Haircut :: Birthday :: Writing

 Pip reminds me so much of Sara, never one to shy away from trying new things. After  much back and forth looking at new hairstyles and negotiating with me, we finally agreed on a new hairstyle:

On Tuesday Dave celebrated another year around the sun.  I decided to follow Eva's take on birthday celebrations and the birthday boy chose what he wanted for tea 😊. We had sausage and mushroom casserole with veg and jacket potatoes, followed by cake and custard for pudding.  No-one knew that the cake also contained leftover sweet potato in the mix!  If apple sauce can be added to a cake to add moisture, then why not sweet potato.  

Pip had fun choosing a birthday present for Dave.  She chose a jar of Cumbrian jam and a spectacle repair kit, from the Levens Hall Gift Shop on Saturday.  Both of us chuckled when we saw the spectacle repair kit, as Dave is forever damaging his glasses, either the frame comes apart, he loses a lens or the nose pads fall off, so this miniature kit will come in very handy 😊. Being the mischievous person that she is she set up the birthday ring:

It read this when it should have been:

Cheeky monkey 😂

Yesterday after taking Ben for his haircut we drove out into the countryside for him to work for a new client.  I took advantage of the down time and wrote the following reflective piece.

Right where I am sitting: In a car overlooking a field

The clouds hang low in the blue sky like fluffy cotton wool pillows.  In amongst the blue and white are patches of grey moving slowly across my field of vision.

The quietness and tranquility is interrupted by the fizzing and hissing of a hedge trimmer nearby.  Ben is working in this place and I am the guardian of his diabetes management and general well being.  This is his first time here and anxiety levels are running high.  It takes courage as a youngster to strike out on your own and plough your own furrow.  For years we have known that Ben marches to the beat of a different drum and that is not without uncertainty for what the future may hold.

In truth do we really know what the future may bring?  None of us are guaranteed tomorrow and all we can do is our best in the present moment.  The present moment is a gift, a chance to explore what is around us using all of our senses.  When I do this it anchors me to the 'hear and now' and dampens down the anxious chatter in my head.

I can smell the torn and shredded leaves as they lay scattered on the gravel drive.  I can see hedgerows full of greenery studded with jewel like berries, a harvest for the birds and other local wildlife from the fields.  When the trimmer is quiet a tiny bird is twittering in the trees, their chatter resonates back and forth like a Morse Code signal, from tree to tree and bird to bird.

My thoughts wander to the folk who own this land - two Land Rover Discovery vehicles in the car port, an orchard, acres of greenery and a paddock housing two donkeys, a horse and several geese.  The place has the name Hall at the end but it doesn't resemble a stately home, maybe it was part of a previous estate?  Or maybe its name is a play on words since it has a humorous ring to it.

The chap is out watching Ben as he works, both trying to get the measure of each other.  Him dealing with the fact that age is against him and the land is too big to manage on his own.  Ben gauging what is required and acting appropriately.  He detests being watched, it puts him on edge and the blood sugar numbers start to crash as a result of the stress.

A chocolate flapjack slice and some breathing space, interspersed with companionable chatter from behind the hedge.  Sounds like they have both worked out how the other one ticks and so the trimming continues.  There is a promise of a mug of tea at half time ❤️

Not just any old mug but an Emma Bridgewater creation that usually retails from £16.00 upwards!