Friday 3rd April 2026

Hope you have had a blessed Good Friday. I made Hot Cross Buns for breakfast. I like to make them myself, and we never have any before the appointed day. None of this week after Christmas nonsense that you see in the supermarkets.

I made 12 and we've eaten 6, so we'll have them toasted at various points over the weekend.

I didn't have a great start to the week. Insomnia. I can go for ages with decent sleep, then along comes a string of nights where I am padding about the house during the third and fourth watches.

I felt really drained on Monday and Tuesday and was really quite down about it. That 3 a.m. anxiety spiral is horrible. Thankfully I remembered about prayer, and gave it all to God (Phillipians 4: 6-7). It's always the best plan.

I cancelled all my arrangements on Tuesday and just had a slow day. Sometimes I push on through, but not that day. I pottered around slowly here and there, and waited for bedtime. It came.

I also remembered that I hadn't taken any vitamins for months. Nothing startling - the usual D3. B12, C, magnesium and general old woman supplement - who knows if that had anything to do with it? Anyway, I remedied that and actually slept much better the next night.

On Wednesday I woke up and was feeling so much brighter. I tidied up and headed outside, and planted the early potatoes. They are a variety called Foremost, which I've never tried before. They promise to have that “new potato” flavour, which is all I really want from my new potatoes. l'll get the Charlottes in next week, then I need to sort out space for the King Edward and Valour.

We had a short midweek window of decent weather, before the next storm system arrived, so on Thursday I was back outside, this time with the trusty garden shredder. I lost a lot of big branches from the willow trees over the last year, so had a few piles to shred as well as all the cut down raspberry canes. It was a satisfying job, and I have two sacks of woodchip to use on paths or as mulch later on. I did strike a lot of cuttings from the willow, in case you are wondering, and sawed up the logs to burn. I’ts always a useful wood if you want to get a fire going quickly.

Town today for the food shop. How busy it was! There was a big cruise ship in, so lots of groups and couples wandering around looking at shops and buildings. There was a heron down on the river, so people were excited about that.

Easter weekend already. Its going to be a stormy one, which feels apt. After the storm of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, comes the washing away of the old and the sudden dawning of new light with the resurrection. World altering stuff.