August Hawthorn

There are huge numbers of hawthorn berries everywhere. I'm not sure if they are especially early this year (along with the browning leaves and leaf fall from the draught-stressed trees) or if I'm just forgetting, but as the days get noticeably shorter, it's feeling increasingly autumnal. 

Yesterday and today, J has been a lot more awake and focused throughout the day, and has seemed more motivated to get on with things and more cheerful. It's a positive sign of her gradual recovery: she is still tired, but is no longer having lots of extended naps in her wheelchair. She's eating a more varied range of textures too, getting closer to her normal diet: it's probably no coincidence that yesterday we decided she could probably cope with the chocolate seashells, her favourite pralinés, which she was given before she went into hospital.