The Coronavirus Diaries, 4th June 2021

I’m on the sofa, MasterB is asleep in drawer under the bed, outside it’s raining steadily. I had my stitches out this morning and have been told to be careful, rest today, walk tomorrow and then in a week I should be all systems go. I haven’t had the results from the further excision but the hospital staff seem pretty confident they will be negative. All good. My next health issue will be making an appointment about the numbness in my left hand. It’s the old carpal tunnel problem, but it is so much worse since I broke my wrist. I am reluctant to have it fixed just yet because it means weeks of being one handed again, and for the moment I’d rather like use of all four limbs. I need to get to das Boot before the season is over to get on with the cleaning, and then see about putting it up for sale. Ideally I’ll be in the position to do that by July.

I managed to speak to Cousin and she is happy for me to come to stay. Now it’s a question, a big one, of seeing about cat care for MasterB and then the availability of flights. I read that there’s a company working on airships for shorter greener flights, such as the one between London and Belfast. I don’t think they’re going to be available for a couple of years, but it’s an encouraging development.

Yesterday I met my cousin Russell in Richmond. Ali Clarke, a friend of his, has an exhibition the One Paved Court gallery. You can see some of the exhibits by clicking here. I had looked online and was expecting large pieces but in reality they are are domestic in scale. I liked the arrangements of bits and pieces from her studio the best. Russell and I were going to the Private View, and we met several hours earlier, enjoyed a stroll through Richmond to the river, then went to the same pub Celia and I had enjoyed a couple of years ago. Sitting under a shady umbrella in the pub’s walled garden, pints of cool cider in front of us, the time passed quickly. B&J had also spent the afternoon in Richmond, but in another part of the wood, and they joined us at the gallery. Then it was another pub, more cider which we drank sitting on a bench overlooking Richmond Green. Very pleasant.

On Wednesday, I went with B&J in their hire car to Wivenhoe. They have both taken a week off work and have been enjoying days out without the risk of crowded public transport. They have been hither and thither, making up for a year spent in the house. It’s the first time I have been to Wivenhoe by road, and it was a reminder how much easier train travel is when it’s working. The weather was beautiful, and we had lunch in another pub, then went to see some old friends of B’s who live in a nearby village. They and their two dogs made us welcome, and we sat in their lovely garden enjoying the late afternoon warmth.

On Tuesday I had expected to have my stitches removed but when the nurse learned I was working in the afternoon and that work involved walking, a new appointment was made for me today. He took off the old dressing, cleaned the wound and said it was healing well. So far so good.

Monday was Bank Holiday and the parks were full of happy people reading, having picnics, playing sport: enjoying being sociable in the sunshine.

Tomorrow Celia heads away for a week. I must ring her. She has looked after MasterB the last two days when I have been out and about. Next week it’s my turn to be a good neighbour and water her plants. I’m seeing Octavia on Sunday evening, and in the morning she’s off to Croatia. I’m beginning to feel I am the only one without travel plans.

Stay safe. Keep well.

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