Saturday 13th February

Today, Heather has revolutionized my life by teaching me how to talk to the screen so that the text will appear rather than me typing with one finger! It is trial and error and I am having to speak very slowly and clearly!

The canal is icy and the air feels colder than yesterday. Nevertheless we felt it was a good day for a picnic so we dressed up warmly, filled a thermos with hibiscus tea (good for the blood pressure and absolutely delicious!) for me and beer for R and headed to the nearby lake with wraps filled by R and chocolate biscuits. Often R is very frugal with his filling but today they oouzed with humous and cucumber and were a very welcome addition to the bracing walk. We normally go out without any sustenance but a hot drink makes such a difference, added to the fact it reminds me of mum and dad. Thermos’s were part and parcel of any outing. I can still remember sitting on the backseat of our car one Dorset holiday and a thermos tipping over without the lid properly secured.  I spent the rest of the holiday  having  my buttock regularly dressed for the burn, with the dressing being attached by sellotape. Some memories are never wholly forgotten!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Returning to the boat I had a very encouraging conversation regarding setting up a zoom support group in our local town for parents with their first babies. I think it must be so difficult to navigate your way around the plethora of conflicting advice available online – so many opinions, leaving young mums confused and anxious as to whether they are doing the best for their baby.  The usual support networks of meeting other parents in the same boat and building friendships is not available at present.  If our church can do something to help alleviate the problems arising from the pandemic restrictions and support mums in the community I think it could be an exciting venture. A friend of mine, a retired GP, is keen to help me facilitate a group and A, the new mum I spoke with today, is going to ask around to enquire of her friends if it would interest them or anyone they know. When I think back to the stress involved getting myself  and our first baby out of the house in time for a specific event, I see the advantage of a Zoom gathering. Mums connecting but in the comfort of their own homes. As life gets easier and restrictions ease, they can then arrange to meet, say in the park, or for a coffee, but I actually think Zoom technology could have its place in those early fraught days of parenthood.

If you read yesterday’s blog, I mentioned a journalist called Katherine Whitehorn. My brother has just informed me that her maternal grandfather was a great friend of my grandfather, both Presbyterian ministers. Such a small world! I also like the fact she wrote a cookbook in the 60s for those living in a bedsit, with just one gas ring. Could really do with a copy on the boat!

We had a lovely evening chatting as a couple with two other couples, but in separate Zoom calls, so in each call as a four we were really able to catch up on news. It also gives an opportunity in a safe space for things to get aired that might otherwise be simmering under the surface. Often the issues can be diffused through laughter and understanding of shared experiences. We retired to bed feeling uplifted after good humour and supportive chat reminding us why keeping good friendships nurtured is so important, especially in a lockdown.