Lines from Linda

April is aptly known as spring. It is the month where life renews itself. As well as celebrating Easter, many animals, too, are resurrecting from their winter hibernation months, plus a variety of sweet-smelling flowers are popping their pretty heads through the earth, filling their surroundings with colour and perfume. It’s a time of new beginnings.

I love to see featherless, tiny, baby birds opening and shutting their beaks above the sides of their parents’ nests as they await their dinner, and new-born lambs cantering over the fields beside young rabbits who hop happily over the smell of newly mown grass.

When I worked at Hever Castle, (in the days when they had a summer of repertory plays in the grounds), I would lean out of the rehearsal room window and watch the multitude of rabbits there, bouncing across the vast grounds of the castle. Incidentally, if you haven’t ever visited Hever Castle, I highly recommend it, not only for the educational value, but for the admirable gardens, the outstanding scenery - and even the rabbits.

My husband, having been brought up in the suburbs had never seen a live rabbit. Every time, in the past, when I saw one in a field and I shouted, ‘Look there’s a rabbit,’ he would look up too late and it would be gone. So, I invited him down to Hever to spend a day wandering around to her peers; and Darren Russell, whose passion for the environment, and Hoblingwell Park in particular, is now inspiring the next generation of Park Friends.

So much of the past weeks has reminded me of how much Bromley does to help the community as a whole and those further afield. I have met with Rotary clubs, whose charity work is astonishing. I saw the Oak Community Church warm hub in action, and felt the warmth coming not from heaters, but from the volunteers and the guests. I spoke at the launch of the important Let’s Talk Better campaign led by the fabulous Bromley Buzz team.

And on 8 March I joined with some inspirational women, both at a business event held at Bromley Football Club and at a dinner later in the day, to mark International Women’s Day.

It has been an incredible few weeks and I look forward to spending my final weeks as your Mayor meeting more Bromley residents who make me proud, and saying thank you for the work they put in to making our borough brilliant.

Cllr Hannah Gray Mayor of Bromley (2022-23) the magnificent grounds, where I guaranteed he would see a multitude of rabbits.

I couldn’t believe it, when, at the end of the day, (and many other days during that season), that he still hadn’t seen a living, hopping, rabbit. ‘I’ve achieved many things in my life,’ he told me sadly at the end of that summer, ‘But I’ve yet to see a rabbit.’

I decided to end his frustration once and for all. As the next Easter approached, and on a day when hubby was at rehearsals, I took a trip to the local party shop and I hired a white rabbit costume, the full caboodle, long white ears with pink insets, whiskers, perfectly replicated rabbit’s feet, and a round bobbed white tail at the back.

Just before he was due home, I climbed into the costume and when I heard his key in the door, I quickly hid. As soon as he stepped in and yelled, ‘I’m home,’ I bounced out from my hiding place. I was on all fours as I hopped up to him and squeaked, ‘Welcome home darling.’

There was a look of bewilderment on his face, as he frowned, staring at me in astonishment for a good five seconds. Then he blinked a few times, so I knew he was taking all this in. Finally, he said, ‘Why are you dressed as a cat?’

For more about me and my crime novels see www.lindareganonline.co.uk

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