New Rose

Mrs C and I celebrated our 41st Valentines Day today - together, that is. We obviously had Valentines Days before we met each other and started going out! Actually, now I think about it, it might only have been me sending a card in 1979 as I have a feeling Mrs C was technically still going out with one of my friends in February. Fortunately, that state of affairs was remedied shortly afterwards and we have been together since.
Given our advanced years, these days we tend to celebrate with just cards and a few chocolates as well as something nice for tea. But this year there was an extra present. Mrs C follows a chap called Villager Jim on social media. He does great photos and also steel sculptures of dogs, flowers and other items. We now have two of these roses, and the idea is that we put them in the garden and they will then naturally weather as the steel oxidises. Various helpful suggestions in the pack as to how to speed up this ageing process (paint with vinegar, spray regularly with water, etc) but being as how we live in the Lake District, I think we can safely leave it to nature to do the job. Rain is something we do not lack!
It was always my intention to revisit each blip once I had reached the first anniversary, just to see how things had changed - or not! - and it will be interesting to see what this rose looks like in twelve months time.
In other news today, Mrs C got her first jab. A very slick operation as far as I could see and I look forward to receiving the call in due course. She is now one of the 15M who have received at least one dose of the vaccine by 15th February. Whatever your views on the pandemic, that is a great achievement and let’s hope it continues at a similar pace.