Having the prospect of ten days annual leave gives me the opportunity to attempt a new jigsaw - this one which I picked up for £1.99 in a charity shop in Stirling, where I met up recently with a friend who lives in Perth.

I absolutely love this painting - I first saw it as part of the 'Glasgow Boys' exhibition in Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in August 2010.  A stunning, vast, colourful work, it captured my imagination and drew me into itself.   So when I spotted the jigsaw in the charity shop, I couldn't resist buying it... and now I have some time off I will attempt it.

8th August 2010, the night before I went with a friend, who was visiting me, to see this exhibition, I rolled over in bed and found the lump that catapulted me onto an unchosen journey with cancer... so it was fitting, I think, that the friend I was with when I found the jigsaw is someone I first 'met' online in a cancer support forum.  I didn't think of that at the time - I just caught sight of the box and knew I wanted to buy it!  It was only as I reflected on seeing the painting that I made the connection - that feels fairly healthy to me.  Of course I would rather not have travelled that particular journey, but it has resulted in me meeting and becoming friends with, so many great people, and I can't regret any of them. 

And of course there is another lovely irony that mistletoe, yew and other things associated with Druidic mysticism are now valued for chemotherapy purposes.

Reflection aside, I still love this painting, and I will enjoy very much attempting the jigsaw.