Saturday 13th January 2024

It would have been my mother's birthday today. I have quite a run of them in early January - or used to, anyway. They always came so soon after Christmas that they would catch me out. She would have been eighty-seven.

I went to the women's prayer group this morning. What an absolute joy it was to spend time with these amazing women. More than thirty came today, which is quite incredible given where we are, and that we have only been going for five months. Prayer is so powerful, but when there are many of us joining together, then the effects are even stronger. Today our theme was Unity in the body of Christ (the church). We sang, listened, prayed, laughed, wept and prayed some more. God was with us.

I came home and after lunch I went into the garden. I had to force myself out, as I was feeling lazy. Once I got the wellies on, though, I soon got going. I tidied up a bit, planted up two pots of bulbs and a bed of garlic. I'm conscious of how late I am, but I'm not too bothered. All over instagram people are sowing leeks, onions and tomatoes, but I'll get to that eventually. We’re getting snow in the next day or so anyway - no rush.

Came in, lit the fire and made a generic chicken curry for dinner, which we enjoyed. We sat and watched the Newcastle v Man City game - it was really good. Man City just pipped it at the end, winning 3-2. The boy was thrilled because his favourite player came off the bench and scored. He then got an assist, which is apparently almost as important as scoring now. What do I know?