The year so far .....

Well a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all – and it’s very nearly a Happy Easter too. Ho hum.

Christmas was never going to be the best of times for us but as things turned out, thanks to the mercy and grace of God, it was not as bad as we had feared. I should have been nursing a sweet little girl, who was due on the 20th December. Instead we were making arrangements for her memorial stone. Esther, our daughter, was born on the 30th September having died some days previously because of Trisomy 18. She was only 28 weeks. It helps, you know, to write ‘Esther, our daughter’ because that is indeed what she was and what she remains. Her ashes rest in a beautiful spot – our medieval church is on a hill overlooking cornfields. Her spirit rests in a place even more beautiful and with this knowledge we were able to make it through the Christmas season.

December 26th saw the arrival of my sweet sister, visiting from Australia for a whole month. We had an amazing time. Shopping and sightseeing was largely confined to weekends (both our boys have built in anti-browsing devices) so during the week we busied ourselves de-cluttering the house, with dramatic results. I was so sorry to see her go. It is very hard having family so scattered (I have a brother in Australia too). Thank goodness for cheap telephone calls.

February has passed by in a blur, as it very often does. I am hoping to blog more – a regular cookery book spot, serialising an out of print book from the 1920s maybe. Let us hope.