You might have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for quite a while. A whole year, in fact.

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There’s a fairly simple explanation. Instead of days out and short breaks away from home, much of 2025 was put on hold while hospital appointments and related distractions for both of us took priority, demanding rather more time, attention and energy than we’d planned. The good news is that we’ve now both been “signed off” by our respective consultants and can look forward to returning to something approaching normal life again, albeit at a slightly slower pace.

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Even before all of this, I’d started to ask myself whether or not the blog had run its course. Was it time for a break, or perhaps to quietly retire it altogether? My annual WordPress fees are due for renewal shortly, and that has also prompted a bit more reflection about the blog’s future. But then I then took a look at the blog stats – something I rarely bother with. Fellow bloggers will know how fascinating it is to see where readers come from, which posts attract attention, and to puzzle over how people find their way here at all. To my surprise, despite a year of silence, the blog is still getting several views every day from various parts of the world.

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That small encouragement was reinforced just before Christmas when a friend and blog follower remarked that I hadn’t posted anything for a while. It made me think that perhaps the blog hadn’t quite run its course after all, and might even deserve a fresh start.

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When I started this blog almost seven years ago, I had no posting schedule in mind – no daily, weekly or monthly targets. I’ve always written when I felt like it and when I thought I had something worth sharing. Now, more than 160 posts later, I can see that they have a similar theme: simple subjects that are good or beautiful and things to be grateful for in an increasingly complicated and at times ugly world.

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A New Year feels like a good moment for a relaunch. So here we go again, and we’ll see where it leads. Last year wasn’t entirely without highlights or days out and there are a few ‘postcards’ in the pending tray awaiting publication so watch this space! Happy New Year to all.