Cornwall, Devon and the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, coastline, sandy beaches, green lanes, heather clad hills, all have been part of a wonderfully varied last three weeks.                            

Landscapes have always fascinated and intrigued me and introducing others to the special places on my doorstep is fun as is exploring new places. I’ve been able to do just that with some very special visitors from Australia, Simon’s brother Peter and his wife Angela who were not able to come to Simon’s funeral, and Simon’s school friend Per and his two daughters. Per tells me that we met in 1976 but I have no recollection of that visit possibly because I was busily occupied with a new first baby. With so much wonderful scenery on my doorstep it’s always a hard choice deciding where to walk and grouse shooting on the moor meant we were not able to walk up to Simon’s Seat (yes it’s the actual name of a hill that Simon used to love to climb) yesterday. Nevertheless plan B turned out to be just as lovely and the weather was perfect. Before our walk we (all Simon’s three siblings and their spouses and three of our special friends) had planted a mountain ash tree alongside Simon’s grave. Hopefully it will thrive and produce lots of red berries to feed the birds like the many we saw on our walk yesterday.

Amidst all the other excitement yesterday Grace arrived home from New York with four large suitcases plus hand luggage. She will hopefully soon have a job and be settled somewhere in England. It would be great if she could find something in Leeds but it is more likely that she will end up in London. She looks well and is already planning to start her training regime to run the London Marathon next year. She will be raising money for MSA and looking for sponsors. Her target is at least £2,000 to compenate in for the expected pain.

If you watch Wartime Farm this week on BBC1 at 8pm on Thursday you will see my son in a tweed suit and braces looking rather like his granddad. His book on the Black Market during World War 2 is due to be published in March. I feel sad when I think that Simon will not be able to read it. He heard so much about it and it has been a long time coming.