Last year I felt sorry for my daughter and the Mister. They both have birthdays in March and entering the unknown scary territory of lockdown number 1. Both birthdays were miserable affairs by usual standards, and because I misunderstood that the lockdown was going to have sequels, I thought they would be the only ones in the family affected. But here we are a year on. We are all owed a birthday and we are on repeat. Mostly the kidults want money so getting her ladyship a present last year, or this year, is not difficult although there may be a gap between the expected amount and the actual amount received, but the Mister is a different story. When you’ve been married for 103 years, it’s hard to think of unique gifts, so in the last few years I’ve been buying experiences, like tickets for gigs or vouchers for restaurants. This is a great idea because I get half the present as well, so it’s a win all around! The problem is that everything was cancelled last year. The meal, night in a nice hotel, and tickets for David Grey who just might be retired before we’re allowed to congregate again.
This year is even more difficult. It feels like there are less shops open this time around but the poor man ended up with a carrier bag of shopping for Valentine’s day because the only place I could find open was Dealz, and we all know nothing says ‘I love You’ like a bag of giant Wotsits and a Toblerone. I could cook a nice meal and any other year that would be a novelty but not this year… I’m serving up a great variety of meals these days (varied rather than amazing) and some are surprisingly unique, like the evening I cooked an Italian pork dish but didn’t notice that I’d flicked onto a different recipe until part of my brain asked why honey and sesame oil were in an Italian dish? It was too difficult to get them back out of the pot so I served it up anyway. They loved it and they’ll never have it again because I can’t remember what I put in it.
I could learn the dance to Jerusalema, but with only three of us here to do it it’d be a sad affair. I did ask him, but I can’t deliver the requested week away, meal out or even a trip to the zoo. He didn’t ask for a trip to the zoo, I just threw that one in because I have two tickets for it and it’d be a grand cheap solution if only it was open. I’m not great at arts and crafts but it’s looking highly likely the Mister might be spotted soon in a badly knit jumper (If you spot him just tell him its lovely) what about something that is a rare treat these days? I can give him a haircut! Yes, it’s free but it’s the thought that counts