In Yarpole, a small nearby village, I found optimism in the form of an elderly lady with a brightly coloured Snoopy pouch with the words in bold “let the good times roll.” She told me she carried it with her during the pandemic like a mantra, a good luck charm, a reminder that despite all that’s wrong in the world, there’s no use in a cup half empty.

This summer I’ve reclaimed a part of myself. It was a part I thought was lost forever: the road warrior within. Dinner at service stations, traffic jams, running low on fuel (well, completely out), parking tickets, and loading up the car with amps. leads and high heels.

A friend took me to Kyre Gardens, in Tenbury Wells – an enchanted land of lily ponds, buttercups, stone faces and secret doorways. I was reminded of the verse I was given as a child by Dorothy Frances Blomfield, ‘the kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.

In my first gig since December 2019 (!), I’ll be singing at St. Laurence’s Church, Ludlow on Friday 2nd July as part of the Ludlow Fringe Festival.

I’ll be accompanied by the Anne Tupeling String Quartet, local pianist and composer Steve Dunachie, as well as my long-time collaborator Martin Riley. It’s going to be so lovely to perform again