Norq From Ork

It’s finally happened folks.  I can confirm that on Friday at 5pm I left work and there was real actual daylight! and if it hadn’t been all levels of weird I would have kissed the person next to me. Instead my heart did a little leap of joy and I skipped to my car (not really, that would also be weird but I did it in my head)  The days are finally lengthening enough to make a noticeable difference and I’m over the blinkin’ moon about it.  Mornings can still be frosty but at least we’ve seen a few brighter ones.  It’s strange to think of readers across the globe who complain of heat.

There’s nothing like flowers to gloat in the face of January and declare you made it to the end.  I decided to add a touch of class and spring to my office by buying tulips for my desk. I’ve no doubt they will all be flopped over by tomorrow morning (I’ve been advised to make an air hole with a pin when they do)  But when they were in their prime I truly felt like the winner of Winter V Sarah. A hard-won battle I can assure you.

And of course my sarcastic calendar keeps coming with the daily smiles.

Facebook tells us it’s friendship day.  Daysoftheyear.com tells me it’s world cancer day.  Sometimes these special honoured days are ridiculously stupid but not these two days whether made up or not. The fit neatly but unfortunately into a difficult week for someone very dear to me. Before I moved to Orkney I had already made a friend from these special islands called Fiona.  MyFriendFiona made me feel incredibly welcome and we quickly bonded over a shared love of Orkney, a shared love of God, and a shared love of lighthouses.  In my first year in Orkney we went on many a jolly jaunt and got up to some crazy antics which included driving down a hill with a rolled-up carpet on the roof of a car in the snow. She taught me how to be crazy, but that was tame for her. The day  I got news my brother had died Fiona turned up at the house with onion soup and crusty bread.  It was the nicest soup I have ever tasted, she called it meals on wheels.

Three years ago, when Orkney Beef was in hospital with sepsis, MyFriendFiona was diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time.  Both recovered, or so we thought, but this week Fiona discovered the cancer had been lurking all the time ”This time the chemotherapy is to make things bearable rather than aiming to cure the condition” she tells us on her own blog here Ourblogisagreatbigblog Fiona also includes a stunning photo of her new purchase from an art exhibition,  our beloved lighthouse.

I came across this quote from a book I’m reading this week which kind of sums up how I feel for a brilliant friend to many so undeserving of such news.

I know she won’t allow me to be too downhearted. So I’m just going to give thanks for a fantastic friendship and keep looking for the light.