I never expected to need these things right up till the end of May but they were in use on Saturday night to keep the chill of 3º away from our sitting room. They’re only cheap and cheerful ones, bought from Homebase but they are nevertheless very pretty for such mundane pieces of equipment. That’s why I bought them and that’s why I’ve attempted to photograph them for my PotD before but bounced them in favour of another image on that occasion.

Tonight, I came home and the hearth was completely clean, the ashes of our last fire of the winter (Please let that be true) had been cleaned up by David yesterday and Jo has been over it with the Dyson today. I’m a bit sad because there is nothing I like more than to curl up on the sofa beside DM and toast our toes in the heat that radiates out from the grate when it’s burning. I’m sometimes tempted to light a fire mid-summer just to have that feeling.

I’d wanted a completely different PotD after a wonderfully exhilarating conversation with David last night about my photos. I got cocky and thought I could carry off something that ended up looking like a complete farce so I gave up on the idea and decided on a starburst instead. I think the starburst is going to have the same effect on me that something like ‘Doors of your heart’ by the Beat has – you know – all calming and contented making. I just put it on the camera and bingo, my spirits are lifted in a trice.

The reason I’d become despondent was because I’d been trying for a shot after a conversation with David yesterday and failed miserably! He’d said that one of the things he likes about my photos (and he rarely compliments me on them) is that I photograph things that aren’t there. I was really thrilled with that – it meant I’d achieved something and it meant he’d noticed! He was referring to yesterday’s rainbow, the bubbles from last week, the sparkles from the previous week and the egg in mid air.

I thought about his comment and decided that he’s right. I’m often trying to capture a feeling and I do it by using devices that are often quite simple but effective. I got too big for my boots then and had a miserable, failed attempt at capturing another feeling so I was back to the metaphorical drawing board.

I decided to return to my fire irons because I do think they capture something of the essence of my mood today. My great friend and colleague, Hilary is leaving our team. I’ve known her for a number of years since I helped her and a friend to complete their dissertations for their Masters degrees. To be honest, I was flattered to be asked – me, the girl from no-where with no qualifications, helping people with their dissertations for their second degrees!!!

It was a strange quirk of fate that got me into it. A colleague of mine had been to a big Research Exhibition to man our company’s stand. He got into conversation with Hilary and decided to volunteer my services to help her. I was happy to oblige my colleague and as soon as I met Hilary and her friend I was delighted to be able to help them with their projects. They had to do some original market research for their dissertations and I helped them with survey design and questionnaires as well as helping Hilary to moderate her group discussions and formulate her analysis of the output.

I kept in touch with Hilary (who got herself a distinction I might add) because she was a dog-lover too and had an old girl called Connie who ambled around behind her despite being crippled with Arthritis – she reminded me a lot of my beloved Toby. Sadly Connie has gone to Rainbow Bridge too now.

A year or so later, I was chatting to her and I sensed she wasn’t happy at work so I mentioned it to another colleague with a vacancy and she came to work for us. She also lived in my house for 3 months to save her commuting to Portsmouth every day while she sold her house there.

A nicer person I can’t imagine.

Anyway, Hilary is off to seek her fortune elsewhere, mainly because she’s following her Navy husband to a new posting but also because she can’t stand the travelling to work any more (she has a similar journey to me) and I don’t blame her for that at all.

We had lunch today and she was telling me of the new irons in her fire and so I thought the photo would tell her story nicely. Hilary, I’ll miss you terribly even though we see little of one another these days. It’s been such a pleasure to be your friend.