The Cruellest Month

T.S. Eliot was right about April; this month has been cruel indeed. My sister has been very ill, suffering through multiple surgeries and a nightmarish series of complications that kept her in the hospital for weeks. A few days after she was released, my dad fell and was hospitalised. When he got out, she went back in. (Everyone is home now, and we pray that it may stay that way.)

Weather and work, home and health, have also been topsy-turvy this month - but April hasn't been all bad. Though Winter and Spring are playing a long tug-of-war (winter seems to be winning on points so far), Spring is doggedly hanging on, taking advantage of every sunny day to sneak a few more leaves onto the trees and push more herbs and flowers out of the earth.

Tallulah and I have been able to take a few Sunday rides (one of them actually sunny)...

...and I've put in some time with hook and yarn:

A sock!

Though April hasn't bred any lilacs (we'll have to wait a few weeks for those), the wild plum is blossoming, and I spotted winter cress and the first kingcups of spring on last week's ride. Things are looking up.

Here's hoping for a kinder, gentler May.

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How was your April?

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