Lock down birthdays 2020
The initial Lockdown happened for us on March 23rd , which was my youngest daughter and all round sweetheart darling Jemima`s birthday. I had saved up and splashed out on Harry Styles tickets, this was going to be our year, no disappointing carpet tile steak dinner in Wetherspoons for us this year, oh no we were going to Manchester! The hotel was booked and she and her pal Emily were suitably revved up for lashings of Harry, in style.
Instead we had a party tea for five at Castle Howe with her Dad trumping along to "Happy Birthday" (his dubious party piece) and we spent the day painting, not the town red ,but her bedroom duck egg blue!
The fear of Lockdown had been looming for weeks and I had braved M&S to get some lovely curries we could microwave, because... calamity James had managed to break the oven!!
The cooker repair man preceded the washing machine and toilet troubles repair men. He was from Yorkshire and us Yorkshire people are reknowned for liking a proper cup of tea and enjoying a good chinwag.(But surely not in the early stages of a Pandemic?)
Having fixed my oven, I could have kissed him, but his PPE mask would have kind of restricted this, so I stupidly offered him a brew. Could I get rid of him? I found out where he went to school in Wetherby, the names of all his sausage dogs, his favourite chip shop in Scarborough! FFS, I started having a Corona sweat on, which come to think was probably a menopausal hot flush! Why was I being so polite and so British?- he even had two KitKats!!
After managing to get him to leave by simultaneously sneezing and coughing (a bit of Kit Kat went down the wrong way) we continued with the birthday celebrations... birthday cake, candles, Irish dancing in the kitchen, we were altogether and that is all that mattered. "Thanks for a lovely birthday!" Mima chimed on her way up to bed, phew we had successfully shielded her from the storm brewing outside our castle`s walls.
The next week was my birthday- homemade birthday card and hand sanitizer from Matty (spoiled rotten as usual),homemade birthday cake from James , Lily and Jemima and oodles of flowers, chocolates and Champagne arrived by delivery men all day from all my loved ones. "They should make you the patron saint of Amazon , Mum!" said Lilster.
Saint Clare of the Amazon- hoarder of Zoflora, rubber gloves and Benedictine liqueur (Lockdown essentials)!
My boss at school threw a virtual party for me and lots of children sent in video clips of them singing "Happy birthday!" from their sofas and playrooms and trampolines. Those clips will be treasured in my Lockdown time capsule forever, the perfect antedote to fear was the best gift to me delivered through their childlike innocence and joy. I must say it was one of my best birthdays ever...
Jemima`s Kendal Kebabs
I`ve got at least one child who likes cooking like I do and she spreads joy when she makes these for us...
6 lamb leg steaks cut into chunks
Marinate for half an hour in :-
olive oil 4tbs
2tbs honey
2 fat cloves garlic
dried oregano
cumin
chilli flakes
soya sauce
2tbs tomatoe puree
Squeeze of lemon juice and seasalt and black pepper
Thread onto kebab skewers with red onion in between and put into a hot oven for 20 minutes, serve on flatbreads with salad and yoghurt sauce (greek yoghurt with 1tbs mint sauce).
Jemima loves kebabs so much we joke we should have called her Donna!
I hope she looks back on her Corona birthday and smiles because despite the invisible storm raging outside, who cares about the weather , as long as we`re together.
So looking forward to being together with you all again soon xxx
You gave him TWO KitKats????😉
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