A Big Lockdown Birthday Missed

Everyone has been in the same boat (except Dominic Cummings perhaps) so we are not going to feel sorry for ourselves in having missed our lovely daughter Sarah's 40th birthday. She and Duncan had planned a big family get together in Center Parcs Penrith and we were all looking forward to celebrating a milestone in her life. It would have been one of the rare chances for us to be together with all of our grandchildren but sadly it was not to be. We've re-booked for next year so we can celebrate her 41st.

39 Years passed in the blink of an eye.

I've said before that we're pretty cautious and we've not been going out much at all despite the relaxations in the lockdown. So we've spent time in the garden and I've been completing my online iPhone photography and editing courses. June was truly glorious and we decided to venture out of the house for a trip to the coast having been told by a friend of the delights of the ancient church at Ramsholt. I used it to practice some of the tips from the courses. Here are some of the results.

Medieval doorway

Saxon (I think) round tower

The churchyard was in full bloom.

And Marion looked blooming as always.

An editing experiment.

We walked from the church to the Ramsholt Arms. The pub was just getting ready to re-open. Maybe when this is all over, we will give it a visit.

Living in Framlingham, there is no shortage of spots to practice so I had a couple more visits to the Medieval castle and the nearby mere.

The castle and the church

Experimenting with reflections and "golden hour" light.

The poppies have given a wonderful display this spring.

Editing experiment. Part of the house was in this shot. (If I hadn't told you you probably wouldn't have noticed).

We had a trip to the castle on a scorching afternoon.

Fathers' day came and went without seeing either Paul or Sarah but I had some lovely presents. A great first edition from Sarah and a subscription from Paul.

You will have probably seen these Masterclasses advertised online. They are fascinating and, thanks to my sub, I have access for a year. So far I have done the David Sedaris class and started the Annie Leibovitz course. David Sedaris is such a wonderful writer that it will be well nigh impossible to ever come close but his series of talks was pretty inspiring. As for Annie L, her photographs are out of this world - Masterclass is an understatement.

I had my first detecting session in months a few weeks ago. I know that this doesn't look much but it is part of a medieval decorative mount. It was encouraging to find this as I felt the field (the only one available at the moment) looked unpromising.

I entered a competition to win some wine by putting a photo of doors or windows supplied by the fabulous Burgess group on Instagram. 

It was worth the time when a young man called round with this. What a lovely surprise!

Marion loves shoes by Cocorose. So when they turned over production to face masks she wanted to support them. Very smart I think.

She decided to sell some of her clothes on eBay. The prices were terrible with one buyer paying a total of £5.50 including postage for a Whistles blouse and Boden dress and then having the cheek to leave the feedback that the dress was "quite nice". The best sale was her fabulous Roberto Cavalli dress (above). That sold for £77 - and then the buyer didn't bother to pay.

I always used to sell on eBay and ran a small business buying and selling antiques. With time on my hands during lockdown I've started again. I've had some spectacular finds and plenty of not so good ones. With the auction houses reopening I've been stocking up.

Yes I know some of these things are ghastly but when you buy mixed lots at auction, you have to take everything. I've got 43 sales running on eBay. I hope that they turn a profit as there's a lot of work in those listings.

Guess who has come to visit us from Spain and is now in quarantine for two weeks.

After a long journey on Monday, Mum is settling in and enjoying herself with her jigsaw puzzles.

I think it was too easy.

We are still doing daily exercise classes and after four months I'm showing the vague outlines of a six pack for the first time in sixty-six years. Marion is as fit as a fiddle. Here's the Tai Bo class that she found on YouTube.