DECLINE AND FALL

What a shit show the UK is right now. Covid-19 numbers rising exponentially again, petrol shortages, energy shortages, food shortages, WINE shortages to follow soon (especially when I start panic buying) and it will remain to see if we have enough turkey’s and toys to keep everyone happy this Christmas. Admittedly supply chains have been affected globally, it’s not just us that are experiencing delays and price increases on goods, but Brex-shit most definitely has a lot to do with our woes right now. I’m not sure whether we’re more worried that heating our homes could become more expensive (as the price of gas has increased by 95%!!) or that there will be severe gas and power shortages this winter and we will freeze to death instead, unless Russia takes pity on us.

Globally, the situation doesn’t look much better. Too little wind in Europe to run the wind turbines, droughts in LA, Asian and European floods, fires, inflation, housing market collapses….where is the good news?

I’ve been feeling so concerned about the Decline and Fall all around us that I haven’t even written any blog posts this month, so I’m taking it back down to what makes me happy on a personal level.  Life isn’t ideal for my immediate family at the moment but that’s not for me to write about, but it occurred to me the other day that I really am feeling happy right now for my children.  If you’re only as happy as your unhappiest child then life is good, because all three of my kids are VERY HAPPY and what more could you want as a parent than for your children to be happy. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY. I’m going to see how many times I can add it to the paragraph. Such a simple word, but means the world.

FAMILY AFFAIRS UPDATE

First born son:- Travelling again with work, enjoying his job, his home life with his girlfriend and getting out and about with friends.

Middle born daughter:- Life has changed significantly for her in the last year. During the first lockdown she made a life changing decision and started an MA in Clinical Psychology. She worked unbelievably hard all through lockdown and finally handed her dissertation in last week.  She’s still awaiting results, but has already got a job in a leading London NHS hospital working on a Dementia project (which is very good for me). She came home yesterday beaming because she’d finally been into the freezer to hold and inspect some of the brains. Yes, weird I know, but she’s loving it.

This was us celebrating the day she finished it all and look how happy I am that my espresso martini is as big as my head:-

Espresso Martini’s

Last born son:- He’s in his last year of uni and loving getting back to some semblance of normality after his lockdown 2nd year experience. He sounds happy and even mentions the word “library” from time to time when we chat which makes me happy!

Cat:- Still making us happy:-

Our cat

Cat in a basket

Friends:- Loving them – here are a few from the wedding of the year where me and my friend were witnesses to her happy, long awaited marriage to the love of her life and we also did a shared speech:-

Wedding of my friend

Wedding party

The girls at the wedding

We even managed to escape for a few days to Le Lavandou in the South of France to eat, drink, laugh, play cards and pétanque with some friends and October proved to be a magical month for sunsets:-

Lavendou sunset

And on the upside, back here in the UK, despite this photograph being taken at the church where we attended the funeral of a family friend, just look at the colours of autumn (obviously it was a massive downside that the mother of family friends back in Hong Kong has died:-

Beautiful red leaves on a church

On a proper upside is the reopening of theatres in and around London. We visited Richmond theatre just before it reopened and then went to see their launch production of “Dirty Dancing” – a massive crowd pleaser and to see the joy in the faces of the audience, singing along to all the songs brought tears to my eyes:-

Followed by coffee where Ted Lasso usually sits

Dirty Dancing at Richmond Theatre

So that’s it for now.  I’m back at work three days a week and going into the office which is GREAT.  Loving seeing everyone again and keeping busy.  Time will tell whether the government have to revert to Plan B and recommend that we work from home again, wear face masks and use Vaccine Passports to get into larger events.  Time will also tell whether we have a miserable winter or a mild one, but I’m going to try and stay as upbeat as possible by doing my daily walk in the park, seeing my friends, staying close to family and trying to find the positives – of which of course there are many.  Really nothing to complain about from my end!  Which makes a HAPPY change.  Travel is slowly coming back too (although it remains to be seen whether other countries follow Morocco’s lead and ban us from entry).  The USA is opening back up to us in a few weeks and even Australia will let us in soon I hope.  Fingers crossed we are heading for a levelling off of infections, turning it from a pandemic to an endemic disease we simply have to learn to live with.

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook