Goodbye, 2020

And so the year of the virus winds to its end. I would happily wish it goodbye except... there have been some good things and, apart from missing our family horribly, it's been pleasant enough in most ways. And we're still here, which isn't ever a given now we're both over three score years and ten. Daughter 2 sent us this calendar which she'd ordered, with pictures of everyone in it. So lovely. 

We're still allowed to meet the Edinburgh family outside so yesterday we went to Lauriston Castle, not far away. It's been snowing, as you can see. It doesn't really snow often here so the children were very excited. 

The slanting sun on the snow, the trees, the children, the sea and the island looked beautiful. 

We were careful not to fall in the water, 

which was frozen, though in fact the air temperature didn't feel particularly cold - there was no wind.

It was a golden outing - so precious to be with our lovely family.

Then the children came home with us for tea. We'd not thought to take sledges with us to Lauriston, so we fished our children's old ones out of the garage and the grandchildren had such fun sliding in our very gently sloping front garden. It was extremely tame really, but they're inventive: Big Grandson (9) was riding on "The Red Lines Train" and Biggest Granddaughter (7), who is (in my opinion) rather good at puns for her age, was playing in an adventure park called "Sledgendary Fun" which had a ride called "Snowlercoaster". 

Outside, the snowy garden. Inside, begonias rescued from the garden at the end of the summer, and the first hyacinths of the season. 

And I've finished the cot quilt for my friend's grandson, due in February. I actually finished the quilting a week or two ago and then - only then - checked the back to make sure that it was ok. Like not (for example) upside down in relation to the front. And it was upside down. After the first three seconds when I thought, oh well, who looks at the back and the front at the same time? - I started unpicking it. I couldn't present it like that. And what else have I to do with my life at the moment? (Well, lots of sorting out and so on, but nothing exciting.)

Here's the back. As you can see, it even has writing on it (thanks for the fabric, Thimbleanna!) just so that no one could fail to notice which way up it was. Well, no one except me. Sigh.

 Anyway, it's done now. Blue, vehicles and animals was the brief. That was my sixth quilt of the year, which shows how much extra spare time there's been.

And now I must not start another quilt until the archives are organised - properly organised, which must include some purging as well as some sorting other than chucking into different boxes. Purging is hard. Purging is emotional.

So that was the year. Like most people, I've found it quite hard at times and am pinning my hopes on next year's being a lot better. We'll see. What else could fate throw at us? (Don't answer that.)

I send my very best wishes to the kind commenters as well as the many unknown lurkers who appear to land on my blog every day from various places in the world, according to the statistics. Who are you?? Anyway, I'm sure we're all hoping for a brighter 2021. 

"Ring out the old, ring in the new:

Ring, happy bells across the snow.

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true."

(He knew a thing or two, Tennyson.)