Ohhhh, it felt nice to have a real vacation. We spent Thursday afternoon (and all of this morning) driving, but we had four full days in between for lazing around in a sun-filled garden, taking Nika for jacket-less hikes on the moors, writing in my favorite Bristol coffee shop (called, wonderfully enough, The Boston Tea Party), and discovering a new shop that I could spend my life and my life's income in: Fresh & Wild, an incredible organic super-luxury-shop-plus-cafe in Bristol's upscale Clifton neighborhood. Oh, yeah, and did I mention the chocolate? :) Easter is always a Happy Time for me. And this Easter we got to go out on the moor and see roe deer leaping high in the air with their big white bunny tails bobbing, so it was even better than usual.

It's amazing how good it feels to be able to sit around outside and just enjoy the warmth. Spring has finally come--even here, back in Leeds! I put on a short skirt for the first time in months and felt great. I've finished Chapter Twenty-Five and am braving the rest of the novel despite deep paranoia and insecurity.

Sunshine always, always helps.