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 To anyone who may happen on this blog I wish you a 2021 filled with all the best of what was missing in 2020.

A year of fear anxiety grief and loneliness for so many and with  none of the feel-good factors which normally make our days worth while.

This week I have lost a sister-in-law, my late husband's one remaining sibling, and yesterday a well-loved friend from church.  The list goes on growing.

The one sure thing is that looking forward really is the only way to face a New year, looking back on this one will give no-one pleasure.

So what have we?

We have hope and that springs eternal, or so we are told.

We have the vaccine, or vaccines (at last).

We, the lucky ones still have the chance to avoid the virus and prayer to sustain us,

Not too shabby.

A blessed New year to one and all.

A very different Christmas Eve

 There  is no suitable illustration for this year's Christmas Eve so plain and unadorned it is. 

My increasingly long gaps between posts are a reflection of this rather awful year.  

In the heyday of blogging when life was full of interest and possibilities it was easy to sit and rattle off a few paragraphs full of nothing very much, but happy in tone. 

To be brutally honest I have found it very diffilcult to pretend that all was well and still there was something to enjoy every day.  

This year has been a beast of a very different nature for nearly everyone, old or young.  Surrounded by family or alone.

It has always been my contention that being alone was not the same as being lonely.  This year has proved me wrong.

Someone who dropped by (on my drive while I stood in the doorway), said "I would love to give you a hug", to which my response was, "hopefullyy soon".

As I said it I realised that the last time anyone actually touched me was in mid February during the exchange of "the peace" at St Mary's.

The neighbours who take me food shopping once a week tell me they are amazed by my upbeat attitude, and that they think I am doing very well. 

All I can say is that I must be a better actress than I thought.

Despite being in tier 4 and with litttle prospect of anything better for quite some time there is at least the promise of the vaccine, which at my advanced age should be coming my way fairly soon, so all is not quite so dark as it was. 

Every Sunday I "attend" the 10 am service on youtube and enjoy (and envy) the virtual choir and later on this evening I will be at Midnight Mass, so to speak. 

Without the choir (even if not physically present), and the Christmas services this year would be a pretty miserable one, but I have good friends and neighbours, a warm comfortable house and plenty to eat and drink. 

So many people world-wide have none of these things which gives me a kick right where i most need it.

At Midnight Mass tonight I will pray for them, for all of us, and yes, for myself too,

May we, you all have a happy Christmas and a very much healthier and happier New Year.

I won't quote Tiny Tim but you know what I mean.

Another Giant Bites the Dust

 This morning switching on the 7 am Radio 4 News as i do every day I was stunned to hear that John Le Carre has died.

My favourite author for more than 30 years I somehow expected at the very least, immortality,

When my husband was still alive one of my Christmas presents would always be the latest Le carre, and the present I would treasure most.

Not always an easy read, full of intrigue, treachery betrayal and the worst behaviours of which human-kind is capable, he nevetheless imbued all of his characters with such recognizeable traits common to all of us that we could easily identify with their humanity.

Through even the most convoluted plots there always ran a strong vein of integrity so one felt that this was the real world of the spy. 

Apparently a rather private man who didn't really like too much public attention, he seems to have had a dislike for all the fuss and flag-waving. chest-thumping sort of "patriotism" which accompanied the launch of his "Tinker Tailor" books.

It seems hard to imagine that there will be no more such treasures to look forward to.

May he rest in peace.