Friday 26th March 2021

I am fine.

Really.

I have to say that all of my former colleagues from the old company that joined with me are also having trouble adjusting, and tempers are freyed, and stress levels are through the roof.

I have no idea how all this will pan out, but our mental health trumps everything, especially work, and work is not going to send me to an early grave.

I did sleep better, though awake shortly after five as it was getting light and the cats were having a sparring match, as opposed to an actual fight, just them wanting breakfast so they could get down to the main business of the day: sleeping and snoozing.

We have coffee, and because of the half ton of gravel still on the drive, Jools was going to shovel and move some of that rather than go to Jen's to do yoga.

I have coffee then have an early meeting to attend, followed by an informal department meeting on COVID. In Europe, there is a rise in infections, whether this is a 3rd wave remains to be seen, but there is fear, and a fear of the AZ vaccine too. In India, there is an election on April 6th, and no polititician wants to impose lockdowns lest they become unpopular. And the next week is the festival of colour, which again no politian wants to cancel, so with cases rising, life goes on as normal in one sense, but there is fear too.

And worse of all, was that one of my long-standing colleagues, Tina, started her gardening leave on Friday. She has eleven years experience in our systems and how the MS works, but all that is redundant, so is being discarded like an old tissue. Saying goodbye is so hard, though like Anette, she is positive for the future.

That I have had the vaccine, and the only one in the department to have had one, and our manager's wife has COVID now and he suspected, COVID is as close to me as it has been in the past year.

With my sudden decision to have a holiday, there was some last minute work to do before the end of the day, and another meeting to attend to as well, then I could pack up as I had to go to the hospital in Dover for a look at my shoulder to get a referral to have a scan, as the physio had wanted.

We go to Buckland hospital, wait for 90 minutes, in masks, then I am called in, they look at my shoulder. I am asked to move it, desribe the pain, and said referral is made.

I have to wait.

It was two in the afternoon. We drive to Preston, out on the Sandwich road, then back out through Hash to Preston where our order was waiting, dinner was to be something special. And then steak for Sunday, and Easter Sunday there would be beef.

Back home and pack the stuff away, Jen arrives and so we play cards; two games of meld. All very nice and relaxing.

Dinner was to be Bejewelled stuffed crown of lamb with Domino Dauphinoise and sweet chilli stir fry; the butcher had prepared the crown, so I prepare the fruit and spices, cook in a pan to combine, then fill the centre of the crown, covering it with foil. I sliced the potaoes, arrange like dominoes in a tin, pur on cream and grate nutmeg on top. Put both n the oven and tidy up.

I take part in the music quiz, don't do well, but as soon as I found the answer, I dialled off, went in to cook stir fry and dish up.

And what a feast it was.

And all washed down with pink fizz.

Cheers.

We tidy up and Jen goes home. Jools and I are fir for nothing except the sofa, so we watch a week-old Gardner's World on the i-player, and the return of Monty the Don.