Is there an overall theme to this week's blog?  If so, I imagine it must be 'ever onwards and upwards'.
What a difference a week makes!  Not only have I been moving onwards (not that there's much choice in that, really) but there has been a noticeable upwards trend.
To start with, the first few days following Sam's accident felt more like an uphill struggle rather than an upwards trend.  But as the week progressed, the rain clouds began to part and the sun started to emerge and shine through.
During that first week, following repeated orders from my eldest son (he's good at that) I went online and booked a date to give blood.  I had tried to, in the early 90s, but had been unsuccessful, with my blood not flowing rapidly enough to fill the pint bag in the time required.  So having been rejected as a donor, I decided that after 25 years I would give my blood flow another go, and so, stirred on by John's admonishments and also the fact that Sam had received a transfusion a few days before, the booking was made for the following Friday at 13.10.
In the meantime, Sam was very much looking forward to Molly's return from Somerset.  In fact, the sun was now not only peeping out, but casting a little warmth too.
Sam picked up the cake he had commissioned for her birthday party, and what a cake!

But the clouds that had parted to reveal the sun now produced a lot of snow.
 Molly became snowed-in, in Somerset. The party was cancelled and there was a very large cake that needed eating (well, every cloud does have a silver lining, even those snowy ones.)
Luckily Molly made it through the snow in time to accompany Sam to Southampton General for his check-up, and the removal of many stitches.  The team did a first class job on repairing Sam's face.  Now in a horror film he would no longer be the one rising slowly from the coffin, but probably be the action-hero of the piece, with a distinguished large scar or two.  The check-up also revealed that a) Sam was not able to fly yet and b) he needs an operation on his right eye, as soon as the swelling has subsided.  The appointment was booked with the consultant for the 9th of April.
As they were unable to continue with their planned week in Venice, Molly and Sam decided to enjoy days out in their own locality.  I had a text from Sam, saying they were enjoying a visit to Hillier's Arboretum near Romsey.  We used to go there a lot, when John and Sam were small.  'Do you remember when we decorated a monkey puzzle tree with camellia blossoms?' I texted back.  Not only had Sam remembered, but him and Molly had already transformed a Taxus Buccata (box, to most of us) into a thing of beauty and wonderment, and were sitting on a bench near it, listening to the comments it was provoking.
If you ever fancy a laugh in Springtime, all you need is an evergreen, and an abundance of fallen camellia blossoms, plus a nearby bench.

As life settled down once again, I had a couple of afternoons free to make onwards and upwards strides with my current illustration.
Here is the picnic cloth, all ready to receive the food.

Here is the plan of what is to happen, minus the lowest plate which got cut up for a template, and then consigned to the bin.

I must admit, I surprised myself by managing to complete almost all of it. I thought that I would be able to paint the cake plates, and then time would run out.  But no, blackbirds and a green donkey made their appearance, complete with their very own miniature pic-nic food.
 Do you see the teacup on the right hand side, still on the table? It's a little bit more obvious than the green donkey, which is successfully merging into the verdant lawn.

Well I now have to decide whether to add it to the design, as below.  It does look as if it belongs there.  Next decision, do I paint it, or take a photograph and add that?  Well, here I have a temporary pause from the onwards and upwards direction, and stop have a static ponder instead.  The answer really is to do both, and to see what suits.
 It will mean a little extra effort, which I might be trying to avoid, just by way of change!  Sometimes the 'upwards' bit just means more work!
 I am thinking that I might keep these chapter-heading illustrations as they are, which is mainly painted with some collage.  I want to employ photography in the individual ones, plus a little knitting too, of course. And perhaps some lino-cuts.

Looking at the photos above I notice that the colours and exposures are inconsistent. After an intensive photography experience on Wednesday, I am starting to know how to solve that, but before talking about visual art, let's just explore a little literary culture. 
I chose this book from the library as I have enjoyed works by Peter May in the past.

When I started to read it, I was initially disappointed, as it felt decidedly 'clunky' both in the plot and the style of writing.  There was a 'shall I, shan't I' moment or two, but I decided to proceed onwards, to see whether it would start to go upwards in my estimation. Also, I was running short of reading material!  As the story unfolded, the subject matter became of great importance, as it was about an undercover study of bees, designed to provide proof that there is a positive link between the use of neonicotinoids and the decline in the bee population.  On the surface, you could study the bees and say that their overall 'health' is not affected by this chemical being used on many crops, but when you study them in depth, it is proven that the use of neonicotinoids affect their brain and memory, so they are unable to gather food then 'remember' the way home. This is put very simply here, but the result of this is devastating.  These are also facts and not fiction, but facts that lots of big industries are choosing to ignore, for their own immediate gain, and to the detriment of us all in the future.
I then realised that my own decision to do something about this, starting with including bees and this concern as part of my cookery books (notice the use of the plural there, I must be zooming both onwards and upwards in my long term plan) had been put on pause somewhat.
This book has jolted me out of 'pause'.  It pressed 'play' and made me think of how to include bees and their very uncertain future in my work.  Ideas have formed and are moving onwards.

So thank you Peter May.  I may not have enjoyed your book as much as I thought I would, but it gave me a much stronger and more timely message than I would ever have anticipated.

Friday came around, and I kept my appointment and duly gave a pint of blood.  All was very straightforward, the actual painless donation taking five and a half minutes.  Apparently my blood is now flowing strongly and swiftly, so I must be doing something right. I felt I deserved my drink of water (new donors don't get hot drinks) and bag of crisps. I have already booked my next session, and have found that my blood group is O positive.  The thought of giving blood is perhaps the worst thing about the entire process.  Giving blood does not hurt, and it does save lives.  You don't have to see what happens at all, and you do get a nice lie down during daylight hours.  Somebody provided the blood that Sam needed, the need for blood is constant, and they always need new donors.
  I can donate every 16 weeks, which is of very little inconvenience in the overall scheme of things.
 
A policeman rang me last week, to say that they had recently apprehended a burgler, who had also admitted to breaking into and stealing from 'The Gables.'  Our stolen possessions have gone forever, but he thought that with some victims, this further knowledge also helps to bring a sense of closure.
 Mr Cooper, after an initial burst of rage and bad language, thought that he did feel better to know that the thief was now behind bars awaiting his trial, after which he was likely to be there for a long time.
I felt, as I looked into my depleted jewellery drawer which mostly contains funky plastic items, really pleased that my silver deer brooch had been overlooked, unlike most of my silver items.
This brooch is very dear to me, and I love it dearly, as well as deerly.  I will aim to take a good picture of it very soon, to show you of my upwards progression with a camera!

Bear with me now, as this story does make sense soon.  Well, it does to me.
Saturday dawned and me and Mr Cooper headed off to Uppark, to enjoy a National Trust day with the Lemons.  We had such a lovely time, and it was just like pretending to be grown-ups, but grown-ups who laugh a lot, and talk to all the volunteers until they have had enough of us.  Dawn and I reckoned they have to follow a code of conduct, where they are allowed to engage with individual members of the public for five minutes, then they move you on.  Either that, or they found Dawn and my conversations really boring! As usual on an excursion I took my camera, but took only one photo, of a deer's head situated in the servants quarter, which reminded me of my brooch.

The following day me and Mr Cooper set off with Sarah and Gareth to Compton, to enjoy a beautiful walk with stunning views of Uppark in the distance.  I will put it down to being misty as to why I didn't take any photos at all that day!  But all that is going to change.
When I chose my camera to replace the one that had been stolen, I also picked up this postcard from the London Camera Exchange.

And what is more, I then picked up the phone and booked a one to one session with Barry, which I had on Wednesday morning.  I learnt so much in those three hours, but I have also learnt that I need to learn so much more.  So intensive was the morning that when Barry asked me a final question, about what two things I could pre-set at home, before going out to take photos of landscapes, my mind just froze over with having had so much information.  I got one of them, before realising that even more thought was just beyond me, and all I could say was 'I'm sorry, I really don't know'. 

 This was not a negative comment on Barry's teaching, but rather a reflection on the intensity of the previous three hours, but my goodness has it opened some doors with glimpses of a new future. 

 Not so much onwards and upwards this time, but more like a vertical take-off but with only a sketchy idea of how to pilot the jump-jet.  Exciting, yes.  Scary too, as it will involve lots of work.  I could return to life as before, and choose the Automatic setting (safe and easy), or I could learn how make my own visual choices.

Sometimes going forwards requires very little effort, as we may already be on level ground.  Sometimes we come across a hill, or some rough ground. We may choose to stick to the path that we know, the one that we are comfortable with, but then we will never find out where that extra effort and hard work will take us.  So in the coming week or two, roll up your sleeves when faced with a new situation, and give it a go.  

It could be trying a new activity, learning a new skill, or working to complete a project that you have shelved for too long, whilst you trundle along your safe, smooth path.

And with all this talk of rough and smooth paths, spare a thought for those who take a tumble when the road is rocky.  You already have your sleeves rolled up, so go online and book your first donor appointment.  The range of snacks afterwards makes it very worthwhile, as me and son John have discovered and discussed.  https://www.blood.co.uk/

It might be harder at times to attain higher ground, but you don't half get a better view!
 And the plus side to all this onwards and upwards is that you can always pause for a drink of water, a flask of tea perhaps and definitely some chocolate!

See you all very soon, after the weekend of chocolate eggs.

Happy Easter to you all, however you are choosing to spend it.