It’s ma biiirthday!

Eeeh, but it’s been a good day! Thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes and gifts, or phoned or zoomed in. Made me feel very special.

We planned a bit of a lie-in this morning and John was going to get me a cuppa in bed, but very early on I could hear the binmen outside and had a sudden thought, “Did we put the bins out?” Having gone to bed early, I wasn’t so sure we had. No, John said. We didn’t. I ran downstairs to see if I’d be in time, but the re-cycling lorry was already half-way down the street. Ah, well, we’ve got an appointment at the tip on Tuesday so, no worries. The ordinary bin hadn’t yet been collected though, so I left that one out at least.

Of course, that was it, really, I wasn’t tired any more. So I made the cuppa we’d promised ourselves and brought it back to bed, and read my book for a bit. Then the doorbell rang, so I hot-footed it downstairs again. How delightful – a bouquet of flowers…for me.

I decided I may as well stay up, so I popped some pain aux raisins in the oven for breakfast and pottered about a bit until the doorbell rang again. Another parcel. This time, it was the most unexpected of treats…. you’ll never guess! It was a box of Magnum ice creams. Crikey!! I knew it was ice cream before I opened it. It said so on the box. And it was addressed to John and me. So I ran back upstairs with it and woke John from his slumber to excitedly share it. How very, very exciting.

Now that John was awake he thought he ought to get up and show willing on the birthday front. So we sat down in the lounge and I opened cards and presents. Honestly, the ol’ man had worked hard to pull some great stuff together from the boys and friends and me Mum: alcohol x 2: Courvoisier brandy and a bottle of Monkey Shoulder whisky; a pair of pink dungarees; a dashcam; a box of chocolates; a Karcher window washer; a gorgeous make-up bag; some socks; a massive bar of chocolate and a cuddly toy….not really a cuddly toy, but you get the gist.

We decided that we’d just take the day as it came and not force ourselves to do anything very much, so it was a delight when Danielle said that William had made me a little present. The gift and a homemade card to Grandma duly arrived, with its maker, his mother and brother, whereupon we had a little ‘party in the porch’, which made my heart sing. The gift, a votive candle holder, hand-decorated by William is delightful. Twinkly blue and heavenly when lit up. Although I understand that sparkly stuff is now banned over in Sutton. It’s got everywhere!

Thought you might like to see a little sample of the gifts that arrived today…. good, eh?

After our little ‘party’ and fond farewells, we decided to have a bite to eat and watch a film. Yay!! My choice – whoopee-doop! So I went for ‘Bridesmaids’. A film that never fails to amuse me, with its now-famous scenes of the after-effects of food-poisoning and ‘how-you-deal-with-it-when-you’re-wearing-a-wedding-dress.’ One for the girls.

Had a brief chat to Freddie, who had phoned to wish me happy birthday but, once he got on the phone, he decided to be daft and pull funny faces and sing in a very high-pitched voice. All of which made me laugh. Later on, we zoomed in on the family and had a very pleasant evening together. They got their glasses of wine/prosecco and offered me a toast, which were luvverly. Very, very grateful for technology and the love of my family. They are all wonderful and I love them very much.

So I haven’t had a look at the news today particularly and haven’t caught up with the stats on the COVID front. On a personal note, I know that Lily is feeling a bit better and was craving a Subway this afternoon, so fingers crossed she’s fully on the mend. The rest of the family are still feeling well, so more finger-crossing that they don’t go down with it. Christiana’s test also came back negative, so we’re on a positive roll – I hope!

Not having looked at the COVID figures today, I have decided not to include them today. It is my birthday after all and I don’t want to spoil the wonderful bubble that John, the boys and my friends have created for me today. So, COVID, off you pop…. I’ll stalk your progress tomorrow.

And thank you again – as one of my dear, long-standing friend’s put it: ‘Friends (and I include my lovely family) are cheaper than therapy….and worth their weight in gold’. Yep. That.

Stay safe everyone and God bless.