I have been meaning for some time now to write you this rather sweet letter, and have finally got around to it.

Firstly, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your Picture This column.

I am sure some of your readers, like ourselves, take cameras out on walks for this very purpose – giving much opportunity for fresh air, exercise and the chance to see some of our local wildlife and beauty spots, while witnessing the ever-changing seasons of the year.

A while ago, I sent in a lovely picture of a climbing scented rose completely covering a trellis, taken in the memorial grounds of Sobel House where my mother died some 30 years ago. As time went on, I forgot all about it.

Then, one morning a year later, I opened up the Oxford Mail and there was my picture of the rose.

What was also unusual about this incident was the fact that it was bang on my birthday.

Yes, I am a little imaginative, but who says that our loved ones cannot also send us flowers on our birthdays.

What a lovely present that was for me – and it didn’t cost a penny more than the price of the paper. Thank you once again.

Wendy Buckingham, Oliver Road, Cowley, Oxford