Feest Isolation Days – 7 December
When the choice is Christmas Carol singing on Zoom or watching England play France in a Rugby final which would you choose?
I chose the rugby! If we were singing something meaty like Mozart or Vivaldi, I might have made a different choice but as it was carols, I went for sport. Neither option involved the ability to record them to watch later, so a choice had to be made.
It had to be the rugby Autumn Cup final between France and England. There were 2000 fans at Twickenham, a stadium that takes nearly 80,000 spectators, but as these remain Covid times, limits were imposed. The NHS was given nearly a quarter of the 2000 seats, with another quarter of the tickets going to family and friends of the team. Other lucky folks paid £75 a ticket to see this match. They got their monies worth. What a game! France came out fighting and England were chasing them through much of the first half. During the second England picked up, but Owen Farrell missed three penalty kicks and the score was still in Frances favour. During the last seconds of normal time, Owen scored a two point conversion after a brilliant Cowen Dicky try and the score was tied at 19 all. Because it was a final, the game went to sudden death – the first team to score any points would win. It was SO exciting! During the final seventeen minutes of extra time I was mostly hiding behind the settee. Owen kicked a penalty that went over and the win went to England. It was thrilling, exhilarating and exhausting to watch. Having the rugby to watch for the past month or so at the weekends has been terrific. There probably won’t be another Autumn Cup, but this one was a cracker! At least they didn’t call it the Covidcup but that is what it was.
As luck would have it, I got to do some Carol singing this weekend anyway. Our neighbours joined in with the idea of doorstep singing…a bit like doorstep clapping for carers we all did earlier in Lockdown. Inspired by that community effort, two Bristol women set up the idea of doorstep singing, published the song sheets online that we could download, and off we went. Residents of my street joined with a street a block away as someone there planned to play the piano, and the pianists husband hooked up a microphone and we could all hear what was going on. It was cold. Very cold. But socially distanced and community was experienced by all inside and outside. The spirit of Christmas has begun!
We had a Zoom dinner with friends on Saturday and shared the cooking. They did the main we did the starter and I made a pumpkin pie. Oh for the day when we will be able to invite people here again! The dining room is waiting.
The vaccine euphoria of last week is still with us a tiny bit. We await the info from Astra Zeneca and the Oxford vaccine and then we really will be happy folks.
Saturday was market day and I was at the front of the queue at eight in the morning. The market doesn’t officially open until half eight and the pouring rain didn’t deter anyone. By the time I was served, the queue was at least twenty people long. To say that they sell the best croissants on this side of the channel is an accurate statement. As it’s coming up Christmas they are also selling mince pies. All I can say is thank heaven I only bought two of them! Yum! Sorry France, the English have beat you at your own game again!
If rugby and carols aren’t your thing, have a look at these Welsh chaps who certainly have managed to bring a whole new style to sheep farming!
Enjoy!
With love
Kathy x