The end of an era...

An ordinary enough start to the day, a Teams meeting with the JCC Partnership, a brief trip to Swaddywell NR to see the Autumn Lady's-tresses that mark the end of the UK orchid season, and then an afternoon spent with Lizzy putting together the draft Executor's accounts prior to finally winding up Molly's Estate. 

It was just as we were finishing that the news came through of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. While not unexpected, it still came as a shock and I felt more emotional than I'd expected. She had been there for the whole of my life, steadfastly carrying out her duties with wisdom, diligence, discretion and a dry sense of humour  -  qualities that now seem hard to come by - and I felt the loss. My Mum and Molly were of her generation which made it feel more poignant.

Now we are entering a new, more precarious future where nothing seems certain anymore.