Its my son-in-law’s 30th birthday today, so we sent him a video of us reciting a ditty we made up about him. His brother-in-laws sang him a sea shanty they composed and his sister sang him a birthday song on Zoom from California. All different ways of expressing birthday greetings when you can’t see one another and yet want to make the day memorable. I have just spoken to him and he’s had a great day with lots of special moments so that’s good to know. Birthdays should be celebratory, especially ones with an ‘O’. Lockdown is quite a challenge in this respect but I am amazed by how inventive so many have become and how blessed we are with modern technology.
We’re about to do something new for us (but passè for many of you reading this no doubt!). We are having a virtual Burns Night, linking 3 of our 4 children (4th one busy organising said 30th birthday celebrations) together. The haggis is simmering on the stove as I write this and earlier I made clapshot – what my orkadian granny called swede and potato mashed together. It should be fun with G reciting an amusing Burns ode he made up a few years ago. It’s great it can get a second airing. It reminds me of the ‘reply to the lassies’ I was tasked to write this time last year with a rather risqué joke thrown in. I can’t remember the joke but I can remember the reaction as the ladies gradually started to titter once the joke sank in! And then there were peels of laughter. Think that was the last time we Scottish danced. Let’s hope we’ll be able to celebrate Burns in full next year with some swinging sporrans.
The boat is toasty warm and everything clean as a whistle from our trip to the laundrette. Highlight of the day! Opposite was a corner store which I popped into while waiting for the tumble drying to finish and was very surprised to see dried hibiscus leaves for sale. I have been searching for more hibiscus tea bags (good for lowering blood pressure by all accounts) to no avail. Not easy to come by unless you go online and its hard for us to get deliveries! Such a surprising place to find the leaves. The tea I subsequently made tastes delicious so that was quite a find.
Otherwise a quiet day catching up on paperwork and messaging friends to help keep in contact. One of H’s friends (our uber driver at Christmas) is in hospital with covid so we are worried for him. Reading the hospital reports is sobering in the extreme so it’s good to find pockets of joy and happiness to keep our spirits up and to help those around us do the same. A reminder of how important it is to offer the hand of friendship and do whatever we can to support one another
NarrowboatTLC 