This past weekend was one of many smiles. Jack and I get a lot of work done every Sunday. This weekend, we had some help in the form of two of our close friends who we have not seen for a couple of months. Last time we saw them, we were in someone’s garden. This time, we were inside because of the lifting of the social distancing restrictions that we have been carefully observing for months.
I was grateful for some help to put together a slideshow I will be using in a training session I will be conducting. Then we baked together!!! Yes, it is so lovely after over eighteen months to be able to bake with friends in the kitchen. I will never take these things for granted.

It suddenly crossed my mind that because my friend is moving abroad in a few months time, she might not be at my wedding. That was a heartbreaking thought. I suspect that she will also be getting married at some point over the next year or two, and very likely over in the USA. Another heartbreaking thought that I might not be at her wedding.
Distance is hard. It’s not just the distance, it is the cost to travel. The Pandemic has spooked me when it comes to travelling thousands of miles away. I live on a tight budget. When I do travel, it is the result of scraping and saving for a long time. I am not the kind of person who can afford for things to go wrong. I don’t have any plans to go abroad for a long time. Even Jack finds it weird that I don’t want to think about a paradisiac honeymoon. I would be happy with a fortnight in the Lake District – only his parents live there, so that is probably the last place we will be spending our honeymoon.
We talked a lot…as friends do….all sorts of subjects came up….including books. I have downloaded a few books at my friend’s suggestion. So…last night I started reading a book she told me I would enjoy by a WordPress blogger called Sarah Fennell. I read the first two chapters and I am already enjoying it.
I shared with her my latest YouTube playlist – full of love songs that I am using in the BAKE OFF posts I am preparing. We shared headphones so we could hear the deep bass.
Friends….friends who know what we like….know what makes us tick…and bring deep smiles to our faces….they are so precious.
This year we are hosting the heartwarming 2021 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF FESTIVAL OF LOVE. We are so thrilled with the photographs that have already been sent in. We would love you to take part too!! Please send your baking photographs into:
crushedcaramel@gmail.com
