Birthday

 My birthday was yesterday.  I did the shopping first thing whilst husband was at the gym.  Back home, after unpacking and putting the shopping away, I prepped lunch and dinner - my choice of food.  I did savoury filled croissants for our lunch - ham and Swiss cheese for husband, the cheese and sliced mushrooms in mine, I heated them up in my sandwich maker to melt the cheese.  We were having a (bought) salmon wellington for dinner, I did sliced new potatoes and leeks in a cheese sauce to go with it, along with peas.  Yummy.  A bought lemon & clementine mousse thing for dessert.

I suggested we go out for a drive after lunch, and a stop off somewhere for coffee and cake.  Husband suggested Dunster beach - not much of a drive, it's only about 10 minutes away!  And I'm not sure if the cafe on the holiday camp there is still open now, it may well be seasonal as the chalets aren't open all year round.  So I suggested somewhere further afield and where we hadn't been before, such as a drive up into the hills and across Exmoor, ending up at Lynton/Lynmouth and then taking the coast road home.  So that's what we did.  We saw lots of scenery, sheep, cows and wild Exmoor ponies - well, glimpses of them as we rushed past at the speed of light 😒😂.  Going out in the car for husband means A to B, it's all about the destination not the journey, he never thinks to stop (or even slow down!) to take in the views.  We didn't stop for coffee either, despite passing 3 tea rooms along the way.....which husband didn't even notice as he has tunnel vision when driving.  I'm not blaming him, he doesn't do it deliberately - he was a professional HGV driver most of his working life so he's always been used to getting to where he was going, unloading and then getting back to the depot asap, he doesn't know any different really and doesn't do driving for fun - it's a means to an end.  I do understand that.  He also drives too fast - I'm not saying he speeds (although he has been done for speeding twice in the past - not in his lorry I might add!), but he always drives at (or just above if he thinks I'm not watching) the speed limit.

Whenever husband has had a significant birthday, all throughout our married life, I've arranged something special for him as a surprise - a short break, day out, family get together, meals out.  He's never done that for me - not at all.  He rarely buys me anything either, he'll generally tell me to buy something I want and he'll pay for it.  At least that means I always get what I want!!  It's not that he doesn't love me - I know he does.  He's just got zero imagination and doesn't think at all.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling sorry for myself - after 41 years of marriage I'm totally used to it.  But it would just have been nice to have a surprise gift or special day out, even once.  It's not going to happen now, not after all this time and with his future declining cognitive state.  I guess the writing was on the wall when we were first courting, and our first Valentines day came up, we'd been going out just under a year then.  I got him a card....he didn't get me one.  When I expressed my disappointment, he gave me 50p out of his pocket and suggested I buy myself one if it meant that much to me!  (he's never been a fan of what he calls 'pointless celebration' days).

Back home, I had a go at some watercolour painting of simple Christmas type pine trees.....the first couple weren't even recognisable as trees!  By the 6th, 7th and 8th attempts though, there was a distinct improvement.  All the artists I've watched on videos make it look so easy - well I dare say it gets easier with time and lots of practise.  I'll carry on having a go with both watercolours and acrylics, at this early stage though I think I prefer acrylics - watercolour paint is very unpredictable, the water makes the paint go everywhere! 😂 (which I guess is kind of the point!).