May 23, 2020
Covid birthday
Numbers don’t mean anything, do they? How did I get to be 67? I used to think of that as old in terms of my parents. A long time ago, a girlfriend and I were at the beach when some young kids ( under 15 ) asked us how old we were. I can’t recall our ages but it was around 25 -27. The kids both stopped and starred at us and said “wow, you are very old” 😯 So now they are older than I was at that time, I wonder if they feel old. I certainly don’t. My body is older 😥 but my mind remains as young as ever and I still have the same desires and dreams that I always have had 😎
Yesterday was my birthday. Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday via my blog comments and via email. I wasn’t going to let the cat out of the bag until today. It was the first time in my life that I remember it raining on May 22nd. I have photos as a child taken every year in front of the same cherry blossom tree and the sun was always shining and the sky was always blue. Two years ago when I turned 65 I was in Rome at the Vatican and last year I was on a Greek island cruise and the sun was shining both years. This year as I turned 67 we are social distancing and laying low because of the pandemic and the skies were crying huge tears.
We started the day with a visit to the chiropractor and then a grocery shop at the wonderful huge and well spaced Superstore in Vernon. I picked out my birthday cake for later in the day. On the way home Colin took a detour and we had a wonderful drive though the countryside despite the weather. Somehow we ended up at 50th Parallel, one of my favourite wineries here in the Okanagan. Colin was stopping in to purchase a bottle of my favourite Pinot Gris. It turns out that they had just opened the day prior for wine tastings. They have been shut down for two months due to government Covid – 19 regulations.
So why not. We got four tastings for $5.00 and that was deleted if we bought a bottle of wine and I said lets’ do the tasting. Because of Covid they are not allowed to pour our wine but pour the wine into a small carafe and then we have to pour that into our individual glasses. Not much difference to me but whatever works.
Their restaurant also had just opened and was full.
Back home we put our groceries away and had a late lunch. Colin had made my salmon pate recipe the day prior ( secret recipe ) and so we enjoyed that over a few crackers and relaxed. Our walk was aborted due to the rain. In case I forget to mention this later, we had a lot of rain all day yesterday and overnight. The lake actually did rise but not enough for us to be concerned. I settled in with my current read and a glass of vino. Excellent novel by Armando Lucas Correa, called the “German Girl”.
Later Colin went out to pick up Chinese food from our favourite place. We have eaten there, inside the restaurant, over the years as well as had take out, so we felt perfectly safe with this decision. As is our normal we sit in our recliners and watch TV as we ate. Colin had specially chosen, as a surprise to me ‘ Mary Poppins Returns ‘ ( 2018 ). He recalled that a while back I had expressed a desire to see the movie. I can’t believe that he remembered that. It was a good movie but in my mind no where as near grand as the original ‘ Mary Poppins ‘ ( 1964 ). Afterwards I discovered that Colin had never seen the original. Guess what we will be watching sometime in the next few weeks? I know every word to every song from that original movie.
He later surprised me with a homemade birthday card printed off the computer. Included was a certificate for a thirty minute foot massage. Lucky me. So very original and thoughtful. Grazie mille mi amore. But there was more to come, a bottle of Dubonnet from France which I have not had for a few years and is a favourite and also a bottle of Disaronno Originale Amaretto from Italy. What a wonderful celebration. I will forever remember by Covid birthday. As they say “life is good”. It truly was a grand day.
A wee confession. My good friend, Sandy M, is always suggesting cake and ice cream to celebrate. I was so full that I could only eat a few spoons of ‘Death by Chocolate’ ice cream yesterday. The chocolate fudge cake will be served tonight 😆 Don’t worry amiga, I will get both.
Oh yes, the fortune cookies. For some unknown reason the restaurant had included twelve fortune cookies. I spread them all out and chose one. I was surprised to discover that my choice had not one but two fortunes in the same cookie. Colin only had the one. It said “Rome was not built in a day”. The first one I read said “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst 😯 Hmm, not a great fortune. Eventually I read the second tiny piece of white paper, “You will soon be reminded of a fond memory”. That was easy, the girls. I have been thinking of them more and more these past days. If it appears that we can no longer travel for years to come, some wiener babies may be in our future. But only if international travel becomes impossible. We both want more fur babies but we do want to complete our world travels first. Unlike others I could not leave my kids with someone else.
So overall it was a grand day despite the rain. The future is cloudy but I choose to believe that the sun will shine through 😎
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A belated Birthday Wish is sent your way.
The Rain must have been a reflection of the times.
Lucky find that the Vineyard was open.
Nice that Colin was able to cook up your dinner.
Be Safe and Enjoy the quieter times. It is a different world.
It’s about time.
Thank you for your birthday wishes. Yes we live in a different world.
I agree, leaving fur babies with others is damn hard. I truly hope the lady who we got Buddy from will still take him from time to time now, that may change of course. I can’t see leaving him with anyone else. I only trust her. Her dad is a vet and he gets to hang out with his Mom and his Dad because they are her pets and her and her husband work from home so Buddy is never lonely. Glad your hubby came through on the spoiling but there was little doubt there. It’s dreary here too. I did manage to plant my front flowerbed yesterday but it was cold and windy and now rainy again. We need a little heat!
Yes it was a wonderful day despite the rain. We will only get more pups once our flying days are done.
Sounds like a great day!!! Happiness to you and yours!
Thank you so much.
Oh what a wonderful day. Happy belated birthday.
Gracia amiga.
Dear Contessa our good wishes are a couple of days late but never the less they come from the heart. May your life always be healthy and happy.
We love reading your blog. Looking forward to it every day. At times as this even more important to be in touch with friends. We do consider you both our friends since we have known you a long time now and met in person as well.
At least we get on walk daily . Nature is at its most beautiful . May favourite time of year.
Hopefully eventually we will get back to normal whatever our normal means. Now we have to make the best of the situation.
Must make mention of your tender loving husband , so caring . You are both so lucky.
virtual hugs, love Peter & Hannelore.
Thank you both for this lovely email. It means so very much to me. All we can do right now is live each day to the fullest and hope that tomorrow will be even better.
Hugs back,
Contessa