It was her favourite umbrella; she took it everywhere, like a little treasure. Protected from the rain in wintertime and protected from the sun during the long hot summer. It had beautiful colours, bright pink with Egyptian patterns in Indian yellow and cadmium red.

I could not keep my eyes off the umbrella, it was mesmerising, like a magnet, and before I knew it I had fallen in love with it.  So I became her friend.

Strawberry season had arrived and I invited her over. She greedily ate the enormous plate with juicy big red strawberries sprinkled with some freshly squeezed orange juice and sugar and finished off with a big blob of double cream.

She did mention that a few of them tasted a little strange but I could not confirm that because of my allergy to strawberries.

I am more of a meat lover and hers tasted delicious. In stews, soups, on the barbeque and roasted in the oven with fresh organic vegetables.

I now welcome sunny and rainy days, knowing that its colours perfectly match the colours in my pink floral dress…….. it is my favourite umbrella.