Update

I've a whole load of unanswered e-mails in my in-box. Thank you to everyone who has e-mailed to check how dad is doing. I would have answered but my parents' dial-up connection is a great force to be reckoned with and I just didn't have the willpower needed to both read and respond to e-mails!

Dad should be out of hospital some time today. He has been making a steady recovery, has been a terrible patient by trying to rush things and insisting that he's fine ("there's nothing wrong with me!") and is now going to have to get used to the idea of resting for a few weeks. Mum has been worried sick, not helped by the fact that the day after Dad went into hospital, a recently-bereaved friend of theirs in the village tried to commit suicide.

But, despite all the worry and bad things happening, there have been many rays of sunshine. My parents' village has magic fairies. As soon as Dad went into hospital, word spread and various chores just magically got done -the garden was watered, the chickens were fed, Dad's allotment was harvested and even Nan's grave was tended and remains in full bloom. And watering the garden is no small task - the garden is huuuuge, and parched and the watering cans have to be filled from the water pump: it's a major work-out just filling and carrying the cans. Sophie, James and I spent quite a lot of time picking fruit at Dad's allotment, where everything decided to ripen just as he was taken ill. I have never seen (nor do I hope to see) so many redcurrents in my life - we tried giving them away to neighbours who make wine or jam, we tried cooking them in puddings and eating them ourselves, we gave them away free to the village shop to sell, but by the time I left people were running indoors when they saw me because they were scared I was going to give them more redcurrents! Now the gooseberries are the new redcurrents but these bastards are evil: they have huge thorns all over them, particularly concentrated near the actual fruit. We all bear the scars. And who would want to eat them anyway? I picked a whole carrier bag yesterday but I bet people were only taking them off of me out of pity. Anyway, the upshot of all this is that I've realised just how much dad does on a day-to-day basis, and all with a smile on his face. I think it may be time to employ a gardener!

While still on the subject of gardens, the other ray of sunshine was that on Sunday afternoon, in my parents' back garden, James got down on one knee, presented me with a beautiful diamond ring and asked me to marry him. So that's what I'm going to do! Afterall, we need more men in our family for all the gardening, harvesting of various berries and heavy lifting - it's just a huge bonus that he also happens to be perfectly dreamy and the love of my life!