A Beautiful Spring Day!

I didn't sleep a wink on Thursday evening, so made up for it Friday night and felt good when I woke up this morning at 7.45am – I didn't hear the alarm go off at 4.45am at all!!! A beautiful sunny day, which resulted in lots of traffic on the roads, which seems to increase each summer here in Norfolk.

I spent the majority of the day with my mother doing lots of jobs for her. Went to Holme Bird Observatory mid morning, to discuss the final details of the plaque with Sophie, which I will be ordering next week. The plaque will be fixed to the observatory wall and is in memory of my father. I won't give away the wording on the plaque, all will be revealed over the next few weeks. It was nice to have a catch up with Sophie as I have not seen her for ages. It was also nice to meet some of my blog readers too! There was a Firecrest around the back of the pines Sophie told me, but I didn't see or hear it, when I walked that way back to my car. It was wonderful walking along the path through the pines next to the beach, with the blue sea and skies, it lifted my spirits momentarily.

I have never really had good views of a Purple Heron and have certainly never got a decent shot of one – the 'normal' me would have been at Cley this morning to see it, but the love for my mother is far greater than any bird or anything else and right now she is very poorly and is not going to get any better, in fact things are only going to deteriorate further. Each day since Thursday I have felt physically sick – how can this happen and so soon after my father's death – so cruel, so sad and so difficult to even think about, never mind come to terms with. To see someone that is so tough, so strong, so independent – both mentally and physically start to fade a little more as each days passes, tears you apart and makes you feel like you too are fading in unison.

I have worked very hard all day. I took two car loads of rubbish (which mother requested) to the local tip at Heacham, which included things like old deckchairs, old plant troughs etc etc. But, I got a bit of a shock on the second load! Norfolk County Council are now not accepting wood at their recycling centres unless you pay for it! They charge £3 per small plastic bin (which they put your wood in to measure it by) This commenced on the 1st April apparently! At a guess I probably had about £40's worth of wood! Not a happy bunny, it was heavy for me to put in the car and I had to take it back to Holme and put it all back in the shed again! I washed and scrubbed the garden furniture. Swept up loads of mud and leaves from all the paths, got the washing in and put away and generally looked after mother with lunch, tea and drinks. Phew! Back again tomorrow with Lucy, Vivien and Ray. Good night!