March 2025

We had some beautiful weather at the beginning of March. They do say of March, in like a lion, out like a lamb, and there's a variation where it can be the opposite way round, but no, the weather this month hasn't been too bad at all.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post about Archie. I've also had some lovely cards and emails too, it means such a lot to know that people are thinking about us at such a difficult time. Obviously, it's been an extremely sad month for us and we're still grieving his loss, he was such a loved member of our family. This photo was taken at Filey the day before we had to say goodbye to him. I'm so glad that he was enjoying life right to the end.

Mick had already booked some time off from work before Archie died as he had some holidays he needed to take before the end of March. He had Friday the 21st and all last week off, and he's off today too. We haven't really felt like doing much but we knew we had to force ourselves to get out of the house so we've had days out at RHS Harlow Carr, Skipton, Ripon, Harrogate, York and Ilkley. We even had an overnight stay in Windermere in the Lake District and visited Beatrix Potter's farmhouse, Hill Top. I was taken for a lovely meal yesterday for Mother's Day. Nothing has been able take our minds away from Archie but we figured we might as well be doing something rather than just sitting in the house. In hindsight, the trip away was a step too far, we couldn't wait to get home again. It's one thing being sad at home, quite another when you're in a strange bed. On our days out I've kept turning round and looking to the back seat of the car expecting to see Archie there and at home I keep looking to the places where his beds used to be (he had one in just about every room and three in the bedroom!), it's so distressing seeing those empty spaces. It's going to take a long time before we get used to him not being here.

I've read four books this month.

I've read so many great reviews of The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher so I put it on my Christmas wish list and Eleanor bought it for me. It's quite a hefty book at 688 pages but it held my interest the whole way though. A family saga, it tells the story of Penelope Keeling, the daughter of an artist, and her relationships with various people throughout her life. I like how the chapters are named for a character involved in that particular period of Penelope's life. The book was written in the 1980s and does seem rather dated in parts but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.

What can I say about A Little Place in Prague by Julie Caplin other than dull. What a disappointment this book was. I've read all the books in the Romantic Escapes series by this author and I've enjoyed them all, some more than others, but I've found the storylines in the most recent ones getting gradually weaker until this latest offering was, frankly, very poor. The characters were flat and page after page of details about Czech food was very boring. I see that a new book in this series is due out this year but after reading twelve in the series already, I'm not sure I'll bother with another.

I'd been so looking forward to reading Nella Last in the 1950s and it didn't disappoint. Following on from Nella Last's War and Nella Last's Peace, it's the diary, written for the Mass Observation archive, of an ordinary woman. This book finds Nella in her 60s. I love these kind of diaries, they give a no nonsense insight into what life was like at the time.

A Room Full of Bones is the fourth book in the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. I've got the full series in my bookcase waiting to be read but I'm rationing myself as they're so good and I don't want to finish them too soon. This book was another great read.

I'm afraid I don't want to say much more about March. We're all still so upset. Archie was a huge part of all our lives and his not being around is taking some getting used to. He's left a huge hole in our hearts.