75th Anniversary of VE Day - 08/05/20

Being as the whole country is in lockdown most of the events that were planned for today have been cancelled. There were still some street parties which were supposed to take place only if social distancing was adhered to throughout. Cosham in Portsmouth made it onto the national news via the BBC to illustrate that people were marking the event in the traditional way, with neighbours in the streets. From the picture I saw, it was questionable whether social distancing was maintained and in my family group we are all becoming quite concerned about any impact these gatherings will have in the coming weeks in terms of rises in the number of virus cases.

Significant events today were a 2 minute silence at 11am, a Spitfire and the Red Arrows fly past over London and commemorative programmes throughout the day on the BBC. E is excited to watch the VE Day: A Musical Celebration as it has performances by Helen George from Call The Midwife (who E knows from her time on Strictly) and also Janette & Alijaz and Anton & Emma (all from Strictly!) are taking part. We have recorded it for her to watch at some point soon.

R and myself stopped at 3pm to watch extracts from the original speech from Sir Winston Churchill which were being re-broadcast and at 9pm, exactly 75 years on from King George VI's announcement of the end of the Second World War, the Queen also addressed the Nation. It was perfect. She acknowledged the hard times we are all experiencing currently and assured us that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice back then would be proud of the Nation now as we have worked together to fight this invisible enemy; "We are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire". In reference to the cancellation of many planned street parties and the quiet, abandoned streets that are the new normal here in the UK, the Queen assured us that the "streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other." This was then followed by Dame Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' performed by many of the stars mentioned above.

F and R made some scones which we had this afternoon with strawberry jam and clotted cream. We also marked the occasion with an alcoholic beverage! I tried my Mum's Lavender Gin which she gifted me the Christmas before last (it wasn't quite to my taste sadly but I know she will happily be gifted it back!) R had a beer. As it was a special occasion the children were allowed to have Coke!

My family on the mainland celebrated by putting up bunting and flags. My auntie wore some homemade Union Jack clips in her hair for work at Home Bargains and my Mum did her hair in Victory rolls and a hair scarf. My cousin and her boys were lucky that the Spitfire did a flypast for an elderly care home resident who is 102 and the last survivor of HMS Cossack from World War II. Her eldest son is very into photography and has apparently captured some very good shots as the care home is near to where they live. We are looking forward to seeing the photos.

Myself and R were hoping to watch War Horse this evening but it got so late that we were too tired in the end. We saw it on stage at The Mayflower in Southampton and absolutely loved it but we are yet to see the film! I'm sure if lockdown continues for many more weeks to come that we will get around to watching it eventually.

The decorated window was local to us in Ryde after we went out for our daily exercise earlier this week. The street party images and commemorative emblem were from Pinterest. Every day in our family WhatsApp group I have been posting pictures or stories to lift moods during lockdown. My mum calls them 'Isolation Inspirations' and that's primarily why I selected these images, to remind everyone what today is all about!