*Warning. This blog was written several days after the event and backdated in an effort to keep the timeline*

Today’s Dawn’s birthday. As we’re in lockdown it’s a rather restrained affair. There’s no meeting up with friends or relatives or getting the glad-rags on and going out for a meal. Instead, we opted for a quiet day at home.

I let Dee sleep in for a bit before making her a cup of tea and presenting her with her card. Not that she had much time to enjoy either as Dawn noticed that our poorly moggie had got himself and his bed in a bit of a “two and eight” as they used to say in London’s East End. That ‘state’ was due to the fact the medication he’s been prescribed had given him diarrhea – and furry animals and the squits do not mix! So, Dee’s birthday began with us both performing a mopping up and cleaning operation on poor Jet, his basket and his litter tray. Nice….!

Luckily, Dawn saw the funny side of it. We were more concerned for Jet than anything else as the poor lad really has been through the mill recently so his needs came before anything else. Finally we got him and ourselves cleaned up and began Dawn’s birthday properly.

We didn’t need birthday cake as Dee had been cooking up a storm over the weekend. Unusually, there was no present from me for Dee to open either. We’d discussed one earlier in the week and apart from the logistical difficulties of being reduced to shopping on-line Dee had decided that, actually – we’d had an expensive enough time as it was with vets bills, so we took a rain-check on a present, although I’ve been told “you can buy me some perfume when all this is over”! Of course, there were cards for Dawn to open, although – as this is 2020 – there’s more birthday greetings sent via social media than post nowadays!

Rather than cake, we celebrated with a guilty pleasure. Poached egg and bacon butties! Both of us eat healthily and have very little in the way of processed food or red meat – so this was an indulgence for us that’s normally reserved for the odd weekend. Simple pleasures and all that…

To share her birthday we took some of the cakes Dee had made around to our friend Tony (of Phoenix brewery fame). He lives locally and we met him in his garden where we could hand over the goodies and stop for a chat whilst observing all the Covid proprieties. A couple of other friends from the Big 6 whom we hadn’t seen since all this kicked off had dropped in too, so it was great to catch-up with Steve and Lynn too. Afterwards we drove over to Dawn’s parent in Huddersfield. With it being the Bank Holiday there were plenty of people out walking but the roads were quieter than we’ve seen at weekends. Hopefully people were making the most of the fresh air and glorious sunshine – something that rarely appears at Bank Holidays!

When we reached John and Norah’s we sat in their garden which is big enough to allow us to keep a sensible distance. After all the precautions we’ve been taking for them the last thing we want to do is put them at risk now. The four of us chatted about events and the latest mixed messages from the Government and the potential consequences, although much of the conversation was far more light-heated and frequently interrupted by the gaggle of Starlings that were congregating in the trees next door. They were as raucous and rowdy as a gang of teenagers!  We only stayed an hour, which was long enough to enjoy their company but not long enough that we might need the toilet. Oh, the things you have to think about nowadays…

By the time we got back home it was too late to go out for the long walk we’d planned to do, so instead we took it easy in our front garden.  Despite the pair of us spending so much time cooped up indoors together, we don’t actually get that much ‘quality time’ together, so it was lovely just to be able to kick back and enjoy each other’s company without any pressures or plans. The moggie was sufficiently recovered from his troubles this morning that he came and joined us in the garden where he sat on the seat with us and toasted in the sun.

The birthday girl, the garden – and Jet…

The poor boy’s not looking at his best at the moment as he’s developed conjunctivitis, so we have to keep washing his face for him. 

For the evening the only thing we had got planned was for me to cook Dee a birthday prawn and pea risotto, which I did whilst Dee relaxed and enjoyed her special day. It’s not exactly the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle, but actually, having a chilled evening together was just what the Doctor ordered. Oh, and the risotto was delicious – even if I do say so myself…

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