Sunday - and a fairly long explanation, sorry!

 Morning, everyone.  Well, the snow didn't last for long.  It turned to sleet, then to rain and in the afternoon the sun came out and it was lovely.  That's the way to do it!!
And we have sunshine this morning too.

I'll start with the explanation.  There was a comment to yesterday's post that really needs a proper answer, not just in comment reply, in case others have misunderstood too so apologies if you already know all this, but it's for everyone.

The comment was this (edited only for spacing issues):

Hi Joy

I live in Kent & have 2 children & 4 grandchildren under 10
They live in Aberdeen & North London.
I have not been able to see any of them other than very short periods for the last 12 months soI find it distressing that you can have a ‘bubble’ of 3 people none of whom appear to live together.
Doubt whether you will publish this

I feel quite upset about your ‘bubble’ of 3 people who don’t appear to live together.

I am in my seventies & have 2 children &=

Hi, U,
First of all, I can understand how distressing and difficult it is not to see loved ones face to face at the moment.  I'm so lucky that my daughter and grandson live in the same city so can be my support bubble.  Not everyone is so fortunate and I never cease to be grateful for what I have, believe me, nor to take it for granted.

Beth isolates as much as possible, shops by click and collect mostly and works from home.  Ditto for me except that I do my shopping early morning in order to avoid crowds.  Apart from that, pretty much the only time we go out is to each other's homes.  It's as safe as it can be.

My son, Dave, and his partner, Anna, also live close by (yes, I am really very, very lucky, I know) but I don't see them apart from online.  Dave came round a couple of times to put things in my freezer but we didn't spend time together face to face.  I miss them but there you are.

Ditto for Dad.  He is very vulnerable and, when it was allowed, I used to spend every other fortnight with him, making sure things were OK.  He is also isolating and has a bubble with his next door neighbour.  I miss him too, very much.

I've explained all of the above, not for any sort of sympathy, but for clarity.

So - Beth (and Alex, her son, who lives at home during the vacation) are my support bubble.  The rules for support bubbles can be found here , we stick to them and I will just say that Beth and I maintain some distance anyway, just to be on the safe side.  No hugs at the moment, sadly.  As an aside, I wonder how long it will be before we feel safe hugging again.

The sender of the comment may have been referring to my weekly 'chats' to Dad, Val, Chris and Jackie.  All of these chats are online chats with people I used to see very regularly.  Dad is - well, my Dad, Val used to live down the road from me, Chris is just over the cul de sac so we can wave to each other out of our windows and Jackie is an old friend and school colleague in the past.  I have seen none of them face to face for any kind of get together since last summer when we were allowed to under certain restrictions.  I am so thankful for Messenger/Zoom/technology in general to enable some sort of interaction.  It's not as good as proper, real, interaction, but it's a very good substitute.

Lindsey is my personal trainer and she delivers sessions via Messenger.  They are not face to face.  

So, just to recap - I am very firmly  sticking to the rules, including the support bubble rules.  I am not meeting face to face with anyone else, not even in the park, for exercise, maintaining distance.  When I go out for a walk infrequently, I go on my own.
Does that clarify and explain?  I do hope so.
Thanks for the comment; I didn't realise that there might be misunderstanding and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to put things right.

Right - back to normal now!

As I said, the snow was minimal, as you can see.  It looked pretty for a short time and thank goodness it didn't freeze as it would have been very nasty underfoot.

I spend most of the morning in the kitchen, making some bean, tomato and veg casserole type stuff which is now frozen in single portions for Beth to take.  I did syphon off three smaller portions for myself - it tasted rather good!

In the afternoon I was very lazy, sitting, reading, knitting, watching Netflix (I'm working through the Star Trek: Voyager programmes) and generally having a good time.

Today, the morning is lazy apart from meal prep and then Beth's round for lunch.  She can take the finished ironing and the frozen meals and I'm hoping she will bring another load of washing with her.  It's something I can do while she's so busy with her new job and, goodness knows, I have enough time during the week.
I'm looking forward to hearing how the work is going too.

Once she's gone, the kitchen will need tidying and then I'm settling down with telly.  I think it will be a really nice day!
Take care, all of you, stay safe and well.  What are your plans for today?  xx