It was time for our haircut this week and like the last time, our hairdresser wasn’t wearing her mask instead I wore mine. Thankfully, she was okay with me wearing a mask.
The mantra now is that we must learn to live with Covid but here in the UK, it appears that we are living like Covid no longer exists! Sadly, Covid is still very much with us and the high infection rates in our area is proof of that. Many of our parishioners are down with Covid either for the second or third time!
Another favourite party line is that we will all get Covid at some point. I for one have got no desire to catch it and will continue to take all the necessary precautions.
There was an article in the Daily Telegraph last week about new Covid etiquettes.
There were 5 questions. Each giving a Covid related scenario and a choice of three answers to choose from to assess how responsible one is in the current climate with the scrapping of free lateral flow tests and cases on the rise again.
I decided to do the test and my answers were all Bs. Under “How did you score?”, it said the following about those who answered mostly Bs:
You may have your reasons, but its possible you need to lighten up just a touch🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Friday night’s dinner didn’t go as planned. Being away from the vicarage meant that I wasn’t up to date with the news. Meanwhile, the newspapers were piling up back at the vicarage😁! I had the radio on all week but the news was all about the war and nothing else. I knew that Covid-19 rules were being further eased but I had no idea that things had gone back to pre Covid19 times until the night before.
Sadly, that news put the kibosh to our plans for dinner. We both didn’t feel comfortable going to a place full of maskless people. The Mhinisteir has a few parishioners on their death beds who need visiting and it is not fair on them or anybody else for that matter so we just got a Japanese takeaway which turned out to be very enjoyable!
Over the last 10 days or so, I have not enjoyed our daily newspapers at all. It has been filled with nothing but British politics. The country has been engulfed in the revelation that the British prime minister did not follow his own rules and instead held parties in 10 Downing Street when the whole country was in lockdown at different times in 2020 and 2021. It has also been revealed that there was one such party on the eve of HRH Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral!
I for one do not understand what the fuss is all about? I am not a fan of the prime minister but he is our prime minister because the majority voted for him! It is the same people who are now grumbling. It is not Boris who has changed. He is still the same old Boris who has an aversion to the truth and fumbles along.
The public are also angry that the PM was having a party when Her Majesty the Queen was mourning the death of her husband and that because of his decision making she had to sit all by herself at the funeral. At this point, I would like to remind the public that at least she had the opportunity to be with her husband in his dying moments and that she was able to be present at his funeral, something which many many people were denied!!!!!
This of course has given a field day to the opposition. Sadly, I don’t like them very much either😁!
We have finally come to the end of another year. I never know what to expect when the new year begins. I know that some will say that 2021 has been the same as 2020. I beg to differ.
Yes, Coronavirus is still with us. However with vaccines, rightly or wrongly we have become bolder. Once again, we have begun to focus more on ourselves than others; offers to provide our elderly neighbours with help dwindled and is now non existent. Going on holidays has become a birth right!
Below are some of my own highs and lows of 2021:-
🔶 2 x lady babies who were born this year into the family.
🔶 2 x weddings in the family.
🔶 The Mhinisteir was made an honorary canon of the cathedral.
🔶 2 x funerals in the family including that of my grandmother’s who passed away due to Covid19.
🔶 My father landed in hospital and was not allowed any visitors due to Covid-19.
I am not sure what the weather is like in your part of the world but for us here in England, it has been very wet and miserable. It was raining on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and as I type this, it is raining again. All I can see out of the big windows in my study are great big puddles of water!
Despite the weather, the Church attendance on boxing day was good and after the service, I stayed behind to chat to a few people whom I don’t usually see. During that time, a couple of ladies approached me and after the usual polite greetings said that they hate people who dress well all the time but that they don’t hate me for which I should be thankful. I was quite shocked but thankful that my face mask hid my shock. I laughed and wished them a Happy New Year and went my way.
I have never had anybody say that to me ever before. 😬 Thankfully this incident is not going to change the way I dress.
The last week in November saw us both going away on that much awaited holiday. We have both come back much rested but with the Mhinisteir missing a tooth! More on that later….
Among other things, the Mhinisteir wanted to visit the University library so we decided to have our holiday in that famous city where his alma mater is. We also got to stay in my favourite self catering cottage which was bliss.
For the first time ever, the Mhinisteir was left to enjoy his holidays; there was no emergency. Hallelujah!
Before we left, I landed with a family issue to deal with so I started the holiday with that hanging over my head. Thankfully it was dealt with midway so I was able to enjoy the rest of the holiday.
As we are still unable to visit our own dentist in Edinburgh, the Mhinisteir has been going to a private dentist in the city and so while he was there he had an appointment with the hygienist and so off he went. About an hour later, the Mhinisteir rang me on my mobile to say that one of his tooth was broken during his time with the hygienist and that he has an emergency appointment with the dental surgeon.
Two hours later, the Mhinisteir came back to the cottage with a tooth missing. The dental surgeon had no choice but to remove the offending half tooth. Thankfully it was one of his wisdom tooth.
We were booked to go for a special lunch two days later but I was prepared to cancel our booking because the Mhinisteir looked a sorry state.
Anyway, we did go for that special meal and we had an amazing time. It was so wonderful that we went back there again on the last day of our holiday. The restaurant is called Sticks N Sushi and specialises in Danish/Japanese infusion food. They have some branches across England. I hasten to add that this place is not for the price- conscious. I had the miso soup and nigiri on both occasions and they were both exquisite. The Mhinisteir doesn’t like anything raw so he had a good selection of “sticks” that he ate with rice. He also had the Mio sparkling sake as an aperitif and thoroughly recommends it and their selection of desserts. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to try any of their desserts thanks to my allergy but I was more than happy with my jasmine tea which again was very good.
The only downside was that the staff were not wearing masks and there was very little social distancing between the tables.
Another place that I would thoroughly recommend is a Thai restaurant called Thaikhun; again they have branches across England and a few in Scotland. We have visited them before but it is always for a takeaway. The Mhinisteir loves their food and I can have their pad thai which is non spicy. On this trip, I discovered that there is another dish called street noodles that is also non spicy. In fact, I like it more than their pad thai.
I took a day off blogging yesterday as I was feeling under the weather. I have been feeling that way since coming back from church on Sunday. I am still frustrated by the lack of social responsibility among the people in England especially folk in church however I do everything that I can do to protect myself and others. I am feeling very tired and have the slightest of cough.
Our clocks went back an hour on Sunday and so I am VERY grateful for the extra hour in bed. I have been bed/pillow hugging for the last two days which has been bliss.
For some unexplainable reason, I have started going to the earlier service on Sundays.
However, this Sunday past, I unexpectedly attended the later service; very soon after I entered church, I realised that the churchwarden who was at the door was full of the cold; I was horrified. The horror soon turned to anger! I hasten to add that I am not proud of myself! I was just so annoyed that some people can be so irresponsible!!!! Needless to say that this churchwarden was coughing and spluttering throughout the service.
As I wrote previously, most people in the UK have started operating like as if Covid19 has mysteriously disappeared. I wish that is the case but it is far from the truth; Covid19 is still very much with us and continuing to consume lives on a daily basis.
At the weekend, my biggest nightmare became true when a dear family member passed away after contracting Covid19. As a mark of respect, I will not be posting anything for the next few days but I hope to return soon.
Secret Diary Of A Church of England Vicar's Wife 