Sad Sunday

A sad day for me today. These are pictures of my dear friend Linda - remember I asked your prayers the other day? Only 61 years old, she passed peacefully away in her husband's arms at the hospice yesterday afternoon. The pictures were taken in her back garden a little less than three years ago in 2006. We were using her caravan as a kitchen while her hubby, John, was working in the house kitchen.

It was a scorching hot day in May and we were lounging around wallowing in the total lethargy of a race who thinks 80° is 'scorching' and knows to take full advantage in case it rains tomorrow - which it did. Linda didn't know she had bowel cancer, not for sure. She didn't know it would all kick off in September with an operation to chop out the bad bit nor that treatment would continue for, literally, the rest of her life. She didn't know how far advanced her cancer was, even before she knew about it, nor that it had already spread to her lungs and was on its way to her brain, where it would kill her.

I visited her last Monday. Linda was in bed that day, John was there, two mutual cake decorating friends, her brother, me and Keith - a lot of people for a small room - and we spent all afternoon reminiscing and telling silly anecdotes, never thinking that in a little more than 24 hours she would lapse into a coma and, to all intents and purposes, be lost to us.

When Keith handed me the phone yesterday and said "It's John..." I knew why he was ringing. All day my friend kept popping into my mind and I was getting a bit frantic - because I couldn't recall her face, nor how tall she was nor the colour of her hair (when she had some!). My mind wouldn't stay in one place for long enough so I could find these pictures on the computer. I'll sort them all out one day. But after Keith went to bed, after I had put the telly off, after I had sat there thinking of my friend yet again, I was overtaken by a very real peace and quiet and I felt rather than heard "I'm OK now" and I knew that my own prayer for her was answered.

Now I know there will be those who will dismiss this as hysterical bunkum. Please don't - the peace is still there today and so is Linda, in my heart and, complete with picture, in my mind's eye.

Finally, here's just a little reminder of Spring in our Garden. Linda never liked cut flowers indoors but she did like them growing.

Camellia has been in bud for weeks; now it's starting to bloom

There's a little bee in here, can you see it?

I thought daffs would colonise great swathes of garden? These haven't - same as last year!

AND FINALLY, Keithism for today...........
The tulips are silk ones Keith nicked out of the conservatry and poked in among the daffs for a laugh. Quite effective actually.......