This Week

 We've had more rain than sunshine and so warming soups and casseroles have been made:

Lancashire Hot Pot for our tea this evening, followed by home made lemon rice pudding.

Speaking of the rain our garden is looking rather lush and when I checked up on the raised bed, this is what I found this lunch time:

Looks like I'll be making a whole heap of soup, cakes and quiches with this hefty bounty 😂. 

Note to self - remember to check on the courgettes on a regular basis!!

Pip had her monthly physio visit on Friday which was very productive and she has begun a weights based training programme.  Babs her physio started her with 4kg and 8 kg Kettle Bells and then she tried lifting a 15kg weight using the bar with weights either end.  Whilst she was working with the kettle bells she was also doing squats, needless to say her legs were more than a bit sore yesterday!  Thankfully she was feeling much better today and very kindly helped with weeding in between the paving slabs on the patio this afternoon.

A well deserved post work out/break the fast brunch.

The drive home took way longer than expected due to a road traffic accident on the motorway and I was exhausted and struggled to walk from the car to the house.  Driving is really hard on my legs these days and it doesn't take much to set them off.  I declared it a no cook tea so we had a breakfast bowl of cereal, nuts, fruit, flaxseed and nut butter for our tea 😊

I've finished another shawl and this one is for a permaculture friend who is facing a very tricky and challenging operation at the end of August.  This person loves the sea and I though the combination of the plain blue and alternate variegated yarn resembled the waves breaking against the shoreline:

I'm calling this 'The Sea Breeze Shawl.'

A fellow doula friend who has a soft spot for Our Lady shared this on her Instagram this morning and I thought it was so lovely I would share it here:

The large and lovely lessons

You taught with little breath

In the Liturgy of Labour

In the house of Nazareth

Are such fantastic simple things

That mortals may presume

To call the Queen of Seraphim

Our Lady of The Broom

For you who rule the angels

Built up our legacy

By living a life of little things

That we do every day

You cooked, cleaned, washed and mended

Scrubbed the kitchen floor

Teaching a world the woman's way

To worship and adore

How beautifully you taught us

Where all perfection lies

By seeing all salvation in

The work before your eyes

Immensity in little space

The world in the humble room

You swept and kept and cared for

Our Lady of The Broom.

Hope you've had a good week, off to check up on you all ❤️

Brunches and A New Look Bedroom

 On Saturday morning as planned, Pip and Dave made our brunch breakfast, for my part I popped to the local Co-Op for clotted cream, raspberry jam and chocolate spread.  The chocolate spread was £4.00 for the jar!  Shows how often we buy treat food 😂

Dave being silly 🙃 

On Sunday it was my turn to cook so we had Swedish meatballs, home made cranberry sauce (from frozen cranberries left over from Christmas) and carrots.  We've been following the intermittent fasting regime to try and help with some health issues, so we usually eat between the hours of 12-6pm and it is working quite well.

Here is Ben's new room, I so wish I'd taken pictures of the before - it was a hodge podge of boxes and random mismatched furniture.  He is very pleased with his room, all organised and super easy to clean!  He even has additional storage drawers under his bed 😊. It is always difficult to get lighting right especially at the close of day during the 'golden hour.'  I would say that the bottom photo is the best representation of the colours used, two very different shades of grey - the darker of the two colours on the wall behind his bed.  

The old furniture is still in pretty good condition, so we have offered it to an organisation that furnishes homes for refugee families, they are already interested in a fold up table which used to be in the school room in the old house, and is no longer needed.

Making Things

 That scrunched up piece of knitting became this:

Its official title is 'Quiet Journey' but I've renamed it The Hope Shawl.  I made it for my Instagram friend Fran who has Long Covid, I shared her story and photo here a few posts back.  She is now suffering from very severe ME as a result of that Covid infection and has been bedridden since December - even opening her eyes for more than a few moments causes severe concussion like symptoms and vertigo.  I knit love and prayers into that shawl and my hope is that some day soon she will be well enough to sit up in bed and eventually be out and about in her wheelchair.

Pip has also been busy making a 'thing'

We have had the decorator in this week.  Both of the kids bedrooms are being decorated and Ben was first on the list.  He has chosen a grey, black, check/stripe theme for his room and Pip enjoyed making his new bedside table.  She had no help from an adult, read the IKEA instruction booklet and got on with the task at hand.  

All construction work was done with this in the background:

The Women's World Cup 2023, hosted by Australia and New Zealand.  This match was Spain versus Costa Rica and Pip was over the moon that Spain won 😊. I think it's safe to say that it will be back to back footy for the next few weeks!

Saints :: Reading :: Mindful Moments

 Last week saw a mention of two saints, our very own Saint Benedict on the 11th and St Swithin on the 15th.  We inadvertently celebrated St Benedict's Day with drop scones topped with blackcurrant conserve and clotted cream.  Pip was having a particularly bad week health wise, so the scones were made in an effort to provide much needed cheer, and it was only then we realised it was a feast day 😊

Saturday was a very windy, thundery and rainy day and so far the old rhyme is holding true 🙄:

"St Swithin's day if thou dost rain for forty days it will remain,

St Swithin's Day if thou be fair for forty days 'twill rain nae mair."

In order to combat the dreariness of the day I baked an egg free chocolate cake sandwiched together with melted almond butter.  It was really yummy and being egg free meant fewer allergic type reactions for me ❤️

I've so far read three books this month, two were a complete hit and the third admittedly was more for information:

This book was laugh out loud hilarious! A lovely story of friendships forged in the most unlikely of circumstances and the joy all of that brings to an otherwise mundane existence.  The insight into elderly care and the general running of a nursing establishment was spot on, and no wonder why for the author is a qualified GP. 

I've read Marie's first two books a long time ago and it was lovely to find this in our library online catalogue.  The author does a fab documented the daily grind of live aboard life, the unromantic and hidden side - disposing of the Elsan toilet waste, trying to find water when the river is frozen solid and dealing with a dead mouse decomposing in the darkest recesses of the boat, for an animal so small the stench was overwhelming!

I've watched/listened to several of Gez's youtube videos and so was looking forward to reading this book but in truth felt overwhelmed with all the scientific and patient led information, my brain just does not cope with swathes of info these days!  As a result I didn't finish reading, I think though it is meant to be a book that you dip in and out of.

I've just completed my eight week mindfulness course and it has been very helpful, lots of information and tips to apply in every day living.  If I have a day that is fairly predictable and home based, then I do try to tag my mindfulness sessions during my rest times in the day. 

 However it has come in really handy when a stressful situation has occurred, like Sunday for instance when we found that we had a flat tyre coming out of the garden centre. In the past I would have been quite stressed and quickly adopting a negative mindset ( our brains are wired with a negativity bias!) but this time I used the breath as my anchor whilst sitting quietly and I quickly reframed my negative thoughts with positive aspects of the situation.  In the end it all turned out fine 😊

The only time that I find being mindful a real challenge is when the dysautonomia symptoms are very challenging.  Despite taking medication to slow things down, the past few days have been quite tricky with the chest pains, feeling out of breath and elevated heart rate - due in part to doing too much such as driving, being on my feet or attempting to sort some things in the house. It's during these moments that I seek solace in reading/knitting as a distraction and the warmth from a hot water bottle on my chest is a comfort too.

Mindful veg chopping

Speaking of knitting, I finished the pink and green shawl for my poorly friend and have cast on another one for a friend whose birthday is in September.  It's so good to be knitting again ❤️

Tea Time Treats and Mindful Making

 Two posts in two days, that's a record!!  In between Pip finishing for the school year and everyday life stuff we've managed some local cafe stops - they break up the monotony of an otherwise 'ground hog day' life.

Pip and Dave frequently travel into the village for a Booths cafe stop, shopping and library visit.  Dave buy the Independent Newspaper and he reads the main part whilst Pip tackles the puzzles.

On one particularly hot day we drove eight minutes down the road to Barton Grange and enjoyed tea and ice creams.  I know that might seem a weird combination but it was utterly delicious ❤️

I've been fortunate enough to take part in an eight week course "mindfulness for stress" which is organised by the breath works foundation, and they also run the mindfulness for health one too.  Last week's homework was based on acts of kindful-ness towards oneself - to undertake activities that bring about contentment and peace, and the library book, 'The Mindful Maker' drew my eye.

I really enjoyed trying out the Japanese technique of visible mending known as Boro stitching.  I have a pair of boyfriend jeans that are super comfortable but the factory made holes were proving to be too draughty 😂. Placing a patch behind and stitching over the top has lengthened the life span of the jeans, and I'm hoping over time to add more decorative patches.  I used the net and spiral permaculture designs to remind me of the interconnections I've made through the web and that abundance can occur in the smallest of spaces - the Winter. Jasmine in the garden is living proof of this.

The simple act of repairing incorporates the 'produce no waste' permaculture principle as well as the people care (my wellbeing) and earth care permaculture ethics.  It also means I can avoid the shops for a while longer, as I cannot abide clothes shopping at the best of times, let alone doing so in my current health state 😂. 

More Snapshots

 I had hoped to pop by more regularly but screens are still an issue and by the time I have the headspace to think it's often too late, but hey it's a Friday night so we'll go with the flow 😁

The Reading List was a surprise find at my local library - it was located on one of the end aisles.  The front cover initially caught my eye and when I read the blurb my curiosity was sparked.  I'm so glad this book came home with me.  A truly wonderful, heart warming and yet at times quite sobering well written book.

The story is centred around an anonymous reading list - To Kill a Mockingbird, Rebecca, The Kite Runner, The Life of Pi, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Beautiful and a Suitable Boy.  The list brings together two unlikely souls, Mukesh and Aleisha.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager, spending her summer break working at the local library that is under constant threat of closure.  She finds the crumpled reading list and sets herself the challenge of every title contained therein.  As she works her way through the list she recognises life lessons and nuggets of wisdom that are applicable to her own life, and the magic within the pages transport her away (albeit briefly) from the painful realities of home.

Mukesh, a widower living a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing, spends his days in front of nature documentaries interspersed with visits from his daughters and grandkids and occasional visits to the temple.  His teenage granddaughter Priya always has her nose in a book, just like his beloved late wife.  In an attempt to enrich his relationship with Priya he tentatively crosses the threshold of the library doors.

The initial meeting between Mueksh and Aleisha is quite strained, him over anxious in a strange place and her frustrated and bored with life, and so she comes across as being quite rude.  Realising the error in her ways, Aleisha attempts to make amends and shares the reading list with Mukesh, and soon they are discussing plot lines, characters and their own interpretation of each book.  Before too long a beautiful friendship is formed.

This book was a birthday gift from Kath and it was so good I read it in two days.  During a clear out of her mother's home the author finds a book entitled 'A Fortunate Man' which documented a country GP at the beginnings of the NHS.  Upon closer inspection she realises that this book is in fact based on a the valley where she lives, and so she makes contact with the current GP in that same area (during the height of the pandemic and all that entailed) and so 'A Fortunate Woman' is brought into being.

The author skilfully weaves tales from the past into those of the present, and the GP herself walks the thin line between professional, care giver and friend.  Patient confidentiality is paramount so the stories and accounts are an overview of GP life.  Reading the book gave me a new appreciation for the work of the General Practitioner and made me appreciate further, and be thankful for the excellent GP care that I have had over the years.  Some books are for keeping and others are for sharing, so I gifted this book to my wonderful GP (another country doctor) and she in turn will share with her colleagues 😊

I'm still plodding my way through the permaculture course, it is certainly taking a lot longer than anticipated!  Some days my cognitive function is reasonable and other days its on a go slow, so no chance of planning it's a case of doing what I can when I can 🌿

Thirteen figs on the tree 🌿

A mini plant guild of tomatoes, chives and flowers.

Winter Jasmine

Guns n Roses at Glastonbury

I joined in with some chronically ill pals to watch the Glastonbury Festival - my Pyjama bottoms were my version of festival pants and you cannot attend a festival without either wellies or Crocs!  Thankfully no worries about finding the loos or the state of them 😂

Pip and Beth had their yearly fairy day last Saturday - later than normal due to other things going on around the Summer Solstice.  They had fun at the crazy golf at Barton Grange Flower Bowl and Dave and I sat in the cafe whilst they did their thing.  It's hard to believe but we've been running a yearly fairy get together for nine years ❤️

In car knitting - I finally have some knitting ability, yay!  It started with my Long Covid socks, the first finished before I got sick in a matter of days and the second took five months to complete, it was frogged back several times over 😳. I kept making the simplest of mistakes.  I was so glad when they were off the needles!

This was my view on Wednesday morning as I'm back doing PA work for Ben.  Driving is still an issues for me so it was easier to stay on site and the chap he was working for very kindly kept me topped up with cups of tea.

As far as Covid is concerned I'm still dealing with dysautonomia issues and have resorted to medication on top of other things to try and keep things under check.  I had a lovely virtual appointment with the Occupational Therapist attached to the Long Covid clinic and she has given me a few simple things to do before our next appointment.

Sorry for the long ramble, its no good I'm going to have to pop by more regularly x