My dear Barry passed away on Saturday 20th February just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. I was with him in the hospice when he died.

Barry supported me in every idea I ever had, even the dafter ones like this dinghy which was so ridiculously heavy we hardly ever got it on the water....

As I write this, big soft snowflakes are gently falling bringing that special quiet stillness over the mountains, the loch and the garden. And me.

I love the way the sunlight comes into this simple house and took these photographs on a recent sunny morning when all the storms had at last abated....

I am going to close the blog and the comments for a little bit to be with my husband who is very ill. We are so touched by the kind thoughts and good wishes so many of you have sent.

Thank you so much. Take care.

I will be back.

..for tulips, curry plant and a couple of stems of raspberry.

A tip. If your flowers are a bit short for the vase crumple some of the cellophane in the bottom. I spotted this in a branch of Waterstones last year.

It's quite pretty in a clear vase....

Life has taken on an element of farce lately!

I got blown out of the car in the hospital car park and in the blink of an eye found myself on the ground wondering how I got there. (Right place? Someone rushed over with a wheelchair! Fortunately I didn't need it, I was only bruised). I got a nasty tummy bug which meant I couldn't visit Barry in hospital even when the ferries were running, we had a power cut (not very long but long enough that I had to make contingency plans) and the computer and phone were down, and right at the tail end of the latest storm three panes of glass blew out of the greenhouse. Actually they were sucked out - the broken glass is all on the outside - how could that happen? Much the same way as I got sucked out of the car I guess.

Barry continues to be a patient patient as they proceed with test and more tests.

If you can send me any links to anything funny, I sure could do with some laughs....

I wasn't sure whether to continue with the blog just now, while my husband is ill.

What would I write about?

Would I feel like writing anyway?

But I love writing the blog, I always say it helps me think, it is a focal point in the day and the friendly and supportive conversations with commenters always give me more to think about. In recent days for example (from the comments) - the power of positive thinking and goodwill, the comfort of routines and ordinary things in times of stress, the instinct to nest to feel secure, the obviously innate desire we have to support each other in difficult times, the idea of silver linings, virtual hugs (almost as good as real ones!), the downsides of country living, looking after oneself, finding the balance between waiting and putting things on hold and still living one's days fully............there is plenty of scope there, do you think?

And since we all experience illness and stress at sometime in our lives maybe it will be relevant to keep blogging.

Here are three things I am very grateful for today -

Our National Health Service here in UK

Mobile phones

Holiday insurance   (Oh Venezia....)

When you experienced difficult times what were the things you were most grateful for?