VE Day, 75 years on

I had a very different blip planned, using photos of the bunting in the village and including one of my father from the war. However, when Dick came to do the garden this evening, he pointed out the beautiful interior of one of the last tulips in our border.

I grabbed the camera and then thought I could use the image for today. The blue in the base was more of a navy colour, so I have used some editing licence to make it more blue. Job done.

This is a day of very mixed emotions. Mum finds it quite overwhelming because the happy memories of the end of the war are hidden beneath the sad memories of some very traumatic events in her life and the lives of those around her.  We observed the 2 minutes silence at our front door, with Mum standing holding her trolley inside and me outside.Our resident blackbird took the opportunity to sing loudly.

After the silence, our village church bell rang out 75 times.

It was a wonderful day for weather, really a summer's day. I went to Wark to see the bluebells on Gold Island before they finish. They need rain but not the cold that is coming. They are wonderful and I had the island almost entirely to myself.

Life in the time of Covid 19 and on the 75th anniversary of VE Day
Our Tesco delivery came with a lovely young man at the wheel. He has a cat and told me all about her.

There was no ham available! I was looking forward to a ham sandwich, but if that is all I have to moan about, I'm fine.

I heard a bit of Max Hastings talking about the end of the war and how the country wanted change. A Labour government was voted in and we had the Beveridge report and then the NHS. They were optimistic times when some very good things happened. Let's hope we can do the same after the worst of the virus.

My main sadness today is because we have left the EU.
I try to write optimistically, but sometimes have to say what upsets me.