"Fruits of the Forest"

A couple of days ago, on a beautiful summer evening, we met at my friend Ali's house for dinner and our monththly "quartet" meeting. One of the members was not able to come, but the rest of us carried on with barbequed chicken from a local restaurant, a noodle salad by Ali, and macaroni and cheese by Sue.

And I made a pie. A "fruits of the forest" pie that was a mix of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and red raspberries - with a lattice top. It was pretty darn good, if I must say so myself (although the lattice top could have been a touch thinnner).

Then we took our glasses of iced tea into the front sitting room and read some of the writing we had each been working on. I read a poem that I wrote the day we signed the final papers to sell my late mother's home, and typically, I choked up and had to hand it over to Ali to finish reading.

We have taken on a new project for the next year - writing a series of letters. I have decided to write my daughter some letters about each of the women in my family who have shaped the kind of woman I am today - many of these are people she has never had the chance to meet. And one of them, of course, will be my daughter herself.

I'll be writing one a month for the next 12 months, and the other three women in the quartet will write their own letters, about their own hearts' passions.

And just like a "fruits of the forest" pie, which mixed four fruits into a delicious concoction, so will our writing blend together like a perfect recipe.