Happy Birthday, Christine! You're still alive, here in my heart! I do miss your richly faceted soul though. The Dryad and the girls say hello, and Madison drank to your memory too (even though she never met you). In fact, half the pub drank to you, but it's become a ritual over the years.
I'm two weeks out from having had my second Covid shot. As a close friend said to me after the event, "I'm free to play with other puppies now", and O boy does it feel good.
It feels like Spring again in so many ways. Not just in the mundane weather, because damnit we hardly had a winter and the rain has been for shit this yesr. But the asparagus is starting to show, and all sorts of summery things are going in the ground. We're having the classic Spring leek gap, but you'd hardly know it because the market tables are so bloody full we have to get really creative with the displays. I still occasionally find myself looking over my shoulder around 11, half expecting you to show up and relieve us; I always smile as I realise it's a futile (but somehow heartwarming) exercise.
I still can't type well, but I'm doing better. Of all my various technical learning curves perhaps touch-typing has been the moist challenging. (Le LOL, I've just re-read this, decided I'm leaving in all the tyops!) It doesn't help that my keyboard is getting more arthritic, makes me wish I had some keyboard liniment. Full stops and spaces are the most challenging, and the a is just ornery and recalcitrant, and one day soon I'm going to replace it.
I'm planting flowers, or rather more flowers. I have a fair display of paperwhite narcissus (I know they're your favourites), but sadly the bluebells totally failed to show. That could be down to me not understanding the when and how best to plant them, or it could just be that the lack of a proper winter treated them badly. I'll try again next year.
I bought some coloured pens for letter writing today. I need to write more letters, and I though you'd especially like the pale purple (though you'd probably call it lilac or somesuch thing). I'm remembering the teasing we gave one another over what to call various colours. I've tried to identify the difference between teal and turquoise, really I have. That failure is mine though!
In any case, I'll write more later because it's proven to be an emotional day, and I'm going to have a sundowner with my neighbour (who I am sure is also thinking of you!)
I also made a promise to write more, and not just letters! I need to get more creative and adventurous with my writing, so I'm aiming to make some inroads into that over the next few weeks. Of course you'll read it here first. Badly typoed but at least proofread in the future.