I am SO sorry that I’ve not kept you up-to-date with everything but we’ve had rather a month of it here at home and in spite of my best intentions, I’ve only just had a chance to sit down in front of my computer! The last 30 days have been eventful with some wonderful news, but also worrying times.  Both my son Sam and my daughter Lucy are now recovering from surgery – they had different but planned procedures that left both of them unable to walk without crutches – more on that in a moment, after I’ve thanked you for your lovely comments not just here but on all the social media posts I dedicated to the Medical Detection Dogs charity.  There was quite a buildup to the day itself and as promised I thought you might like to hear what happened.

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Hello there, and thanks so much for your kindness, generosity and response to my invitation to the Medical Detection Dogs Afternoon Tea. I’m sorry I can’t magically air lift you all there, but I am very much looking forward to meeting the four of you who can make it, and I promise to share photos and memories of the day on the next blog.   I talked to my old QVC friend Kathy Tayler when we were out on a walk earlier this week, and she is now also coming along on the day. It makes absolute sense that she’s there as she was diagnosed as Type One diabetic two years ago and is managing her symptoms really well but is intrigued to learn more about the detection dogs and their work.  We’re going to drive up together so we can have a good old natter on the way and then it will be a joy to see our old friends from QVC and to meet our new friends too!

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I’m sitting at my makeshift desk with the Dyson fan directed at my feet so at least the bottom half of me feels warm!  What a weird day of weather… bucketing rain for at least half of it, then blinding sunshine and now a decided downturn in the temperature, but looking back over the photographs I’ve taken this last few week or so has definitely warmed my soul. As did your lovely comments on the last blog – great to hear from you and to know where you’ve been, who’s been celebrating what and what you’ve been reading and watching. Thank you! I’ve got a few suggestions to swap with you and I’ll do that before I finish here… ☺️

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What a difference a month makes!  And not just the weather but in the number of miles I’ve covered and the people I’ve seen! 

Since I last wrote Colin and I sneaked over to Gozo to spend time with our friends, Cordelia (a model I worked with at QVC) and her husband Barry and to attend the annual White Party, so called because everyone wears white! What a venue! The tables were set out on the salt pans in Zebugg, with the beautifully lit sandstone cliffs curving round to the sea, a live band with an amazing saxophonist and delicious gourmet dinner.  We ate, talked and danced almost until dawn getting back into our beds around 4 am! I thought I was getting  a bit old for all this, but boy did we have fun!

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Thank you so much for your patience over these last few weeks not just in waiting for me to reply to your lovely comments, but in providing you with a new blog! It’s been a pretty busy month in truth so I thought I’d give myself a little break from social media and I’m so glad I did as I am now able to begin with some wonderful news!  

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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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