Saturday 18 September 2010

Bleaurgh!!!

I'll be honest, the last couple of weeks have been diabolical. I've lost my phone with ALL of my contact numbers (I knew I should have stuck to a filofax!) and my work at the school has been hellish! No ones fault and nothing I can talk about, but sheesh, it's driven me to drink a couple of times!!!

I'm not going to dwell on the negatives though and instead focus on the lovely jams I've been making and the process of pulling the vegetable plot back into shape. There's still a long way to go, but the leeks are thriving and the beans have done well and now it's time to dig up the last stray potatoes and any pink fir apples that have escaped my notice :)

I'll be back later with updates and pictures, but for now I'm enjoying planning a day of wonderful household chores. I'm not being even slightly sarcastic here, I love getting my house in order, with the smell of line dried laundry and a little homemade wax polish. Wonderful :D

Monday 13 September 2010

Work hard and play crochet.

Actually, it's only the first proper day back at school with all the children and it's been an emotional ride, I can tell you. I'm badly missing my yr 3's from last year, and they seem so grown up now in their yr 4 classes. I can hardly remember any of the new children other than the very naughty and the very, very good. I'm amazed at the boundless kindness and patience of some of these little Angels and can't sing their praises enough :D The particular child I'm responsible for is an engaging soul, but terribly hard work and tonight I'm totally wiped out!

All I can say is thank heavens for crochet, it's the new rock and roll :D I'm too tired to engage my creative cells, so I can lose myself in some wool craft, and you know what? It's already starting to resemble the item I'm attempting to make.

Every stitch reminds me of my Granny, how I used to sit and be mesmerized by her flying fingers and the growing blanket or squares. I feel connected to her at and remember the love, but more than anything I'm realising the huge amount of respect I had and have for her. She could be quite scarey at times, having only had sons and four of them, she didn't know how to be soft with Grand daughters. She hated my Sister's name and so insisted on calling her Valerie as she thought it a far more suitable name :D She was guilty of the most incredible malapropisms and had me and my sister actually wetting ourselves with laughter as she insisted on dressing my sprained ankle with a crap bandage! She was so very un-politically correct and called a spade a spade and people by every other awful nickname imaginable! We squirmed and we complained and we never realised what a wonderful person she was, with her 'tight to her head' permed curls and her constant shriek of 'EH?'!

She was self sufficient before it was fashionable and we endured such horrors as marrow jam and some home made meat jelly that had us running from her old fashioned kitchen, with it's Butler sink and boiler across the linoleum floor, down the long, long garden to hide in Grandad's greenhouse. He kicked us out as it was his only refuge! She scared and fascinated us by the bucket load and I'll never forget the day I lathered up my face with a scratchy brush and soap and used Grandad's razor the way I'd seen him do it ! I think that was the only time she showed her soft side. My face was bloody all over!!! She had a parade of little dogs and a screeching Minah bird that would yell 'EH?' at us as we tried to sneak off out of the house. She would make a kind of fat pudding for the birds in her garden and when no one was looking the little dogs would scoff it all up and then be sick behind the greenhouse. We never told on them and in return they would snap at us and show their sharp little teeth.

Isn't it amazing that all these memories surround me as I sit and reconnect myself to my lovely Granny through the beauty of woolen stitches and I smile to remember the lovely blankets she made and the money she raised by selling them for charity. She was a wonderful person and it's lovely to remember her this way :D

Thursday 9 September 2010

Miracles and Angels.

Well I can hardly believe that after my last post my little Max cat is improving! I had the vet booked as Max was so weak and lifeless and then began having little nosebleeds. It seemed the fairest thing to do, even though I really didn't want to. Hubby and children convinced me to postpone the visit and blow me down, but Max started to eat and drink a little. He's still only eating enough to feed a sparrow, but slowly his strength has returned and he's tottering about like normal.

After such a strained weekend of worry, it feels like a little miracle and I'm drawn to look at the Angel I'm painting, a large picture that's to go in my bedroom. I find Angels to be very comforting in a non-religious way and believe so fully in their existence. The weekend was a struggle as we all worried about Max and the return to school and then on Sunday I broke a tooth. It felt like the final straw on top of so many broken things that day, promises, hearts and friendships. I sat at the field and just let it all out. Afterwards I felt so much better and then such a deep peace settled on me. I looked up into a beautiful sky, one of those breathtaking displays of sun on cloud all gold and rose and I felt comforted and truly at peace.

We are on borrowed time with Max and nothing in life is really ever stable, things can change so suddenly, the loss of a job a sudden change in the path you're on. But I was reminded that we're not alone and help is there if we open our hearts and look for it.

My tooth has been mended and other things will mend too, with time and care and a little help :D

Saturday 4 September 2010

Oh heck!

I don't want to be miserable, but when I am, I try to confine it to this blog, rather than clutter up the other one. Some of you may know that 17months ago, my beautiful cat Max was diagnosed with a terminal tumour in his bowel. Against all odds he carried on as well as he could and confounded the vets at every visit (I'd like to think it was the Reiki, but he's a stubborn little imp). We always knew we were on borrowed time, but now it seems that we've run out.

Most pictures of the children have Max in them somewhere.








He is nearly 19, so I guess I've had more time than many owners get with their pets. He's just been such a big part of my life and the children have never known a time without him.


A nasty cold has taken hold and things aren't looking so good. This picture was taken last week and is how I'll always remember him, cuddled up to me while I type on my lappy (laptop)!