Unfortunately, Keith and I were woken at 3am this morning by one of the carers to say that my Mum was going to A&E because of the pain in her hip. She wanted to speak to me before she went so I had a quick word and tried to reassure her that she hadn't broken anything.
Both of us had trouble getting back to sleep after that, and Keith gave up at 4.30am and went downstairs to make Mike's sandwiches. I managed to drop off again and Sophie woke us both at 8.30am (Keith had come back to bed after taking Mike to work) blissfully unaware of our disturbed night.
She went off for a run around the estate and while she was gone the phone rang and it was Kettering hospital to say that my Mum had fractured her hip, which was unbelievable seeing as she had just slumped to the floor yesterday... how much more can go wrong? I managed to speak to her for a few minutes and the ward manager told me she needed to have an operation today but she was refusing to go to theatre... I told her she had to have it done otherwise she would end up in a wheelchair, so she reluctantly agreed. I was in shock about what had happened, especially as yesterday she said she hadn't been in any real pain.
The plan today was for Sophie and I to go to Oxford - my daughter should have been flying to Italy this morning for a week's holiday but of course, it had been cancelled due to coronavirus. She had kept her week's holiday from work so we thought it would be nice to try and have a bit of a break today. There was nothing I could do for my Mum today as visiting is still not allowed at the hospital and she was supposed to be having an operation anyway.
Sophie and I set off for Oxford, peering anxiously at the sky above. It was very cloudy and the temperature was a cool 16c. We used the Pear Tree park and ride and remembered to wear our masks on the bus. I wore the one Sheila had made and it was very comfortable to wear.
Once in the city we had coffee and a small slice of cake at the Black Sheep cafe opposite the bus stop. The streets were very quiet and there were markers on the pavement to make sure we kept to the one way system. Afterwards we popped into Waterstones and had a good look at the books before heading over to the covered market.
A lot of the individual shops were still closed, some of them only opening at the weekend, and the place was very quiet indeed.
We emerged back into the daylight and wandered around, managing to find some beautiful buildings - the Radcliffe Camera and St Mary's Church, the official place of worship for the university.
Everything was closed of course but it was still lovely to gaze at the beautiful buildings and imagine the students everywhere in normal times.
We wandered back to the main shopping streets as by now both of us fancied some lunch. One little noodle restaurant was accepting cash only so we had to give up on the idea of eating there and we walked back down to where we got off the bus. There was another Asian restaurant along this street that was quiet, but we were told there was a ten to fifteen minute wait so we carried on to the Westgate Centre instead.
Up on the top floor there were numerous restaurants but some of them were still closed and after going into The Alchemist and beating a hasty retreat (it was very loud in there), we decided to try our luck on the ground floor. We were now hungry and a bit weary!
Luckily we found a street food hub and we were able to choose from burgers, Asian food, burritos and mac 'n' cheese. We really fancied rice or noodles, so after placing our order at the counter we went to a nearby table to wait for our food.
The meals came in little Chinese takeaway boxes:
The food was filling and very tasty! We also ordered some veggie gyoza to go with the meals and they were hot and crispy!
Suitably refreshed we made our way to a nearby Park and Ride bus stop just as one pulled in. Masks back on, we sat and enjoyed the ride back to Pear Tree before driving home. By now, the weather had improved dramatically and the sun had come out so it was a very pleasant journey home.
When we got home I called the hospital and eventually managed to have a video chat with Mum. She seemed a little confused as she kept thinking she had been on the ward longer than just one day. Her operation had been cancelled and she's due to go down tomorrow.
Supper this evening was just soup, crusty bread and a lovely cheesecake for dinner. I was looking forward to a much better night's sleep!
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