First of all, me and Mum hope you all had a happy Christmas – or at least the best you could in these very strange times with no one really sure what was going to happen from day to day. We were very quiet for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, mostly because Mum has been so busy recently and so she decided she’d have a few days catching up on some rest instead.
Even our famous Boxing Day trifle had to wait until the 29th this year, but that was because there was so much food in the fridge that she couldn’t get the trifle dish in there for the jelly to set, before she could add the custard and the whipped cream.
We also had our proper Christmas dinner on the 29th with roast pork, stuffing, apple sauce, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts and bread sauce, and – of course – lots of trifle to follow. We also had a bottle of champagne as we were fed up of waiting for a special occasion to come along!
But, having said everything was delayed, I got two lovely presents on Christmas Day. The first was this lovely cuddly penguin from my good friend Ali, who does all the technical bits with my blog and knows I’ve loved penguins ever since one fell out of the cold water tap and into the wash basin during last winter…
The other is this fabulous sparkly blue duffel coat, specially made for me by Ali’s mum, who is an honorary member of Team Wilf…
Now Christmas is over for another year, however, and it’s almost time to say goodbye to 2021. And what an odd sort of a year it’s been for everybody. I know we’ve been luckier than many, but for the first time ever, me and Mum have only been out of the village three times in twelve months – twice into Skipton because Mum needed some money and once to Silsden to get her second jab.
Even more odd is the fact that we haven’t really wanted to go anywhere anyway. Mum’s even locked her car away in its garage and put a Statutory Off Road Notice on it as she just doesn’t feel like driving at the moment.
On top of that, we’re really missing going out with all our lovely friends from Red Bus Days Out, who we haven’t seen for almost two years now. So we’ve got our claws and fingers firmly crossed for things to start to get back to more normal for all of us before much longer.
And, despite spending all this time at home, Mum hasn’t got much writing done this year. To be honest, she hasn’t done any at all, apart from helping me write my blog every week and making a few notes for some of the many projects she has in her head – though some of these are much better now than they were originally, so maybe that’s not a bad thing after all.
Because she’s good to me – except when she says I’m rude or naughty and shuts me in a drawer! – I decided I’d do my best to help her, starting by getting her to make a list of all the ideas she has, along with a note to say how far she’s got with each one.
Then I got her to buy a year planner that she can put on her office wall for 2022. In fact, I got her to buy two – one for her plans and one for her achievements. On New Year’s Day I’m going to have a lot of fun helping her arrange all the coloured stickers on the first one, but we won’t put any on the second one until she’s actually written something.
I’m also going to try and help her to get back to being her old self, as all this staying in and hardly seeing anyone but me and her partner hasn’t done her a lot of good. In fact, on Christmas Eve I went with her to post a small present through a friend’s letter-box just two streets away and I felt really embarrassed on the way back as she was puffing like an old steam-engine…
So on New Year’s Day we’re going for a little walk – and the day after that we’re going to walk a little bit further – and a bit further still on the day after that, until Mum can do it easily and keep on doing it, as I’m sure that’ll make her feel better.
I might also persuade her to get her old hula-hoop out and see if she still knows how to use it!
And with that I’d better sign off for now, but not before I wish you all a very happy, peaceful, prosperous and – above all – healthy New Year.
Take care, stay safe – and look out for another tale from me soon!
Follow my next blog: 180. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART SIXTY-NINE
30/12/2021
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 