Saturday 8 January 2022:

This will be a bit of a strange blogpost.
Yesterday, walking to Welsh Back, I felt decidedly ‘weird’ (physically)… quite weak and struggling to walk normally… walking slowly and gingerly… not exactly breathless, but certainly not feeling ‘right’. I gradually improved and, by the time I returned to the apartment, I felt ‘ok’ (not brilliant, but ok). It all felt slightly scary.
Then, this morning, I walked to the local Co-op to fetch the newspaper and, walking home, again felt similarly ‘weird’… and slightly shaky and not exactly breathless, but with a strange sensation high up, level with sternum (no actual pain)... maybe something like fluttering breaths? Took it easy for the rest of the day and no further issues… but just thought I’d write down the experiences for possible future reference.
But the experience has made me feel strangely vulnerable and that I’m not going to live forever… and maybe not even to the end of 2022!

Saturday 1 January 2022:

It’s been something like 10 weeks since I last wrote a reflection (and I’ve also just decided to stop writing a daily diary). Now that the Christmas and New Year festivities are over, I’ve been endeavouring to concentrate on the months ahead. Most of the ‘jobs’ related to the house move have now really been sorted and I’m conscious that it’s left something of a ‘void’. In the normal course of things (and especially given our new home location), I would almost certainly have been visiting the cinema (Watershed) on a weekly basis, but continuing Covid concerns have meant that I’m still reluctant to return to watching films at this stage. The RWA is currently closed for refurbishment, otherwise I feel sure I’d be there on a monthly basis at least. The Museum+Art Gallery is currently incorporating the Grayson Art Club (we’ve been once and will no doubt return a couple of times before the exhibition closes in September. I’ll continue to sketch most days – although doing so in the winter months is a little restrictive.  
We would normally have tried to book tickets for the theatre but, again, Covid concerns still make us both feel uncomfortable at present. Similarly, I would usually have booked concert tickets at St George’s, but still feel rather reluctant to do so at present.
I’m less involved or, frankly, interested in church matters these days (tending to avoid services at HTH… but also not really switched on to or enthusiastic about Saint Stephen’s services (I’m in something of a spiritual wilderness).
So, my only real ‘outside contacts’ these days are bookgroup, urban sketching and ‘Blokes’-related stuff.
We probably need to make arrangements to get people round to Deanery Road for coffee or lunch or supper over the coming months (Covid permitting)… Dave+Sarah, Janice+Nigel for instance.
I also need to continue arranging zooming sessions (especially with Alan).
I’m also very conscious that we’ll probably not see much of I+R unless we organise stuff (their weekends seem sacrosanct and so we probably need to ensure that we get together for chips(?) occasionally during the school holidays.

Thursday 21 October:

It’s been two months since I wrote my last reflection. It’s been a busy time settling into our new home (a constant matter of two steps forward and one back), but we’re gradually ‘getting there’. We’re constantly aware that we haven’t actually downsized enough to fit into number17! We probably still need to get rid of some books; we have far too many empty plastic boxes left over; the kitchen is too small (and not as well designed storage-wise; lots of framed pictures and not enough wallspace to hang them…
We’re about to have a few days away in Lancashire (2 days in Lytham, followed by 2 days with Alice+Dave in Buckshaw). It’ll obviously involve several train journeys and, given our recent experiences of high proportions of people on public transport NOT wearing face masks, it’s something that really concerns us. Yes, we’ve been double-vaccinated and boostered but, nevertheless, with weekly Covid cases and deaths beginning to rise again in quite high numbers, it makes both of us feel very uneasy (and vulnerable). In some ways, it would be easy to take the cautious option and cancel our plans, but (significantly) we haven’t seen our Lancashire grandchildren for TWO whole years and we haven’t had a holiday since our time in Skipton – again, just over two years ago. So, we’ll go… and just be as careful as possible.