12th October, 2020. 212 days since lockdown/isolation.

WE both had our flu jabs on Saturday. The doctors surgery was a hive of activity. They must have done hundreds on the day. And it was totally painless. Let us hope that like Trump we are virus fee of the influenza bug.

Sister in law, Carol, came for lunch yesterday. She is really coping well on her own and takes every opportunity to see her two daughters and their families. The subject of Christmas came up and it is very clear that things will be different this year and, who knows, for many years to come. The usual gathering of the Clark clan at my Mum’s will definitely be a casualty on Christmas Eve.

Our new top soil came today. The quality is superb and Jenny and I emptied the 1 tonne bag in the area for which it was planned, in no time at all. Now to buy rocks and sand and gravel to get it ready for planting. It is beginning to look good.

Our plumber came again today and started the tiling and the installation of the shower tray. Dave (Green) is a fantastic worker and is leaving us with a quality new family shower room. With luck, he may finish tomorrow. I have already paid £1000 and will pay the balance by bank transfer when he gives me the final bill.

I went to watch Ronnie play football for Tickton yesterday. He was brilliant in midfield. That lad can play anywhere. His passing was very precise and was commented on by at least one Tickton spectator. I left immediately at the end so did not see if he won the Man of he Match award. He certainly deserved it.

Hull and East Yorkshire have been classified as tier 3 which means pubs shut at 10pm and we still have the rule of 6. Not bad but the country as a whole is still in a bad state. The second wave is well and truly with us and as long as numpties like Trump continue to refuse to accept that Corona is a reality, I can only see the wave getting worse. Watch this space.

Clearly Trump is a lunatic and I would not put it past him to have fabricated his illness to get the sympathy vote. It has clearly backfired with his popularity ratings at a low. His “discussion” with Jo Biden did him no favours and I hope he does not recover the votes he must have lost. His wife would make a better president. But then, so would I. President Clark has a certain ring to it.

After my fall a week ago, in Scotland, I was too unwell to go to York to see our friends Mike and Chris. After calling 111, the NHS helpline, they prescribed Codeine which, after getting the prescription from the pharmacist, helped tremendously and the pain went after four or five days. So no major damage done. It certainly felt like it but the pain is your brains way of saying “take it easy”

We have started Christmas shopping. We also have Ronnie and Maisie who have birthdays in November. Goodness, where has the year gone. I won’t be upset to see the back of it. Two holidays cancelled and a golden Wedding Celebration impossible. We did manage Scotland for a couple of days and are hoping for a visit to Derby to meet the Clarke family from Spain. So it’s not all bad.