A mixed bag

 

Well Dear Reader the Spring finally sprang (or is it sprung?). The sun shone muchly on Saturday and the Small People and I sallied forth into the garden for a spot of doing. I wish I could bottle them at exactly the ages that they are now (doubtless the Other Child would not agree) because they are just such fun to be around and they so enjoy the simplest things in life.

We did some digging

And they did quite a lot of watering – mostly themselves if I’m honest. Observe the Smallest Baby Boy who has thumb firmly inserted throughout all operations….

Madam has a pink watering can – natch

They really enjoyed being outside after the endless Winter and went home rosy cheeked and knackered after one of Pops’s legendary strawberry and raspberry milkshakes (as I cleaned the mess up in the kitchen I wondered just who is the child in this scenario…).

Hypnotised by a large flower / contemplating how it works / sucking thumb

We had such a lovely time and I shall miss seeing them this weekend when I am on the high seas on the way to St Malo for a hen weekend….yes you DID read that correctly. Watch this space for later details and probably quite a lot of pictures of French windows – well you know how I can get…

I also managed to get my sewing machine out and turned a £1 tweed jacket into these little lovelies

I have plans to make some more if I ever get around to it….

On a different note we were really upset to hear that our very favourite dog Molli Folly had died unexpectedly and suddenly on Saturday night. We had taken her for a lovely walk on Easter Sunday and she really was the gentlest soul. We will miss her and I know that the Folliers are missing her very much. I am not a dog person at all and am in fact allergic to most of them but even I made an exception in her case. See you Mols.

And so that is it! There has been more but I’ll save it for another time. Whatever the weather – enjoy life Dear Reader and think of me on the high seas on Friday evening, glass in hand, pink wig on head……..I can see your mind boggling already!

And so it goes on

I wrote about this subject some time ago. Today it reared its ugly head again.

I find it deeply depressing that the same people constantly get away with the same things. And that we let them.

And so it goes on

 

 

Me, technology and Instagram

For those of you who are familiar with my good self, you will know what a technophobe I am. I do sometimes dream of doing whizzy clever things on my computer but, truth be told just the writing of this and the uploading of photos does my head in…

So, Dear Reader, it was with trepidation that I took possession just after Christmas of my first ever iPhone. I had resisted such technology on the basis that my little Nokia was quite adequate thank you very much and why did I need the internet on tap when all I was interested in was the odd phone call and text? Well, *whispers in a conspiratorially hushed tone*, how very wrong I was. I absolutely love it. Not for the access to the internet which is handy at times I’ll admit. Not for the bloody touch screen thingy and the keyboard which drives me insane and makes for the worst spelling EVER. No, Dear Reader, I love it for the camera. I love that, wherever I am, the chances are I will have my phone – but not necessarily my camera and so I can capture moments which before would have had me moaning and sighing and realising that the moment had passed and the camera was at home. And the thing I love most of all is Instagram because having never ever got to grips with photoshop (more in a ‘can’t be bothered’ way than anything else)is that I can take a photo, alter it slightly and send it on its way. Bloody brilliant!

Of course the sad thing about all this digital technology, is that there will be no albums to leave the kids (I can hear them thanking God from here) and that’s a bit sad. Who doesn’t enjoy old albums full of dodgy mullets and flares….or is that just my photos….?

Anyway (and don’t pretend you didn’t know this was coming) I have selected a few to share with you. Madam Rainbow and landscapes feature heavily – mostly because they are both largely inanimate – but there are a couple that might give you a laugh or two…

 

I do love a bit of black and white

And not a pancake in sight

Beautiful babies!!

 

Quiet winter Island

Treats

Silly idiots!!

It costs nothing, is a lot of fun and instant as the name suggests. What’s not to like? Love it, love it, love it!! My photography skills still leave a lot to be desired and I WILL get to grips with the other photo things out there, but for now I’m having a bit of fun!

The Shell Seekers

Life never ceases to amaze me Dear Reader. And not always in a good way. But there are notable exceptions and last weekend was one of those.

Picture if you will two people (ladies) who ‘meet’ online. They swap messages, blog posts and an interest in making jam and sewing. They then swap a cat.

Now you might think that there is nothing so peculiar in this (or perhaps you might – I’ll admit the cat thing is a tad odd), but this has been the beginning of an enduring online relationship. And so Abby and her children came to stay at the weekend.

It is not just a wee bit strange but very strange in the great scheme of how we make friends in out forties – or maybe not – who knows.  Anyway suffice to say that we had a lovely weekend. We talked about all and more and TG was very taken with the younger folks (as indeed were they with him).

The smallest Madam decided that the beach was just the place for a walk on Sunday. Now, if I tell you that hypothermia was my favourite cause of death on a beach on the Isle of Wight last Sunday -  then I would not be exaggerating by even the teeniest of measures. It was bloody freezing and there were numb bits of me which have never been numb before in my lifetime! Madam was not to be deterred and so a shell gathering we went. Look at the triumph and delight…

Hunched against the cold

 

Children are so amazingly resilient when it comes to being completely frozen but being absolutely where they want to be. It’s wonderful to watch and it was also lovely to see the real pleasure (albeit with a good dose of bickering)  to be had from the simple pleasure of shell seeking. Brilliant.

A year on.

It has been a funny old weekend Dear Reader. A weekend that whatever I have done, wherever I have been there has been one over riding thing lurking. This weekend last year my Dad died. Strictly speaking date wise it will be tomorrow, the 25th, but it was in fact, Saturday night. I remember this very precisely because as coincidence would have it, we had dinner with the same friends on this Friday that we were having dinner with on the night that he died. We all recalled this and were thankful for no awful phone calls in the midst of things. In case you’re wondering, we carried on with the dinner last year and drank many toasts. We drank another to him on Friday night too.

The most interesting thing if you like that has come out of this past year (and I know that this is perhaps a huge cliché) is that I have realised who my friends are and that some of those friends may not necessarily have been people who you have ever met in person. I have also realised how crashingly disappointingly some so called friends behave at a time when you need nurture, sympathy, empathy and love the most. There was one person in particular who behaved so very badly, so selfishly and so unsympathetically that it took my breath away. Who was so self-absorbed with their own pursuit and gain that friendship went out of the window. A year on I am still smarting and haven’t quite got my head around forgiveness. Whilst one should never do anything with the expectation of reciprocation, I did expect more.

But on the up side there were some wonderful surprises – and so to the people who I have never met thank you – to Al and Anna and Rachel, thank you for your kind words, your cards and gifts. In particular to Fiona for her wise words on parental death and to Pete for his constant bolstering and good humour just when I need it. To the constants, the Folliers, always friends extraordinaire, my lovely brothers and sisters in law and lastly but most importantly to TG and my wonderful children who provide all the comfort in the world. Before this turns into an Oscars speech I shall stop!

And so Dad, here’s to you. I still think about you all the time and wonder if you’re having any luck with the horses wherever it is you might be. Hopefully more than you had when you were here – but perhaps the less said about that the better!! Chin chin.

Quiet Island

When all the tourists have left. When it’s blowing a bit. When the weather is less than perfect. That’s the time to be here on the chilly Isle.

 

Who needs the hordes

 

Because, whatever the weather Dear Reader, I DO LOVE to be beside the seaside :0)

What to do on a rainy day…

It’s official. I am now COMPLETELY fed up with the flippin’ weather. If it’s not freezing your bits off it’s chucking it down with rain. TG and I have braved the elements and walked in snow, ice and drizzle, but sometimes it thwarts even us. So, below a few ‘other pursuits’.

Diet be damned!!!

Spring’ll be here soon. Won’t it?