Pink hollyhock

It’s been an emotional day because the service of thanksgiving for my friend Fiona, who died during lockdown, took place today. There were a lot of people in church because Fiona was a real people person; gifted, creative and spiritual and the whole service was a wonderful celebration of her life. I found it very moving and uplifting.

I haven’t really done anything else today (except a couple of loads of washing) because I simply couldn’t concentrate, so I was kind to myself and just accepted that I needed to give myself time to grieve and remember a lovely friend.

This evening I popped out into the garden in the late sunshine (which was very welcome after a cloudy day) and thought I’d take a photo of this beautiful pink hollyhock. This is the colour I’d like to seed itself around the garden, instead of the pale, washed-out lemony white ones which have come up all over the place. And where do you think this one has appeared? Well, just to be difficult, it’s flourishing out of sight beside the compost bin down the side path of the house!