Congratulations M !

Back in February SEE HERE l told you that my daughter, M had applied to university for a degree in nursing. Well there were three important checks she had to complete: an interview, Scotland disclosure and medical. As each one came through l did not want to blog on it until we had the final word. All l can say is that it was a busy time with lots of travelling up and down to the city.

Anyway, this past Saturday we were all delighted for M when her formal letter of acceptance arrived!! M is over the moon as this university was her first choice - far enough from home to warrant her staying on campus but not so far that she could not hop on a train and be home within a few hours.

I burst into tears so pleased and proud of her, suddenly realising that come September both she and her brother would no longer live at home- how quiet it will be.

Her brother, D is wrapping up his first year of engineering- he comes home towards the end of May. The good news is that both of their universities are in the same city- in fact only a few streets away from each other - which helps relieve the worry- a bit.

Now it’s just a matter of getting all of her things gathered together for September- much like we did for D last year. I already had a mini slow cooker put by for her and yesterday her Nan contributed a new double duvet for her bed. This moving out malarky is all so exciting - lol.

I'm so happy that both D and M will be home this summer- both working and putting the pennies by for all the extra expenses. l am proud of how well they are doing.

As for the driveway (see pics. below), it’s all finished except for lowering the kerb, which will be done by tonight as the men are working on it as l type away here.

The gates were fiddly to paint because l didn't stir the Hammerite well enough - it had the consistency of treacle- oops!

Wee S helped his dad paint the wall out front on Saturday afternoon. Most of the pictures that l took of them doing this hardly came out as the white wall reflected the sun so brightly.

This driveway project has been well worth the effort- l can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be able to get our car off the road.

The above painting of Flaming June by Frederic Leighton reminds me of my daughter M so very much.

May and June. Soft syllables, gentle names for the two best months

in the garden year: cool, misty mornings gently burned away with a

warming spring sun, followed by breezy afternoons and chilly nights.

The discussion of philosophy is over; it's time for work to begin.

- Peter Loewer