Friday 10th July 2020 Day 108

7.30  Made myself lie in for a bit longer this morning after a slightly better night’s sleep.  The weather is looking hopeful for our beach barbecue later.

Bed change day.  Ray used to say if he were rich he would have new socks and shirts every day.  I would have clean bedlinen every day, ironed within an inch of its life!  Of course I could have that if I chose to but laziness and lack of time prevail, so the reality is changed bed once a week, not so well ironed.

There were a couple of posts that caught my eye on Face Book yesterday, both of them very significant in completely different ways I thought.  The first followed the life of a person born in 1900 who had to go through two major wars, a pandemic which killed 50,000 people just after the First World War, a global economic crisis, Vietnam and Korea.  People died from famine, lost their homes and their families, while we, during this crisis, are at least able to live in relative comfort.  The other post was from a friend of mine in mid America who was so bogged down by all the negative news that he suggested some ‘positive’ posts and immediately came back bunches of comments, little things like a nice meal and big things too but all positive.  Just goes to show that we all have enough optimism and positivity left to get through this.

10.30  I’m preparing for this barbecue like it was a major event.  Barbecue, charcoal, matches, firelighters, tongs, towel (why? I have no intention of swimming) beach blanket, chair, crockery, cutlery, bottle of wine, wine glass, skewers, for the marshmallows, jumper for if it gets cold! I don’t even have to provide the food and anyway we’re only going to have a sausage in a bun!  For the beach barbecues we used to have, as mentioned in an earlier diary entry, it was a box of matches and whatever we could find to throw on!

11.30  I need to go down the garden to clear up all the bits of hedge and tree I cut down yesterday but as I start out of the back door I see there is something going on in the apple tree.  The branches are bouncing up and down and on closer inspection I see it is two large crows balancing on small branches and pecking at the apples. They soon fly off when I open the door, such big birds in flight.  I had no idea crows would do that, I thought they were carrion?

Thanks to Ellis, saviour of my rose garden, lost to weeds and undergrowth in the spring, today his work is rewarded with one perfect single rose with the promise of lots more to come.

15.30  Today on our walk we meet a couple, Audrey barks joyously at them and the chap looks extremely wary and I call her back.  It transpires that the man was very badly bitten by a dog yesterday, ending up in hospital.  I hope it didn’t happen in our woods.  On the way back a pretty lizard skittles across the path in front of us in the sunshine.

16.30  I’m off now to meet my friends for our beach barbecue, the tide will be in and the sun shining and it is times like these that, for me, help a lot in times like these.