Happy Easter

Around the time of Easter, one is grateful for springtime, for warmth, gradually lengthening days and more sunlight, but this morning there is more than the usual helping of gratitude in the air, and there is relief too.

I've written a few scraps early in the morning for the last several days but my thoughts have been elsewhere and trained almost entirely on other matters. A much loved family member has just returned home from hospital after undergoing radical surgery for ovarian cancer, and I am feeling very thankful indeed, thankful that the surgery appears to have been successful, that Barb is home again, that she is in good spirits, that she is mending fast and that she is not in much pain (or so she says anyway).

This was not my sister-in-law's first brush with cancer, and several months ago, we were sure we were going to lose her. The world would be an infinitely poorer place without her goodness and common sense, her wisdom and droll sense of humour, her sweet and giving nature. I love her fiercely, and it is hard to picture life without her.

Happy Easter, and over the next few days, I shall try to catch up on visiting all of you, writing messages and pottering about here in the wonderful world of blog.