Lilac Tree

Today there has been a bit of an update about quarantine in Scotland. All being well, that is if the amount of cases continues to fall, on the 28th May we will be allowed to sit down in parks, visit garden centres, and even meet friends / family outside (but not in houses.) This is definitely a step in the right direction. England already has this level, being a couple of weeks ahead of us in the progress of the virus. No word yet on when we will be able to head to Ullapool, although in another bit of good news, our sofa bed and a chair were delivered to our house there this morning by Ikea, and the delivery man was willing to leave the furniture in the garage even though we were not able to be there to sign for it. So when we eventually get back to Ullapool, which I hope will be in weeks rather than months, we will have somewhere more comfortable than the air bed upon which to sleep.
Life continues quietly but pleasantly here in our lockdown routine. This past couple of days have been particularly warm and sunny so last night we seized the opportunity to have another barbecue and it was very pleasant. It was a wee bit showery this morning but heated up by lunch time so I am blogging from my hammock. The hammock is right beside the little lilac tree that we bought almost exactly a year ago in Doncaster, in the heady days just after James’ retirement when we celebrated with day trips, lunches, and several short holidays and weekends away. With hindsight I’m rather glad that we did so; little did we know that less than a year later we would be locked down due to a pandemic.
Anyway, I remember that the lilac tree filled the car with its fragrance as we drove north, but only bloomed for a further few days after we got home. A year later it is still quite small, but thriving, and it is covered with large delicate clusters of pale pinky purple blossom. It looks beautiful, and even better the gorgeous scent wafts around me with each breath of breeze.