Every now and then a challenge arises to write about a topic that seems so obvious but in reality is hard to address with the certainty that it first conjures up.

Spring. It is a season of new growth and anticipation. So many of the photographs that we have taken and then turned into our cards were taken in spring or early summer. So much of what we have been trying to do with ‘showcasing our world’ is rooted in the idea of new growth and anticipation of ideas and appreciation for our customers and website visitors, or people that we have met in the big outside world.

Spring. This spring. Less easy on a personal level and yet how appropriate to be coming back into focusing on writing and reaching out and being more pro-active after eighteen months that have taken energy away from any real thoughts on that, in spite of a foray into YouTube last year.

A friend is opening her bookshop in the next few days. She is definitely going through new growth and anticipation and it is exciting to anticipate for her how her dream is now turning into reality. She knows it will be hard work, but this is a perfect time of year to go for it!

Awareness of the beauty and promise of the world around us is how we appreciate what matters, on a great many levels. Call it endorphins and it becomes a warm encouraging ‘fix’ in identifiable ways.

So, going forwards into the year as the daffodils nod and the celandine carpets the ground under the little oak tree in the garden, my own furled leaves are hoping to open and write more and explore more than has been possible for a while. In the spring. And onwards into the bright light out of the fog. A hope for all of us?

As always it is special, as well as helpful, to get feedback on any thoughts or questions that may arise from visiting this website. Please do reach out, and thank you for reading.

Recently I have been reading Ian Rankin’s critically acclaimed book A Heart Full of Headstones. It has taught me to be wary of gushing praise from other authors of the same genre, but that’s a totally different matter – suffice to say for a Rebus fan it was more uncomfortable than for a writer of crime fiction.

It began to be a bit supicious that something ‘might be up’ as I read it. Looking Rankin up on YouTube to see what he might say I left the video chuntering on, upon the end of which Youtube provided me with another Rankin interview from a few years ago and he strayed onto territory that crossed into my/our world as well as his own.

The thorny issue of research.