11:30 A big day for us - we venture into the world of non-online retail for the first time in well over a year: scary! Also a big day specifically for Lois: the first time she has driven for several months. I need her to drive me next week when I have a hospital appointment, so she will have to drop me off.
Lois drives us to Gotherington to get the plants she needs from the Gotherington Nurseries - the nearer garden centres will be too crowded, she thinks. She's got quite a shopping list, and I can see she relishes the prospect of actually being able to choose from products having seen them "in the flesh".
We drive to Gotherington Nurseries to get Lois's plants
I'm really impressed at how confidently she takes the wheel - she's always been a more forceful driver than me, driving only inches away from the car in front in some cases, and driving in lower gears than I do with my mealy-mouthed, penny-pinching wish to save money on petrol. What a woman!
We park in the car park and Lois tells me which trolley to pick and then I don't see her for dust. Off she goes - she knows exactly what she wants!
we arrive and after a few minutes I don't see Lois for dust -
yikes! You go girl haha!!!
At last Lois finishes with the greenhouse section and we can go out in the open-air areas, which is a great relief: I've got far too many clothes on - I'm dressed for winter basically, because that's what you usually need in this area.
Then off Lois goes again - what a woman she is haha!!!! I sometimes catch a brief glimpse of her in the distance, looking for some plant or other, or looking for an assistant to ask.
at last - out in the open air: hurrah!
from time to time I can just catch sight of her in the distance
I work out that altogether I'm standing around for an hour before my first real role comes up: paying at the till. A bit scary because we are over the official "contactless" maximum, which I think is only about £45, but luckily I remember my pin number and all is ok.
At the same time I'm proud of myself - an achievement for me to have been not-sitting-down for around 60 minutes, which I don't think I've done for over a year: there are no seats here - I suppose it would just be one more job for the staff to keep any seats or benches swabbed down between occupants.
we stuff the plants in the car-boot
12:10 My chance to do something again. A sudden cloudburst means that Lois doesn't want to do the driving home bit.
What a step we have taken, though. We feel really proud of ourselves, no doubt about that!
16:30 We water our near-neighbour Frances's garden and greenhouse in her absence - we wouldn't want to do it in her presence haha! Luckily she's coming back tomorrow, so we won't have to do it again.
20:00 Lois disappears into the dining-room to take part in her sect's weekly Bible Class on zoom. I settle down on the couch and watch Episode 4 of the Danish crime series "The Killing".
I have about an hour and a quarter to watch this programme while Lois isn't around - she finds it too upsetting, and I don't blame her. Seventy-five minutes should be enough but I actually only manage to watch half of this 60 minute episode: I think it's because I have to keep pausing it and rewinding it to try and stay on top of the plot and remember who the characters are.
Time and again I find I mix up the star detective Sarah Lund with the teenage murder victim's mother Pernille, which is a bit of a handicap to put it mildly! What madness!!!!
21:15 Lois emerges from her zoom session and we watch the latest episode of "Motherland", the sitcom about Julia and her circle of harassed suburban mums, plus diffident stay-at-home-dad, Kevin.
Tonight Julia has to pretend to be a Catholic to get her child into her preferred secondary school. She has to have an interview with the headmistress, Sister Benedict, and we can tell that Julia has done her homework all right - it's almost a textbook lesson in "How to sound like a Catholic"!
Julia - We're just totally into the Bible. It's on my Kindle actually.
Sister Benedict - It is at the heart of our teaching. So what's your favourite bit?
Julia - I wouldn't like to get into that, because it's very personal. I wouldn't really want to get into specifics.
SB - No particular verses or stories?
Julia - Stories? Oh ha-ha-ha! Yes, right! Sorry!
The nativity - love that! That's a cracking yarn. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I mean, what a twist! The bit where the guy is walking along the beach with the footsteps, and it turns out it's Jesus who's holding the fella - I mean, pfffft, what a twist! That gets me every time!
[Oh dear, not ANOTHER reference to the "Footprints in the Sand" poem. I hope the BBC are paying royalties! - Ed]
Quite a performance by Julia, and we are expecting that the school's acceptance of Julia's child is going to be a shoe-in.
But Julia has a bit of bad luck. Unfortunately, Sister Benedict just happens to be a bit more than usually aware of parents who try and "blag" or lie their way into getting their children accepted by the school. Oh dear!
Oh dear - poor Julia !!!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!
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