I’ve had to move an entire drum kit to get to my computer today! Since we started the house renovations, I no longer have a specific room to write in and I’m sort of crammed into the corner of Colin’s music studio, which isn’t ideal at the best of times but he’s been working on a new album for the last couple of years and it’s close to completion, so it’s not for much longer.  However, now that I am here, I can thank you for writing to me! Great to hear from you and to know how you’ve been getting on this last month.

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Bonjour!  You wouldn’t believe the number of times I started to write this blog while I was away in France, but luckily I did keep a record of all the places we visited and have taken as many photographs as possible to share with you.  Thank you very much for writing to me last time, it was great to hear from you and I hope that your home renovations and holidays have all gone to plan?!

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A bit of a squeeze, but I was determined to post a second blog as promised for May, and it’s one that brings with it some very special memories…  In fact I seem to have made a whole lot more literally over this last fortnight, what with four more family birthdays, a wonderful riverside walk with a friend, a weekend with my granddaughter Honey, and an impressive amount of baking!  More on that in a moment, because I feel the need to document this milestone first…

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I really hope that you have had the opportunity to enjoy the stunning weather we’ve finally been blessed with?  Such a joy to see the sunshine, and I’ve spent as much time outside as I possibly can: mowing the lawns, weeding my pots and borders and feeding them all with Richard Jackson’s Flower Power! I’m delighted that the grapevine I planted four years ago has come along beautifully this spring and already there are miniature bunches of grapes hanging there waiting to grow and ripen. My apple tree has lots of baby apples, and I’ve even got figs on my fig tree so fingers crossed there might be a little bit of a harvest later this year!

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Thanks so much to Roz, Mary and Loraine for your lovely comments on my last blog – always good to hear how you’re spending your time.  I have to start this blog with a photograph – Corey’s third birthday cake!  Colin spent so long decorating it, I couldn’t believe I’d mentioned it last time and not included the photo, so here you go.  And I’ve added a photo of Corey blowing his candles out too, just so you get an idea of the scale of the cake!  I had to bake it in my largest roasting tin! ☺️ Suffice to say it went down well, and I don’t think it lasted long, as the love of chocolate cake is something the entire family has!

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Welcome to April!  I hope you had a very Happy Easter and maybe the chance to enjoy a couple of days off work?  I’m never very sure how they calculate the date for Easter each year although I’m sure it’s for seasonal reasons as well as religious? I seem to have a memory of it being towards the end of April a few years back, but at least Saturday was beautifully sunny and I managed to get a long walk in and dry all the washing! Do you have any idea what the date is based on?

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I think I need to start this blog with an apology for being so tardy with my responses to your comments!  Thanks as always for bringing me up to speed with what’s going on in your world, and also for the book and TV recommendations.  I’m sorry to know that some of you have been struggling with Covid and other viruses. They really seem to have taken a stranglehold this time around! I wish you better very soon.  So glad that you, Merche, enjoyed The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes – it got better and better and I couldn’t quite believe I’d listened to a whole 15 hours of it – which is testament to how many miles I’m covering in the car these days – more on that in a moment. I’m now listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, as it’s read by Meryl Streep whom I admire hugely, and Kathy Tayler was singing her praises when we last went for a walk together ☺️

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I wonder if you spotted the deliberate mistake in my last blog! There I was,  boldly declaring another family wedding while neglecting to add any details! I’m going to rectify that in just a moment, but clearly my head was elsewhere as I also said that my stepson Dan’s 40th birthday was on the 7^th February when he was actually born on the 10^th! Luckily, this year it fell on a Saturday so most of us the family were able to celebrate together, but more on that in a moment. 

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By crikey!  I almost got whiplash from the speed January has flown by.  Seems like only yesterday I was compiling the Christmas photographs to be included in my last blog and here we are, in February!  Welcome ☺️

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Here we are, already five days into 2024, which cheers me as I’ve always been a little superstitious about years that have odd numbers in them!  Does that make me odd?  Probably, and a little daft too, because last year couldn’t have been better really, with our two family weddings, and my foray into the world of retirement!  So how was your Christmas?  I know that some of you were with family, and others spent the festive period on holiday, so I really hope it all went according to plan and you were truly relaxed by the time we hit the countdown for New Year?  

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