A Birthday Week and Other Random Bits and Bobs 😊

 Just over a week ago Dave celebrated 58 years around the sun.  We had a cake to celebrate on the day and then Mum H came to stay that following weekend:

Mum's visit involved a pancake breakfast, mega scrabble game won by Pip, a spot of garden time (the lawn has been mowed since then!) and a cafe treat at Booths, whereby Dave was treated to a free coffee and cake courtesy of the supermarket since it was his birthday:

The grandkids are growing up.  Mary loves being a big sister to Ottilie and both of them enjoyed two jaunts this summer; one to a caravan site in the North of the UK, followed by a week of fun in Spain.  It's hard to believe it but Mary starts secondary school next September!

Ollie love his new school which is much more suited to his temperament and is very hands on.  He loves baking day which also involves visiting the local corner shop to buy the ingredients 😊. He is doing really well and is very happy ❤️

Out for a walk in the local woods.

Baking day pizza with a yummy, healthy topping.

Reading still plays a part in my Long Covid Recovery, although I still struggle to remember what I have read and if any review is given that usually involves making notes as I go along! 

 August Reads

My favourite was 'All My Wild Mothers.'  The author shares her story of loss (of which there are many, the death of her sister in a canoeing accident, several miscarriages, her son diagnosed with type one diabetes at a very young age and nursing her mother with cancer right to the very end), grief and hopeful acts of resistance and resilience by planting an apothecary garden full of abundance.

My favourite passage involves her questioning the value of motherhood, from feeling frustrated by her own mother's resignation to domesticity as a young school girl to her own reflections as an older woman with a child of her own.  It is in the reflecting that she sees and values all those quiet acts of sacrifice and small acts of love made by her mother, often unnoticed and hidden from the world but valued beyond measure.

The Kindness Project was also a really lovely read but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was about!  See, if I don't take notes at the time, then whoosh, it's gone from my memory 😂 and no this isn't age or menopause related, I was mentally sharp before Covid hit 🤪

September Reads

A Still Life documents one young woman's journey in a life lived with disability and chronic illness that began in her youth.  Since her conditions are 'invisible' for many years she sadly encountered medical gaslighting which understandably caused much trauma.  In recent years her conditions have gathered a collection of names including PoTS, EDS and ME to name a few.  Despite the labels and their associated restrictions upon her life she determines to spend a year writing and documenting both the good and the bad. 

 As time goes on even in the bad moments glimmers of joy can be found if you look hard enough.  One such glimmer is a chance encounter on Twitter that begins as a sharing of thoughts and soon blossoms into a loving relationship - the only difficulty is that she lives in the UK and her beloved in Denmark! Thus begins a new way of being, daily face time calls at the end of each day and visits back and forth between each country. All in all an uplifting read, especially since most of my days are paced and measured courtesy of an occupational therapy programme.

I'm now ten months post covid today and I have some thoughts on where I am, so hopefully I'll be back soon to share what has been going on ❤️

A Birthday Post

 " Hey Mum just think in four years time you'll be sixty and to think you don't look a day over one hundred!!" 😂😂😂. Little Miss PJ AKA Pip certainly has an epic sense of humour!

My birthday was on Thursday so I'm a little late in posting but the small things we did that day are still taking its toll two days later, of the joys of post exertion malaise 🤪

Since there was no chance we were going to make it to Holy Island for my birthday, Dave brought the island to me ❤️. He arranged for a parcel to be delivered containing our favourite coffee from the island and the newly written, 'A Taste of Holy Island' cookbook, written by Victoria Mundy.  We had the pilgrims coffee for breakfast and from the book I made the St Cuthbert's Cake - we first tasted that cake on our visit to the Island last year and my home made version did not disappoint. Victoria co-owns the coffee house and roastery with her husband Andy and you can learn more of what they do at their website found here Pilgrims Coffee

For lunch we visited Booths Shop and Cafe and Pip very kindly pushed me in the wheelchair, this meant I was well enough to enjoy the meal and also be involved in purchasing items for the cake.  Having said that being upright does me no favours and so towards the end of our cafe stay, I put my legs up on the chair next to me to stem the blood pooling in my legs and feet.

By the time we arrived home I was shattered but five minutes later some friends popped by and then there was a chat with our daughter Sr Emma, (she always rings on mine and Dave's birthdays) and a quick Whats App video call with mum.  My brain was well and truly frazzled at that point, but cakes don't make themselves so into the kitchen it was, and despite crazy heart rates and adrenaline dumps it was worth it 😊

I was also blessed with a cornishware blue and cream mug from Dave, flowers from Ben and two other friends, the country living magazine from Pip, a handmade phone case holder with cross body strap, some natural scented body spray and from my long standing friend Ros (who often pops by to read) a beautiful lavender and pettigrain candle, sea weed face mask and some delicious fig and vanilla, rooibos tea.

Yesterday and today have been rest days, with doing as little as possible but I had a lovely surprise in the post from my dear friend Eva, thank you Eva for such a beautiful and thoughtful gift ❤️

Ben's flowers are in the middle, with friend's flowers either side.

Close up of the bouquet.

Eva's lovely gift ❤️. The poppy's will work well in the front garden and I'm going to have fun adding some flowers in honour of Our Lady in that space too 😊

One birthday down and one to go and this time it's the big Two-Zero!

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!

Solstice :: Birthday :: Christmas

 On Solstice eve Ben and I sat around the fire pit with a mug of hot tea in hand:

Pip was twelve on the 23rd and I made it home from collecting our Booths Chicken and Veg Box order just in time for the usual, Pip was born here birth photo:

Our present to Pip was a grey desk for her bedroom and both her and Ben had fun constructing it, I must take a photo to share as they did a fab job.

In the afternoon we met Beth and her family outside and enjoyed a very cold, socially distanced catch up and picnic :-)  Beth and Pip took a walk along the canal and fed the ducks.

The Number 12 with more smarties added later, couldn't let them go to waste!

Hot Vimto drink, "Cheers!"

Cosy Christmas Tree Lights

"Happy Birthday To Pip"

No pictures from Christmas Day as I fell on the ice outside the back kitchen door.  Not only did I land flat on my back but I also hit my head and had a cracking headache for the rest of the day.  The Government changed their minds last minute, due to the new Covid variant sweeping through the country and you were only allowed to meet with one other person outside your family.  We were blessed to have a short visit from Fr L and so we sat in the kitchen with our coats on and the door open!  

Hope you have had a blessed Christmas regardless of the restrictions :-) x 

A Seventeenth Birthday Bubble

Where has the time gone?  Ben turned seventeen on Thursday and I have to say his was the best lock down birthday to date :-)

The day started well for me and I was very productive first thing cleaning the kitchen, sorting the laundry, unloading the food delivery and decorating the birthday cake.  It's amazing what you can achieve when you are not continually interrupted by kids! 

Prior to the latest Covid-19 rules we had already decided to visit Mum H in Cumbria and to have a picnic in her yarden whilst she would sit in the kitchen.  On Wednesday night the PM announced the new plan that two households could get together provided one of them was either a person living on their own or a single parent family.  The new household would then be called a 'family bubble.'  This ruling comes into effect today so we jumped the gun by 48 hours but using common sense figured that was OK since both families have been totally out of circulation for the past twelve weeks.  It was so lovely to spend the day with mum and give her a big hug!  Ben, Pip and I also popped to see my family but we stayed well away from them, we stood on the door step and they sat on their stairs, still it was good to see them in person as opposed to through a screen.

Although Ben enjoyed his day, it has hit him hard that this college year will be finishing next week and a lot of his friends will not be returning in September.  In addition the tutor that has been a constant for him these past three years will also not be teaching him.  As a result anxiety levels are running pretty high and that is before you factor in the unpredictability surrounding Covid-19.  However he does have a meeting with his long standing friend Lewis planned for Sunday; they will go for a socially distanced walk followed by a LAN computer party, whereby they will sit at either end of the big table in the garden and play Minecraft and eat snacks, just like the good old days!  I will also get to sit in the garden and drink tea and knit with my lovely friend Debs :-)

Here are some pictures from the day:

 Opening presents, Bahco Laplander tree saw from Uncle Andrew and Aunty Catherine.

 A Star Wars Mandalorian hoodie from Pip.

 Reading WhatsApp birthday messages.

 Cards on the mantelpiece.

 As requested a birthday breakfast lunch.

 Blowing out the candles at Nanna's house.

We forgot the tripod so a silly try and get everyone in the shot selfie using the flip screen on my camera!