Halfway up the stairs is a place where I sit —. This is my ‘new’ office – or rather, my old one, scrubbed up and re-painted. The one where I was last week, all pink and looking out over the street, is going to house a train set as well as another computer. This one overlooks the garden, all marigolds, carnations, borage and meadowsweet at the moment, and though I won’t see so much of the gulls and goldfinches, I will see starlings, sparrows, blue tits, coal tits and great tits, wrens and magpies, and I’ll get a chance to remind the blackbirds whose the redcurrants are.

This is almost the last stage of the adventure my family set out on back in September of last year. Only one of the house moves we planned has actually happened, but two more will take place this autumn, leaving us old folks in possession of our house, at least for a year or two. Most of the changes to working life have turned out as planned, with one new business still to launch, three new jobs going well, and one retirement successfully under way.

We’ve had a more torrid time with health than I’d have liked, and discovered more new and exciting corners of the NHS than we could have wished for (some departments are absolutely wonderful, that’s all I’m saying), but everyone seems to have got to a livable place and the outlook is good.

So all told, this blog is coming out from under, and I hope to be posting more regularly. There are still some herb posts to catch up on, and I’m cooking up plans for reviews and new directions for poems. The new book is at the type-setting stage, and I’ve just heard of a really interesting project I may be involved in later this year. I hope to be out and about, doing more readings in future – and the dates for the Callander Poetry Weekend have been announced! It will take place from the 4th to the 6th September, and though the programme is still in preparation, it already looks to be up to its usual excellent standard. Please see the Facebook page for more details, and to be notified when the programme is finalised.