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!

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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!

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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.

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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)

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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It doesn’t often snow to any great extent here on the sunny Isle but last night it did

It won’t last. But it’s lovely whilst it does.

:0)

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Progress

Can I just begin Dear Reader with a teeney amount of smuggery in a Bridget Jones stylee:

Hair shirt: Still firmly in place
Alcohol taken since 1st January: None (I am more amazed than anyone else!)
Weight lost: 2 bags of sugar.

There has been nothing much to report from here on the chilly Isle. We have been slimming, not drinking and doing an inordinate amount of walking around the frosty and deserted streets of East Cowes in the late evening to up metabolism and shed the poundage. We have witnessed, on our night-time wanderings some spectacular star shows and there have been some wonderful early morning sunrises – see above for this morning’s. Life has pretty much progressed as normal except that I now sleep like the dead and feel alive in the mornings – hmm perhaps a salutary lesson. Tonight is the first night out since New Year’s eve and I’m already obsessing about the calorific content of Chinese food…..may just be the beansprouts then…

But there is much to look forward to once this month of self denial is over. A hen do on a mini cruise to St Malo which will be a booze fest  (if the company is anything to go by and the talk of bar crawling and /or possible clubbing… ) followed by the wedding which will take place onboard a cruiser on Loch Lomond (am practising my och aye the noos already) over the May bank holiday (and will feature same hen party lovelies) and  which sounds like a brilliant weekend. There will be theatricals to a small degree. I say small degree because by the end of last year I was very disillusioned with the attitude/divaishness of some which sucked the joy out of what is essentially a hobby and pretty much retired. There will be a one night only opportunity to see The Vagina Monologues (19th Feb for all you Islanders -a great evening of laughs and thought provoking stuff in aid of the Women’s Refuge here on the Island) and then I have been offered a part in a play in August by my good mate and super director Mr S. Have no idea what it is, just that it requires a ‘posh comedy bird’ – his words, not mine.

So a few things looking ahead (and maybe a clipper holiday around the islands of Croatia thrown in for good measure if I can sort it out) in the pot. And it’s always good to have something to look forward to isn’t it? After last year’s awfulness when I didn’t feel motivated to do anything much, there are plans to grow more veg, develop more of the garden and become a bit more self sufficient. I might even dust my sewing machine off….

Onwards and upwards Dear Reader. Onwards and upwards

 

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New Year – new term

Heavens to Betsy Dear Reader it’s been ages. I know that I bang on about the time flying by – but fly by it does. There don’t seem to be enough minutes or hours to string together to make any inroads into anything.

Since my last small amount of effort here we’ve had New Year’s Eve (a splendid night as always at the Folly amongst friends and family). A wonderful post Christmas Christmas dinner cooked by our lovely Norwegian friends which was made doubly better by the fact that I had no hand in it whatsoever (bear in mind that there has been NO Christmas dinner that I have not had a least a hand in for the last 25 years…) – they had gone to an enormous amount of effort and jolly good it was too with an eclectic guest list of Norwegians x 2, Paddys x 2, Spaniards x 1 and 2 Brits. We also had New Year’s Day with Mr and Mrs Folly including a spot of footie, a rather lovely Coq au Riesling and a good old amount of chat. And so I prepared for work on the 2nd until disaster struck.

I should tell you that whilst removing Amanda the turkey (if you don’t know the turkey rule – we always name it after someone who we don’t like / has done us down over the previous year and take great pleasure in roasting him / her) I managed to completely knacker my back. It could have had something to do with the fact that she weighed 18lbs and was flippin’ heavy or it could have just been the angle of liftage – whatever it was it bloody hurt (and still does). So having had the back from hell since Christmas day, I awoke on the 2nd with the most filthy of colds and absolutely no voice (much to the delight of the rest of the household). It felt as though I’d been run over at the very least and I had my first sick day EVER at this job!

I still sound like a particularly dodgy 0898 number (am rethinking career as we speak) but have been to work (cue much hilarity and ‘did someone say something’ jolly japes…)

So here we are at the beginning of the first week proper back at work. The Child has been redeposited at university so the nest is empty once more, the decorations are gone and the holiday season is behind us again until next time. Despite my ‘no New Year resolution’ mantra, the one thing I have wanted to do is lose some (considerable) weight so with that in mind I have had no alcohol since New Year’s Day (collective gasp from the crowd) and have been counting the calories. Actually, what with the back and the cold it’s not been too difficult but time will tell….

I leave you therefore with two small memories of Christmas – and random ones at that. The first is the Eldest Baby Girl playing Mary at the school nativity. She was very good (apart from bursting into tears at the end because ‘THAT angel touched my cradle Nanny and I TOLD her not to’). I did explain that angels can be a bit unreasonable that way sometimes!  I also took her to the panto which she absolutely loved – getting her into the acting groove at an early age – well someone has to carry on the dynasty!!

The second is of Madam Rainbow. We’ve had her now for quite a while and she really is part of the family. She is the grumpiest most miserable baggage at times but when it comes to the arms of a man she is a real softy (bit like myself really). Silly old thing that she is.

And there I shall leave you. Work proper beckons tomorrow and there are more Excel spreadsheets to be created than you can shake a stick at. I shall keep you posted on my detox efforts (although I’m sure you’re not REMOTELY interested) and go firmly into 2013 feeling not physically brilliant but definitely mentally better than last year. Bring it on!

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A tale of two walks

There comes a time Dear Reader over the Christmas holiday when one must haul one’s fat ass off the sofa and head outside to decobweb.

And so it was that TG and I found ourselves on Boxing Day in a howling gale, driving rain and Somme like mud walking Molli Folly

There were some friendly cows too

And then the rain came thus putting paid to further photo opportunities and leaving me wet through to my knickers…

Fast forward 24 hours. Same dog. Different venue. Marginally better weather.

If I was going to have a dog then this  would be her. She’s completely brilliant – well behaved and obedient (unlike TG…..) and makes a walk lots more fun. We felt terribly virtuous after our walks and thought that cold turkey and a nice glass of vino would be just the thing. Well it IS Christmas after all…

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Easy like Sunday morning

Last Sunday, most unusually, TG and I found ourselves together. Normally he is busy chasing small balls and I do my own thing but last Sunday due to the torrential rain, small balls were not an option. And so we decided to not see anyone, anyone at all and spend the day just being. We got up early to make the most of the day and by 9.30 we were walking in the sunshine and blustery wind. It’s my favourite time on the Island – when the tourists have gone, the weather is still good and the people on the beach are few and far between. Bliss.

There were not quite seven swans a swimming
but these two seemed to be enjoying themselves

We repaired to an Italian deli for coffee and pastries and felt wonderful. As we got back into the car the heavens opened once more and so we went back home to the fire and a hot dinner. Marvellous and just what the Sunday doctor ordered!!

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Once more unto the beach Dear Reader

And so it dawned a beautiful day on Saturday – a tad chilly round the edges but bright and sunshiney. TG and I took the small people to the beach at Ryde where the tide was miles out, there were plenty of shells for collecting and there were footballs to be kicked. I had stupidly not brought my camera so the below are from TG’s phone.

I find, as I get older, that it’s the little things in life that mean the most and Saturday morning was just perfect. We had such a wonderful time with the littlies playing ‘football’, singing silly songs and dancing in the sand and watching the Smallest Baby Boy discovering that if your hands are wet that sand does indeed stick to them…

The Now Biggest Baby Girl kept us entertained with how ‘mingos manage not to fall over when they stand on one leg (cue unsuccessful demonstration by her) and how ‘nanilla is her very favourite ice cream (and do they sell them in the cafe up the road Nanny…)!

We peered into pools left behind by the man digging for worms (which was pronounced to be ‘scusting Nanny), watched a very unstable looking mini hovercraft whizz round the beach and some rather unsuccessful kite flying. It was just brilliant and I am so glad that we get to spend so much time with these small folks before things like the beach and kicking a ball become boring and have been swapped for computer games. We repaired for a spot of lunch to the cafe (and a ‘nanilla ice cream) and TG and I agreed that it was the nicest Saturday morning we’d had in ages.

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