It has been a funny week, not helped by my tumble while running (see previous post). We are gearing up for Hannah starting her new job on the south coast. Plus we had my mother come to stay!
Amazingly Hannah has bagged a really nice sounding job on the south coast, I guess you could say this is an answer to prayer. The job is a seasonal water sports opportunity which she was kind-of head hunted for. So last Saturday we went for a reccie and could see her daily commute will involve a bike ride and then a powerboat out of Portsmouth to her place of work. How cool is that?
We will be taking her and her bike, car, wetsuits and all kinds of outdoorsy gear down there on Thursday and then life will seem very different for the two of us. Although I will miss Hannah, it is the most natural thing for her to spread her wings in this way and besides, Rachel and I will be able to spend more time with each other. And this is something I yearn for.
My mother!
Mum came to stay with us for a few days this last week, having declared us as her Lockdown Bubble Buddies. At 85 she did well in driving the 140 miles and I certainly hope I have her energy levels when I’m her age!
Her visit included the regular pep talk about making sure the edge of the lawn is correctly trimmed, oh and how I should be so ashamed at my shoes not being polished since….. well whenever it was I bought them. We actually had a lovely time.
It might seem strange but the tender part of her stay included settling down to watch Downton Abbey, the Beeb’s period drama. I can’t say I am a fan of this drama, or even the repeats currently being broadcast for the umpteenth time but there is some significance here. Mum and Dad always used to enjoy it together and they had watched a particular episode minutes before my father suddenly and unexpectedly died (a few years ago). Mum appreciated me being right next to her on the sofa as we watched the daily instalments; it really did mean a lot to her. A tender time indeed.
And another thing! My mother always insists her cosseted car is immaculately clean; it just wouldn’t do to be seen driving a grubby car. So a little cleaning was done, tyre pressures checked, levels under the bonnet all done. She winced knowing the car was left outside in all the winds and weathers during her stay but somehow it survived.
A new Fitbit!
I have always resisted having one of these, or any kind of smartwatch. Until quite recently when they cropped up in conversation and Bingo, it was Father’s Day and I got this as a pressie.
Actually I’m quite smitten with it already, even though I haven’t explored all of the features. It should be useful in ensuring I achieve a daily footstep count of 10,000. If anything by the last two days are to go by, that shouldn’t be a problem. So far today I have clocked up over 16,000 steps and apparently have been up 45 flights of stairs. Wow!
I could go on and on but I think you’ll already be glazing over as I ramble on about the nerdy statistics I can wallow in. No doubt I’ll be reporting the delights of the little gizmo before too long.
Things returning to normal?
Well, we are officially still in Lockdown and we confess to seeing the positive aspects of it! However it is our friends and family we miss the most and we are starting to step towards some normality.
We have had coffee, tea etc in our garden with various friends with, it seems, a few more to come over the coming weeks. To be honest, I don’t think we are ready to return to normal – there is something not quite right about that. Not just the risk in catching the virus but the loss of a certain simplicity we have enjoyed. Life has been much simpler and there is an attraction to that. And yet I don’t want to get left behind either!