Friends

Now in my 37th day of Lockdown I am really beginning to miss my friends.

So far having kept in touch by phone and email together with safe-distance chats with a couple of neighbours, the loneliness has not been too marked.


But, not seeing people is quite a deprivation not fully appreciated until now.

Compared with many people I am truly fortunate in that my next-door neighbours are doing my shopping, and another neighbour has taken over the business of ordering and when it arrives, installing a new TV.

Needless to say it chose this time for the old one to decide to expire

The only people who have so far been in my house are British Gas Emergency inspectors and my TV fixer neighbour (in nearly six weeks).

It's not as though my house  is normally the hub of the universe, just that lovely ;post-Sunday Service chats, occasional drop-ins for a chat tea coffee or just plain natter have all been wiped off the day's activities and house-work really has very little appeal for me.

Yesterday my gardener decided to risk a safe distance couple of hours in the back garden which has become very overgrown by creeping Cellandine and ground elder.  He did a wonderful job and i was very glad to see him, but the silences between contacts are hard to fill for someone as lazy as I am.

As my house grows steadily grubbier and the garden slowly disappears under the weeds, and the silence becomes an ever longer part of the day I feel like sleeping beauty (Apart from the beauty) oh and the sleeping that is.

If anyone has a spare sack of motivation will they please send it to me.

Until then, stay safe.

Cause for celebration

An email has just appeared on my Ipad from my step-daughter.

Her son has just become a father and now has a son of his own.

This makes me the baby's step great grandmother.

My late husband's daughter is obviously delighted and couldn't wait to share the news though perhaps she hasn't yet fully apprecisted her new grandmother status.

I am pleased for them all of course, but the actual relevance for me is slight since I haven't seen my step grandson for about four years (he is in the army), and have never met the baby's mother, so the new addition while I rejoice for them is only of passing interest to me.

If that sounds cold I apologise but never having had a child (nor wanted one I hasten to add) it always leaves me slightly perplexed when other women go gooey-eyed at the mere mention of a baby.

I know there is supposed to be a natural maternal instinct in all females, it's just that I wasbehind the door when it was given out.

An Easter Like No Other

This is normally the busyiest time of the year for me and one I value above all others since at St Mary's the music is sublime

This year with all the dreadful Coronvirus and the  necessary restrictions on all human behaviours we  have had to find new ways to live our lives and where possible to continue our traditions.

Lacking as I do, all but the most basic technical knowledge, my participation has been purely as an onlooker, and even that has been sporadic and with gaps in services etc.

Thanks to my wonderful next-door neighbours all my shopping has been done for me and I have been a cared-for prisoner in my home since 18th of March.

A member  of the choir dropped round a beautiful home-made Palm Cross for me last Sunday and I watched the service from St Mary's on utube

Yesterday I tried to watch the Maundy Thursday Service but had a lengthy phone call in the middle so lost most of it and today I failed to get a successful link for all but the last ten minutes, but in a way that made the little I heard even more valuable.

I am in awe of the choir members who have been able to make their vocal cords available for the less able of us, and admire both the skill and generous nature of their offerings.

It feels a bit claustrophobic sitting agt my computer with windows closed while the sun blazes down outside but at least there is this slender link between us.

Thanks a million, and stay safe one and all.