leukaemia-limbo-dance

To this day, we have been married 46 years. Haven’t quite caught up with some of our friends, yet we’re on a par with many others, and way ahead of several. Together, we have overcome all sorts of challenges along the way and had many, many great times. So, it’s an anniversary to savour.

We savoured it in the best way we know how – by not making a song and dance over it. We didn’t want to go in for the cards and gifts and reminding everyone it was coming up. We reminisced a bit, but we’re looking forward, not back, and we’re being in the present. That is what recent experience has reminded us. Just to be present and make the most of whatever the day would offer us.

And what an offering it was. We had suggested that, as Michael and Danielle had been isolating, they might come over for some TLC today. Michael is back at work, Danielle is not yet fully fit and, as we all know, a nearly three-year old and a baby and a dog is a lot to be looking after on your own when you’re feeling crook. They took us up on the offer, so we had a marvellous family day.

They were all very excited to be coming in. William in particular, raced in with sparkling eyes, thrilled to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s house again. It was as if they’d never been away. “Come on, Grandma, let’s go to the top of the house.” William said, as he led the way. Into the loft we went, to retrieve the baby toys for Thomas and have a mooch about, starting from the top of the house, working our way down. “Let’s see what else is interesting.” he said, as he ummed and ahhed over various toys and curiosities that were floating about.

Once back downstairs, out came all the toys and off we went, into the imaginary world of an almost three-year old. We zoomed here and there with toy aeroplanes, hovercrafts and cars; transformed into robots and stomped about; and nee-nawed around the lounge, saving lives. We got the tea-set out and drank many, many cups of ‘tea’ and filled casserole pots with velcro vegetables to make a ‘delicious’ stew, putting them in the ‘oven’. We climbed the stairs, peered through the bannister railings and came down again, on more than one occasion, and shone the torch on the glitter ball to sparkle up the ceiling.

In between times, there was Thomas to hold, or rock or sing to. Although, to be fair, Danielle did do most of that, but we were there if she needed a rest. We were very willing helpers because he’s a bundle of cuddliness.

While I got food ready at various points of the day, Grandpa was on hand to create a new story with William, or be ‘killed’ by the Star Wars saber over and over again. He got down on the floor to play with the cars and spent ages trying to mend a helicopter spinner, and then he sat with William on the sofa watching some cartoon or other in which the hero was assigned to ‘save the day’.

It was absolutely just what we needed. For Danielle, too, I think it was helpful as she was able to rest when Thomas was resting. Michael, poor man, spent all day working, however, closeted in the dining room and glued to his laptop, headphones on for the earnest conversations with fellow psychologists. We kept up a steady stream of cups of tea and cake, and he emerged at lunchtime for pizza before burying himself back in the world of work. But it was good to have him there, working from home.

I think we kept up pretty well. We all ate an evening meal together and opened a bottle of red wine to share, clinked our glasses for a happy anniversary toast before it was time to pack up and wave goodbye. William didn’t want to go and Michael backed the car up, window down, so that William could have one last wave to Grandma and Grandpa. As Michael drove off, all I could hear was William saying, “I don’t want to go……” We didn’t want them to go either, but what better way to spend an anniversary? It had been good.

We abandoned the tidying up, temporarily, after the family had left and sat on the sofas to watch a bit of TV before getting on again. Oh, but guess what? Within five minutes we were both fast asleep, snoozing our heads off!! It’s been a few months since we’ve had to use that much energy in one day! Need to get into training.

So…. shielding. We are still taking every precaution we can, but we are planning to try and live a little rather than hunkering down. I am still in the anxious and cautious category, but recognise that living isn’t just about keeping our front door shut for evermore.

In the meantime, seven people lost their lives to the virus today in all settings, and two in a hospital setting, whilst 685 people were confirmed as infected.

God bless. May your days ahead be good ones.

I know it’s Sunday, but I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t want to do church on-line this morning and I didn’t want to chit-chat to everyone on a ‘Zoom’ coffee either. Although I won’t be physically going back into church when it opens at the beginning of August, I felt disabled today by the lack of ‘going’ to church. It’s the first time I have felt like that. I have been enjoying the on-line services and catching up with fellow congregants but no, not today.

Instead, I stubbornly stayed in bed for a while, scrolling social media and sighing over the ‘to mask’ or ‘not to mask’ debate. The brigade that is saying ‘I’m not wearing a mask because I don’t want to’ and those patting them on the head and saying ‘there, there, you don’t have to if you don’t like it’ is making me angry. I suppose it’s the mixed message that is confusing everyone, and so I’m getting angry with government ministers too, now. All humanity is here revealed, and I’m not too keen on seeing the raw selfishness on display.

However, once I’d chuntered to myself a bit, I hoiked myself out of bed and faced the day with positivity. No point dwelling on it all – after all, there’s not much I can do here still wrapped up in cotton wool is there?

I chose to keep on, keeping on, with a bit of cleaning – things I hadn’t done so conscientiously when Mum was living here. And, of course, there was a mountain of washing after I’d changed every bit of linen in the ‘The Blue Room’ yesterday, which led me on to tidying the linen cupboard as well. Once in a blue moon, do I do that job!

When you’re in a tidying phase, though, there’s always a distraction, isn’t there? For me, it was books. Spent a very pleasurable half hour or so browsing my bookshelves and sorting them out into ‘books still to read’ and ‘books to re-visit’. Particularly poetry books. And I couldn’t help but dip into them, so was pleasantly side-tracked for a bit.

Despite my un-Sunday feeling, I watched Songs of Praise while I sorted out papers that I’d brought from Mums. She had a stack of them (three bags full) lurking alongside her chair which came to light when we installed the new all-singing, all-dancing one. Everything, bar one or two little collections, could be ditched. Found a set of old theatre programmes which I’ve kept, and a wallet full of letters from Graham, circa 2008.

John, meanwhile, although there was the threat of rain, decided he was going to trim the hedge which has started to grow like a Triffid, threatening to overwhelm the patio and pond. He’s done a grand job so far, but there’s the brash to clear up now, which is always hard work. Perhaps we’ll have a go at that tomorrow.

Once the ol’ man had done his stint on the hedge he sat down for a while to recuperate, before venturing into the kitchen to make paleo bread rolls. Instead of the recipe we’d been using, which asked for a ton of cashew nuts which we hadn’t got, he used a couple of different recipes – and both have turned out remarkably well. Good man.

Despite my determination to be positive, the day still felt uncomfortable, so I suggested to John that we watch a film as we sat and ate our evening meal on our laps again. We opted for a film that was released last year, called ‘Bad Education’, with Hugh Jackman. It was based on a true story, so we thought it would be good. And, in truth, it wasn’t a bad film, but it was slow. It suited my mood, however, but I was thirsty for more. This time, we chose ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ – an action-packed film with an awful lot of violence and bad language – which we both sort of enjoyed. It helped bash the demons, anyway. Yes, a couple of films and a bar of chocolate – great soothers.

And what of the outside world? A bit of cricket, at which we seem to be doing quite well in the third Test; confusion as to whether it’s safe to travel to Spain and the government not sure if its own advice is right or not, plus great hilarity over the Secretary of State for Transport actually having travelled to Spain; and, here’s a new one: obesity. That’s a new focus…. just wondering whether I am cynical, and it’s a ploy to make us take our eye off a properly important story? Take your pick, of course – there are so many….

Still in the outside world, the COVID-19 figures are significantly down on yesterday, thankfully, with 14 deaths in all settings today and 747 people confirmed as infected. The NHS report tells us that one death was reported in a hospital yesterday. Relief all round, perhaps.

With the un-Sunday feeling still lingering, I didn’t light my Candle of Hope this evening either. But there’s always hope, for tomorrow is another day, and who knows what excitement it might bring? God bless, keep cheerful and, when you’re out and about, keep masked…….. please.

Mentally, we have been shifting to a mindset of: ‘we’ll be able to do one or two things soon, yippee!!’ but what do you reckon, folks, are we a bit premature? On average in the last week, the BBC tells me that 66 people have died every day from COVID-19. However, it doesn’t look like it’s too close to home, so……maybe, maybe. I mean, John is now so fed up that he’s keen to do anything to alleviate the situation. He’s not bored exactly, but he is itching to get out. Hence the repeated threat of visiting the motorists’ shop. Inevitably, there are going to be spikes of infection, but if we take every precaution then we might just get away with it…… watch this space.

Anyhoo… the ol’ man wasn’t really itching to go anywhere today other than his garage and to his beloved Lotus. More tinkering on the agenda. Although I am not quite sure what he tinkered with – something to do with a ‘crash pad’ on the dashboard, I think. Well, actually, I know. I pretend not to be terribly interested, but I do like to keep up. One of the bits was very mucky with all sorts of gunge, so he used a bit of elbow grease and some thinners to get it cleaned up, and it’s come up a treat. He’s dead pleased. I am, too – if he’s happy, so am I!!

We had a leisurely start this morning. I romped downstairs to meet Caroline, instead of Malcolm, on the path this morning to take delivery of a little bit of shopping, for which I am eternally grateful. It’s the fresh stuff that always catches me out. We do a bit of a specialist shop on-line, even order a few fresh ingredients then, half-way through the week, find we’re out of something quite key. For us, it’s often cauliflower. It might not sound great to you, but it really is delicious to serve up cauliflower rice, because John is steering clear of standard rice. And you can hardly order three cauliflowers all at one go, can you?? Our fridge is already bursting at the seams! Sweet potatoes are another thing that we run out of with regular monotony…… just wondering when we can be released to do our own sortie to the Co-op and grab those unexpected ‘out-of-stocks’.

I decided to read my book and enjoy e-puzzles this morning and so relaxed in bed until mid-day. I did get up and get cups of tea and put the shopping away, so it wasn’t all lazy, but mostly, it was. Because I can.

I also gave myself the willies this morning, by phoning Mum’s sheltered accommodation to find out why they had phoned yesterday. It turns out that Mum had been anxious about not having the patio door key (it’s a long story) and thought she couldn’t lock it up, so went knocking on neighbour’s doors for help. You never actually know the truth though, do you? The story started with the scenario that she had ‘been wandering the corridors and knocking on everyone’s doors late at night’. When I eventually drilled down into the story, it was two neighbours at seven o’clock in the evening. She might have been ‘wandering the corridors’ but somehow, I doubt it. Anyway, I think she has been spoken to.

On an entirely different note, one of the things that I am finding exceedingly irritating – and which I don’t think will change – is my inability to do anything at speed. At first, I just thought it was the lock down situation, sapping all my mental and physical energy, but I am beginning to wonder if it’s just because I am old. I know that decision-making – or the lack of it – has been related to being housebound, but I am not so sure about my physical speed now. I had confidently told John this morning that my plan for the afternoon was to clean ‘The Blue Room’, where Mum had been sleeping, and gradually work my way through the upstairs rooms and the landing. Save downstairs for tomorrow.

In reality, all I got done was ‘The Blue Room’. Admittedly, I literally cleaned every single surface. I tightened bolts on the bed, vacuumed the mattress, had all the drawers out of the cupboards, cleaned the windows, changed the bedding, including giving the duvet a good old beating hanging on the line outside and shampooed the carpet, but still….. I had been sure that I’d get further than one room today.

Despite the ‘one room’ situation, I was pleased with what I had done and was ready for our evening meal, which John and I prepared together. Then, once again, with the plates on our laps , we sat in the lounge and watched TV. Because we can. (Does a little dance)

Et voilá! There we have it, another day done and another one to look forward to. However, let’s think of those whose lives have been lost today from COVID-19 – 61 of them in all settings and 10 in a hospital setting on Thursday – as well as those who are battling the virus, at least 767 of them.

Keep up the good work of hand-washing, mask-wearing and social-distancing, folks. One day, those actions will help people like us get out and about again. God bless and peace be with you.

Turned out to be a very good day today. Had a lie-in, treated myself to my favourite breakfast of berries and yoghurt for breakfast before braving it to go and get a key cut for Mum’s patio door. Then I went out for a little toddle along the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, before coming back to sit in the garden for a lovely chat with Pete and Dawn for a couple of hours. The perfect morning really.

The weather was great, with the sun making its presence felt every so often when it was scorchingly hot, before hiding itself behind clouds and cooling down to a pleasant heat. Exciting to see Pete and Dawn in the flesh rather than on Skype, and we had a good old rant, put the world to rights and had a giggle all at the same time.

After they had left, I had a niggle that I had heard my phone ‘buzz’ while we were chatting, and had I missed a phone call? Yes, I had. It was Michael. He was studying, now that his paternity leave is over, and Danielle wasn’t feeling very well, so what did we think to the idea of going over and keeping William, at least, occupied in the garden for the afternoon? I never need asking twice. Yep, we’ll be there in about an hour…

And so, we whiled away a fabulous afternoon, playing all sorts of games with William and rocking the baby in the pram. The weather stayed very warm and we were well happy out on the decking and in William’s play house. Made us laugh in the play house, “You sit there, Grandma (or Grandpa, depending on who was there with him at the time) in the blue chair.” OK. Except our bottoms were just a bit too big for the chair of course, so we got stuck in it every time. Getting up to go out of the play house, the blue chair stayed attached to us and we needed William to give it a good old tug to set us free. Chuckle, chuckle.

John made himself useful while we were there, too. Michael is setting up some slabs at the bottom of the garden in readiness for the erection of a ‘man-shed’, so John thought he’d lay a couple to help out. After he’d done one, which was quite difficult to lay and get even, he thought he’d have a break and a cuppa. At which point he thought twice about laying the second one. Them slabs are heavy!!! And, anyway, a more cerebral challenge lay in store as he discussed the intricacies of what they should do with the front drive. Conclusion: no conclusion. It’s a BIG job…..

We left at tea-time, knowing that we had done a little something to relieve the situation for them. William wasn’t keen on us leaving and showed us a very sad little face and a wobbly bottom lip as he said goodbye. Tugged the ol’ heart strings, I can tell you.

We had a good run home along the M42 and, letting ourselves in through the front door, heard a ‘beeping’ coming from the answering machine. It was the warden at Mum’s sheltered accommodation. My heart sank. Could we phone them back, please? Well, it was too late by then, so it’ll have to wait until the morning, but I don’t think it can be anything serious as the carers had gone in this evening and left Mum happy and well by seven o’clock. Fingers crossed anyway.

We ate our evening meal on plates on our laps in the lounge, watching the TV. How nice it was to do that. Haven’t done that for….. oh, let’s see now….. about four months. (Does a little skip and a dance.) We also opened a bottle of Friday night wine. Helloooo, the weekend!!

We addled our brains watching celebrity Master Chef, and then I watched, while John snoozed on the sofa, last night’s ‘Imagine’ programme about Lemn Sissay. Fascinating stuff.

And there we have it. One more day on our road, on our journey. For a shielding day it wasn’t too bad at all. How was yours today?

For some in the country, of course, there’s still heartbreak as 123 people died from a COVID-19 related illness and 770 people were confirmed as infected today. Seven deaths in a hospital setting were reported by the NHS for Thursday – which seems to be a day out now.

Have a good weekend everyone and take care of yourselves.

A little lighter of foot today. The slow pull of wheedling Mum out of bed wasn’t needed this morning. She’s at home, in her own flat, and I could rest, or get up, or run round the house naked, if I’d wanted to this morning. I could do whatever I liked!!

So, I took my time and made a delicious breakfast before venturing out for a walk in the lovely sunshine, dappling through the trees. I walked apace, mind you, as John and I were driving into Solihull to get his hearing aids sorted out, and I needed to get back home in time. He was in and out of the hearing centre as quick as you like – I had hardly started listening to my ‘Headspace’ meditation app when he was already bidding the staff goodbye. In these times, we discovered there isn’t much of a hold-up, or waiting in a holding area, as everyone’s appointments are well spaced out. So that worked well.

Home again, and no need to make two different lunches. We could scramble something together without worrying too much, so we chopped the last of the cooked chicken and some sweet chestnuts, along with a little sweet chilli sauce, and bunged it into paleo pitta bread. Yummy!

After lunch, we went over to Mum’s to fit a key safe, for the carers to use. Mum had had a good morning and was still relatively happy in her flat. We moved Aunty Mollie’s chair into the optimum TV-viewing position, fitted the key safe, and sorted out her food. Slight mix-up there, with Mum eating the sandwiches that had been made for her tea, instead of the hot dinner that had been brought at one o’clock. By the time we got there, at three o’clock, the food was cold, of course. Ah well, early hiccups.

Mum had us move her new chair several times. “Let’s have it on the skew,” she urged. So, we pushed it at angle. TV viewing position OK? Hmmm, no, let’s try it a bit further out away from the wall. Then: let’s move the table; now let’s straighten the chair up; now let’s push it back a bit, and so on. Until finally, she thought she was satisfied. ‘On the skew’ is what she wanted. She’d have to turn her head to watch TV, but I shrugged and allowed it. She was set on it. “This TV’s not much good though,” she remarked. Oh? What’s wrong with it? “Well, the picture’s too small.” We had to laugh. We have a humungous TV at home – it is huge. We treated ourselves a couple of Christmases ago as we weren’t having a holiday and it was our relaxation and pleasure as we were stuck indoors. Mum had clearly got used to having a very large picture right in her face, and the TV in her room looked titchy in comparison. We’re taking bets on whether she’ll get used to it or demand a larger TV. Any takers?

It felt like we were at Mum’s a while but, in fact, we were home by about 4.30, so John went straight into the garage to fit a plug, which had arrived in today’s post, into the dashboard of the Lotus. Ref: yesterday’s blog when he was threatening to got the motorist’s shop if it didn’t turn up. Thank you, Lord……. he, he, he…….

I spent a little while sorting out more bits and pieces relating to Mum’s care and phoning the care agency to clarify what was what. Pills…… easy to understand in a well-designed and well-marked up blister pack, you’d think? Those marked ‘Morn’ to be taken in the morning? Yes. Those marked ‘Eve’ to be taken in the evening, yes? No. The care agency understand that those marked ‘Eve’ are to be taken at bedtime. Even though there is a blister square marked ‘Bed’ – which, incidentally, is empty of tablets and clearly not required. I am confused of Coventry…… The agency has asked me to ask to pharmacy to put Mum’s evening tablets in the ‘Bed’ category. The reason? Ha! When they go between 6 and 7 in the evening, they class that as a ‘bedtime’ visit. Heavens above!! …….. Beam me up, Scotty!!

This evening, John caught up on some more ‘Luther’ viewing while I ‘Zoomed’ for much of it. First of all, I spent forty minutes chatting to the ‘Bibliophiles’. This is the Book Club I have joined, and I am thoroughly enjoying their company and reviewing the books I’ve read with them. They are so thoughtful about the books and looking into the authors’ histories, that it’s a pleasure to explore ideas with them. Then I chatted to the College Crew, with the exception of Lizzie, who was caught up elsewhere today – oh, and Janet, who joined us for the last seven minutes of the chat, having been distracted by, and was engrossed in, making masks. Everyone was in good spirits and three out of the six of us had had haircuts!! They looked very smart – and relieved – and said they felt better for having been to the hairdressers.

So, we’re nearing the end of the month and we expect the shielding advice to change. With the changes (as they are currently proposed) it means we will start to be a bit more independent and we will be able follow our own pattern and rhythm of life, although taking as many precautions as possible but not having to rely on so many people any more. John will be pleased. I might even let him go to the motorist’s shop.

Quite a lot of COVID-19 infections reported today though, 769, and still 53, all settings, COVID-19 related deaths, with one in a hospital setting yesterday.

Enjoy your holidays, those of you who are setting off this weekend or in the next week or two. But take care everyone. Keep your precious lives precious. God bless, and peace be with you.

Moving day. It was time to take Mum back to her sheltered accommodation today and hope she manages well. Whilst she wasn’t looking, I packed up some of her belongings yesterday and trundled them downstairs ready for Phase One of the move. My intention was to pop to the flat this morning before she got up, and take the few bits round. However, good fortune smiled on me and Mum’s cleaner and companion, Tracy, called in for the key to go and give the flat a once over, and took the luggage with her.

Phase Two began as I woke Mum up. “Yes, I’ll get up.” she smiled, but lay back for another snooze. Only had to do the waking up routine a couple more times before she did actually get up. I was waiting for her to come downstairs so that I could pack up the rest of her stuff without her seeing what I was doing. I thought she might be upset if she watched the operation. Finally, she made it to the kitchen where she got her breakfast.

I whizzed upstairs, threw all her belongings into a couple of suitcases and shot out to the car to pack them in the boot. I reminded her we were going to be setting off shortly. She looked miserable. “I don’t want to go,” she said. “No worries, Mum, honestly, you’d settle in dead easy,” I replied. She looked pained and said, “Yes, the operative word being dead.” I laughed – and so she laughed too. She prolonged the departure, “I’ll just go to the loo before we set off…..” but we did get going before long.

As we arrived in the courtyard, Mum told me, forebodingly, that she didn’t recognise any of it. Once we were in the flat itself, though, she was excited. She hadn’t remembered the flat when she was at our house, but once she stepped over the threshold, she was delighted that she had such a lovely place to live. Not only that, she was also thrilled with Aunty Mollie’s electric chair. I’d been a bit nervous of revealing that to her, having had to move furniture, but we skipped over that hurdle quite well.

We spent the afternoon unpacking and sorting out all her bits and pieces. Mid-afternoon, an assessor came from the care agency to review Mum’s needs and arrange for carers to support Mum twice a day, from tomorrow. The only worry is whether Mum will remember how to let someone in…..

I came home at tea-time, and felt drained. It had been quite a long day one way or another and I had been on the go for all of it. John abandoned his car tinkering, at which he’d been all day too, and we sat down with a cup of tea. For a moment, I thought I might do a bit of meditation before food preparation, but in the end, time moved on and it was suddenly a quarter to seven. “Come on,” I said, “let’s do the tea together.” So we trundled into the kitchen and pulled an evening meal out of nowhere.

Refreshed, it was time for our weekly quiz. We were initially disappointed not to be meeting up round at Malcolm’s to celebrate Hazel’s birthday but, in fact, I was so tired that it was probably a good thing we were Zooming instead.

We were pleased to see that Hazel had clearly had a good day yesterday and Malcolm was on the mend. The quiz was good, and we all had good fun trying answer some crazy questions. I expect you all know the answer to what the collective noun for a group of rhinoceros is, but none of us could remember, and had great fun mooting all sorts of ideas. The best one was ‘a fairy’ of rhinoceros. Nice idea but wrong.

After the quiz we chatted, which is always nice, and the talk was of the easing of the lock down and all our concerns and anxieties relating to that. None of us is keen for the nation to walk, open-eyed, into a second wave of infection. John has said that if the parts he’s ordered for the car don’t come tomorrow though, he’s walking up to the motorist’s shop again. I’m sure it’ll be fine….

Seventy-nine COVID-19 related deaths reported by the government today, and 560 people confirmed as infected. The NHS figures though, don’t seem to have been updated, so I am not sure what the latest is in hospitals. Fingers crossed that a delay in reporting the numbers doesn’t mean a surge of cases.

So, another day comes to an end, and I am grateful for all those who thought of us or said a prayer for us today. Take care everyone. God bless, and peace be with you.

Some days have been better than others during our enforced ‘stay-at-home’ situation – especially those days when we’ve seen our family and friends. But those days haven’t stopped all ‘the blues’ – even when we’ve had a great few days. Inexplicably, some days you feel frustrated, weepy for no reason, angry or ask, ‘where’s the best hiding place’? I recognise the signs of stress, but don’t always do the right thing to prevent the big ‘creep’. However, at the weekend, I gave myself a bit of a talking to and planned to start that little regime, that we know works, to chase away despair.

Day One: Go for a walk. Day Two: Go for a walk. And so on. Just that, to start with, especially among the trees and countryside, if possible. Well, for us it is possible, of course, because a few steps away from our front door, there are fields to tramp in and trees to glorify. We are so lucky to live where we are.

This morning, then, a little walk down the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and into the fields. The sun was shining, making its presence felt, and I came back refreshed enough to tackle whatever chores awaited. First: an early delivery from Ocado of foodstuffs peculiar to us, and some for Mum to take back to her flat. Then, ‘shopping washing’ of which I am now tired of doing, but don’t want to stop ‘just in case’. Followed by a grand little potter in garden, watering and dead-heading and weeding. Very therapeutic.

It’s late morning and, no surprise, Mum isn’t actually up yet. I run upstairs again to see how she’s doing, to find she is dressed. Ah….. we said not to get dressed this morning, Mum, as we thought a bath might be in order before going back to the flat? “Well, I’m dressed now.” she said, a little defiantly. No worries, we can get you undressed again when it’s bath-time but come and get breakfast now. I left her to finish primping herself in the mirror and went downstairs for the Part 2 in the de-stressing game. A bit of meditation.

I sat outdoors on a reclining chair, put my headphones on and sank into peace. The sun, sometimes white hot when it emerged from behind cloud, bathed me in warmth, the whole time I was there. It did feel good. For a short while, I could feel John sitting beside me, too. Nice.

Afterwards, I felt better. I popped into the house, expecting to see Mum sitting in her usual seat, ready for the bathroom trip, but she wasn’t there. Nor in the kitchen. Surely, she’s not still in her room? Yes, she was. Back in bed, fully clothed, bless her. I’d clearly confused her and she wasn’t sure whether she was coming or going, so went back to bed. By this time, it’s nearly lunchtime, and I thought better of forcing her into the bath. “Never mind, Mum, we’ll do it another day.” And, at that point, I thought I really didn’t want to spend another afternoon just floating about the house, cleaning and tidying and ferrying cups of tea and pieces of cake into the lounge. “Let’s go to Michael’s.” I suggested. “Good idea.” said John, who is also feeling a bit up and down.

Mum declined the invitation to visit as it would mean sitting out in the garden, but she sent her love. Off we went, just the two of us, to spend a couple of hours with the Sutton Sleaths. Always fun and always uplifting. Thomas, the baby, was beautiful; William chattered away and showed us all the toys he plays with in the garden; and we four just sat and enjoyed each other’s company. I was very glad I hadn’t spent the afternoon at our house just whiling away time.

Tomorrow: Go for a walk. Meditate. It’ll be fine.

On an entirely different note, I had a lovely ‘path chat’ with Caroline this morning. She called round to collect the special parcel I’d bought and wrapped, so that she could take it round to our friend, Hazel, one of our Centre Stage quizzers, whose birthday it was today. Happy Birthday, Hazel!!

The ‘path chat’, as I say, was lovely because it was nice to see Caroline, but commiserations were in order as Malcolm finds himself unwell with shingles. Do we carry on and go to his house tomorrow evening to celebrate Hazel’s birthday? The consensus of opinion was ‘not’. We’re going to have that celebration in a couple of weeks’ time instead. Still something to look forward to, then! And we’ll quiz tomorrow evening, anyway, all being well. Get well soon, Malcolm. I mean, who’ll do my shopping, if you’re poorly?? (This is supposed to be a joke…….)

Talking of those who are poorly, and for the record because I always put this in, there were 110 COVID-19 related deaths up to four o’clock this afternoon and 445 people had been confirmed as infected. 3 people died in a hospital setting yesterday, dashing my hopes of seeing a zero on the NHS spreadsheet today. And 110 deaths in all other settings? That seems a bit higher than I was expecting.

Nevertheless, the general public is encouraged to get back to some semblance of ‘normal’ and I celebrate the fact that friends are able to take holidays and spend time with their families again at close quarters. That’s got to be good news. But keep let’s washing our hands, keep our distance and wear our masks, yes? Yes!

God bless and peace be with you all.

After the hectic-ness of the last few days, we took it easy today. A slow, but not too late, start, just taking our time. We had intended to Zoom with Lily this morning on some home-schooling, but she was sleeping over at her friend’s so we didn’t do that in the end. Maybe it’ll happen another day – although, being the summer holidays now, it does seem a bit mean….

John spent the morning looking over his wiring diagrams and researching bits and pieces on the computer. I read my book, and then spent a good half an hour rummaging in among the mountains of wrapping paper, gift bags, gift tags and cards that I have in my cupboard, for something suitable to wrap up a very special parcel.

At some point during the morning I reminded Mum that plans are afoot for her return to her flat. On Wednesday. “That soon?” she said, shocked, as if it was the first time she’d heard it. “That’s not very long away, is it?” and she looked uncomfortable. “No, it’s not, but it’s going to be OK.” I reassured her. “I’m going to go over to the flat today to do a little inspection, would you like to come?” Yes, she thought she would.

Suddenly, not having done very much at all, it was lunchtime and we were nonplussed by a phone call from the manager of Mum’s flats. Mum’s hot lunch had arrived on site. Hmmm, I was sure I’d re-instated it from this coming Thursday. The manager said, no worries, the driver will bring the lunch to our house. Well, that put Mum into a tizz. “I don’t know if I’m coming or going.” she said. But she did sit at the kitchen table and eat it all up – mains of a sausage casserole and mash, and dessert a fruit pie and custard. She seemed to have no trouble with it once she got going.

John and I sat outside on the patio in the sunshine eating our Mediterranean salad and pretended we were on holiday in Nice. We basked in the sunbeams and warmed our bodies in their heat. It was lovely. Unfortunately, unlike Nice, there was a westerly wind which cooled the air as soon as a cloud crept over the sun’s face. So, we weren’t out that long in the end. And, in any case, John’s mind was on his wiring….

I took my cup of tea into the lounge and watched daytime TV with Mum for a little while before braving it to get her ready for the trip to her flat. John sat beside me, also watching daytime TV. “Oh, I don’t know why I’m sitting here,” he sighed, “I’m keen to get on with the car.” Yes, but just a few minutes rest and the suspension of having to think was very peaceful.

“Right, then Mum, do you want to get ready to come with me to the flat?” I asked, as the programme came to an end. She looked doubtful and then said no, she didn’t think she’d come. I think she’s putting off the dreaded day. So I went on my own, which was just as well, as I wanted to straighten her room up after we’d installed Aunty Mollie’s chair the other week.

When I got back, John was still very busy with the car and threatening to go up to the motorist’s shop again. He didn’t in the end and ordered the bits off the internet instead, because he didn’t want an argument. Me? Argue? I have no idea what he’s talking about. I, on the other hand, sat and drank tea again, and then nodded off on the sofa. Unintentionally, of course, as it just crept up on me. Darn it!

Suddenly, once again not having done very much at all, it was another mealtime. I offered Mum the egg sandwich I had planned to give her at lunchtime. She was startled that she was just having a sandwich, so I pointed out that she’d already had a cooked dinner today. “Have I? I don’t remember.” Ah well. She enjoyed her sandwich though, in any case.

More TV watching – John in the kitchen because he couldn’t bear to watch Panorama, which was just a re-hash of what we already know, and because he wanted to watch Luther which is a bit near the knuckle for me. Mum and I whiled away the evening watching a gentle programme about Devon and Cornwall and spotted an area of Devon where our friends, Rob and Kaye, live. All very relaxing, and a restorative day.

I was hopeful today when the newscasters announced that the vaccine trials are showing promising results. How wonderful it will be if we can go out without the anxiety of encountering the pesky virus. Fingers crossed that today’s figures continue the downward trend as the government report shows 11 deaths today and 580 lab-confirmed infections; and the NHS spreadsheet shows just one death in a hospital setting yesterday. What trumpet sounds there will be when we get to zero in a hospital setting, at least.

And so another day enriches our souls. I am not sure what I have learned from today, but I do know that I have been grateful for it, because it hasn’t been a difficult one. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the days ahead are not too difficult as I winkle Mum out of her favourite ‘Blue Room’ at our house back to her sheltered accommodation. I’m sure it’ll be fine…….gulp.

God bless and take care everyone.

After an elongated start, we eventually got going to a cracking day. There had been a change in sleeping arrangements overnight which meant that I, sleeping in our old bedroom, didn’t wake up until eleven o’clock when Michael phoned me, and John also slept on and/or rested until much the same time in our master bedroom. I had decamped from our room last night, to enable John to ensconce himself in as much of the bed as he needed, (he’s a restless sleeper, don’t you know) and prevent me from waking up, startled, at his every move (I’m a light sleeper, don’t you know), every hour.

Once we were up, we thought we’d better get on with our daily ablutions, beverages and tidy-ups before welcoming our dear friends Dave and Chris and George and Sue to our garden for the afternoon.

Michael had said it was a nice day when he phoned, and I had said yes, it was, but wasn’t sure how long it was going to last. In my current mindset, I expected it to turn cold and imagined us all shivering under the gazebo, like we did yesterday. In the end, of course, it turned out to be a glorious day with the sun shining and browning our skin if we let it.

Dave and Chris were the first to arrive, and we set our chairs out, socially distanced, away from the gazebo in the sunny part of the garden. George and Sue soon joined us and were pleased to be part of the sun worshipping group. A cup of tea was the first stop before the wine came out, along with the picnic sandwiches and…. guess what? Chris’s famous cake! The most delicious coffee and walnut cake. So delicious in fact, that we have put an order in for another one for when we next meet up. Actually, (with a very happy little giggle to myself) I think she’s planning to make two cakes – her extra-famous Victoria sandwich and the coffee and walnut cake. How will we resist??? (Hugging myself with glee).

I have no idea what we talked about. But we talked and talked and talked. We filled our bellies with good food and cracked open first one bottle of wine, then another. We followed the sun from one spot in the garden to the next, drank tea, ate more cake and then opened yet another bottle of wine. We put the world to rights. We planned outings we knew we weren’t going to go on. We commiserated with each other over the current restrictions and chided each other over our health issues. “You really must go to the doctor with that…..”. And the afternoon disappeared just like that.

“Anyone fancy some cheese on toast?” I offered, as we moved our chairs into a newly emerged patch of sunshine and opened more red wine. “Oooh, yes, please!” came the chorused reply. Oh, what bliss. A mound of molten cheese on fluffy white bread is so delicious, isn’t it?

Mum tottered out to say ‘hello’ to everyone. These are people whom we have known since our very early teens and they have a long history in our lives. Dave said “Hello, Hazel, nice to see you. Do you remember us?” indicating himself and Chris. Mum shook her head and laughed. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.” she said. We explained how she might remember them and George. Still mystified, she shook her head again, but was thrilled to think that everyone had crammed into her front room all those years ago, while we were still at school, to listen to music and debate the rights and wrongs of the world as we knew it then.

Mum tottered back into the house for her evening meal and we all started thinking about when we would meet up again. We topped our glasses up once more, toasting each other and celebrating our friendship. We blessed the day we got to know Sue, who fits into our group so very well and we delighted in each other’s company, throwing virtual hugs to each other. And then it was time to say goodbye. What a wonderful time we’d had.

Pleasantly hazy with an abundance of wine and curled up cosily in a nice warm blanket, I watched Downton with Mum this evening, while John took himself into the kitchen to watch the Grand Prix. He should have been at Silverstone with Paul today. How disappointing that it didn’t happen – it would have been a great day for it.

All in all, we count our many blessings and thank God, once more, for our good friends and family – and hope that the weather keeps up for little while longer so that we can enjoy more garden ‘get-togethers’ like this for a few more weeks, or even months.

We hope, too, that we will be able to lift the restrictions on our shielding lives a little bit, soon. That hope is based on fewer people getting sick with COVID-19 or dying from it. Today, the government tells us that 27 people lost their lives and 726 were confirmed as infected. Yesterday, the NHS tells us that 4 people died in a hospital setting and 2 were confirmed for the day before – although these figures don’t tally with previous ones, so I am unsure how accurate they actually are.

However many it is, the figures indicate that there are still families, every day, who are being shattered by the loss of a loved one. Let us all continue to do our bit to prevent the spread of the virus so that families don’t have to go through the heartbreak. God bless, and peace be with you.

We had been hopeful that the weather would be kind to us today and, to a certain extent, it was. It didn’t rain, thank goodness, but it was overcast. I don’t normally mind an overcast day, although John finds them extremely tedious, but it was breezy as well, which whipped a cool draft up our trouser legs as we sat out this morning.

For the first time since lock down, we welcomed my dearest goddaughter, Liz, and her husband Ben, for a little sojourn in our back garden. The greetings were warm, and the easy conversation took our minds off the coolness of the air, although I have to say, that Ben’s bare arms and legs went blue and we did notice that. He said he was alright and didn’t need a blanket but, as soon as the sun started to shine, he joined me outside the shelter of the gazebo, to heat ourselves up in the few rays of sunshine, like iguanas basking on the rocks.

It was such a delight to see them. They are such easy company and all-round lovely people. And Liz brought exciting news. After nearly twelve months of discernment, in which she explored her calling to enter into priesthood, she recently had had a face-to-face interview with the Bishop and he said ‘yes’. Yes! Wow! How marvellous and uplifting. It is the right thing. Liz has a ministry in her that she will do amazingly well, so I am absolutely delighted for her. She has often been my strength in times of doubt and, for a young woman, has a brilliant head on her shoulders. Training doesn’t start until 2021 so, in the meantime, she and Ben are going to get a shift on to transform their existing situation in readiness for the three-year course. I’m saying a prayer or two for them now and wishing them very well.

We decided, after Liz and Ben had left, that indoor tasks were the thing to pursue today, since it was breezy and cool outside. John hi-ho’d to the garage to fiddle with more wires and junction boxes and pour over wiring diagrams while I poured over the internet looking for birthday gifts. There is such a lot to choose from, isn’t there? And so it was another happy hour feasting my eyes on all the lovely things to be had, before I finally made my choice and sent off for the precious item.

Mid-afternoon, John decided he was going to rock up to the motorist’s shop in the village to buy a bulb for the car. He had mooted this idea while Liz and Ben were with us, and I immediately went into ‘no, you’re not’ mode. Liz and Ben laughed at us and thought that that was their cue to leave, anticipating a domestic incident on the horizon. I wasn’t happy about the idea, but John was determined, and so, masked up and sanitised he made the trip, grabbed the bulb from the rack, paid and sauntered home. “Yes, yes, I’ve washed my hands.” he said, when he got back, to my mute enquiry.

Scrolling through pictures on ‘tinternet’ this afteroon encouraged my lazy bones, and I couldn’t drag myself from the sofa to do any of the jobs on the ‘to do’ list. I sat, mesmerised by daytime telly for over an hour before finally galvanising my body into doing something at least. Even if it was only making a cup of tea and prepping the evening meal.

Normally, I love a roast chicken dinner, but since Mum has been living with us my enjoyment has waned. It seems I am no longer able to cook chicken. It is always too tough. Ah-ha! I thought, I know, I’ll do it in the chicken brick instead, on top of a load of vegetables – that way, it’ll be soft. Of course, what I hadn’t properly accounted for was the extra time it might take to cook. I popped it in the oven just before five, aiming to eat about six-thirty. An hour to cook, twenty minutes to rest and all that.

The chicken was a large one – OK, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes to cook, then? Perhaps we’ll eat a little later than I thought. In the end, we sat down to eat at twenty past seven. Bless her, Mum had been fretting about food since about five…… “Have a cake?” I offered. She had a cake while she waited. However, what do you reckon folks? Was my chicken successful? Could Mum eat it? Yes, she could! Ta-da!

After we’d eaten, I scampered into the lounge to set up John’s laptop for a Skype session with Pete and Dawn. I didn’t give Mum the chance to start watching a programme to get engrossed in, in case we had a similar situation to a few weeks back, when she definitely wasn’t going to give it up and we had to skulk in the kitchen instead.

What a great evening. Pete and Dawn are always such great company (I suppose that’s where Liz gets it from) and we nattered and nattered and nattered. We also drank a drop or two of wine. Cheers everyone!! Jack joined in the nattering on their side of the screen but, on our side, Mum didn’t. In fact, she’s been extremely quiet all day. Bemused at the idea of going back to her flat, I think, but I am sure that with all the help in place she’ll soon enjoy her time there again. Fingers crossed anyway.

The sheltered accommodation that Mum lives in has been COVID-free and they have taken good measures to keep it that way. Masks and gloves are de rigueur, and social distancing is being respected. No deaths have been reported there from the virus, so, with care, Mum will be OK.

There have been deaths forom COVID-19 elsewhere, of course, with 3 deaths reported in a hospital setting up until five o’clock yesterday, 17 June 2020, and 5 being confirmed for the day before. I am still not sure of the accuracy of these NHS figures, but I have started, so I’ll finish…… The government, however, is trying to sort out its reporting of the figures and today published a figure of 40 deaths by four o’clock, with 827 people confirmed as infected.

If in doubt, folks, now’s the time to eat cake or have a glass of wine to keep your spirits up. Take care and God bless.