May day: It’s been a strange old month

The cancer, by the way, has been and gone and I am resentfully back at work.

I say resentfully because I should be absolutely grateful for the care I received, the success of the surgery and the fact I am fit enough to be back at work.

The resentment comes from not ever remembering such a long spell of sunshine in May. If I could move my computer to the courtyard at my office, I would work happily.

As it is, I have a man here wearing shorts and a T-shirt preparing to go back into the sunshine while I sit in my windowless office and dream of this time yesterday.

Hasn’t it been fabulous?

I am sure it is large doses of vitamin D that has helped me to recover so quickly and certainly lifted my spirits.

The man in the shorts is community champion Bill Barnes. He was telling me how poor this country is in vitamin D – so poor that he had to take tablets to boost his levels.

This lack of vitamin D is quite a serious business. It can lead to being unwell more often, fatigue and tiredness, bone and back pain, depression, impaired wound healing, muscle pain and hair loss.

Now I know why the only thin thing about me is my hair.

If this weather keeps up I may soon have luxurious tresses.

It is so warm that my husband has removed his jersey – and, believe me, that means it is hot!

I got out of hospital in time for the royal wedding.

It just confirmed by suspicion that I am definitely a royalist at heart.

I just loved the whole thing, including the gorgeous dress which was simple, classic and completely beautiful. The veil and train which included the floral emblems of the 53 Commonwealth nations was an added and delightful touch.

I liked the way Charles looked after Meghan’s mother, I liked the service and I loved the American bishop who gave a wonderful, if slightly long, sermon on love.

But most of all, I loved the enjoyment of the crowd and the pictures of a green and beautiful Britain bathed in sunlight which were beamed around the world.

By the way, I have made a resolution that I am going to see more of Britain in the coming years and Windsor has been added to a list that also includes Liverpool and Canterbury.

When I wasn’t sitting in the sun recuperating I was watching TV and discovered I am tragically sad, but a nice person.

All I watched were programmes about people buying properties in the sun. I never watched with envy and was delighted when they got what they wanted.

If you’d asked me, though, I would have told you that I watch very educational and highbrow programmes. I don’t!

I haven’t done much else since I got out of hospital but I had to fulfil a promise to my grandson for his 14th birthday and, rather reluctantly, went to see Solo, the latest in the Star Wars franchise. I didn’t want to go because I was so tired but I am glad I did.

As the 14-year-old and I exchanged grins over events and comments that referenced the Han Solo we would come to know through Harrison Ford, I realised how lucky I am.

Forty years ago my husband and I took our very excited five-year-old to see the very first Star Wars film which was not only the beginning of a love affair with the series but also created a wonderful connection between our son and me. Now I get the same enjoyment from the films and the same joy of sharing them with another young boy.

One final note before finish this ramble: When I came back from holiday in New Zealand at Christmas I was very unsettled because I was missing old friends and family.

Since I returned various things have happened and guess what?

We have discovered we have wonderful friends and colleagues here, willing to step in and help, transport people around and be there for whoever needs them.

Something else I learned while I was recuperating is old friends may be golden but the new ones are, at the very least, a shining bright silver! You know who you are and thank you.