Inching back to normal?

Day 55

Sophie and I went to collect Mum at 11am this morning to go and see if we could have a chat with Dad through the window at his care home. It was a gorgeous morning with a beautiful blue sky, flecked with fluffy white clouds.

When we arrived, we rang the bell and eventually one of the staff members answered it. I didn't hold out a lot of hope but amazingly, he was brought down and we could see him through the entrance door. He seemed OK, but still looked a bit frail and thin. We ended up chatting with him over the phone and my Mum became a bit upset, which was only natural. It had been so long since she'd seen him.

We stayed for a while and then took Mum home before popping to Beckworth very briefly to get some bread, milk and food for lunch. It was lovely to see Beckworth open again but it was very different to what we were used to. The restaurant was now part of the food shop and garden centre and only two people were allowed in together, and we had to make sure that we all kept a safe distance from one another.

Back home we enjoyed a delicious lunch of pate and bread in the conservatory and as soon as we were finished we went to collect Mike from town. We'd heard that the drive-thru at Starbucks had re-opened so we decided to head down for a treat. As we turned into the retail park, we were stopped by a burly man in black who asked if we had pre-ordered a coffee. We hadn't, so we were then told the wait would be about 45 minutes and the queue of cars stretched over to a distant McDonalds!

None of us really wanted to wait for so long just to get a coffee so we drove around the car park (Homesense were closed...sob!) and went home!

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing (I had a nap while watching a programme about crocodiles in the Caribbean) and we had a barbecue in the evening. I had imagined sitting out in the garden with a G&T but the weather turned distinctly chilly with a layer of cloud. However, the food was delicious and I'm hoping it will the next time we decide to cook this way it will be a little warmer!