Beavers Sleepover

Funsize has been attending Scouts for a few years: first Squirrels, then Beavers, and she moved on to Cubs at Easter. Surprise! has likewise just started at Scouts, in the Squirrels section. You'll note that neither FS nor KS are currently members of Beavers, and yet this weekend I found myself helping out at a Beavers Sleepover event.

Basically, it's a story of events transpiring seemingly without rhyme or reason, and all just falling out to make for a good outcome: just as Funsize moved up to Cubs we were contacted by Scouts asking if we would be willing to be PVG checked - this being a requirement to be involved as parent helpers even on an occasional basis. (This is one of those good things that causes a problem, as an awful lot of people who otherwise would volunteer time and expertise are put off by the need for the check. And while organisations can promise that it's entirely benign, as indeed it is, it's entirely understandable that people don't want to invite the government's attention. But, yes, I'd much rather be in a world where those checks are in place. As I said, a good thing but not without its problems. Anyway...)

So LC and I completed our PVG checks a little while ago. Meanwhile, the Beavers camp ran into a small problem in that some of the leaders who had meant to attend suddenly found themselves unable. And so they could either cut down the number of places for Beavers to attend camp, or find a replacement. But where to find someone with the required PVG checks at short notice...?

As it happened, this past weekend was that rare thing - a weekend when we otherwise weren't really doing anything and so one of us could indeed arrange to go help out at the camp. And let's be honest - I wasn't going to let the children miss out just because I couldn't be bothered. So that was that.

For obvious reasons, I can't say too much about the camp itself: it ran from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon at one of the Scouts camp site, it was in a fixed building rather than under canvas, and there were 17 Beavers in attendance and 5 adults.

As might be expected, it was good fun but very tiring - lots of activities, lots of keeping people together, safe, and entertained, lots of cooking and then washing up. Conceptually it wasn't much different from the BB camps I did back in the day: yes, a mixed group rather than all boys, a younger group than I've previously been with, and more focus on outdoor and adventure activities, but all all generally quite familiar.

My starring moment, such as it was, came with the discovery that there was no hot chocolate, which put something of a dampener on the "hot chocolate and pancakes" for supper plan. I therefore proceeded to magic up some hot chocolate (a big spoonful of chocolate spread in a pan of milk, heat gently while stirring constantly).

All in all, it was a good time. The children all seemed to really enjoy themselves, they were a good bunch, and it was all just friendly and relaxed. And the weather was glorious, which always helps. A good use for a weekend, really.

(I was asked at one point if someone had had "the conversation" with me about becoming a leader on a permanent basis. And they had indeed - I can't imagine it's lost on them that someone who is willing to come help with a camp might be willing to do more, and they're always in a position where the biggest constraint on what they can offer is based on the availability of leaders. Unfortunately, I did have to note that time is very limited. As I said, this was a rare 'free' weekend for us, and evenings are even more scarce.)

Please Let This Be the End...

Young Surprise! has been ill. Indeed, he has been ill for the past several weeks, starting with overnight vomiting, then all manner of horrible stuff from both ends, endless washing and rewashing of clothes and bedding, and a huge amount of time off nursery (all of which meant working from home, which is fine, but also while trying to keep him looked after).

It's fair to say that it has been a difficult time, to the extent that last night I finally ran out of energy completely and fell asleep while watching TV (which for me basically never happens).

Anyway, it does look like he might finally be over it, and is back at nursery. Or, at least, I desperately hope that he's finally over it!

How to Lose a Customer

LC was out on Saturday, and so I decided to order Dominos pizza - it has been a pretty long time, but it's always quite enjoyable, and after an afternoon of rushing around it was good not to have to cook. Or so I thought...

The order was placed for 5.30, and the pizza tracker was opened. It promptly "went to sleep" until closer to the time, and then never seemed to wake up. But at exactly 5.30 there was a ring on the doorbell, and Dominos delivered our order. Huzzah!

Or not, as it turned out. Because while the two sides ordered were correct, neither of the pizzas were those we'd ordered.

Now, at this point I must stress that this is a very simple mistake that could easily happen to anyway (especially at it looks like their label machine was probably out of order) - the driver grabbed the wrong two boxes, and so there was a mix-up of orders. It happens; not a problem.

But then it's how you fix the problem that matters. And it really matters.

So, firstly I checked but there wasn't any obvious "we've screwed up your order, let us make it right" button on either the webpage or the email confirmation. That would be extremely useful, though I guess open to abuse.

So, onto Google I went to find the store's phone number. I called, and was answered promptly. I explained the problem, only slightly painfully, at which point she needed to speak to her manager so put me on hold. Which was fine. Moments later, she returned to say her manager was on another call so would be a few minutes... and then hung up.

Sigh.

So I called back, and got the same assistant. She apologised, and correctly put me on hold this time.

Ten minutes later...

After getting no response for ten minutes, I gave up, hung up, and called again. This time the call was answered by a different person (who turned out to be a driver who was helping out due to staff shortages). Unfortunately, he couldn't hear me very well...

I explained the problem again, this time rather more painfully. At which point he went and grabbed the manager, who came to the phone immediately. I then explained the problem for a third time (by now feeling really irate, and dealing with two very hungry and very disappointed children). After a few goes around, he grasped that all I wanted was for them to make the two pizzas that I'd actually ordered and deliver those to us - I wasn't demanding a replacement of the full order, or a refund in whole or in part, or compensation, or anything of the sort. Just give me the thing I wanted, please?

The replacement pizzas finally arrived at almost exactly 6.30, a mere hour after they were due.

(On the plus side, we did then end up with the two incorrect pizzas, which provided lunch for LC and I on Sunday, and then a dinner of sorts for LC on Sunday. So it wasn't all bad, I suppose.)

The upshot is that they made a real mess out of what should have been a fairly simple fix.

The way I think it should have worked:

• Firstly, the means you use to order should also provide the same means for dealing with issues, especially simple issues like this. Things like "why hasn't my order arrived", "I've received the wrong thing", or "it's been damaged" are pretty straightforward, and could easily be resolved by an automated system - and would probably cover 90% of all issues right there.
• Assuming that isn't possible (and given that it could be abused, maybe it really is not possible), then the person who answers the phone really needs to be empowered to solve the problem directly. And if that's not possible, then the second-line staff who can solve the problem need to be available to jump in and help right away.

As it is, this was very much a case where their service very much did not delight me. It will now be a very long time, if indeed ever, that I order from Dominos again. It's one bad experience after almost 20 years of otherwise fine service, but the experience was sufficiently bad as to sour all those others.

Fixing the Roof While the Sun Shines

I mentioned a few posts ago that we'd seen s few jobs pop up needing to be done: LC's car needed some work, the kitchen door needed a fix, the bathroom wanted repainted, and the washing machine needed something done. Over the last couple of weeks, these have now been addressed.

LC's car was fairly simple, if somewhat frustrating. Basically, it went back to the garage, they did what was needed, and that was the job done. No issues there, it just took a bit longer than we would have liked.

Repainting the bathroom was likewise just a job that needed to be done. So one morning I got up early, got on with it, and that was the job done. Huzzah!

Fixing the kitchen door was a bit harder, but once I'd found the appropriate advice it wasn't hard - the door is now remounted, and the hinges are no longer sagging. It still needs some sort of adjustment, but I'm not sure what wants done there. The advice I've seen looks like it wants a wrench applied, but I'm not so sure about that. I think we might just be leaving it alone.

That left the washing machine, which I took care of on Saturday. This was a job that has been waiting to be done for a long time, and so finally getting it done is really good. The issue was that the washing machine was wired directly into the wall, which I've now switched over to a socket-and-plug arrangement. This turned out to be fairly straightforward, though it did require quite a lot of care and double-checking.

(That's now three of four kitchen/utility room appliances switched over. The last is the kitchen freezer, which I'd like to get switched over as a matter of principle, but we have no plans to replace it any time soon, or really ever, so it would just be a job for the sake of doing it.)

We've now ordered a replacement washing machine - the old one is now pretty long in the tooth, and has some problems we've never quite been able to get fully fixed. That's all fair enough - we got it a couple of years before we moved, and although it didn't come into use immediately after we moved (the house came with a washing machine), it has done about eight years of good service. So it's had a good run.

That therefore clears the list of jobs, at least for the moment. It would be nice to think we'd have a spell without more jobs coming up, but that seems unlikely. I guess we'll see.

Fantastic Jousting

As you know, I have had a long-term quest to have mop jousting introduced as an official Olympic sport. Everything was looking pretty good, right up until the breakdancing fiasco, which seems to have put paid to those plans – apparently the Olympic committee are now going to be much less permissive in the sports they allow to be introduced. Boo!

Anyway, in order to ameliorate some of the pain caused by this setback, we took Funsize and Surprise! to see the older, less mop-based form of jousting.

It was fun!

The event took place in the fields behind Linlithgow Palace, where there were about a dozen tents set up with various Ren Faire type events – the archer and the armoury, scribes and calligraphy, a musicians’ tent, a falconer, and so on and so forth. There were two arenas, one in which the falconer held a display (that we saw), there were jugglers and acrobats (that we didn’t), and a re-enactment of the Battle of Stirling Bridge (though the Wallace wasn’t Australian enough).

And there was the main arena where they held the jousting.

This was not, of course, authentic jousting – that would be far too dangerous. Instead, there was a lot of riding towards one another and carefully aiming lances at shields, which were then dropped with a loud clattering. Even then, there were instances of people falling from the horses, followed by a melee on foot. It was exciting stuff.

It was also hot and sunny, which made for a lethargic, tired type of day. The hours didn’t so much pass as evaporate in the heat.

All in all, it’s something I’d recommend going to see as and when there is an opportunity.

Eureka!

I didn't get much sleep last night. About 3am I suddenly realised the key to a problem I'd been grappling with for a couple of weeks, which in hindsight is now obvious. Now I just need to find a way to explain that to the relevant people, in the hope that they might actually do something about it.

Which on the one hand is really good, since it means I've actually got a solution to something that had been eluding me; on the other hand, it meant I didn't get enough sleep. And it's going to be a long day.

A Lucky Escape

My big challenge on Sunday came in the form of a broken PC - after restarting Chrome to update I discovered it suddenly wouldn't load my home page (which is a page of links stored on my D drive). I then rebooted the machine as a whole, only to find that the D drive as a whole had disappeared.

Needless to say, I was less than pleased with this, given that the PC is less than six months old. I was less pleased still when I discovered that Dell's automated chat assistant was only able to point me at a couple of utterly useless troubleshooting articles. And, of course, it being Sunday there was no chance of speaking to an actual human.

Though in the event that wasn't such a big deal - the root cause turned out to be nothing Dell could really help with anyway.

In an attempt to diagnose the fault I removed the drive, plugged it into my adapter, and connected it to LC's laptop. That confirmed that the drive itself was working. I then reconnected to the other machine, and accessed the BIOS, and it was working there too. But rebooting the machine still showed the problem.

Then I got lucky. Somewhere in there the machine restarted, and suddenly it was all working again!

The reason for this is that I have a powered USB hub attached (which is on its way out) and an external hard drive (which is definitely on its way out). When the PC restarts, but not when it boots from cold, this hub often fails to activate three of the ports, including the one with the drive attached. It appears that one of those two components is causing the problem.

Which is all to the good. I'll need to get a new USB hub sooner rather than later, since the other devices that are attached are rather important. And one of these days I'll find time to actually set up our NAS, after which the external drive will be obsolete.

So, a lucky escape. Not my best ever Sunday though.

The Weekend From Hell

It's fair to say we've not had the best of weekends.

In honour of the schools going back, Surprise! came down with some nasty virus last week. By Friday he was mostly back to himself, or so we thought until about 10pm, when he woke up and spewed everywhere. As a consequence of this, I found myself sitting up with him until 1am, initially watching nursery rhymes on YouTube, and then later catching up on the new Futurama while he slept. (Sadly, I'm not particularly impressed with this latest reboot, but that's another story.)

I was then up just after 6am to take Lion for her morning walk. Needless to say, that meant that Saturday was essentially a write off. I'm sure I did the Broxburn Gala Day, but don't really have any memory of it.

Sunday started okay, with us getting up, going to church, and then having lunch. So far, so good. Unfortunately that's where things came unstuck - Surprise! really needed a nap but absolutely refused to go to sleep. Cue lots of crying, lots of frayed tempers, and a generally bad time had by all.

Eventually he did go down, and once he'd had a sleep and then something to eat (after another bout of crying because he was hungry but refusing to eat), all was well once again. But the weekend was thoroughly destroyed.

Needless to say, I was glad to reach Monday!

Introducing "Lion"

It has been an exciting week. In addition to the potty training/broken washing machine combination, we were visited by the new addition to our family: as of Thursday the Knigdom of Stevonia will adopt a dog!

She's a retired greyhound - huge, but very calm. She immediately took to the children, and they to her.

LC and I have been talking about getting a dog basically since we got married, but while we were living in the flat in Falkirk that just wasn't an option. When we moved, Funsize was already on the way, and then there was a small window of opportunity once she was two but Surprise! not yet on the way. So this is, in effect, the earliest this has really been a realistic possibility.

Since everyone else has a chocolate-themed "blog name", our newest addition needs one too. And since I could think of only one animal-themed chocolate bar (though I expect the immediately think of another dozen options once I post this), she shall henceforth be known as "Lion".

Bad Timing

We started Surprise! on potty training on Sunday. It's probably a little overdue, but not by too much, and children do seem to take to it a bit better if it's left later.

Our washing maching broke down on Sunday. Because, of course, the moment you start doing something liable to generate a load of extra washing, that's when you want the machine to give up the ghost.

The good news is that it's covered by warranty, so someone will be out to fix it on Thursday. But the next few days could be exciting.

#12: "Lion", by Conn Iggulden
#13: "Star Wars Roleplaying Game", by various authors
#14: "Guardians of the Wild Unicorns", by Lindsay Littleson (which started as a book for Funsize, but she lost interest)

Worryingly Fixed

After a few failed attempts, I managed to fix our BBQ at the weekend - I'd sourced and purchased a new regulator and hose some time ago, but found that actually fitting the hose was remarkably difficult. But after several attempts, the application of washing up liquid and boiling water, and the strategic use of a glove, I managed to get it into place. Then the clips were appropriately tightened, and the job was done!

At this point, per the advice I'd seen about doing the job I checked for leaks using an officially-branded product for this task. (It was actually just "bubble goo" - the very same stuff that the kids use for blowing bubbles. But since the consistency of these things varies, I was somewhat comforted by getting an official product just to be sure.)

So, anyway, I checked. No bubbles. Then I checked again, just to be extra sure. It really, really doesn't have any leaks.

And yet...

I find that there's a tiny part of me that would rather that the repair had definitively failed. That would have forced the purchase of a new BBQ, which isn't something I want to do, but could be preferable.

Because there's a tiny part of me that just won't be happy with this one until I've actually used the BBQ to actually cook some food. I'm absolutely certain that the parts used are good, I'm absolutely certain that the fitting is correct, and I'm absolutely certain that there aren't any leaks. So there's no reasonable doubt as to the efficacy of the fix. But there is still an unreasonable doubt to contend with.

Some Thoughts on the Coronation

I'm of the view that spending a quarter of a billion pounds of scarce public money on giving a rich old guy a new hat is not a particularly worthwhile use of resources at the best of times. To do so while in the midst of a cost of living crisis is bordering on the obscene. And to pay for it, in part, by diverting funds away from foodbanks is frankly indefensible.

That said, if you absolutely must do such a monstrous thing, I guess it's better that it's done well. And, looked at purely as a demonstration of Britain's absurd obsession with pageantry and dressing up, it was certainly done well. The hat went on, and stayed on, with scarcely a wobble. What more could you possibly ask for?

So... yay, I guess?

Oh, one more thing: the right wing press are now positively glowing about Penny Mordant's performance, and have now declared her to be the favourite to become the next Tory leader. Apparently, strange women distributing swords is a suitable basis for a system of government in Brexit Britain.

Hey Duggee Live Tour

LC and I took the children to see "Hey Duggee" at the Festival Theatre on Saturday. As I've said before, I consider Duggee to be one of the genuine greats of CBeebies, but with these adaptations there is always the risk of having the life sucked out of them, so how does Duggee fit on the scale of painful experiences?

Well, the children thoroughly enjoyed it. As the lights went down, Surprise! had a little cry. However as soon as the narrator came on stage he was immediately transfixed. And from there he was bouncing around, dancing along, clapping and laughing throughout. Funsize also enjoyed it in much the same way.

The show itself was essentially a compilation of "best bits" from the show - throughout you could basically see where this bit, and that bit, came from. But that's fine. They clearly knew their audience and gave them what they wanted. One thing that was very clever was that when we entered the children were each given a sheet of stickers, and at various parts Duggie gave the Squirrels a badge - and the audience were encouraged to find and wear their matching sticker.

The show was about an hour of fun and puppetry. We had the Acapella Badge, the Choregraphy Badge, the Costume Badge, the Egg Badge, the Singing Badge, the Space Badge, all building up to the Theatre Badge. There were numerous songs, lots of audience participation, and all sorts of fun.

And it was great fun. I actually very much enjoyed it, partly because the kids were having such a good time, and partly in its own right.

Well done to those involved - you've earned your Live Tour Badge!

A Good Job Done

I started the Christmas break with a list of seven things I would like to get done. On Saturday I finally completed the fifth of these (and one of them was actually done by LC on my behalf). My available free time is painfully limited these days.

Anyway, the task in question was a repair of one of our 'kitchen' units (actually in the utility room) -  more or less since we first moved in it has gradually been collapsing, and although it was still usable it had increasingly been bugging me.

The fix was reasonably easy - empty the unit and clear all weight from the counter above it, then remove the door. Then I put a fairly liberal coating of wood glue on the two bits that should be joined, and hammered the unit back together. And then, to provide some additional support I drove four nails into the wood where it joined.

The unit was then left overnight, before having the door re-hung and the contents replaced. Job done!

Return of the Poo

One of the things that I don't recall anyone ever actually telling me about parenthood is that you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of effort considering poo. Is there enough, too much, what about the colour, consistency? Where does it stand on the universal food stuff comparison chart?

Fun times.

Surprise! has been unwell for the past week, suffering from a bout of the same sickness bug that laid low the rest of us the week before. This was an unwelcome surprise, as we'd assumed we got it from him, and so we'd come to the end, only to be rudely disabused of that notion.

The symptoms were fun: first he was productive at one end, then the other. And gradually it all tailed off as he was emptied out. And I think I'll avoid going into any more detail than that.

All of which is a tragic build up to the absolute highlight of my weekend: the return of the poo in yesterday's nappy.

It's fair to say it was not the greatest weekend ever.

Highs and Lows of the Weekend

It has been an eventful weekend...

Low! Surprise! is going through a phase where he has decided that he loves Mummy but hates Daddy. Frustrating for LC; soul-destroying for me.

High! I was at a band event on Saturday. When I got there I discovered that, once again, some fool had left me in charge. It went well.

High! LC went out for the evening on Saturday, and once Surprise! got used to the idea he realised that actually it's not so bad. Things got a bit tense around 10.30 when he woke up again and had to come to terms with the fact that Mummy simply wasn't there, but eventually he was persuaded to have a drink of water and go back to sleep.

Low! No sleep on Saturday night - LC returned home after midnight, Surprise! work us up just after 5.

Low! I had volunteered to do the reading in church this week, which would have been fine except that the Old Testament reading was Hosea 1 - the uplifting tale of how our hero was instructed to name his children Unloved and NotMine. Cheery stuff, that hits rather differently now than it did a few years ago.

High! A nice visit to Almond Valley in the afternoon. Fun in the sun, ice creams, and a little bit of a rest.

High! WIld boar for dinner. See my previous post.

High! Surprise! seems to have realised he doesn't hate Daddy after all.

Low! But he has gunky eyes and a fever.

Low! And now it's Monday.

The First Hurdle Cleared

Now that we have been moved to Covid Level 1, it is just barely possible for us to host a family gathering - we're allowed twelve adults outdoors, which means the birthday barbecue is basically ideal. Weather and delta variant permitting, we'll be able to gather for the first time since August. Which is rather nice.

That said, the journey has already been something of an adventure. It started with the meal planning - as I've mentioned before I like the notion of having a small number of foundation items along with a few elaborations, but with it being so long I thought I might go for something a little more involved this time... and I have some very interesting things to debut.

But this past weekend we hit a major hurdle. Our gas canister was nearing its end, and finally reached the end on Friday. This is actually a good thing, as we were in that awkward twilight area where there was some gas but not enough - leaving a judgment call over whether to replace it, get a second canister, or gamble. Better to be sure.

So on Saturday we went to B&Q to get a refill... and only then discovered that there is a major shortage at the moment! Disaster.

That of course prompted a lot of phoning around to try to find stock, as well as looking at other options, including but not limited to replacing the whole BBQ with a charcoal one, hiring in a BBQ and/or gas supply, or just getting takeaway instead.

But, luckily, there's no need - I've been able to find a stockist with actual, well, stock. And so we're now back on track... weather and delta variant permitting.

Surprise!'s Lack of Surprise

Yesterday we celebrated the baptism of Surprise!, which was a very different experience than Funsize's equivalent event - this was the first time we were back in the church building in more than a year, it was a much smaller event (both in the church and the family gathering afterwards), and we're all that much older and tireder than we were then. For all that, it was a lovely event.

The service was, in form at least, pretty much the same as for Funsize. However, where we had several people at the front, this time it was just LC and myself, plus Funsize and Surprise!. When the time came, LC held Surprise! forward, and the minister applied the water, rather than taking the child as would normally be the case.

One of the more surprising elements of the event was Surprise!'s reaction to the whole thing, or rather his complete lack of one - he just happily lay there are the water was applied, as though it was any other day.

After the event we returned home, where it was possible to host a small family gathering - one of the benefits of having a garden in which to host these things. It was a relatively small affair, but nice for all that. It was also the first time we've had any sort of gathering involving both sides of the family for more than a year. Another very welcome sign of things returning slowly towards normal.

Hopes For Our Son

Unlike with Funsize, we weren't asked for any words about our hopes for our son. That's probably just as well, as I'm running short of suitably subtle Pratchett/Tolkien/Babylon 5 references to use.

That said, the truth is that I hope for my son pretty much what every parent hopes for their child: happiness, health, good friends, and self-worth. Everything around that is just about arranging words.

So: I hope he grows up to he happy and healthy. I hope he finds himself surrounded by good friends. I know he will have a loving and supportive family, both immediate and wider.

And, most important of all, I hope he always knows just how loved and treasured he is. Just like his sister.

Funsize's Lockdown Birthday

As the previous post implies, Funsize has recently turned three. Whereas the first birthday saw us borrowing a hall and hosting a big party and the second year saw me taking the day of work for a daddy-daughter trip to the aquarium followed by a visit from many family members, this year was celebrated in lockdown.

The day started before the previous one really ended - it proved difficult to put FS to bed on Saturday, after which LC and I spent some time decorating the downstairs and laying out presents. Which meant we were already up against it, as going to bed after midnight is no longer as enticing as it was (and it was never all that enticing, if I'm being honest).

On waking, FS's immediate request was to have cake. She had been excited to help me in the kitchen on Saturday, only to be cruelly denied the ability to actually taste the cake we'd made, and again she was to be denied. Such a shame.

However, her disappointment was to be short-lived as we took her downstairs, whereupon all those efforts hanging bunting and blowing up balloons were worthwhile. And then she spent an hour or so tearing apart wrapping paper. Good times.

We then headed out for an early lunch, which we purchased from a McDonalds drive-through. I have no excuse.

From there we headed over to the Scottish Owl Centre, which is one of very few things that are still open. Fortunately, the weather was bright and sunny, albeit cold. Also fortunately, this is something the FS has very much enjoyed before, so we knew it was a decent choice. And so it proved. We enjoyed about an hour and a half of looking at the owls, including a talk from the keepers, before FS gradually decided it was time to move on. Then a quick play on an extremely busy playpark (not surprising on the first day of really decent weather in ages), and then home.

At this point we were then able to arrange a short playdate with one of the FS's friends. Obviously, the travel restrictions meant that family weren't able to visit, which is a real shame, while lockdown meant there was no chance for a party. But what is still allowed, we did. It's obviously no substitute, but it was also very welcome for all that.

Then FS helped me decorate the cake, something she'd been desperate to do all weekend, and then it was time for the Zoom and Skype calls to both sets of grandparents - and two lots of blowing out candles. (Poor thing - FS really wanted to try the cake, and after the first candle blowing she still couldn't! But it was, eventually, worth the wait.)

Then a birthday buffet, which I over-catered rather spectacularly, an evening watching "Spies in Disguise" (which is a reasonable way to spend a couple of hours, if you already have Disney+), and then bed for a very tired but very happy three-year-old.

It was a good day, though at the end of it LC noted a little sadness about it all - obviously, the lockdown meant no opportunity for a real party and also no chance to see family in person. For all concerned, but especially the two sets of grandparents, that's hard to take. And as good as the technology is, it again is just no substitute.

I totally understand that, of course. However, the major mitigation of that is that she's still young enough that she probably won't remember any of this, and resilient enough that when it's all over and done with she should just pick up where things left off. So rather than focusing on what she missed out on, it's okay to focus on what was possible. And it was a good day.

But here's hoping it is the only birthday she ever has to have in lockdown.

Halloween 2020

Due to the pandemic Halloween was of course rather different this year. Rather than just having the kids miss out completely, our estate organised a suitably distanced affair - those houses that wanted to be involved decorated the outside of the houses, put up a pumpkin sign in the window, and then left sweets outside to be collected.

Funsize dressed up as a butterfly, although the effect was lessened somewhat by needing a jacket over her costume. We then walked around the estate observing all the various decorations, and making the customary collection.

It was fine. In fact, if I'm honest I think I prefer it this way - I'm not a huge fan of Halloween in general, so being able to boil it down the essentials and to remove the need to answer the door was a definite boon for me.

So that one is no great loss. Bonfire Night will be much more of a loss, of course, with all the organised events being cancelled. On the other hand, Bonfire Night is frankly rather problematic, so maybe that's for the best, too.

That leaves Christmas, of course. Unfortunately, I can't see any possibility of it being even remotely normal this year (and, frankly, it shouldn't be - the pandemic just isn't going to go away in the next eight weeks). But that's a topic for another post...

#50: "Fire and Blood", by George R.R. Martin