The Hungry Wasp

Putting my boots away the other day and I noticed a wasp on the top of the boot stand.  It's getting cold now and you could see that it was struggling, it barely moved as I went to shush it away.  I lifted it onto a leaf and couldn't help but notice what a beautiful little creature it was.  Not that Summer Wasps are my favourite thing and had it been full of the joys of summer, I wouldn't have been anywhere close, but I couldn't ignore an animal in such need.  I found a skewer, coated it in honey and let Waspy get some much needed food. Watching it work its way around the skewer was a fascinating and touching, it had so obviously been in need.  It was also a real pleasure to enjoy a creature that I would, in other circumstances, be doing everything in my power to avoid!

How to have a happy Monday...

according to the good folk at exemplifyonline.com at least.  This appeared on my FB page recently so I decided to give it a try. 

Brew Something Caffeinated:  One mug of Pomegranate Green Tea and, as a bonus "For All We Know" on the radio, any day that starts with the Carpenters is going to be a good one; I skipped to Blast Your Favorite Song.

Stand in the Sunshine: did that, didn't take a photo, but in October, a little warm is lovely.  

Wear Your Favorite Blouse:  I don't have a blouse to have as a favourite... it got me thinking that I would like a blouse to call a favourite, I will have to be on the lookout for one.  In the meantime, my favourite grey marl T and matching cardigan did the job nicely.

Let Psalm 118:24 Take Root:  "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." I may not be the most religious of folk, but I appreciate the message and it was a wonderful one to leave percolating in mind for the rest of the day.

Laugh, Laugh, Laugh: we did that and being told to do so made a difference to my mindset for the day.  Seeing the humour in things is easy when you're actively looking.

Eat Lunch On Fine China: well there was none of that to be found at work, but I borrowed the nicest plate I could fine and, whilst I still ate at my desk, just the act of eating my lunch (leftover vegan chilli, yum!) from a plate made a far greater difference than I thought it would.  I learnt a much needed lesson in taking a little time and a proper break to not just eat but savour my food; pause, refocus and regroup.

Work Excellently: I work hard, but do I always excellently?  Another great mindset for the day and it brought a surprising amount of joy to the day too.  Not just completing a task, but making the process excellent is a compelling way to approach the jobs of a day.

Stretch Throughout The Day: at any possible opportunity.  I found that it centered me, focused me on my physicality and brought me back to the present. Again, all important reminders.

Eat Dessert: and that I did!  I had nothing in the house so a scrubble round the cupboards resulted in my first proper attempt at tofu ice cream.  Peanut Butter Maple Tofu Ice Cream to be exact and damn, is it good!  Shame no-one else at home likes the sound of it... one whole tub for me!

And so, in 10 simple instructions, I had a very happy Monday.  More importantly I was truly "present" in my day, focused from the moment I got dressed to the final moments before I went to bed on what would bring pleasure to my day.  I was also reminded that happy is not a selfish concept, that focusing on my happy was also a way of bringing my best me to the rest of my day.

So tomorrow's Monday, have a Happy One folks and, if you have time, try a some of this little experiment :o)

Saying goodbye to 38...

As the 12 year old embraced 12; I was counting down my days of 38 and wondering what the last step to 40 would feel like.  Now, 40 I'm excited about and, I apologise now, I intend to celebrate it in style... 39 feels a little underwhelming; poor 39, always a bridesmaid!

As it is, I've had a wonderful couple of days.  I filled as much of my spare time as I could with the dogs.  Walks with my two and time spent with a new "extended" pack, thanks to the local dog rescue that the 12 year old and I am now volunteering at.  Great people, wonderful dogs; it is bringing a whole new dimension to my life and studies.

Because I'm spending more time away from my two, albeit for a good cause, it makes me want to spend better time with them; varying our walks more and going out for longer. The fields at the bottom of the churchyard were off-limits while my ribs healed but the horses have moved back to their old field now and we've been enjoying the extremely long grass that's taking over instead.  Long grass is one of Megan's favourite things; she barrels through with abandon.  Finn, however, is never more than a foot from my side and will often wait for me to go in front and walk him a path.

I decided to crouch down and see the world from his height and Meggie came to find us.

Finn really does live in a very different world; I'm intrigued to see more of it from his viewpoint and am definitely going to try a few more photographs if he'll be patient with me!

As for the rest of the day, I was spoilt with love and good wishes.  I know I am a lucky woman and so thankful for my family and friends.  I'm even rather liking the sound of 39; still no 40 but pretty damn good so far!

It's a Happy Birthday!!

The 11yr old is officially now the 12yr old :o) 

 

It was a mad weekend of onesies and sleepovers and birthday cake breakfasts...

Happy Birthday my darling xx

Busy old week...

Highlights included:

Finishing off the grass by the kitchen door, at last, only 3 years late... Megan approved.

"Homework" in the garden:

Chicken Ignoring for Dogs...

while the big girls did a little light weeding.

I even managed a bit of sewing, more later.

The escape artist!

The wonderful Mr S popped over yesterday to visit with me and little miss; take the mutts for a walk and cajole me into getting some doctorly-prescribed "light exercise".  As the lovely Pimms had come for a play-date with Megs and Finn, we decided to go through the church and into the back field where they could all run themselves ragged.  Waiting for us at the bottom of the hill were the ponies; including the cause of my rib sprain and now two, teach me to lift my arm especially when the good Dr warned me, torn ligaments!

As trouble-makers go, she's rather lovely and I got a very sweet nuzzle as I pointed out exactly what she had caused during her exciting escape.  I'm getting rather fond of our little troupe, they love a little company and are very good with the dogs; it will be a shame when they move on (as I presume they will) again.  In the meantime, we can enjoy saying hello and the 11yr old is particularly taken with the foal - what 11yr old girl wouldn't be.

I just won't be so keen to help our escape artist if she tries anything again... she has been told!

In the meantime, I am going a little stircrazy now... enforced rest is not my idea of fun but it's necessary.  Even sat for the 40-odd mins I've been typing this and going through a few emails for work have proven painful.  I'm being careful with the codeine as it could lower my T4 levels and the last thing I want is to upset the wonky thyroid, so I need to keep resting.  Bah humbug, I can't even sew!  All this time and nothing but reading and TV to keep me out of mischief... it's just plain wrong ;o)

Regrowing Celery and other things

As my little Pak Choi is doing so well, I started on a Celery and this is a quick glimpse of the progress so far.  I also planted on my second Pak Choi and will wait to see what happens with that.  It has quite a few sprouts coming up from the base, which is why I left it that bit longer in the water - to give them a chance to get taller, so it's a little haphazard, we'll see what happens.

The Celery is a slower grower, but I'm impressed by the bunching - it looks productive!  Unlike the Pak Choi, which looks like the second little shoot is never going to go any further than it has.  I need to find out more about Pak Choi as I'm not entirely sure what it does now and when and what I can do with it.

Meanwhile, my apple tree is budding in a beautiful deep pink:

We have horses, and a foal - who doesn't love a foal, now grazing in the bottom field:

And, as Megs snuck into the last celery picture and we're indulging in a little cute today, here's a gratuitous picture of Finn doing what he does best...

making cute look easy.  I almost forgive the thunk on the chest wakeup call at 4ish this morning.  Almost.  She says, smiling fondly ;o)

Swimathon 2013, in aid of Marie Curie

This post is a little late, too much excitement on Sunday and the lovely boyf came home yesterday... but the 11 yr old made me a very, very proud mama on Sunday.  As part of Girl's Week (with the boyf in Boston) I signed her up, the weekend before, for the Swimathon - thinking that it would be a bit of fun.  A certain amount of horror set in, as I officially registered her, when I discovered that the Swimathon was a 1.5km (or 60 lengths) swim! Option A was just not to show up... not an option really; and Option B was to sign her up and make the first, guilt-ridden!, donation.  Option B it was.  Now, 60 lengths wasn't completely out of the realms of possibility, she swims in a squad and an average session includes 30-40 lengths, but I was fully expecting a lot of cajoling and threats to get her through the last few.  I even roped in the lovely Mrs B, as volunteer counter, for moral support (mine, not the 11 yr old's!)  

As it is, my fabulous daughter (and all the other great children who took part that day) proved us wrong, and then some!  There was a certain mental block with the initial 60 lengths, they would pause for a drink, ask for their total thus far etc. but they didn't slack; 60 lengths were done in little over half an hour.  And then a little magic happened, their swim coach said to let the keep swimming till the end of the hour and swim they did.  In the last 20 minutes, the 11yr old swam a further 22 lengths.  She had hit her stride and didn't stop. Their tenacity and determination was just a delight to watch; and a reminder of how we so often underestimate our children. 

And just look at that face, her only disappointment that she didn't have time to get to 90 lengths.  I think she could have happily carried on to 120 if we'd let her!  There is so much time spent, being a parent, where you are caught up in the day to day minutiae of doing you job.  You love your child, of that there is no doubt, but you are so busy thinking of this, that and the other, that you forget the marvel of them.

And on Sunday I got to marvel, buckets and buckets of marvelling... one proud, proud mama!

Surprise!! It's a Wine Bottle Cheesecake!

We did it, my co-conspirators and I, we surprised the lovely boyf for his 30th!  It was a risky proposition, the boyf says he doesn't like surprises, and I'd never organised a surprise party before.  We have been planning for months and have had a few gulp moments.  But, even though the game was first given away less than 24 hours after we started (never mind the second, third, fourth and fifth times!), nothing was ever said that gave him too much of a clue and I think he was genuinely delighted.

It could never have happened without a lot of help and plotting (thank you all, you know who you are) and wouldn't have been as successful if it wasn't for all the good folk who were able to attend.  It was a really good gathering of family and friends, old and new, and as much a pleasure to see people meeting and catching up as it was to see the look on the boyf's face when he first walked in. 

Of all the decorative things (the invitation, the large number 30 poster with suitably embarrassing photos etc.) my favourite was the "cake": the result of the latest collaboration between the lovely Mrs B and I.  We have a history of birthday cakes, mainly my mad ideas and her mad skills, and this was no exception.  The boyf is not a fan of cake so the first plan was a cake of cheeses but they are mainly tiered, weddingy, creations and so it needed a little something else.  What better then, for my cheese and wine loving boyf, than a "vintage" all of his very own.

The Wine Bottle Cheesecake

A dozen firm cheeses (plus two for decoration), a 7cm circular cutter, lots of muscle (Mrs B's, not mine!),  a wine bottle long wooden skewer, a sharp knife, four pins, candles, a bunch of grapes and a personalised wine label later... one wine bottle cake.  11 layers formed the bottle, a mixture of deeper flat rounds for stability and some thinner, more interesting, angled layers.  The top layer we cut with the round and then "curved" with a sharp knife. The bottle neck was 5 layers, cut from a single piece of cheese with a knife, using a screw cap from a wine bottle as a template.  We skewered the neck pieces together first and then slowly pushed the skewer down the length of the bottle.  It would probably have been fine without, but we decided to take no chances.  A cheese board base, with a Stilton to hold the candles, a Lancashire Bomb because it's everyones new favourite and some artfully arranged grapes finished it all off nicely.

The lovely Mrs B artistically arranges the grapes!

Surprisingly simple, very effective, and demolished in minutes... so quickly that the boyf never actually got a taste!

"Lazy" Days...

Why is it that on lazy days there is always so much to do?!  The first half of this weekend I have to myself, the lovely boyf is golfing (a pre-birthday treat) and the 11yr old is at her father's.  Luckily for me she left the contents of her ski bag to be washed; a whole week of skiing, the dogs are fascinated by the wafting smells!  It's keeping me, and the washing machine, busy... and there are errands to do, pet food to buy - always "oh, the large bag please!" in our house, the chooks to sort out and a little DIY, if I can get my hands on a drill.  I may even squeeze some gardening in somewhere, my newly planted fruits are budding and surviving (so far, touch wood) the frosts, I love to go and tidy up around them; nothing useful in my gardening, just an opportunity to oogle the possibilities.  Or, as my Grandmother would have said, "tend".  Yes, I think I will tend to my garden today; what a wonderful word that is.  In the meantime, the dogs are doing their bit, we were up at 6am, bright and breezy; well, I may be after my second cup of tea, and they are patiently waiting for its consumption before nudging to go out for their walk.  And the day looks to be a glorious one, which is a blessing.  It has been miserable still and snowed all day Thursday, I felt a mild panic that we would never see the end of this winter, but today (the boyf truly has all the luck) the sun is shining and, although the wind is freezing, if you get out of it you get a hint at the warmth of our summer to come.  And I, for one, am hoping for a hot one.

So have a good weekend everyone, whatever it may hold, and if the sun is out... enjoy!

The week that was....

So the Finn is, touch-wood-fingers-and-toes-crossed, on the mend.  The last 48 hours (it feels far longer) I have been acting like a slightly demented anxious mama and I am very lucky to have kind and patient friends!  I am too much of a control freak to deal well with the vagueness of just waiting and seeing.  There is a list of what I can ignore and what I should phone the vet about, but the ignore list contains some pretty scary symptoms/side effects and I can't help but wonder when ignoring is no longer an option.  That, combined with the fact that my little man seems to be discovering the art of manipulation, and I am fretting far more than is sensible... we're back to the kind and patient friends :o)  So, tomorrow, baring anything really horrible happening in the morning, I am going to (wo)man-up, resist those gorgeous big ears and doleful eyes and just make sure I'm home super quick!

In the meantime, the Megs is behaving super well.  I was thinking that she would be a nightmare this week, without all her usual treats and nibbles (there would be no way of making sure Finn didn't share) and instead she's been the calmest I've seen her in a long while.  We are careful about what they eat, all natural, nothing bleached or coloured but perhaps there's more to them then we thought, there's certainly no denying the change. Poor Megs, she may just have lost her bribe rights!

Other than that, I've done none of what I planned, no sewing and very little homework, but we have booked a holiday!  The lovely boyf seems to have got on well in Boston and I've certainly not had too much spare time to mope about missing him (sorry hon!) but I'll be very glad to see him on Friday.  And the 11yr old has been a good giggle; putting up with stressed mum, eating everything I've cooked without complaint and making sure I'm all caught up on Glee, and now Primeval - watching her watch it is just hysterical.  She spends the majority of the time hiding.  We also bought ourselves a Red Nose each, all ready for the 15th, and are practicing our poses!

So, here's to a calmer Thursday and Friday, and a happy weekend everyone, where I promise not to disturb anyone unless its really, truly important! 

Keeping the faith

I truly believe that whatever happens, however much of it happens, however difficult at the time it is, nothing happens that we cannot cope with.  It is my mantra, my one personal truth, and it has got me through some tough times.  It does, however, seem to like to test me.  As I've mentioned before, it's becoming a family joke (the not so funny kind) that, when the lovely boyf goes away for work, the proverbial hits the fan.  At the beginning, I did not cope, admittedly it usually involved me being flat on my back ill and still managing the house, but I was not gracious in my not coping!  As time has gone on I've done it, I've got stronger and healthier and cope.  Yes, there is still the odd moment of ugly weepy, but at least I'm not crazy ladying it anymore!

All that said, I can't help still wondering when is it going to stop; he gets on a plane and my first thought is "what now?"  It used to be the 11yo and I with various variations of flu.  Then it was the house and work and now it seems to be our animals.  There was trouble with the chooks and the small furries.  Most recently it was Megs and daily vet visits following the op on her less lumpy leg and this time it is my little Finn.  He's at the vets now, on a drip, while they try to find out why he is vomiting blood.

So, breathe deep, trust that it will be ok and keep the faith.  It is the last leap of faith I guess, to truly trust.  Maybe when I have learnt not to ask the question, I will no longer need the lesson.

The perfect Monday wake up!

Should, I'm guessing be something along the lines of flowers and breakfast in bed but not in our house.

It's been cold the last couple of days; lovely, with bright sunny days and snow flurries, but biting Artic winds cold.  You can't completely escape it in the cottage, especially in the bedrooms, so it was a welcome surprise, when Megs' paw landed on the bed, to wake up this morning all lovely and toasty.  The dogs, however, were cold.  Toasty bliss lasted all of a nano-second as Finn sucker punched me in the chest, jumping over the boyf to burrow down under the covers beside me.  He is a mole masquerading as a small, scruffy mutt.  Megs, instead of her usual dobe-appropriate spot at the end of the bed, curled up, all of a shiver, on my pillow, stuck her face under the duvet and hugged my arm with her paws.  And there we stayed till the alarm went off, snug as bugs in a rug.  I haven't yet lost the smile from my face.

Now if someone could explain to my beautiful dobe that chicken coop poop or, for the purposes of the photographic evidence, the woodshavings in which they sit, is not a good look.... at one point I think her whole head was in the bucket!

What to do on a snowy Sunday morning?

Move the furniture round in your bedroom, of course.  It was all the lovely boyf's idea and a damn fine one it was too.  There are only two options for our room, the bed sat facing the main window and the wardrobe sat to the side (you get a full height wardrobe but you lose one of the two available lights, which has been gently annoying us, especially in the winters) or to swap them around.  

This was option one...

So swap them we did, easier said than done.  Moving bedroom furniture can be, at the best of times, a pain; moving bedroom furniture in a 600 yr old cottage with walls, floors and ceilings that curve, slope and undulate, is a whole other challenge!  The bed could go nowhere but the other end of the room by the front window and the wardrobe then had to be moved to where the top of the bed was (the only other spot in the room tall enough and with enough space to then work), before it could be dismantled and put in place properly. Getting it there involved dragging it, tilted at various angles depending on the ceiling height, frequently getting it jammed and stuck on the ceiling and some swearing and tears (both mine!)   

Moving stuff in tiny places involves a little crazy, Megs was not amused.

Then we, I say we, it was the lovely boyf, but I did take the pictures, set to "adapting" the wardrobe to fit it's new home.  I say "adapted" because it sounds nicer than we chopped the drawers and legs off, which we did!  

Man plus saw =

this used to be drawers +

much, much shorter legs!

And whilst that was happening, I found that the top of the wardrobe was lined with some pretty funky wallpaper!

The architect of destruction... rather enjoying himself too.

Half an hour later, we have a new wardrobe... and to give you an idea of just how wonky our floors are, look at the legs, the difference is nearly 4".

Since moving to this house, I have come to love collecting old weights, they are perfect for leveling everything out.  We have the wardrobe at 3" just now, but will need to go shopping for more; we also need some for the bed, unless we want to sleep with our feet raised!

And that's it.  Our new room.  We will need to find a matching light for the other side of the bed and I am going to take the opportunity to paint the walls as I have a pot of Craig & Rose's Hemp Beige which I've been itching to use somewhere in the house.

I will need to find something to use as a bedside table, as it seems that I may have now stolen, rather than borrowed, the globe lamp (!), and then came the fun bit; finding new homes for all my bits and pieces...

I love the red of these Moroccan slippers.

And the space at the top of the wardrobe to display a few, normally, hidden things.

The Wedding Basket tucks nicely into the gap and makes a good bookshelf.

And it's pair sits at the other end of the room, a depository for the contents of the boyf's pockets! 

I also needed a new home for the picture frames, some sit on the window to the side and this one, one of my favorites of the 11yr old (when she was about seven, I guess), sits on the main windowsill with my Omani silver, my Grandmother's pomander pot (which still smells wonderful after what must be more than 40 years), and one of my memory boxes....  and, yes, constantly foggy windows are a fact of old, cold cottage life....

Finally, my Grandfather's card table, which sat at the end of our bed, needed a new home. Originally it came upstairs because the wood was too dark in contrast to our furniture downstairs but, with the addition of a couple of other pieces, it now works just fine.  

It is, as the decoration suggests, to be a drinks table, and a card table when I find the cards. I feel rather grown up, with a drinks table in the house!

And so, on a budget of nothing (the boyfs stipulation was that we could only spend money, eventually, on a new light and any weights we may need) we have a new room.  It certainly works much better; the bed is no longer near the cold outside walls and window; the full length mirror can be used properly as such and already it's brighter, as the wardrobe isn't blocking the one available light source.  Sleeping with my head to the hallway wall felt a little odd, rather like there was space behind my head, not solid wall, but that's just my crazy talking. The room feels much lighter and airier which, as my old amah Chan would have said, is because the feng shui is "Good!" (not easy in our house) so I'm expecting lots of lovely nights' sleep!