Lockdown Diary - New Year's Day (Friday 1st January 2021)

I awake to 2021. No hangover, though I've slept in as I didn't get to sleep until about 2 a.m. or thereabouts. I can't honestly say that I'm feeling that positive, after all it's just another day and nothing changes from yesterday except the date.  We are also no longer in the EU which casts a dark shadow over the coming years, a shadow which will not be lifted any time soon.  Something I need to get engaged in and see what can be done.

For a change I get showered and dressed after the second carer call of the day, so I don't end up having breakfast until a little before 11 a.m. - unheard of! I shall probably burn in hell for this indulgence 😂🤣😂

My original plan for the day was that we'd all eat together mid-afternoon, a bit like on Christmas Day, however the non-appearance of sons 1 and 2 until the time when the sun was heading for the western horizon put paid to that idea.  I am remarkably chilled about this, my flexibility and adaptability honed by years of living with uncertainty. Working in IT, I am fully aware that a plan is just what will happen if the assumptions it's based on (and there are always assumptions whether made explicit (as they should be) or implicit (if you've not done your job properly)) prove to be true. In IT projects one or more of the assumptions always prove to be false and so it is in life, or at least in mine.

When the twins finally emerge it is decided that we'll not have lunch, since it would be too close to dinner, and I'm OK with that.  In truth, it was probably a bad idea as it meant that I snacked on lots of nuts, which was probably more fattening than the lunch I skipped. I'm going to have to start cutting back on things or else my main achievement of 2021 may be turning into Mr. Creosote.

Intertwined amongst the days tedious activities I managed to order some new bedding in the sales (the life I lead! Phew!), read more of the Hawkwind and 'Christmas is Murder' books, as well as complete a further three lessons from my tarot course.

I had a call from my sister up north as well as from my father-in-law, who's also up north, though further west than my sister, both to say 'Happy New Year' in person, sort of.  It's good to talk.  Some how or other I often end up making my big sister laugh on these calls, which makes them all the more worthwhile. We were trying to extract some positives from 2020 but all we came up with were paltry items.  The best thing from my year was having an operation, a damning summation of the year.

Evening beckons and as the dinner will take around 90 minutes to cook I decide to get it underway.

After starting the dinner, a beef joint, and preparing the sprouts, I leave the remainder of the work to sons 2 and 3. Son #2 banishes me from the kitchen and so I take the opportunity to watch some of 'Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets' recorded from Sky Arts.  Apart from Nick Mason on drums, the band also features Gary Kemp (of Spandau Ballet fame) on guitar and vocals, and a few less well-known (maybe Guy Pratt is the exception) players, and I am surprised just how good the old Pink Floyd material sounds.  I did have my reservations, especially with regards to Gary Kemp (though I believe he's a Syd Barrett fan), but actually so far (I've not watched it all) they manage to inject both life and humour into the songs and they sound fresh and not as dated as I thought they might.

We all sit down and watch another episode of 'Raised By Wolves' and enjoy our dinner, with a suitable sparkling wine accompaniment, it being a special day of sorts.

Back to the future, or rather the present: the debut album by Pottery, titled 'Welcome To Bobby's Motel' was an intriguing listen in late 2020. Never less than engaging, there are a couple of standout tracks that suggest their next album could really be something special.  One of my favourite songs is 'Reflection'

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