heart doesn’t it?

Naturally, we didn’t sit about. Freddie and I were busy. We were out and about in the garden, bug-hunting. “It’s bit too late at night, Freddie, to find the bugs.” I said, when we found that there was a dearth of bugs. “They’ll have gone to bed already.” He didn’t mind. He still prepared his bug-house and we set it, in the hope that it would attract something overnight.

When it was almost bed-time, we did sit at the table and play a guessing game. “I’ll draw something, Freddie, see if you can guess what it is,” I suggested, as I drew a fox. I was about a third of the way through the drawing when he guessed. “Your turn,” I said, and he drew a bird. Soon after, he looked to be concentrating very hard, “Just a minute, Grandma,” he said, as he spelled out a word and then triumphantly showed me his picture. Ahhh…… now that’s a picture!

The day had started blue, but ended purple. Such richness encountered along the way. So many blessings to be thankful for. The spikiness and irritation all gone, smoothed away by the activities of the day and the company of loved ones. Marvellous.

Meanwhile, COVID continues rampant. 40,701 people tested positive for the virus today. What the…..? I mean, this is beyond a joke, isn’t it? 122 people died in the community; and 33 in hospitals in the previous 48 hours. Over 40 children were admitted to hospital in the last week.

Mitigation cannot be the vaccine alone, surely? We must be encouraging everyone to do those things we were doing before, in my opinion – keeping our distance, wearing masks, washing our hands and ventilating our indoor spaces – to keep infections and deaths down. Or am I in Cloud Cuckoo Land and no-one cares about the affects of the virus any more? I think I’m beginning to rock in the corner over here now…….

Take care everyone. God bless.

Having had a busy day yesterday, I decided on a day of rest today. John also decided he needed a day of rest and he spent the morning in bed.

My plan was to catch up on programmes I had missed and do some reading. You know, put my feet up. Anyway, once I was up this morning and came downstairs, I realised that there were some spoils from the freezer that had been saved, and would be OK if they were cooked.

I nipped round to the shops to buy a few additional ingredients, and then I set to. I made plum jam and blueberry compote with the defrosted fruit; then roasted the tons of chicken we had with parsnips, pecan nuts and orange. All delicious, but all took time to do and be re-labelled to go back into the freezer. Hey! I thought I was going to have a rest?

After I’d done a bit of cooking, John had made his way downstairs and so we sat and watched last night’s Bake-Off. They were making bread. It did look very good. And it was lunchtime. Increasingly, we were hungrier and hungrier. “Shall I pop round to the shops to see if they’ve got any exciting bread, John?” Oh, yes. That would go down a treat. So I toddled off to the shops for the second time today…..

After lunch, I did watch a little bit more TV and read my book, so I did have a rest. John, too, had some rest and spent a good proportion of the afternoon asleep. While I was faffing about with our evening meal, however, he woke up and leapt outside with a paint pot and brush, and painted the side gate. A job he’d been meaning to do for a long time. “All OK?” I asked. Yes, all OK – although he wasn’t awfully happy with what he’d done. He hates painting. “It’ll need a second coat though…..” I bet he’s looking forward to that.

This evening, it was Quiz Night. I don’t know whether we’d all been inhaling laughing gas, but we did nothing but giggle our way through the evening. So much so, that at one time, we could hardly stop and our sides began to ache from having laughed so much. And none of us were even drinking alcohol either! A really great evening. Such fun.

In between times during the day today, we’d been in touch with family members. Michael phoned to say, in high excitement, that the offer they’d made on the house they saw last week, had been accepted. Gosh! I was overwhelmed with joy. They have had such a long hunt for a house and I was praying that this one would work out for them. Still praying, but at least it’s one step further.

Andrew got in touch, too, and his news was just as good. He’d been offered a promotion at work, so we are thrilled. It’s such an arduous job being a Chef, and he works so very hard to get it right, that it’s about time he saw some reward for his efforts.

John, in between naps, took a phone call from the laboratory that makes his serum eye drops. They were very understanding about the fact that the whole stock had had to be discarded, and they promised a fresh supply by Monday. Considering there’s a shortage of supply, that is very good news. John has only got to last four days without it, so it might not be too bad.

On the COVID front, the figures are startlingly high today: 39,851 people tested positive for the virus; 143 people died in the community and, in addition, in hospitals, 32 people died in the previous 48 hours.

When did we get so complacent about these numbers? And why are we allowing this to continue? I am baffled. If you have any answers, please let me know…….

Anyway, my prayers are with you all – everyone I know, family, friends and acquaintances – I pray that you all stay safe and are mindful in taking care. God bless.

Oh, and by the way, Susie Dent’s Word of The Day is: ‘ultacrepidarian’ – one who gives opinions and judgements on matters they know nothing about. I wonder what made her think of that, today of all days?

Well, we were both on the A14 today – but separately. John had to go over to Corby to see a man about a house; and I had to go to Cambridge to see a man about moving house….

John’s task was to establish what else he needed to do for the red tape brigade. He and Paul have a house there that needs this certificate or that certificate; this monitor or that monitor and this sort of door, please. Right, OK. Thus apprised, John made his way home again. An hour on the A14, half an hour chat to the bureaucrat, and an hour and a half on the A14 home again. Job done.

I was a couple of hours on the A14 before I arrived at my destination: Andrew’s flat, from which he was moving today. It needed a bit of a clean-up before departure and a few boxes transporting to the storage company. “I reckon there’s only about an hour of cleaning to do, Mum,” says Andrew. Right……. you reckon? Nah.

As it turned out, I arrived at the flat only to find that Andrew wasn’t there. He had taken his bed to his new place and slept overnight there. His phone had died and there had been no alarm to wake him up.

The landlady answered the door, “Oh, yes, Andrew said his Mum was coming to help with the cleaning. Good luck with that….” and, with a raised eyebrow, she opened the door to his more-or-less empty room.

Ah….. I could see what she meant. Where Andrew had had his bed, the paint work was a bit grubby and worn. I knew it was a forlorn hope to remedy the issue, but I was game. I had a few goes at it and did make it much better-looking, but even I could see it would need a new paint job. “She’ll have to charge for re-painting that bit, Andrew,” I said. He shrugged and supposed so.

We managed to clear the rest of his flat and the kitchen where he had all his various pots, pans and caboodle. And the cleaning only took four hours. I mean, we had to wait a bit for solutions to work – things like the limescale remover on the shower door, for example. In every day use, it’s easy to forget that water can build up residue, isn’t it?

Anyway, it was all spick and span; and we took the rest of Andrew’s belongings to the storage company before he handed his keys in. The landlady was generous and hardly charged him anything for the repainting, so that worked out well.

We toddled off to the pub then, for our ‘lunch’ – at 4.15 in the afternoon……. A few hours later than we’d anticipated.

I then took to the road and had another couple of hours on the A14 to come home – the sun shining straight at me. A huge, orange orb in the sky, hanging just above the horizon, cloaked on one side by a very, very dark rain cloud. The cloud was burnished by the sun and presented a very pretty purple….. until it dropped its load on the road. It fairly lashed down. Everyone had to slow down – not only was the sun still shining straight at us, but the windscreen wipers were struggling to keep up.

I got home about half past seven – almost twelve hours since I’d set off. “I think might have a long soak in the bath, John,” I said. John nodded. “Good idea.” he said, and then very kindly brought me a heater as the bathroom was pretty chilly. How kind.

In the meantime, I wondered if John had had chance to see what might be wrong with the freezer. This morning I’d found that everything was defrosted – including John’s eye serum, which is a bit of a disaster as he’s only just taken delivery of a new batch after a delay due to short supply. “Yes,” he said. “I switched it on.” Eh? You mean it was switched off? Not broken? “Nope, not broken.” Well, neither of us has a clue as to how the thing got switched off, but I am glad the mystery is solved anyway. Pity about all the food we’ve had to throw away though……

On the COVID front (cos I know you’re dying to know), there were 33,869 people who tested positive for the virus today; 166 deaths in the community and 46 in the previous 48 hours in hospitals.

Take care everyone, whatever you are doing. Look after yourselves and your loved ones. Tell them you love them. God bless.

The sun was shining this morning. Well, that startled me for a start! I mean, it’s a Monday! Wasn’t expecting that! However, the sunshine didn’t tempt us out of bed particularly early, although I had woken up at six o’clock. I just went back to sleep again until half-past eight, then again until half-past nine. Lazy days….

I did eventually get out of bed because I knew I had to catch a cat. Rio was due to be shorn this morning, to get rid of the tangles he likes to cultivate in his fur. Appointment at 10.30 in Corley, so I needed to be up and about and to have caged the kitty ready for the journey there.

Rio knew something was up, because when John went down to make us a cup of tea, he shut the door to the outside, so that Rio couldn’t escape. When I went into the kitchen, Rio gave me the most accusing look, but resigned himself to being lifted into the cat carrier. He did, however, mewl all the way to the cat groomers……

Just after lunch, the Sky Engineer called in. John had been investigating our account and whether we were getting what we were promised. The check on the computer brought up a message that said, “You Need An Engineer” so she duly arrived today. Did all the checks – it seems everything is working but our residence is being recognised as an MDU – a multiple-occupancy building, like a block of flats – and the system suggests we can’t get the superfast Broadband we were offered. It may be that SKY’s system is counting our business phone line as well, which, of course, is now defunct…… “I’m afraid you’ll have to flag it as a complaint,” said the engineer. Oh, great. Anticipating hours on the phone. That’ll be fun, won’t it?

This afternoon our spirits were lifted, though, as we sat and chatted to Carol and John on Zoom. It’s a while since we saw them and we had hoped to get together, but no sooner have they come back from one holiday, but they are off on another one again to Spain this week. So Zoom it was.

I am always amazed at how quickly time flies when you are enjoying yourself. Two hours zipped by. Couldn’t believe it when tummies started rumbling for our tea, and Carol and John needed to get on and start packing. So lovely to see them and so lovely just to chew the cud, mull over life’s ups and downs and have a laugh. Loved it. And they are looking good for having had a holiday, aren’t they?

This evening it was a matter of ‘let’s just flop in front of the box…’ because we both felt tired. John dropped off to sleep while I decided that an early blog and early night was probably in order.

In COVID news, there’s still a lot of infections – apparently we are the top of the leader board for the volume of infections and deaths for the size of population – not sure how accurate that is, of course. I mean, can you trust the data on Twitter?

Anyway, government figures are thus: 35,077 people infected with COVID today. Only incomplete data is available for deaths, so I’ll leave that excitement for tomorrow.

Take care everyone. Keep safe – we only get one bite of the cherry, so let’s not mess it up, eh? God bless.

Oh, and I note that the Tories are having a conference. And, by the by, Susie Dent’s Word of The Day is: ‘flapdoodle’. Stuff and nonsense. Made me laugh, anyway……

Early morning message: “We’re on our way!” Well, that was good news. We had been wondering whether Ann and Nigel would manage to get to us this morning. Petrol is difficult to come by in London.

As it turned out, having got up at 6 o’clock this morning to make the journey up to the Midlands, they arrived before everyone else. We had suggested everyone muster chez nous at 9.30 a.m. However, not everyone was there at the appointed hour, so five of us walked up to Oakes’ and everyone else followed on in their cars.

It was a beautiful morning for a walk, and there was a cool breeze, which I was glad of. It blew the cobwebs away!

At the Farm Shop we sat at the table reserved for us and then chose our breakfasts. I made a note of everyone’s order and took it to the till, where it transpired that there was a malfunction. “We’re sorry, but the till has broken down.” Poor girl had to write out our table-of-ten order all by hand. Uh-oh! We’re going to have to wait ages for food now, aren’t we?

But no. The service was brilliant. Prompt and accurate – well, to within a narrow margin of error in our favour – an extra tea and an extra Americano on a table of ten, which ain’t bad, is it??

We’d arrived at 10 o’clock. We didn’t leave until 12.30. Gosh, it was good. Food was lovely and the company was wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Soon, however, we realised the time and people were starting to think about their journeys home. As everyone had come up from London, we empathised. It’s a bit of a trip up/down the motorway. “Let’s have a group photo before we go!!” we declared, as we all filed outside. “Yes! Let’s!” everyone agreed, as there then ensued a general discussion about where to stand; who would take the photo; whose phone to use? Perhaps another ‘click and run’ time-delay on Kelv’s phone, like we did last night, to much giggling?

No…… as luck would have it, there was my friend, Chris Price, from church, sitting on bench outside with another friend, Hannah. When asked, Chris willingly agreed to take the photo. So we giggled and huddled and gathered round until we all fitted in and…… click! There we were. Lovely. A bit windswept and squinting into the sun, but a great memory of a wonderful get-together.

Afterwards, with the exception of Ann and Nigel, who came to ours for a cuppa and slice of cake, everyone set off home, after much hugging and saying how lovely it had been to see each other and ‘we must do it all again, soon…….’

Once home, we four had more refreshments and chatted for ages and ages until Ann and Nigel, too, started thinking about getting back on the road. Sunday afternoon traffic to London can be a nightmare.

Left to our own devices, we did a bit of pottering about, tidying up and sorting out the washing before we plonked ourselves in front of the the TV – and there we stayed all evening. John inspected the back of his eyelids for quite a long time as the programmes rolled by, however……… good man – just what he needed – a rest. He’d had a busy weekend.

Meanwhile, the COVID train rattles on. 30,439 people tested positive for the virus today. 43 deaths in the community. 755 people in hospital with it. And a 15-year-old girl died of it this week. Clearly, nothing to see here…….

Take care everyone. Hope the week ahead is good to you. God bless.