This week my daughter Lindsey came home! She has been living with my son and his fiancée to try and protect me but she has now been offered a job in London and to to begin with, will be doing her training from home. As Dave and Lucy are also working from home they are limited for suitable space for her to work so as she has been self isolating, we decided it was worth the risk for her to come home. Its been lovely for me, having someone to talk to, and not at the end of the phone! I am so pleased that she has a job but have many concerns as she is going to be working for a charity, looking after the homeless, in London. However, I am so proud of her because I really believe she will be doing something very worthwhile.

I am now working from home too! A laptop has been delivered and I am just doing a couple of hours a day. Suddenly I find I have quite a lot of structure to my days!  Mornings are spent catching up with friends and family, and a work session in the afternoon, when its been too warm outside. As the weather is still so good I am doing very few household chores, just the bare necessity, choosing to spend my time outside in the garden. I’m not always working though. I’ve read a considerable number of books in the last four weeks which has been an absolute pleasure for me. I still find that doing some kind of chore then rewarding myself with a period of reading is the only way I can get anything done, otherwise I would remain completely lost in the world of fiction. We are very blessed to have such wonderful writers in the world who are able capture our attention and take us away from the difficult challenges we all face.

My crafting skills amount to covering shoe boxes with Christmas paper ready for our appeal later in the year but I must say I am tempted to have a go at a Christmas bell that Margaret H has put on the web site! Bearing in mind I still have knitting on the go from about ten years ago and can’t crochet, this will be a major achievement, but they are so pretty and are such a symbol of joy and hope for the future that I feel I must at least try!! So is there anyone out there who knows of a simple ‘learn to crochet in five easy steps’ video please let me know. Also going back to the shoe boxes (with removal lids), this is an ideal time for me to ‘get covering’ so all of you who have been tidying wardrobes and are throwing out boxes please let me know and I’ll try and collect.

This week I have been thinking so much about the small businesses in our area which have given me so much pleasure in the past. The specialist gift shops where a last minute present is always available and the coffee shops where I have had such lovely times with friends. As soon as we are allowed, it is my intention to shop locally wherever possible and to definitely buy British. I am going to do my little bit to boost our economy and ensure a future for my children.

The highlight of my week is spending time watching and listening to the online service. Some of my friends who don’t have this facility at their own church are joining in and I feel really close to you all at these times. I particularly enjoy the zoom coffee after the service and it is so good to be able to see your faces and I pray that it won’t be too long before we can meet ‘for real.’