Egrets? I’ve had a few, but this was a special one. (With apologies to Frank Sinatra

According to Native American folklore, seeing an egret is a sign of peace and tranquillity because it embodies nature’s inherent calmness and serenity. When we saw this one up by the woods down on Harbourside, it was a sign that the wind was getting up, the temperature was dropping, and there were some nice deep flooded areas courtesy of it being reclaimed land, so he had fresh water, plenty of worms and small mammals and his feet weren’t getting wet or cold. Nor was the rest of him because he was out of the wind.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if getting peace and tranquillity could be that simple? I’m lucky enough that it is because I can find it at Harbourside even when it’s wet, cold or windy. All the noise of life quietens as I watch the birds and the view. And just look at that view. Soon the little boats and the windsurfers will be coming out to play, but Thursday was very definitely a winter’s day, which is fine by me because it is winter and I like that season too.

I also like coming home and giving a sigh of relief as I snuggle indoors with hot frothy coffee courtesy of my husband, who is the King of the Frothy Coffee, complete with pictures on top of it in cocoa. I think that’s funny because he made comments about my love of gadgets when I gave it to myself for my birthday, yet he’s the one who uses it most.

I’m typing this on Saturday, which is Valentine’s Day, so I’m sure I’ll have a heart on my coffee today. I’m cooking his favourite food, so there’ll be croissants with bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, my daughter, who’s enjoying learning to cook, is making a wickedly fudgy chocolate brownie to have with clotted cream for lunch, which we’ll have after steak pie, chips, mushrooms, beans and peas and there’ll be cheese-filled and topped flatbreads at tea time. It’ll cost a fraction of what it would have done if we’d gone out, and it’ll be at least as good as the pre-prepared food that I know as ‘ping’ cuisine because it goes in a microwave. Either that or there’s sous vide food, which, obviously, is nothing like boil-in-the-bag. Just because it’s in a bag and you reheat it in a bath of boiling water doesn’t mean that it could be. Either way, I’d rather do it myself and know it’s fresh and not too bad for me. Okay, today’s menu isn’t what anyone sane would call healthy eating, but it’s a special treat as a way to celebrate the love that’s grown and grown for an amazing man for so long. We’re celebrating our fortieth wedding anniversary next month, and we were engaged for two years before that, and had known each other for nine months when we got engaged. Obviously, we met when we were both very young because otherwise we might just be getting old!

Kidding aside, I write love stories because I’m lucky enough to live one. It hasn’t always been easy, so I celebrate today as a triumph of love over all the times when we didn’t have time to be in love or be all romantic. We’ve always been friends, no matter what, which is why so many of my books have people who start that way and then find they’ve fallen in love. I know I didn’t mean to, but I’m so glad that I did!

So I hope you had the happiest of Valentine’s Days and I’ll see you on Tuesday when with any luck I’ll have finished the revision of this year’s Christmas Amy that I’m working on and be underway on the Spring one for 2027. As ever, it’s based on truth, which really is stranger than fiction. Take care and stay warm till then, won’t you?