We have had bright clear days this month but looks can be deceptive. It has been very cold walking by the sea, and quiet, except for the rhythm of the rolling waves. But it does feel like the winter storm season has passed.
The month has been unusually dry but the salt and drought-resistant shrubs in the terraces have toughed it out and they live on, including a sheltered daffodil.
Hellebores, with their intense green leathery leaves, give a pop of pink to signal their recovery from a brutal winter. And, for good measure, the heather has come back to give a carpet of pink along the stone river garden. All welcome signs of the coming spring.
What news of my book LOUISA’S LAMENT ? The manuscript has been signed off and it is now ‘in production’ and when it gets out of there, it will be ready for you in our online shop at patoakleypublishing.london. Many thanks for the early orders and here is another taster until next month:
June 16, 1880, mid-morning. A mob of over two hundred medical students had formed a gauntlet in the passage that led from Guy’s north quad to the south. The angry young men seethed with hate as they shouted invectives against the reformers. The sight of her archenemy at the end of the colonnade struck fear into the heart of Matron Burt.
Old Lady by the Sea 