When Covid stops you doing much

I’m on my 5th day with Covid and there’s no sign of improvement. In isolation, other than from my wife, there’s little enthusiasm or energy for doing much. But I have felt able to tackle my laptop’s downloads-folder which has filled up considerably over the past year or so. The folder mainly contains images downloaded from the camera or phone, some of which I had dealt with but not deleted or filed away, and some which have just got ignored. After much effort the downloads folder is now in good shape with just two, near-empty sub-folders.

I found these 4 images which have some interest, particularly the main one of 8-year-old Chloe in a rather stunning outfit.

Wagon Wheels are not bland!

Nearly 7 years old Chloe says Wagon Wheels are bland! I was astonished that she could think this but also that she knew the word ‘bland’!!

Her Dad thinks they taste of cardboard. <shakes head>

When we got back

When we got back from our 9 days in Eastbourne, part of our walls had been turned into an art gallery (the plate is ours)! We had vacated our home so that our grandchildren weren’t homeless between house moves – and this is how they thank us!!


Not just any Saturday

Looking after the little ones whilst their parents spent the day at a TEDx event, 5-year-old Chloe was as usual the last to finish her meal. We asked her if she was always the last to finish her packed lunch at school, and she said yes but explained it as follows. She has packed lunch with two boys who she says don’t stop talking! So why, we asked, was she the last to finish if they were always talking, to which she replied that she was constantly having to answer their questions! Sadly, when the two boys finish their lunch they go off to play leaving Chloe to continue eating, on her own. Does she mind being on her own, we asked, to which she said no because the dinner ladies would talk to her. How wonderful it would be to listen in on these conversations, between the children and with the dinner ladies!

When the parents returned in the evening we were in the middle of watching Mary Poppins Returns. One of the TEDx talks had been on the subject of maths, and as a way of thanking us for looking after the two girls, I was given the speaker’s book – with a personal inscription. What a way to finish a lovely day!

Understanding time

Walking alongside five-year-old Chloe as she rode her scooter I explained how once upon a time there were no wheels as they hadn’t yet been invented. After I had explained the consequences of this she asked

“Grandad, were there wheels when you were a boy?”