Some Lovely Things

 I had hoped to pop by sooner but I was floored by a vicious virus in late November, which required two emergency hospital visits before Christmas (signs of either a stroke or heart attack) and from which I haven't as yet fully recovered.  So much so I have engaged the help of the nutritionist that I have worked with these past six years.  I'm currently dealing with ongoing persistent viral reactivation and horrendous GI issues but I'm hopeful with a few minor diet tweaks and a change in supplement regime things should hopefully settle.  

Without further ado here are the lovely things from the past few months:

After years of making St Nicholas biscuits I finally bought a proper biscuit cooker and not only did they taste lovely they looked lovely.

You're never too old to make a den.

Mum H made a lovely sofa quilt out of some of Dad H's old shirts complete with squares of cat fabric and edged in the signature black and red associated with his motorbikes.  Poppy declared it 'her' quilt and who was I to argue.  I will take a proper photo of the quilt as it really is lovely.

Our third granddaughter Everlie Elba was born on the 19th December so another birthday to add to the December list ❤️

Pip was 16 on the 23rd and she had another fun day with her best friend Beth.  Thanks be to God I was manageably well enough to drive them to a local retail park.  They had a lovely time shopping and chatting.

Mary with Everlie

Ottilie with Everlie

 

Watching the Liverpool football match on Boxing Day with Pip, thankfully they won!

A cafe trip with Dave and Pip on the 2nd January, our first trip out since Pip's birthday on the 23rd.  I was able to buy Ollie's birthday presents in the sales 😊. He loves all things soft and fluffy so i bought him a pair of fleece pyjamas and an oversized 'oodie' that resembles teddy bear features.  His hood has ears and a cute face ❤️

I'm hoping that 2025 will be the year that I return to regular blog posts.  I've ditched the distraction of Instagram and I don't bother with twitter or facebook, so it's looking hopeful.

All good wishes to you x 

Random Photos On A Wednesday

 

Ben sporting a new Makita T Shirt that he won in a give away on Instagram.

Cutie pie Ottilie pretending to be a bear ❤️

Poppy cat snoozing on her blanket 😊

It's been a pretty low key kind of day.  We had a visit from Dave's old RMC boss and his wife.  When Dave finished work he kept in touch with the boss' wife who was also employed as an administrator for the company.  A few years later they retired back to Oxford but still continued with the yearly Christmas card and catch up letter.  An email last week stated they would be in the area and could they visit and naturally we said yes.  It was really lovely to see them but as usual quite fatiguing for me, so I was glad of my afternoon rest after lunch.

Tonight's tea was a very simple pasta meal - penne pasta and bolognese sauce which i cooked on a low heat on the hob in order to save energy.  The sauce reduced down beautifully and was very tasty.  Whilst tea was cooking I actually managed to tackle the ironing pile as it had been bugging me for over a week, what a relief to tick that job off my whiteboard list!  I hope your Wednesday has gone well x 

Advent

Goodness me where has this year gone?!  As per tradition in this household, it is a mad scramble on the first Sunday of Advent to hoik the advent box from under the eaves, and scurry around finding the wreath candles bought earlier in the year!  Before I share yesterday's photos here is a quick catch up from the previous few weeks:

Dave's Luggie scooter was in the repair shop a few weeks ago which meant our yearly visit to Bents Homes and Gardens, it was also a chance for Dave to snap some Christmassy photos for the family calendar and for Pip to turn mum into a reindeer 😂

 The stove is in but we cannot at the moment use it!  The installer is waiting to receive is accreditation through HETAS and until that happens we are relying on hot water bottles, hats, scarves and blankets - with the occasional input from the central heating system.  Hope that paper work comes through soon!

Ottilie is 16 weeks old.  Poor gal is teething at the moment and is just recovering from a cold.

Milton our adopted cat from next door often pops by to say "Hello."

Whilst Pip was at her monthly young carers session in Fleetwood (a 45 minute drive from here) Dave and I spent a lovely two hours in the library and this stack came home with me.  The two gardening books will help enormously with my permaculture design course.  This month we are working on maps and overlays, which is fascinating and challenging in equal measure 🤪

Dave had his last session in the MSTAT research trial at Preston Hospital.  His baseline score from the initial visit hasn't changed in those three years despite a fractured spine and four months of rehab, which is pretty astounding.

His appointment ran over into the lunch time so we were treated to a lovely lunch - thank goodness I carry emergency back up meds for Pip!!

And now for yesterday's activities:

Turmeric, ginger and cinnamon latte. 

The last few weeks of constantly having to 'do' has really caught up with me and not only are my glands swollen but I had another weird heart episode in the middle of the night.  I think I need to mention it to a doctor as it is the third time it has happened.

The Christmas crockery appeared and we had yummy blueberry pancakes fro lunch that were full of all the good things - walnuts, chia seeds, desiccated coconut plus the usual pancake mix 😋

It was a spur of the moment decision but most definitely the right one and out came the fire pit.  Whilst Ben readied the fire I cut back some of the scraggy looking herbs, Lemon Balm and Thyme which I will dry in the oven today.  It was really lovely to sit by the fire and ponder this upcoming Advent season.  

Happy Monday to you dear friends x 

Chaos 🤪

 It's been a bit more whacky than usual around here and this is one of the reasons why:

The contents of our dining room are now in our bedroom which in turn resembles Steptoe's junk yard!! 

In other news, I completed my 'Think like a tree' permaculture based work based design and as a result I'm now studying for a Permaculture Design Certificate with the hopes of a Diploma further down the line.  Thankfully the course is all online via zoom (one of the benefits of the pandemic) and I've just submitted my first assignment for module one, all centred around land based observations.  If you want to read it (but no pressure if you don't) it's over here:  https://spiralpermaculture.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-lie-of-land.html

Tracking back to my last post, the day after we arrived home I then travelled to Barrow so that I could take mum for her surgery in Lancaster.  It was lovely to spend time with her so that she wasn't on our own the night before her surgery.  It was a very early start on the Thursday morning as she had to be in Lancaster for 7am, which meant being up at 4am and leaving the house just after 5!

This bear kept me company as I slept in my old bedroom ❤️

We arrived just in time!

Ben has been busy with some extra joinery work which involved re-hanging and re-sizing one gate and completely rebuilding the frames of another and re-siting at the opposite end of an alleyway.  As a result this work was also the catalyst to another job (building an animal shelter including timber framed and boarded flooring) with the same clients:

There will be more in the New Year as further house developments continue.

Sara, Tom and Ollie had a night away in York to see the Railway Museum and some nearby gardens:

Ottilie also celebrated her first Halloween

I cannot believe how the weeks are flying by, before I know it Pip's birthday will be looming on the horizon 🤪. Speaking of Pip, she's working really hard at wrapping her head around combined science - Physics is her favourite (definitely takes after her Dad!), followed by Biology (my favourite) and Chemistry is last on the list.

When I get a moment I'll be popping over to catch up with you all, I do hope you are doing as well as possible x 

Welcome Ottilie Grae ❤️

 This cutie was born yesterday afternoon at 2:31pm weighing in at 7lbs 14oz:

Mary is absolutely delighted :-) 

She thought that she was having a tour of the hospital and had no idea that her little sister had arrived!

Proud Dad ❤️