End of Lent - Easter

I was going through my photographs and those shared with me, and discovered an interesting fact. Michael has shared 744 images over the years since he became an adult; well, 2013 was his first shared photo. The interesting fact is that since the 14th August 2025, he has shared 210 images, and there is only one image that does not have Sadie as the subject. Seems when humans have their first child, they see the world differently. Michael is seeing his daughter grow up by the day, every day, another small step in her evolution. Fragile but strong.

Everyone agrees that life is fragile, but do we always remember how interconnected we are? Everything we do touches other people’s lives and echoes in faraway places. If we do not, then maybe we should. Our reach is greater than we think.

Good Friday

Woke to find Robert and Lauren had arrived from Nottingham for an Easter Weekend break. Susan is still away in Australia, but is due back in a week’s time. 

Good Friday is also the end of Lent. Yep, now I can enjoy a wee whisky and Facebook. In all fairness, I have not missed Facebook; it's almost a relief not to see the endless rubbish that someone thinks is worth sharing. You scroll and scroll endlessly to see if someone will surprise you; no such luck. I will not be rushing back to FB. Whisky, on the other hand, is a thing of beauty, and with my discerning palate, I will savour my first wee dram tonight.

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Good Friday, we mourn his death. Not a pleasant way to go, but in those days, they thought nothing of hanging a person on a cross until they died. The good thing was that he rose again, Easter Monday, Jesus rose from the dead. Now I would hazard a guess that someone who was died for 3 days and came back to life is something unique. Anyway, those Romans must have been livid. 

Robert and Lauren introduced me to a new TV series, ‘Love on the Spectrum’, about autistic adults looking for love. Being autistic, they tend to say the most outrageous things. Not sure if it for me, almost like laughing at someone’s misfortune. Talking of new series, 'Call the Midwife', is in the process of filming a new series, now that is worth a watch.

Cost of Living

Well, actually, the cost of fuel is up almost 25 pence a litre and still climbing. I am a little smug now, having bought an electric vehicle. I filled up my Tesla yesterday, £7.23 (2 pence per mile). My VW Golf, on the other hand, costs me £70.59 to fill with petrol (16 pence per mile). If it goes any higher, Jenson will be doing his walks up the back of our house to the heath, and as for the beach, that will become a distant memory. I am only keeping the VW Golf so he can come to the beach with me. I did the same when I bought the Golf; I kept my old Vauxhall Zafira for another 18 months, no sense in ruining a new car with dog hairs, sand and smelly dog mats.

AI - well the slow creeping nature of its invasion

Heard an interesting talk by a book publisher, will we need writers in the future? AI can write a book in a matter of seconds, and if you think of the long hours a writer, write for, then AI does seem appealing. The Large Language Models are very good at writing a good story, but if you just want to read a new book/story, you have to tell the AI everything it needs to know, that includes the ending. Now, why would you want to write a book and then read it if you already know the ending? I have high hopes that the humble, hard-working writers will always have a future. 

Hope

Sometimes there is no hand to take ours or hold it, the heart beats on, apparently alone, but hope is never lost completely, it can hang by the finest and most delicate of threads, surviving somehow, just as we do.

Hope is the ribbon that transfigures everything, and it can transform wild weeds into delicate, beautiful flowers. Combines separate energies into a potent force. Hope ties us, hope secures us, and life unites us.

Easter

Claudia went up to London on Saturday to see her family. Now talking about her family and a specific member of her family by marriage, I am conscious of something Susan said to me in one of her moments of brilliance. If you cannot say something nice, do not say anything at all. So I will therefore leave it to your imagination, and as no one has been arrested, yet, I will let life carry on.

Funny thing about Easter Sunday, the supermarkets are closed. What, no 24/7? Caught me out and had to go to Tesco Express, with every intention of getting a small roast for dinner. Alas, half the population of Poole had the same idea, and all I came away with was some minced beef. We live and learn, a hard lesson, but one that I will not forget. These convenience stores really cater for small, quick essentials, like sandwiches, booze, bread and milk. Waste of my time, but I did witness some people on the verge of having a meltdown, no fancy dinner tonight and the in-laws are coming over. We thankfully had a brunch at the Barn Cafe, a full English breakfast and coffee at 11:30. 

Lauren’s family, the Bell-Browns, always have an Easter egg hunt. This year, Lauren came down to Poole. As I am not into Easter eggs, it did slip my mind. Lauren, on the other hand, decided to hide Easter eggs for Robert. I know young love makes some people do strange things. Lauren hid about 10 small eggs all over the house, and the one Robert missed was tucked away in a bunch of flowers. Fiendish trick on Lauren’s account and it fooled Robert. I have attached the photo, and if you look carefully, you will see an Easter egg hidden in the flowers.