Stir it up

Roland is making his winter celebration cake. He keeps the recipe secret but it is absolutely lovely. A rich, comforting fruit cake. No icing. It's perfect to eat on cold, dark winter nights with cheese. Or not.

He usually makes enough for a few cakes. A friend buys one from him, Rol gives some away and we keep one.

Thinking back to this time last year things were so bleak then. So bleak that we reached the point where we didn't have money for our weekly groceries. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of friends and Roland's brother we got through the worst of times - my ex boss turned up one evening with some homemade soup and bread, and some friends gave us everything we needed to cook our Christmas dinner.

Then, thanks to an unexpected stroke of luck a few months ago we were able to clear our overdrafts and small amounts of credit card debt and are now able to make ends meet each month.

We don't have reserves in case of any emergency. I am concerned about how secure my job is, Roland's current part-time contract at UEA ends in February but he is getting regular requests to conduct non-religious funerals. Compared to many people we are very well off indeed.

Something I read in the paper this morning really struck home about someone who doesn't say that they are poor. They say that they live in abundance. That's how I feel right now. And for that I give thanks.