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Ramona Lily
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The best
news of February was the safe arrival of Ramona Lily in California. She is our
fourth granddaughter and our second American grandchild. We were sad that we
could not visit to help Simon and Erin and almost two year old Nina.
Fortunately, both parents took maternity/paternity leave from work so they were
able to cope.
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Playing in the snowdrifts
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February in
the UK began in much the same way as January ended as lockdown restrictions
continued. Winter struck with a vengeance with the temperature dipping to an
incredible minus 23C in the north of Scotland. Even here in warmer Suffolk, we
had several days when the wind chill factor was minus 8C.
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Happy faces
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Ellie and
Sophie loved the snow and wasted no time in building an igloo and snow bridges
in their garden. They brought their sledge to our house and delighted in being
dragged along by Jeremy. The lanes nearby were so full of snow and ice that we
could sledge on the road as there was little or no traffic.
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Pushing granny is hard work
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Just as the
snow fell our local hospital invited me for a dermatology appointment. I was
unsure about going and had to consider the weather and the large numbers of
Covid patients in my “risk assessment”! I had been referred last October and
who knows when my next appointment would be if I didn’t go? So, I went, taking extra
warm clothes, a hot drink and a snack in case I became stuck in a snowdrift.
All went well. The roads were practically empty, the hospital carpark deserted
and only a handful of people were in the dermatology department.
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Waiting for a Covid jab
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The skin
lesion that had developed in Australia had dropped off before Christmas,
leaving a barely visible scar. It was decided that I should monitor the site
for six months and report back to the hospital if the lesion came back.
Jeremy’s
brothers and sisters-in-law had their first vaccinations against Covid. Within
a week or two, we received text messages and emails from the local GP group and
booked our places. We had our first Covid jabs on 12th February.
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St Valentine's Day meal at home
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Towards the
end of February, Boris announced the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown. All
schools and colleges would reopen on 8th March. There were cheers
from parents, grandparents and children alike.
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| Storytime |
Yesterday,
we had our last day of homeschooling. It has been a challenging 8 weeks with
many ups and downs as we all adjusted to our new relationships with each other.
We are looking forward to being just grandparents again.
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After the snow....floods
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Meanwhile,
home maintenance continues. Jeremy has recycled our neighbour’s old fence and
it now replaces our rather tatty and disintegrating back fence. The garden is
looking tidier although there is still quite a bit to do. Perhaps we’ll
decorate our spare bedroom.
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Swing ball in the park
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I’m hoping
the Isle of Man Government will let me visit my Mum and sisters after 30th
April, when I’ve had my second Covid injection. As for travelling abroad, if
all goes well with the cautious lifting of lockdown, this will be allowed no
earlier than 17th May. We’re not making any plans….yet.
