I had a quiet week last week, needing some time to recover from the hectic two weeks before it! We got Caitlin's school report on Friday. It was very good and I am so proud of her! She tries her best, is happy and enthusiastic, is kind to the other children, and is doing well in her work!
On Saturday evening I went for a meal with my oldest and dearest friend Sarah to celebrate her birthday. We decided to repeat the celebration we had for my birthday in April by going for a Chinese buffet meal. I love the buffet restaurants because you don't have to choose what to have, you can just have a little bit of everything!
We also got a new lawnmower on Saturday. The old one had been poorly for quite some time (in fact since we lived at our old house) but I finally finished it off last week by mowing over one of the girls' garden tools - a metal hand rake with a wooden handle. It made quite an interesting noise.....
So, the new mower has: a blade that is straight and actually has a cutting edge (!) AND.....drumroll.........a grass collection box!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday we went to the church summer fete. Amazingly it went ahead without a single drop of rain falling! Caitlin had a sprint race against her classmates. I told her the most important thing was to enjoy herself and she had a big smile on her face when she finished despite the fact she came last and lost her cap halfway! The girls had a go on the bouncy castle then we had some hotdogs for lunch. I had a yummy slice of chocolate cake and everyone else had ice creams. I had offered to help out with the kids games that PTA were running for a short while but I ended up being stuck there for ages because the woman who I was 'giving a break' never came back! While I was doing that Hannah ran off and Andy had to hunt for her, fortunately he found her quickly. I didn't get chance to look around the stalls but I didn't mind, I've been nearly every year of my life and it doesn't change much! After that I took the girls to get their faces painted. Caitlin had a lovely beach scene and Hannah had a blue butterfly. Unfortunately we forgot the camera so didn't take any photos. We finished the day off with a second go on the bouncy castle.
Hannah has her check up at Birmingham tomorrow (more on her blog) so I'm going to try and have a relaxing evening and not think too much.
My Girls
Monday, July 09, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Happy, sad, peaceful
Caitlin's assembly went well this morning and was very cute. She had to say a prayer thanking God for the gift of sight. Caitlin read her part beautifully and Hannah sat on my knee the whole time, aided by a banana, a biscuit and a pen and paper. They also sang 'Prayer is like a telephone' which left Hannah singing her own versions of it for the rest of the day.
After that Hannah and I went over to visit Angie and Adam at BCH. Adam had an endoscopy yesterday which went very well, thank goodness. We met up with them for a couple of hours before they flew back to Northern Ireland. Adam is a lovely lad and so full of life and energy. He and Hannah got on so well even though there is such a big age gap between them, I think it's because they have very similar personalities! It was wonderful to chat to Angie and also to meet her mum Maureen.
Adam scoots Hannah round in the car
Adam and Hannah on the roundabout
Angie and me
Adam, Angie and Hannah
Unfortunately about 3 miles from home was when the crap part of the day started. The dual carriageway was coned off on the right hand lane. I was queuing up in the left hand lane, the one that was open, and just as I got to the part when the right hand lane finished the usual idiot came belting down the right hand lane and tried to jump the queue. This was a new breed of idiot though, who thought it would be a good idea to try and fit side by side with me in one lane. As my car began to be forced into the crash barrier I beeped my horn, to be told through the open window that I was a f***ing b***h, for trying to warn him he was about to kill me and Hannah. There really are some lovely people about.
Somewhat shaken, I arrived home to find that the food which I had allowed Hannah to eat in the car on the strict promise that she DID NOT MAKE A MESS had been crumbled into small pieces and spread all over the back of the car. Tears and tantrums followed, from me as well as Hannah. Eventually though the mess was cleared up and calm was restored.
A quiet couple of hours before we had to pick Caitlin up (she did an after school club, a gross motor skills development thing for the little ones) lulled me into a false sense of security. While I was waiting for her to come out her teacher came and spoke to me and said she had been very badly behaved that afternoon and hadn't done anything she was told. I had been so looking forward to seeing her and praising her for her assembly and how well she had done, and finding out if she enjoyed the after school club, and that totally took the wind out of my sails. I felt so down when we got back. The one thing I really wanted was to talk all these trivial but at the same time upsetting and annoying things out with Mum. She would always listen and give wise advice and most importantly she would make me smile again.
Something else happened though, to stop me feeling so sorry for myself. I checked my emails and saw that one of my friends who lost her precious child had updated her blog. I read her latest post, and some of the older ones too. It made me remember that I should never feel too down when I have both my girls to hold close to me whenever I want to, and that even when they are naughty and exasperating that they are the most important things in the world and I am truly blessed to have them. So no more tears; we had a quiet teatime and bathtime, and I got the time to sit down with Caitlin and share with her how well she did in her assembly.
After that Hannah and I went over to visit Angie and Adam at BCH. Adam had an endoscopy yesterday which went very well, thank goodness. We met up with them for a couple of hours before they flew back to Northern Ireland. Adam is a lovely lad and so full of life and energy. He and Hannah got on so well even though there is such a big age gap between them, I think it's because they have very similar personalities! It was wonderful to chat to Angie and also to meet her mum Maureen.
Adam scoots Hannah round in the car
Adam and Hannah on the roundabout
Angie and me
Adam, Angie and Hannah
Unfortunately about 3 miles from home was when the crap part of the day started. The dual carriageway was coned off on the right hand lane. I was queuing up in the left hand lane, the one that was open, and just as I got to the part when the right hand lane finished the usual idiot came belting down the right hand lane and tried to jump the queue. This was a new breed of idiot though, who thought it would be a good idea to try and fit side by side with me in one lane. As my car began to be forced into the crash barrier I beeped my horn, to be told through the open window that I was a f***ing b***h, for trying to warn him he was about to kill me and Hannah. There really are some lovely people about.
Somewhat shaken, I arrived home to find that the food which I had allowed Hannah to eat in the car on the strict promise that she DID NOT MAKE A MESS had been crumbled into small pieces and spread all over the back of the car. Tears and tantrums followed, from me as well as Hannah. Eventually though the mess was cleared up and calm was restored.
A quiet couple of hours before we had to pick Caitlin up (she did an after school club, a gross motor skills development thing for the little ones) lulled me into a false sense of security. While I was waiting for her to come out her teacher came and spoke to me and said she had been very badly behaved that afternoon and hadn't done anything she was told. I had been so looking forward to seeing her and praising her for her assembly and how well she had done, and finding out if she enjoyed the after school club, and that totally took the wind out of my sails. I felt so down when we got back. The one thing I really wanted was to talk all these trivial but at the same time upsetting and annoying things out with Mum. She would always listen and give wise advice and most importantly she would make me smile again.
Something else happened though, to stop me feeling so sorry for myself. I checked my emails and saw that one of my friends who lost her precious child had updated her blog. I read her latest post, and some of the older ones too. It made me remember that I should never feel too down when I have both my girls to hold close to me whenever I want to, and that even when they are naughty and exasperating that they are the most important things in the world and I am truly blessed to have them. So no more tears; we had a quiet teatime and bathtime, and I got the time to sit down with Caitlin and share with her how well she did in her assembly.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wow, I've done loads!
Well, I have been so busy since my last entry! Caitlin's bedroom is finished!!!! (If I'm completely honest there are still one or two finishing touches to be made but they are going to have to wait a while longer). The hard work was definitely worth it, it is definitely a 'princess bedroom' just like she wanted.
I still have the huge task of sorting out all the toys into the new storage, don't want to face that one at all!
Then there was a mad rush to get ready for the holiday, with the house in complete chaos from the decorating. We had a lovely week just relaxing and doing holiday things. We have already spent 4 weeks in the area in the last two years and seen lots of the local attractions so we didn't bother doing that this year. We just did simple things to keep the girls happy like going to the pool, the adventure playground, the 2p arcades and that sort of thing. The weather wasn't good enough for the beach so we just had 3 or 4 short sessions down there. While we were there my friend Sarah drove over to visit as she lives close by. That meant that Caitlin got to meet up with her pen friend Amy. The girls played really nicely together while Sarah and I enjoyed a cuppa, choccy biscuits and most importantly a good chat. Sam (waves) has been telling me for ages I should make a montage so I had a play around with our holiday photos this morning and managed to create my very first montage! I'm reasonably pleased with the result although the photos are a bit blurry in it.
On Sunday it was Andy's birthday. We celebrated with a quiet day and a Chinese takeaway for tea :)
Then, on Monday, Hannah and I went down to Oxford to meet up with Elly and Sam. Sam and her family were having a break at the guest house owned by Elly's mum. I got lost in a different place than where I got lost last time I drove down to Elly's, but made it there eventually. It is always a joy to meet up with Elly and her beautiful boys and it was very exciting to meet Sam, her partner Tony and their daughters Bethany and Eloise for the first time. We all visited the Oxford University Natural History Museum, which looked absolutely fascinating but I missed a lot of it trying to stop Hannah from destroying the exhibits. She showed particular determination with the ones marked 'fragile, do not touch'. After a cuppa and a cake that were literally worth their weight in gold (!) Hannah and I set off home.
Unbelievably, Sam and Tony hadn't had quite enough of us on Monday, and it was lovely to have them and the girls here for tea yesterday on their way back up to Yorkshire. They brought my girls some lovely presents which have gone down a storm, how thoughtful and generous. There is one blessing from Hannah having liver disease which I see every day - the wonderful friends I have made who I never would have met otherwise.
Today I have had a Sharon day! I caught up with some paperwork and phone calls this morning while Hannah was at pre-school, and did the holiday montage. I relaxed while she had her nap and played some free poker. The girls went to Von's for tea so I did a few jobs and went out to the shops (by myself!). I feel refreshed having had virtually a whole day to myself.
Tomorrow I'm off again! Caitlin's class are doing an assembly in the morning and they all have something to say. After that Hannah and I are popping over to BCH to visit Angie and Adam. Adam is inpatient for a scheduled procedure (it was today, and went very well, thank goodness) so we are going to have some lunch and meet up before Adam is discharged and they fly back over to Northern Ireland.
Oh, my garden...never did I think I would say there was too much rain! The weeds are going berserk (although I have had a good cull in the last three days) and some of my plants which are in tubs without great drainage are dying from too much water! However, I do have flowers (yippee), and I am getting out there in between showers of rain to do some tidying up, so once that is done I will be out there taking pics.
I still have the huge task of sorting out all the toys into the new storage, don't want to face that one at all!
Then there was a mad rush to get ready for the holiday, with the house in complete chaos from the decorating. We had a lovely week just relaxing and doing holiday things. We have already spent 4 weeks in the area in the last two years and seen lots of the local attractions so we didn't bother doing that this year. We just did simple things to keep the girls happy like going to the pool, the adventure playground, the 2p arcades and that sort of thing. The weather wasn't good enough for the beach so we just had 3 or 4 short sessions down there. While we were there my friend Sarah drove over to visit as she lives close by. That meant that Caitlin got to meet up with her pen friend Amy. The girls played really nicely together while Sarah and I enjoyed a cuppa, choccy biscuits and most importantly a good chat. Sam (waves) has been telling me for ages I should make a montage so I had a play around with our holiday photos this morning and managed to create my very first montage! I'm reasonably pleased with the result although the photos are a bit blurry in it.
On Sunday it was Andy's birthday. We celebrated with a quiet day and a Chinese takeaway for tea :)
Then, on Monday, Hannah and I went down to Oxford to meet up with Elly and Sam. Sam and her family were having a break at the guest house owned by Elly's mum. I got lost in a different place than where I got lost last time I drove down to Elly's, but made it there eventually. It is always a joy to meet up with Elly and her beautiful boys and it was very exciting to meet Sam, her partner Tony and their daughters Bethany and Eloise for the first time. We all visited the Oxford University Natural History Museum, which looked absolutely fascinating but I missed a lot of it trying to stop Hannah from destroying the exhibits. She showed particular determination with the ones marked 'fragile, do not touch'. After a cuppa and a cake that were literally worth their weight in gold (!) Hannah and I set off home.
Unbelievably, Sam and Tony hadn't had quite enough of us on Monday, and it was lovely to have them and the girls here for tea yesterday on their way back up to Yorkshire. They brought my girls some lovely presents which have gone down a storm, how thoughtful and generous. There is one blessing from Hannah having liver disease which I see every day - the wonderful friends I have made who I never would have met otherwise.
Today I have had a Sharon day! I caught up with some paperwork and phone calls this morning while Hannah was at pre-school, and did the holiday montage. I relaxed while she had her nap and played some free poker. The girls went to Von's for tea so I did a few jobs and went out to the shops (by myself!). I feel refreshed having had virtually a whole day to myself.
Tomorrow I'm off again! Caitlin's class are doing an assembly in the morning and they all have something to say. After that Hannah and I are popping over to BCH to visit Angie and Adam. Adam is inpatient for a scheduled procedure (it was today, and went very well, thank goodness) so we are going to have some lunch and meet up before Adam is discharged and they fly back over to Northern Ireland.
Oh, my garden...never did I think I would say there was too much rain! The weeds are going berserk (although I have had a good cull in the last three days) and some of my plants which are in tubs without great drainage are dying from too much water! However, I do have flowers (yippee), and I am getting out there in between showers of rain to do some tidying up, so once that is done I will be out there taking pics.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Caitlin's Bedroom
It's a nightmare. The details are tedious, but I can sum it up with: 70 year old plaster and some wierd sticky residue that nothing will adhere to without cracking. Nothing, that is, until we tried Polyfilla base coat. Hurrah! However...two coats of that, two of pink, painting the (artex!) ceiling and the skirting still leaves much work to be done. I have also discovered that the plaster starts to fall off one of the walls if you use a power sander on it :| Trying not to think about that.......and won't be using the power sander on it again or trying to attach anything to it like pictures........
Holiday
Only 12 days to go!!!!! (Trying not to think about washing and ironing)
I am really excited! Last year I just had a wrong feeling about it being so soon after mum's death. I still enjoyed it because of the girls, but I couldn't feel the same excitement about it. This year I just want us all to relax and have lots of fun. I am also really looking forward to meeting up with my friend Sarah and her daughter Amy - who is Caitlin's pen friend - while we are away.
More excitement
Just after we get back from our holiday Sam is going down to Oxford to stay in Elly's mum's guest house. So, I will get to meet up with Elly and meet Sam and her family for the FIRST TIME all in one go!
Anniversary
Mum's anniversary and the time around it was hard, but I got through and my family did too. Now that difficult time has passed for now I can feel myself wanting to get on with things with mum's spirit with me. That is a relief because it is also hard on Andy and the girls when I get down.
It's a nightmare. The details are tedious, but I can sum it up with: 70 year old plaster and some wierd sticky residue that nothing will adhere to without cracking. Nothing, that is, until we tried Polyfilla base coat. Hurrah! However...two coats of that, two of pink, painting the (artex!) ceiling and the skirting still leaves much work to be done. I have also discovered that the plaster starts to fall off one of the walls if you use a power sander on it :| Trying not to think about that.......and won't be using the power sander on it again or trying to attach anything to it like pictures........
Holiday
Only 12 days to go!!!!! (Trying not to think about washing and ironing)
I am really excited! Last year I just had a wrong feeling about it being so soon after mum's death. I still enjoyed it because of the girls, but I couldn't feel the same excitement about it. This year I just want us all to relax and have lots of fun. I am also really looking forward to meeting up with my friend Sarah and her daughter Amy - who is Caitlin's pen friend - while we are away.
More excitement
Just after we get back from our holiday Sam is going down to Oxford to stay in Elly's mum's guest house. So, I will get to meet up with Elly and meet Sam and her family for the FIRST TIME all in one go!
Anniversary
Mum's anniversary and the time around it was hard, but I got through and my family did too. Now that difficult time has passed for now I can feel myself wanting to get on with things with mum's spirit with me. That is a relief because it is also hard on Andy and the girls when I get down.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
More paint and flowers, and sadness
Decorating Caitlin's room is proving to be less than fun. I don't have anything personal against the people who previously owned our house, but I feel distinctly unfriendly towards their decorating and home improvement philosophies. Underneath the wallpaper was a thin layer of polystyrene. Whatever adhesive thing was used is not a surface I would recommend painting over, as the one wall I tried it the paint keeps cracking. So between scrubbing that off, filling and sanding I am getting pretty fed up. I'm trying to do a couple of hours on it each day but it's tough when you don't see any improvement. Really it needs replastering, but so does the whole house. And that is way down the list, and in particular after the things which should be done before replastering (rewiring, new windows, oh and rebuilding the back of the house......and all the other things we can't afford) You might be wondering why I don't just put wallpaper up. Unfortunately we have seen that the wallpaper adheres to the walls about as well as the paint does, which is not a lot. And on a budget, and with the walls in such a poor general state, it is difficult to justify an expensive primer. So even when it's finished, the walls will still look pretty crappy, but hopefully the overall effect will be OK. She is getting a new bed, toy storage and curtains, and I hope that eventually it will all be worth it!
The explosion of flowers in the garden should be any day soon! There are a few already and lots of buds just waiting to fill my garden with colour. I bought a lovely red cordyline on Friday and some asiatic lilies. I put the lilies next to an azalea I bought and that flowerbed is turning in to a bit of a tribute to Mum. Those two plants were among her favourites. My first attempt at planting seeds is going well. The night scented stock seeds which got dug up by a cat having a poo didn't seem to care and are all sprouting well. I collected a lot of seeds from my lovely delphinium I bought last summer (good job as it has not reappeared despite allegedly being a perennial). I planted them in a seed tray and they didn't do anything for ages, then just one or two started to appear. Now the whole tray is filled with little seedlings! The next challenge is extracting them from the seed try into individual pots...all the guidance I can find is "when they are large enough". What help is that? I also scattered some candytuft, larkspur and cornflowers. I am undecided as to whether they are sprouting or whether the little seedlings in that vicinity are actually weeds.
I just wanted to share the verse on the little garden plaque that Andy got me at Christmas time. There is an author but as I wouldn't be able to see in the dark I will have to credit them later.
"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth"
Mum's first anniversary is this coming Sunday. This is a difficult time.
The explosion of flowers in the garden should be any day soon! There are a few already and lots of buds just waiting to fill my garden with colour. I bought a lovely red cordyline on Friday and some asiatic lilies. I put the lilies next to an azalea I bought and that flowerbed is turning in to a bit of a tribute to Mum. Those two plants were among her favourites. My first attempt at planting seeds is going well. The night scented stock seeds which got dug up by a cat having a poo didn't seem to care and are all sprouting well. I collected a lot of seeds from my lovely delphinium I bought last summer (good job as it has not reappeared despite allegedly being a perennial). I planted them in a seed tray and they didn't do anything for ages, then just one or two started to appear. Now the whole tray is filled with little seedlings! The next challenge is extracting them from the seed try into individual pots...all the guidance I can find is "when they are large enough". What help is that? I also scattered some candytuft, larkspur and cornflowers. I am undecided as to whether they are sprouting or whether the little seedlings in that vicinity are actually weeds.
I just wanted to share the verse on the little garden plaque that Andy got me at Christmas time. There is an author but as I wouldn't be able to see in the dark I will have to credit them later.
"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth"
Mum's first anniversary is this coming Sunday. This is a difficult time.
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