Thursday

 Good morning, everyone.  Thanks very much for the kind messages and understanding.  It was weird - on Tuesday I woke and it felt as if I'd just hit a brick wall at speed - I felt mentally very low and completely empty bit with incoherent thoughts racing around in my head, plus I was aching all over, like some virusy thing (but not the dreaded Covid 19, don't worry - no cough, no temperature and taste and smell are normal).
I have no idea what was going on there; maybe it was just that everything was getting on top of me.  I shall take things easy at home again today apart from one thing - no, two things - and should be fine by the weekend.

Beth's birthday evening went really well.  We had a good old chat, enjoyed my cooking, ate far too much and watched two movies on Netflix, Matilda and The King's Speech, neither of which Beth has seen.  Alex joined us via Messenger when Beth opened her pressies and that was nice.  Not the same as him actually being here but definitely a good option. 
We've decided to have some movie evenings from time to time as there's such a wide choice and it was so enjoyable.
I'd decorated the table and the party shop was open so I got a balloon thingy which Beth took home with her on Tuesday.

I did manage to get some things done in the last two days.  It would have been very easy to just curl up and be miserable but I remembered what Eileen said (thanks, Eileen) and felt that doing simple, de-complicating stuff would probably help - and it did!

I made the Christmas cake!  Oh, it did smell lovely as it was cooking and it came out looking beautiful.  It's now well wrapped and in a tin and I will start feeding it at the weekend.  Now I have to decide how to ice it.  I'm no artist so it will have to be shapes cut out of mouldable icing (on top of the marzipan/icing covering, I mean) and I have no idea what.  I did stars last year so maybe I could do leaves this year.  I have holly and ivy leaf press things although they're going to need a jolly good wash first as they are currently in my pottery box!
I'll do a bit of Googling to see what I can find and there's plenty of time.

Yesterday in particular, I did a lot more tidying and moving stuff around.  As I sorted out 'things' it seemed to help my mind to sort out and between times I rested and that helped too.  I've been able to declutter several kitchen cupboards - for example, bakeware, seldom used but still wanted, is now in a lidded box out in the shed and the shelving in the garage is filling up nicely.  With the corner unit and three more ordinary units still to come, I think I will have all the storage space I need in the garage.  I'll never be able to put the car away but that's been so for decades now.

There's still a fair bit to sift through and sort out, but I'm getting there.  Piles of stuff have been dealt with, things that have been sitting out are now away and it's just a whole lot nicer.  I think today I shall tackle my pottery bags.  I'm not going to need to use the tools, etc, for some time to come so a good clean up and sort out will give some sort of 'closure' to it all for now.  I can do that while sitting down in the warm.

Chris and I have an online chat schedules.  Yes, we're back to online again for now, it being much too chilly to sit out now and inside being banned.  We haven't met since I went on holiday so there will be plenty to chat about and I am looking forward to it.

This afternoon it is the dreaded dentist!  Nothing to do with the implants; this is a normal check-up, the one that was cancelled at the end of April and I have three teeth that require attention that I know of, let alone anything else simmering below the surface.  I tell myself that I am lucky that check-ups are resuming and that I survived all the implant stuff so I can survive this but even so . . . oh, well, she's unlikely to actually do anything today and, even if she does, by three o'clock it will all be over.

Have a good day, everyone.  This latest turn of events with tiers and strong rumours of another lockdown, maybe over Christmas, is hitting everyone hard, I think.  I hop you are OK and coping.  Be safe and stay well.  xx