Thursday 31 December 2020

Goodbye 2020 & here's to 2021!

When I posted my last Friday's Fave Five we were still on course for a family Christmas.  We were all so looking forward to getting together as a family.  It would have been the first time the new babies met each other - and the first time all the aunties and uncles would have met all of them.  It was going to be wonderful.  I had the house prepared, tables borrowed and so on.  It was so exciting.

But Covid numbers were rising and there were rumours of the 5 day Christmas break being reduced and we were being asked to be sensible and use our common sense.

Then on 19th December London was locked down, again, due to rising Covid cases.  Christmas was cancelled.  We had gone from Tier 2 to Tier 4 in just a couple of weeks.  We were (and still are) on a Stay at Home order. 

This of course meant my son and his family would have to stay in Nottingham.  Thankfully they were able to see his in-laws who live nearby and who they are in a support bubble with so their Christmas wasn't totally ruined.

We then had a dilemma.  We had formed a support bubble with my daughter and her family so we could still see them but that would mean excluding my younger son and his family.

After much debate and soul searching and, given that we have all been really careful during the whole pandemic but particularly in the week or so leading up to Christmas, we settled on spending Christmas Eve at my daughter's house, doing presents, big dinner etc and then my son and his family came here on Christmas day and stayed until the next day.  We all agreed we were using common sense.

It was wonderful having them here after hardly seeing them but it was heartbreaking when they went home, not knowing when we will be able to see them properly again.   We did get out for a walk while they were here:

 

As you can see we still needed our wellies and poor Rory kept saying "I don't like it" when he was sinking in the mud lol.  He only fell over once bless him but we were glad of the foresight of taking wipes to clean up his hands and the all in one waterproof suit!

We managed to use the large turkey I'd ordered in anticipation of there being 8 adults for dinner and couldn't subsequently cancel.  Nick's turkey broth was excellent as usual although it never tastes the same twice as there is no recipe to be followed.  His turkey curry went down well too.


I don't think we've finished all the parsnips though.  I ordered 2 packs of the honey roasting parsnips as on the left in the picture.  I intended using one with our meal at our daughter's and one at home with our son and family.

 

Unfortunately the supermarket only supplied 1 of the ready prepared pack.  So they substituted with ordinary parsnips as on the right.  6 bags of them!  Just one bag was probably more than the prepared version but 6!  The good thing is that I've grown to like parsnips over the last couple of years but not by that much lol.

But now Christmas is done and we're about to see in the new year.  My decorations are still up and will probably come down at the weekend.  

2020 has been the strangest year of my life and it's been hard not being able to see family and friends as we would like but, we have all stayed well and although those who work may have found that working from home isn't all they thought it might be they do still have jobs.

We have moved house and gained 3 grandchildren.  That's how I'm going to remember this year and hope that 2021 is even better.

Wishing you all a better, and healthy year to come.

10 comments:

  1. I am so sorry your Christmas celebration had to be squashed but it is good that you did have time with your kids and grands. We keep waiting to be shut down again but so far, so good. They say numbers are up but we aren't seeing that locally. We are still being careful, though. Our hope for 2021 is the same as everyone's... and end to the pandemic and finding a better (new) normal.

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    1. Yes we still managed to enjoy ourselves. I'm more hopeful that we can beat this thing now we have another vaccine being rolled out.

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  2. I'm glad you managed to see your family albeit different to the planned celebration. The numbers of confirmed cases are making me very nervous and I hope you and your family keep safe and enjoy a healthy 2021. Thank you Wendy for your many comments this year.

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    1. Yes this new variant and increase in cases etc is rather alarming but with another vaccine approved hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for your visits here too and keep safe and well!

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  3. I think of you whenever we hear news of what's happening 'across the pond.' So, last week, I was so sad to think that your Christmas plans weren't going to happen as you'd hoped. I love your attitude about remembering the good things in 2020! What a year for you with those THREE beautiful babies! Stay safe and best wishes for 2021!

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    1. Thanks Karen. Yes I admit I shed more than a few tears when we had to change our plans but so many people have actually been badly affected by the pandemic that in comparison we have got off very lightly so far. Plus the new babies have definitely made the year more bearable. Best wishes to you too.

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  4. Wendy, yes, the year has been strange. We have heard across 'the pond' about how you guys are in total lock down and that a more contagious version of Covid has been running through your population. We are seeing that version now in the US as well - but we are also hearing that your vaccination process is going well - much better than in the US. Our country is divided into states and that has hampered our whole pandemic experience negatively. And of course our National leadership has been so terrible. I am hoping that when we both look back at 2021 things will be better for both our countries. Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you. Yes I do think we may have turned a corner now that we have 2 vaccines being rolled out but this new variant is causing a lot of concern. Hopefully things will look better when we look back on 2021. Happy New Year.

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  5. Moved and grandchildren is a great way to remember this year! I think you did a great job of combining all the Christmases. We got hit by Covid and had to postpone our Christmas until last night. It actually was nice having everyone here to start the new year though. Happy New Year to you and your family!
    Janet’s Smiles

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    1. Oh no. Hope everyone is feeling better and doing ok. Happy new year to you too!

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