Today is my birthday. I did not expect to celebrate my birthday this year in lockdown. When considering what I would do a year ago for my birthday, I had hoped to have a short break away, possibly in Jersey or Guernsey. Instead, I have not been confined to my home and have not left it for 86 days. That's right - 86 days! While I have spent a lot of time at home on previous occassions due to working long hours, I would usually make an effort to get out and do something at least twice a month. Now, it's not possible as nothing is open and it does not feel safe. When we started this lockdown in mid-March, I expected that we would be in lockdown until, at least, the end of June. And that seems to be what has happened.
Of course, this year's birthday has to be a low key affair now. Once the lockdown ends and everything is safe, I will choose an "official" day for my birthday. I can have two birthdays for 2020, like the Queen does every year. Although I worked today as there was nothing else I could do and the weather was dreary, I did order a birthday cake from a local baker. It tastes like Victoria sponge cake. I asked for it to be an ombre green effect with peach or cream flowers and macroons, depending on what they could find.
To celebrate my birthday a bit earlier (as restaurants are still closed, and there are only a handful of takeaways starting to operate now), I picked up a Sunday roast from a local restaurant last Sunday. The restaurant are only serving takeaway roasts on Sundays. Most businesses are not doing this, but out of all of the pubs and restaurants in the area, Arens Bar and Grill (which I visited a few years ago and you can read about in my post Sunday Lunch @ Aren's Bar & Grill in Eastcote, London) are serving meals to enjoy at home. (I actually visited the Eastcote branch a couple of years ago, but they opened up another branch just north of Ruislip about a year ago.) Of course, the cost was not cheap at all and was more expensive than eating out in their restaurant, but it is helping a local business through this difficult time. The roast was as delicious as I remember from eating in their restaurant a couple of years ago, and I had the sticky toffee pudding for dessert, which I warmed up and ate later that day as there was just so much food.
Although I know people who have had this virus and others who have not been lucky, I am just hopeful all of my readers and my friends and family continue to be safe and well. And I am hopeful that we can return to life once again and to leave this state of limbo but also leave it feeling safe and comfortable.
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