Povero Mary

In the early hours of Friday morning Mary was admitted to Manchester Children's Hospital, Burns Unit.  Both her and Kath had enjoyed a lovely beach BBQ tea with some friends the night before but unfortunately Mary had stood on the stone where the portable BBQ had been placed.  To make matters worse when she then stepped back her foot was placed in the sand and the heat was sealed in.  A lady from a nearby caravan came out with a bucket of cold water whilst they were waiting for the ambulance.  The nearby hospital recognised that this was beyond their expertise hence the move the Manchester.  Mary has been very brave (and Kath too!), fitting the specialist dressing and cream was pretty harrowing but thanks to a sedative and morphine Mary cannot remember what happened. Her pain levels are under control and thankfully she is in good spirits. 

Summer Solstice

We had breakfast in the garden, travelled to see Mum H and Pip spent the day learning how to sew a face mask, we finally arrived home at midnight!  It was a long day :-)

Yummy overnight oats with raspberries, almonds and yogurt.

"Say Cheese!"

Romano Cherry Tomatoes.

In Mum's sewing room.

Practising using the rotary cutter on an old sheet.

Cutting out the mask shape, I think Wilbur was tired after all the travelling so he fell asleep on the sewing table!

Practising sewing straight lines.

Enjoying a welcome sit down, I'd been up since five with an awful headache, thankfully it had eased by the time we set off at ten.

Sewing the fabric pieces.

Mum treated us all to a lovely gluten free fish and chip supper (that was delivered to the door) and here is another bonkers family selfie to prove we woz there!

The finished mask.  Pip had some help with sewing the curved sections and top stitching around the pipe cleaner shaping on the nose bridge.  She enjoyed her sewing session and there'll be plenty of opportunity to practice for Dave and Ben could do with a mask of their own.

The Wonders Of Gardens

Last weekend the sun shone and we were able to welcome some friends for a socially distanced visit in the garden.  Our first lot of visitors were Beth and her mum for an early Fairy Day.  Pip would normally celebrate the solstice day with Beth and the two of them have gathered together every year on this day since they were five.  However Beth returned to school this week and since we are still shielding the safest option was for them to meet a week earlier instead.  The girls really enjoyed being in each other's company; they played catch, drew with the chalks and chatted about anything and everything.  I've really missed my regular half termly chats with Claire, we usually catch up in the school holidays throughout the year and  due to the lock down have missed two of our regular meetings, it was good to catch up:

Side by side photos taken at the very end of the visit.

Sunday was Ben's birthday get together with his best friend Lewis and what a laugh we had when we realised that he was a good head and shoulders taller than Ben!  For a good while the lads were almost a similar height but not now 😀  Debbie and I had a lovely in real life knit and natter which makes a change from our Monday night WhatsApp video chat:

On Wednesday we actually managed a trip to a very special garden at Sizergh Castle.  When the country first went into the lock down The National Trust had decided to keep its parks and gardens open but it became apparent very quickly that this was untenable.  During that first weekend large crowds of visitors flocked to popular sites and social distancing was impossible.  As a result of the easing of the lock down the parks and gardens are once more available but you have to pre-book your ticket.  Our plan was to meet Mum H in a nearby parking spot and then travel in the one car to our destination.  It was so lovely to actually be somewhere different and even the rain and an overhead thunderstorm did not dampen our spirits:

The luscious kitchen garden which would have been put to use in the cafe had it been open, still I'm sure the vegetables will be put to good use elsewhere. 

The day was enjoyed by all and it was a much needed mid week boost.  It's interesting to notice how so many folk have almost reverted back to 'normal' since the easing of the lock down.  We are still shielding at this end and rely on an online food delivery each week and even though many non essential shops opened their doors on Monday, we will not be visiting our local high street for the foreseeable future.  We have however tentatively booked a holiday cottage in September and provided nothing goes awry will be taking ourselves and Mum H to Somerset for a week.  Mum will stay with Uncle Andrew and Aunty Catherine and we are in a lovely accessible cottage 8 miles down the road.  We figured that if we went in September most of the kids will be back in school provided their is no second wave of Covid-19 and so parks and beaches are likely to be quieter.  We won't be venturing far, it will be just good to spend time with family.  This lock down has really reinforced the belief that it really is the simple things in life that count.

A Seventeenth Birthday Bubble

Where has the time gone?  Ben turned seventeen on Thursday and I have to say his was the best lock down birthday to date :-)

The day started well for me and I was very productive first thing cleaning the kitchen, sorting the laundry, unloading the food delivery and decorating the birthday cake.  It's amazing what you can achieve when you are not continually interrupted by kids! 

Prior to the latest Covid-19 rules we had already decided to visit Mum H in Cumbria and to have a picnic in her yarden whilst she would sit in the kitchen.  On Wednesday night the PM announced the new plan that two households could get together provided one of them was either a person living on their own or a single parent family.  The new household would then be called a 'family bubble.'  This ruling comes into effect today so we jumped the gun by 48 hours but using common sense figured that was OK since both families have been totally out of circulation for the past twelve weeks.  It was so lovely to spend the day with mum and give her a big hug!  Ben, Pip and I also popped to see my family but we stayed well away from them, we stood on the door step and they sat on their stairs, still it was good to see them in person as opposed to through a screen.

Although Ben enjoyed his day, it has hit him hard that this college year will be finishing next week and a lot of his friends will not be returning in September.  In addition the tutor that has been a constant for him these past three years will also not be teaching him.  As a result anxiety levels are running pretty high and that is before you factor in the unpredictability surrounding Covid-19.  However he does have a meeting with his long standing friend Lewis planned for Sunday; they will go for a socially distanced walk followed by a LAN computer party, whereby they will sit at either end of the big table in the garden and play Minecraft and eat snacks, just like the good old days!  I will also get to sit in the garden and drink tea and knit with my lovely friend Debs :-)

Here are some pictures from the day:

 Opening presents, Bahco Laplander tree saw from Uncle Andrew and Aunty Catherine.

 A Star Wars Mandalorian hoodie from Pip.

 Reading WhatsApp birthday messages.

 Cards on the mantelpiece.

 As requested a birthday breakfast lunch.

 Blowing out the candles at Nanna's house.

We forgot the tripod so a silly try and get everyone in the shot selfie using the flip screen on my camera!  

An Up and Down Week

The week started on a relatively high note as I celebrated my 53rd birthday on Monday.  It was another lovely sunny day and due to slight changes in the lockdown rules we were able to welcome three friends in the garden, all at 2m distance!  The day began well with a ...

... cooked breakfast courtesy of Ben, here I am opening cards and gifts.

  Dave had hid my gift in the hallway cupboard!  Weeks ago I offered a suggestion that if he was stuck for ideas please would he buy me book four from the 'Hawk and Dove' series written by friend and author Pen Wilcock.  He went one step further and bought the remaining six books directly from Pen, so each book had a message on the front page.  The only book Pen did not have in her possession was the one entitled 'Remember Me' so she very kindly bought it from her own amazon page! Pen has also been offering a daily reading of her last book in the series, 'A Day and A Life,' over on her blog Kindred of The Quiet Way and it is well worth a listen :-)

I managed to find a low carb San friendly no sugar coconut and lime cake and it was delicious, shame I didn't take a photo :-)  Our friends arrived at 3pm and left just after 4, we had cake and tea in the garden:

 It was so lovely to see them but very strange not being able to give a hug or sit around a table, what odd times we are living in.

Having made my own cake, Ben stepped in and made my favourite dish Lamb casserole with broccoli on the side.  Whilst the tea was cooking I plonked myself in the camping chair and stole a few moments of peace:

I sent this image to Pen via facebook messenger and we had a little chat via the interwebs!

My last treat of the day was my usual WhatsApp 'knit and natter' with my longstanding friend and knitting buddy Debs.  She sat in her bedroom and I sat in mine and we chatted and worked with wool attempting to put the world to rights for a good few hours.  Despite the screens it was just like the old days pre Covid.

I've had to be careful about spending time on social media as I'm aware that my mental well being starts to crash but I cannot ignore what has been happening over in America and to a lesser but equally distressing degree here in the UK.  It is quite awful to wake up to the fact that racism is endemic across all areas of society.  I have been reading and learning what I can and then praying for an end to the suffering and injustice of those in the BIPOC communities.  I understand why folk are protesting and marching but COVID-19 is still ever present.  Worryingly many of the front line workers are from those communities and their death toll is dis-proportionally large, so goodness know how they will  manage with an ever likely second wave :-(

In a bid to kick start the economy the Government continues to ease the rules regarding containment of the disease and all of a sudden decided that folk like us who had been shielding no longer needed to hide away.  Their daily tea time briefings seem to fly in the face of the scientific advice and even common sense, so we will be ignoring their advice and continue to largely stay at home.  Having said this I did have recourse to buy some essentials from our local Co-op on Tuesday so decided to whip up a face mask before venturing forth:

 If you have ever watched Home Alone, there was the wet bandits and the sticky bandits and now you have a flowery bandit!  In an attempt to provide extra security from any airborne particles I used heavy duty interfacing on the outer fabric.  The mask is definitely not PPE standard but as the Tesco slogan says, 'Every Little Helps!'  I did feel a bit of a wally going into the shop but I was spared any funny looks and upon reaching the tills noticed a sign supporting the use of face coverings in the shop.  I chatted with the lady behind the protective screen and told her I was Ben's mum so she knew who she was taking too :-)

The mask also came in very handy when I had to make a drop and go parcel stop at the Post Office.  I finally completed two further commissioned bunting sets for the lady in The Isle of Wight:

I am currently working on the first of the last two commissions.  As much as I love knitting, crochet is very therapeutic and I am grateful for the rhythm of working with a hook and yarn.

Dave has enjoyed spending time in the garden.  He finished painting the wall and the area looks light and fresh.  He spends most days planting and potting on and we have quite a good selection of vegetables growing in the back garden.

Sweetcorn and rhubarb in pots with French Lavender dotted around the bottom.

Our family WhatApp group still continues to be a positive life line and in many ways the family has been more connected since the lockdown!  Ben, Tom and Sara love sharing whacky memes, funny videos and GIFS.  I know that my parents and Dave's mum love to see what they have shared.  Our resident singer and dancer AKA Mary Grace usually provides some form of weekly entertainment.  Sometimes the menu of the day is shared and this was my offering today:

 Breakfast:  porridge with a dash of cream, raspberries and pecans.

Lunch: Courgette and butternut squash pancakes, sausages and tomatoes served with avocado and mixed salad.

Just before the weather changed Mum H shared photo evidence of her epic bike trip to the park:

Mum has become quite tech savvy and we all enjoy our daily lunch dates.

Well I guess that's me caught up!  How are you all doing?  I hope you are still managing to find some moments of joy in your day.  Since I have bagged this time on the computer I will venture forth and check up on you all :-)  I usually pop by daily but still haven't figured how to sync my phone to my Google account so I have to wait till I have access to the computer to leave a comment!  Sending love from me to you xx