And the award goes to...

It is traditional for newspapers to produce lists of the best of the year - best book, best song, best film etc. I thought I'd do the same with just a few tweaks to reflect this most unusual of years:

Award for the best online facility goes to... Zoom: I've taken part in celebrations, discussions, religious meetings, not to mention catch-ups with family and friends all thanks to Zoom. It has brought many, many familiar faces into my home, faces of people who I miss very much. It has made the lockdowns and tier restrictions almost bearable.

For the best art event the award goes to... Grayson Perry's Art Club: This TV series lifted my mood. I challenge anyone to watch it and not feel less stressed. Grayson Perry is a highly acclaimed UK artists. He is unique, outlandish yet totally grounded. The art work that members of the public submitted to the programme was wildly varied and at the end of the series Grayson Perry chose a selection for an exhibition in the Manchester Art Gallery. It has not yet opened to the public because of yet another lockdown but it's still there. Maybe one day I'll go to Manchester and view it in real life.

This is the promotional photograph of Grayson Perry launching the Art Club Series:

Award for the best food delivery service goes to... Ocado: Reluctantly! Ocado has been the best of a fairly wobbly bunch. I know the sudden surge in demand caught them unawares but I have been an Ocado customer for long enough for them to give me a regular weekly slot. Thankfully they are now doing just that but during the hiatus I tried a number of their competitors. I found them all sadly wanting. Here are some of their misdemeanours - AA battery substituted with an AAA, Christmas pudding substituted with a ginger sponge cake, food with short use-by dates or, even worse, non-dated items that are clearly only fit for the compost bin as was the case with a recent delivery of a brown and soggy lettuce. 

Best walk award goes to... our garden: We have been on many walks this year - parks, country lanes, local streets, but by far the best was walking round and round the garden. Last summer our garden was beautiful and this is the first time that I have studied every plant every day. I watched the birds, the bees, the squirrels. I even observed a daily visit from a Woodpecker.

Award for the most inspiring dance goes to... Bill Bailey with 'The Show Must Go On': He danced a tango with Oti Mabuse to the rousing Queen song on Strictly Come Dancing and Bill and Oti won the trophy. 

The words of that song touched a nerve for many of us because our show, or more precisely our world, really must go on. We can't let Covid-19 win which leaves just one more thing for me to say on this week's blog post...