When Robins appear, loved ones are near

 This is my best friend Tricia Rennie, who passed away on this day in 2016.  She was 64, taken by Cancer.  She was about 16 in this photo of her on her New Forest pony Nikki.

I have thought of her all day long,  and tears would spring to my eyes. As the years go by I just miss her more and more.  There are memories only we shared, things only she would know.  The number of times I have got up to go to the phone down these years, to ask her something obscure, only to realize she was beyond a phonecall.

We had to go to Hereford today, to look for lino for both the bathrooms, and to check out sinks.  When we got back I got the lino out, but had left the driver's door open to get my bag out. When I came back out there was a Robin in the car!  I know they are nosey creatures and he probably thought this was new territory for him, but . . . how strange, and today of all days. Friends and I were talking about this only last week when one of them had a Robin checking out an extension she was having built.  She said there was an old saying: "When Robins appear, loved ones are near" and she liked to think it was her dad (in Robin form) checking out what she was having done.  Then another of our group said, how strange, this week the postman handed me a parcel with bird-poo on, apologising and saying, when he got back to his vehicle a Robin flew out - leaving a little "present".  Today it was my turn.  Are you familiar with this saying?

  Here is the poem this saying may have come from:

A VISIT FROM A ROBIN

Do Robins appear when loved ones are near?
It's amazing, don't you know?
He visits in the place of a loved one
That's sadly had to go
He comes to show they miss you
Just as you do them
And they too long for that day
That you shall meet again
They're by your side forevermore
And that will remain so
So they send a little Robin
As a way to let you know

(Author unknown)

You will be relieved to know that the plumber and his mate turned up today, and you would never guess they hadn't been here since Monday and he had ignored  my phone calls! I was not in a good place in my head yesterday.  It's just so frustrating.  Yet they are very good workmen and today they've had cupboards emptied, floorboards up, old plasterboard down and banging mightily etc.  Tomorrow the chippie is here to box in piping, and on Monday the tiling begins.  I made sure I knew the programme of events before they left today!  So, it's all gradually coming together.  I refuse to have a shower in that other awful en-suite one though so just washing in the little sink instead!  Tomorrow night the bath will be in and as long as we don't splash, we can have a bath.  Oh that will be BLISS!

Anyway, I did joined-up driving in Hereford today and linked the one bit I knew with the other bit I knew and came out on the roundabout I knew, and sailed out on the Brecon road, so it is gradually falling together.  I had one of those "good driving" days, and even parallel parked in town, with a bus behind me, and did it perfectly without becoming flustered.  The scenery and the trees were so beautiful and again I wish I had a dash cam so I could share the colours with you, and the light on a hillside of the Black Mountains, with cloud descending their crests and a drift of woodsmoke crossing the trees towards them.  Beautiful.