Through the first lockdown and then the easing of restrictions the allotments were a lifeline for Sue, and I also came to value the steady stream of fresh veggies they produced, such as tomatoes, fava beans and tons of green salad stuff. One of my favourites was radicchio di Treviso, the long, dark red and bitter tasting endive that is almost impossible to find in the UK, but is highly prized in Italy and is fantastic oven roasted in olive oil as an accompaniment to a big juicy rare steak.
By the time our birthdays in July we were actually able to have a birthday meal in a local pub and also begin to meet our friend Beryl again for our monthly lunchtime get togethers. For Sue's birthday I gave her the money to buy a second shed for her allotment at nearby Fleming Drive, which we built together in September.
In October, increasingly desperate for a break from our narrow existence in Newark we booked an airbnb in Bridlington, for the price that we would usually have paid for a week in the sunny Mediterranean. Actually, it did provide a much-needed break from our routine and Poppy got to have walks on the beach for the first time. The fish and chips were excellent and on we also got to meet up with Sue's old friend Alan, who was slowly getting his life back together after the death of his wife Theresa following a long illness.
Most days we had an outing, one of which was to the RSPB Bempton Cliffs seabird centre. It was a very cold and windy day and the stiff breeze cut right through my thin anorak, but it was perfect weather to observe the gannet colony. Such an inelegant name for such beautiful creatures, I got lots of photos as they rode the winds around the cliffs below us. Later that day we drove on to Scarborough and had sandwiches and crisps in an almost deserted hotel where the staff were glumly anticipating the closure restaurants and pubs again in the face of rising Covid infections.
Each day I either had a morning run or took Poppy for a walk on the beach. I took this shot with my iphone on our last day in Bridlington, before we drove back over the Humber bridge to Newark.
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