Fabulous at 70

This wasn't the blip I had planned for today (that's the one in the extra), but it has been an extraordinary day.

Given we are in lockdown, I wasn't expecting anything special for my birthday - but my wife had other ideas. It seems my friends and family were happy to help her with her plans.  So I ended up with lots of cards and presents - far more than I might have expected. In addition, she had collected photographs and birthday messages from friends and family and put them together in a photobook.

However, the biggest surprise came in the afternoon.  She told me that our son would be video-calling me, but I was a bit confused when she laid the table in the dining room with champagne flutes and birthday themed plates, and then decorated the room with balloons and bunting. When I logged into the Zoom call, there were six other groups on the call in addition to my son and daughter-in-law.  My wife had arranged for each of them to have afternoon tea delivered from a supplier near to each of them together with matching balloons and bunting.

It was a fun (if noisy) meeting - and synchronised singing of "Happy Birthday" over Zoom isn't the most tuneful sound - but I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon as, I think, did everyone else on the call.

Definitely an unforgettable birthday.

(The extra is a window cleaner with a long pole and a hose: the easy way to wash windows above ground level - and a lot safer than a ladder.)