Lockdown Diary - Saturday 17th October 2020

Woke up to a full house and a plan to go shopping with both son #1 and his gf.

It's the twins birthday, so I had been planning to do a deal with son #3, so neither of the twins had to join me, however son #1 was keen to come as his gf is planning to make a banoffee pie today, so who am I to argue (answers on a postcard please to: The Argumentative Bastard, PO Box 9999, London, WC4 2PP)?  There's an additional advantage as son #1's gf has a staff discount card for the store in question, which is an unexpected bonus.

Did all the usual stuff then came home to eat breakfast and get various chores done while we waited for all three sons to be up, dressed and ready for card and present opening.

We had a meal booked at the local Italian restaurant for lunch and, for a change, I'd planned we'd walk there and back - if nothing else, a way to ensure I did more than my quota of walking for the day.  Presents opened, it was time to head off!

As we don't normally eat our main meal of the day until the evening, I always find a meal so early in the day very filling.  I had a starter and a main, but was too full to eat more, and was really glad of the walk back. 

Once returned, son #1 and his gf set about making banoffee pie (another reason not to have a dessert) whilst I returned to the chores. 

Sons 1 and 2 had plans to go out for a curry with friends in the evening, which seemed crazy to me, as I still wasn't feeling hungry.  Before they went out I needed to take son #1's gf to the station so she could go home (she has work tomorrow) and return son#3 to uni, suitably armed with supplies plus the latest book he needed for his course.  After saying goodbye to son #3, son #1 and I returned to the curry restaurant that he was meeting his brother and friends at.  

Unfortunately, after I'd dropped him off, I returned to the post-banoffee clear up and to a dishwasher full of clean stuff that needed to be put away.   At least there was wine and music to accompany this tedious activity.  For the first time in ages I was home alone (well, not quite, but effectively) and decided to watch a music documentary DVD ('Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales', if you're interested) accompanied by a slice of banoffee pie (it was all I could eat, still too full!) and wine.  It's a great documentary with some fairly obscure footage and interesting musical avenues to explore.

Not long after 10 p.m. the birthday boys returned with tales of their meal.  I've not been to that restaurant in a couple of years, so was interested to see what it was like.  My recollection was that it was good, but dishes were spicier than anticipated.

I watched the documentary to the end, then decided it was time to head upstairs for a date with darkness.

The slowest part of writing today's blog has been choosing a song to close with. No shortage of songs in my brain, just none that I felt I wanted here. In the end I spotted an album by Shuggie Otis while I was looking for something else. That led to this track, 'Aht Uh Mi Hed', originally from the album 'Inspiration Information', but in my collection from 'The Very Best of Shuggie Otis 1969-1974'.

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