Candles

I have spent most of the day doing housework and a couple of hours this evening editing my photos. I am cautiously happy with them :) Oh, I love wedding photography!!

My lump is even bigger and more painful - it's like a pea lodged under my upper eyelid. I actually can't open my eye very wide :(

Mrs Nesbitt was talking about friends on her blog the other day....I would like to tell you about someone very special. About 15 years ago I was a new mum with a very young baby, and I was very unhappy. Although Phil and I had lived in Helsby for 5 years, as we both worked full-time in other areas we spent comparatively little time in the village and barely new anyone. Suddenly I was on my own all day, unsure of what to do with my baby and feeling very isolated.

I used to dread baby clinic; all the other mums seemed to know one another and I felt very ham-fisted as I struggled to undress Kate for weighing. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach each Tuesday before clinic. I scuttled in and scuttled out, afraid to meet anyone's eyes in case I saw criticism there.

Then one day I bumped into another young mum. She had the warmest eyes and smile I'd ever seen and she just launched into conversation with me. I didn't know it but I had just met one of the best friends I could ever have.

The years have passed and we have been through a lot together. Through her, I got to know other people in Helsby and now I have a group of wonderfully supportive girlfriends here. She is still my friend, even though I was once sick all over her carpet! She makes everything better. She makes me laugh. She did me the huge honour of asking Phil and I to be godparents to her second son. She is kind and brave, caring and talented, funny and wise. I can't imagine life without her!

She is the kind of person who does not know any strangers - she chats to everyone, all ages, and they respond to her personality. Just hearing her voice on the phone brightens my day.

J, thank you for being my friend.