Welcome 2016

Well here we are.  I hope that by now we have all all arrived safely in 2016.  My daughter commented yesterday that she always feels sad as the year closes.  I think the opposite.  We must be happy that we have made it through and that we have another year stretching ahead.  I find it exciting.  So many possibilities lie ahead.

Those who know me will already know that they will not be finding resolutions here.  I don't do those.  There is nothing magical about the 1st of January.  If you want to start something, well just get on and start it.  Want to make changes?  Well do it.  Start right away.  It doesn't matter what the date is.

I do have hopes and plans for the year ahead.  Here are a few:

Our biggie which I am so excited for is our youngest sons wedding in August.  

We want to get away more in Tallulah this year.  Maybe even venture abroad in her.

I want to progress with my various crafts and maybe learn some new ones.   I must get to grips with my Cricut.

I want to make sure that I stay healthy and maintain last years weight loss.

We want to see as much as possible of family and friends.  That is more important than anything else.

There are loads more things in my head too.  I can't list them all but I expect you get the idea.  My plan is basically to take care of myself and of those around me. To be happy and busy and simply grateful for every new day.

I will remember that today is the only day that I have.

In the words of Mother Theresa "Let us begin".

 

Out with the old and in with the new.

Well here we all are on the cusp of another new year. It is 23.31 here in the UK so not long now. I can hear some fireworks already although they are distant. Probably at the far end of the village where there are more houses. I am writing this in bed, in the dark, with a little grandson fast asleep next to me. I hope the fireworks do not wake him.

It is little Morra, Saskia's son, who is having his first ever sleepover on his own. He has obviously stayed here lots of times but never without Mummy and Daddy. They are currently having a few days in London to celebrate Saskia's 30^th birthday which was yesterday. I have no idea how she can possibly be 30. That is 4 of my 5 children now in their thirties. I am of course still sticking with 46!

Those of you that know me will know that I don't really celebrate new year. As far as I am concerned it is just another date on the calender and doesn't mean much. It is the simple passage of time, nothing more or less. The 2^nd of January is as much a new day as the 1^st. Every single day is a day to start afresh.

Despite the lack of any celebrations, like most people I do take some time to reflect on the outgoing year. So I thought for this blog tonight I could do a quick rehash of 2015. I have hardly blogged at all so you will have all missed out on what I have been up to.

The year got off to the worst possible start when our Loulou died on the 18^th of January. This was followed within hours by the devastating news of the fire at the kennels where we do volunteer work. Three precious doggies were lost that night along with the reception building.

Much of our spare time this year has been spent working with the other volunteers to rebuild and move on from that dreadful night.

January had one bright point when our Beanie came to live with us. He is a Saffy / English Bullie Cross and he has given us so much joy this year.

February saw us take our first overnight trip In Tallulah our camper van. Since then we have had lots of day trips and weekends and 4 extended holidays including visiting Scotland for the first time. We also had a lovely family weekend with 2 of my cousins, my sister and some of our children.

In May Simon celebrated his 60th birthday with a big gathering of family and friends. The weather was lovely. He also made the decision that it was time to say goodbye to teaching and he did his last day on the 17^th of July. He officially retired on the 31^st of August and he is LOVING it.

September was a busy month with celebrations on the 10^th for Sam and Lisa's 10^th wedding anniversary. It was also the month that we became the owners of a second house. That was a biggie as the income from that has made living on a pension a lot easier.

October saw Coralie finally heading off to Tanzania to do her cycle ride in aid of womens cancer charities. She raised over £4000. We are incredibly proud of her.

In November Three Counties Dog Rescue opened a charity shop in Bourne and we have been heavily involved with that. It has been hard work but very exciting.

December and the lead up to Christmas was all quite calm and stress free and we were lucky to have a wonderful Christmas and to enjoy the company of our children and grandchildren. Since then, things have not been good as our eldest daughter Coralie has once again found herself back in hospital. We are crossing our fingers for better health for her in 2016.

My biggest achievement of the year is my weight loss but it is now officially 2016 so I think that has to be another blog. Suffice to say 2015 was the year that I lost over 4 stones in weight! Go me!

Time to say goodnight I think and time to snuggle up with my little one. I do wish you all a very Happy New Year and many blessings for 2016. Above all I hope that it is a peaceful one and as always I wish you “ENOUGH”.

  

Still shrinking

A quickie blog today before bedtime.  I doubt that I will be able to stick to daily blogging but at the moment I am trying my best to reignite the habit.

We have had a bit of a funny day today.  We were expecting to have our daughter here with her OH, our grandson and her mother in law and sister in law. To cut a long story very short, they didn't make it and are now aiming to come on Sunday.

I was quite disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing them and I had also put in quite a bit of effort to make sure that the house is looking good and everything in place to give a lovely welcome to her in-laws.  They are from Nigeria and we have only met them once.

When we finally knew that they weren't going to get here it was already gone lunch time.  It did mean that we had a free afternoon so we decided to head to Peterborough, a trip that we had been planning for Sunday.  I don't usually go anywhere near the shops at this time of year but I was down to only 2 bra's that fit me and I really didn't want to be waiting until after Christmas.

We didn't have to go into the city centre, which is just as well as I don't think I could have braved that!  There is a retail park as you come into the city and Marks and Spencers are there.  Best place for bra's in my humble opinion.   It was an easy trip in  (about 25 miles)  and we managed to park easily too.  In fact. it wasn't horrendously busy.

The purchasing of the bra's was a little traumatic as the ones that I chose to try on were all the wrong size!  It would seem that I have shrunk by a cup size.  Why can't you just lose weight from your hips and bottom?  Anyway, I managed to get three.  One white, one black and one pink.

While I was messing around getting very hot and bothered in the changing room, Simon had been mooching around the store. He had spotted a very cute, faux suede, skirt and jumper which he thought would appeal to me.  Being a good hubby and being very well aware that  I am now a size 12, he presented them to me to try on.

You are never going to believe this......... The size 12 was way too big!  It isn't that long ago when I was stunned to be wearing a size 12!    The sales lady went off to fetch me a size 10 with me shaking my head in disbelief.  No way will I get into a size 10.

I am still in shock.  The 10 not only fits perfectly but it looks pretty good too.  The jumper was also changed for a size 10.  I could actually get to like this shopping lark, now I can pretty much choose whatever I like and know I have a reasonable chance of looking half way decent in it.    These photos are not the best but I just have to show you.

 

So, a good afternoon in the end, followed by fish and chips for dinner and then a relaxing evening. Hopefully we will see our guests on Sunday.

Bloody British Weather

Afternoon all, just a quick pop in to let you know where I am at. First of all, yes I know I had said that I was going to try and do daily blogs but hey ho, I also knew that was never going to happen! I do have a good excuse though. We were away. No internet access.

Do you know, it's actually a funny thing about internet access. We went away in February and were staying at Wareham Forest. It is a rural area in Dorset, but that said it is also just a few miles from a very busy, urban, tourist area.

On our van Tallulah, we had between us, 2 smart phones. 2 Ipads, a very expensive Snooper GPS unit, all singing and dancing with internet, plus our own MI-Fi hotspot. Could we get on the internet? Not on your Nelly. Could we get a phone signal? Absolutely no chance. Somehow, I thought things were better than that nowadays. Obviously not.

Anyway, we were away with no internet. As some of you know we should still be away. We had planned to be way until Eater Monday. We were going to travel the North Norfolk coast and then go to Verity's for Easter.

We managed just one night. We went on Monday to Brancaster and had quite a nice day despite it being very cold.  A few photos:

Things started to go wrong around dinner time when we visited 2 dog friendly pubs where we thought we could have a nice meal out. What we hadn't thought about was that “dog friendly” means the world and his wife are there complete with their family of dogs! This is therefore not going to work for us as Beanie is nervous of other dogs. So it was a long walk in the wind and rain back to the van for pasties and beans.

Earlier in the day Simon had attempted to put up our Drive Away awning, despite the wind! He has only ever tested it once before, last summer when we purchased it. Of course by now he has forgotten how to do it and has lost the instructions. He did get it up but it didn't actually look quite right. The wind did not help and in fact it proved impossible to attach to the van mostly because of the wind. I kept telling him it was way too windy, but men always know best until the wife proves to be right!

So, we went to bed. It wasn't pleasant and the wind was picking up more and more and the rain was torrential. After about a quarter of an hour I got up. It was bloody scary. The wind was rocking the van quite violently and actually making me feel sick. Imagine being on a boat in really rough sea or on a plane with the worst turbulence ever. You have some idea.

Long story short, I spent the night sitting in the drivers seat with my feet propped on the seats opposite, trying to console Beanie who wasn’t entirely happy with this new experience. Simon of course stayed in the bed although he didn’t sleep much.

After a very long night where I was checking my watch about every 20 minutes, just longing for dawn to come, Simon finally got up. I was able to inform him that our lovely new awning which we have yet to use was now lying in a tangled, muddy mess on the ground. I watched it gradually go down over the course of the night. Nothing I could do. I have no idea at the moment if it is salvageable or not. It is currently in a heap in the back of the van waiting for a dry, non windy day so we can get it out in the garden and survey the damage.

With rain and strong winds forecast to go on until today we decided that after just one night it was best to head for home. I could barely move. A night spent sitting upright had made me very stiff and set off my lower back pain again. Just when I thought I had got rid of it. I also had the beginnings of a migraine almost certainly due to the stress of it all.

And so we are at home. Feeling pretty fed up. We had been looking forward so much to our first, longer foray. Right now, I am seriously considering if “motor-homing” is really for me. Something always seems to go tits up. (For my Merikan friends, who may not know that expression; it means gone wrong!).

JILLY

Blessings - Shafiq Morra Usman Abdullahi

Phew, just managed to make it here. That's 3 days in a row. Simon has finished now for the Easter holidays. He will be at home for 18 days so it is a good long break for him.

We have had a relatively lazy day. This morning we were sorting out Tallulah ready for next week. Simon had to change a fuse which had blown on our last trip and stopped the heating working. It took a bit of figuring out. I gave her a thorough vacuum to make sure she is spick and span for her next adventure. I also loaded in some new food supplies and got all Beanie's food sorted and stored.

With that job done, I set about doing some online banking whilst Simon got our potatoes planted. We already have onions and garlic in that have overwintered. We just ordered some seed today. This year we would like to grow some of our bedding and basket flowers from seed.

This afternoon we paid a visit to the kennels to drop off a load of stuff for the market tomorrow. We are not able to go this month as it is Morra's 1^st birthday party tomorrow.

Speaking of Morra gets me back to my theme of blessings. Morra is Saskia's little one. All our grandchildren are wonderful blessings and all very special. Morra came to us at a time of great sadness and he bought such joy and happiness with him. He was born just 4 days after we lost my Dad.

The day Dad died, I travelled with Verity and Jackson to Saskia in Leicester. Because she was so close to giving birth she was not able to be with us at the hospital. We could not tell her that her Granddad had gone over the phone, so we had to go to her. I will always remember that journey and Saskia's reaction. We were all so upset that Dad never got to meet little Morra. Every time I visited him in those last weeks, the first thing he asked was “how is Saskia doing”?

Morra was born on the 23^rd of March. He should have been born at home and Saskia had Coralie there with her but in the event, due to his heart beat dropping very low, she was swiftly moved to the hospital and he came shortly after. What a gift he was too. I can't tell you how much he raised our spirits. It was good to have something to smile about even though my every thought at that point was tinged with sorrow. I would have given anything for Dad to have been able to see him. I am sure that Dad knew that he was at the funeral service with everyone else despite being just a few days old.

He was quite a small baby but grew rapidly. We think that Mummy’s milk was gold top! Now at a year old he is about average, although on the tall side. His Daddy is tall. It's hard to say who he looks like but in the most recent photos, I can see the Sansum in him.

I can't believe he is already a year old. I have no idea where that year went to. He is walking now and I am looking forward to seeing that tomorrow. I have seen videos and he was nearly there last time we saw him.

His party is tomorrow and all the family will be there except Sam, Lisa and the girls as they are currently in France. I am so looking forward to it. I love the occasions when we are all together. To have a large and close knit family is another blessing. Doesn't mean they don’t get on my nerves sometimes! LOL.

Here are some photo's from Morra's first year.

 

 I love this one of Ellie.  It was the first time they met.  The eldest and the youngest!

 

 Three of my four boys.

 

I will post some photos from his party after tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

Jilly

Monday 5th January

I really want to get back into my blogging habit so even though I have nothing much to say I thought I would drop by.

We had a fairly normal weekend.  Saturday is always doggie kennel day so that was where we were until late afternoon.  We have just taken in 2 Spaniel puppies, they are 4 months old.  They are very cute and have probably already found a furever home.

The Spaniels were posted on the 3CDR  FB page and all hell broke loose.  People were just going crazy.  I found it a bit sad to be honest.  We have nearly 70 beautiful dogs and it is really hard work trying to find homes, along comes a puppy and everyone wants it.  

As you can see they are cute.

 

 

 

Saturday evening we were out to dinner at Gyll's house.  The usual crowd of us from the doggie rescue.  We are so blessed to have made such wonderful friends.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day.  We took down all the Christmas decorations in the morning.  The house looks much lighter now.  Funny that. Then Simon pottered around in the garage doing whatever he does ou there.  I did a bit of Internet stuff and generally lazed around.

Today Simon was back to work so I can begin to get back into my normal routines.  So housework this morning including an absolute ton of ironing as it had been left over Christmas.

This afternoon was nice and relaxed and I did some computer stuff and also finished off a Hamma bead creation.

Simon got me some Hama beads and boards for Christmas.  (Perler beads to Merikans).  My children had these and so does Ellie so it seems like a childish hobby.  However, I have seen some really beautiful creations on the Internet and there are sellers on Etsy who do great work too.

I thought I would enjoy trying it out as another craft and another possible thing to sell if I get good enough.  Think it takes practise!  The ironing bit is a real skill I think!  I have manged to make a small dent in the middle of my peg board where the pegs have distorted from the heat. don't think that is supposed to happen!

It takes quite a lot of concentration but it is very relaxing.  It also takes a hell of a lot of beads.  Simon got me a tub of 4000 mixed colours and I had to buy more white ones at the weekend to complete my design.  Fortunately they are cheap.

This evening I have been doing stuff on my computer.  Listing new charms in my Etsy shop and catching up with other bits and pieces.

Tomorrow, I don't have too much housework so hopefully I will get more time for myself.  

Have you all seen that I have been updating my blog "Adventures with Tallulah"?  I have about 4 posts scheduled to go live this week.  Then I should be up to date.  Click on the tab at the top of my page to see it.

Friday 2nd of January

We spent most of today at the dog rescue kennels where most of you will remember we do volunteer work.  Simon works with the dogs,  playing, training, grooming etc.    These are some of the dogs that he had out today.

This is Tess.  She is a Rottweiler and is 5 years old.  She has been with us most of her life.  Sadly, many people do not like Rotties.  

This is Luca, he is an 11 month old Weimaraner cross.   He has only been with us a few weeks and is severely malnourished and very timid.  Simon has gained his trust.

This is Zeus another Rottie.  He is 6 years old and has been with us a very long time.  He gets over looked time and time again because of his size.  He is BIG!  He is also a soppy baby.   Gentle as can be. 

This is Beanie with Tash, one of the kennel maids.  Beanie is a 2 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier and he is a really sweetie.  He has not had a good start.

This is just a small selection of the dogs that are currently in the care of Three Counties Dog Rescue.

If you would like to find out more  then please click here. 3CDR

We also have a Facebook page.  3CDR Facebook

1st January 2015

January First 2015. A Happy New Year to everyone. What did you all do today with this first day of the year? Did you all stay up to see the old year out?

New Year has never been that important to Simon and I. It is after all just another date in the calender. A marker of time passing.

We did stay up, but not especially. We are always late to bed in school holiday time. That will all change next week with Simon back to school. (Work!) We were both busy on our lap tops but we did stop about 10 minutes before midnight. We both had a drink and we raised a toast to my Mum and Dad as Big Ben struck the midnight hour and the new year officially begun. I did shed some tears. It is hard not too, but I pulled myself together quick sharp.

We watched the firework celebrations on the banks of the Thames in London. I really don't like fireworks as a rule; I find them pretty “samey” If you have seen one, well you’ve seen them all. Hate the noise of them too. That said the display last night was pretty spectacular. I was happy to be watching it on the TV though. It would be one of my worst nightmares to be there in amongst all those crowds.

We went to bed shortly afterwards but I couldn't sleep so I read back through my old blog entries. Right the way back to 2012. It was lovely to be reminded of the good times as well as the hard ones.

I was very interested to read last years “Goals”. I call them goals you may call them resolutions. I had 5 and I relist them below. Only one had any measure of success.

Lose some weight, improve health and fitness. LMAO. If anything, I probably added more pounds.

Find new ways to raise funds for 3CDR. I had some measure of success here. Myself and Coralie organised a quiz evening in September which raised £700. We are now also collecting used postage stamps although it remains to be seen what money we will get for them.

Double my Etsy sales. I did increase sales over last year but not double. It was helped by selling the little Tibetan silver charms.

Learn how to use camera properly and improve photos. Never even looked in the camera manual and my photography skills are still poor.

Try out a new craft each month. Started knitting in January and, well you know the rest.

So “goals” for this year? Just one. My goal is to do more of what makes me happy.

We did that today. We had a little tip out to Peterborough to go to Hobby Craft. I wanted a few bits for some new crafts. I have the best husband. He patiently followed me around carrying the basket.

Do you set goals for yourself? Were you successful in your 2014 goals.

Hopefully, I will get my blogging mojo back this year and will keep you up to date with everything that is making me happy.

Bring on 2015.

PS.  "A goal without a plan is only a wish".

Photo 365 - 20

The other day when I posted a photo of Simon cooking some of my old friends commented that they have never seen my kitchen since we moved to this house 2 years ago.   Yes, the 2 year anniversary  was on the 15th of December.  Time flies.  Still love this house.

So I took a whole bunch of photos today which I will post later but here is one to be going on with.

It shows most of the kitchen.  Oh and by the way, for those of you that commented about Simon cooking, he is a very good cook as am I!  I do all the cooking during the week and dinner is served as he walks through the door at 6pm.  He will often cook at weekends and holiday times. Just thought I would mention that as some of you seem to have this idea that I never cook!

Photo 365 - 17

A very quick photo today.  This is Simon preparing dinner.  He is home by half past four on Fridays so he usually cooks the dinner. He is a good cook. It wasn't anything fancy; lemon chicken with mashed potato, broccoli and carrots.

Photo 365 - 16

We were at the kennels today to bath Lily. Lily is a Husky Cross.  She has a skin condition due to a zinc deficiency.  This is quite a common thing with Huskies.  She has zinc tablets but she also needs regular baths. She was a very good girl in the bath.

Before we began we took her out for some playtime and general fuss time.  Here she is with Simon. 

She is the sweetest girl.  You can find out more about her and see more photos HERE 

Photo 365 - 14

I have had a nice day.  Went to visit an Etsy friend this morning, she lives in the village. Had a nice chat over a coffee. Had a lazy day after that.  Made a couple of birthday cards, did some research online for some ideas I have had, made some cakes and then finished another knitted square.

Simon was home late as he was running get ahead sessions for exam students. Had country chicken for dinner and then watched Eastenders.  Very lazy really!

Today's photo is Simon in his garage. Despite coming home late he still went out to play!  He is currently making some kind of lifting thing. That is as much as I know.

He did say that he has made it all out of scrap metal that he had laying around and it would cost around £300 new. He is going to price up the materials to see if they would be viable for him to make and sell.

Photo 365 - 3

We have had a fairly lazy day at home today.  We did go out this afternoon as we had to go and collect Alfie's ashes. Not something we were looking forward to although I am pleased to have him back.  We are both incredibly sad and upset all over again.

This evening has been equally lazy.  Simon has been catching up on school work ready for the new term next week and I had a good old chinwag with my cousin Wendy.  We are now relaxing with Loulou.  I can't get used to the idea of it being just the three of us now.

Please note that Simon is in his tatty garage clothes!

January 1st 2014

Out with the old and in with the new.  Happy New Year to you all.  I hope 2014 treats us all well.

I always feel a great deal of excitement on the first day of the New Year.  It’s the idea of a blank canvas just waiting to be written. It’s similar to the feeling that I get from a brand new book.  Every page is a discovery and adventure.   I wonder why we only tend to get this feeling on New Year’s Day, after all every day is a new canvas.  There really is nothing special about the 1^st of January. It is just a day like any other. 

Nevertheless, I do welcome another year. I like to look back over the year just gone and to reflect on the good memories made. I try to be thankful for all those good things in my life.  I don’t make resolutions but I do like to look ahead and set some goals.

So I am sitting here thinking and now I am going to share a few with you all………………….

Lose some weight, increase fitness level and health.  This is not a resolution but an on-going promise to myself.  As an added incentive I and another volunteer at the Three Counties Dog Rescue are going to do a sponsored slim to raise funds for the doggies.

That brings me to another goal.  To try and come up with new ways of fund raising. The dog rescue is absolutely desperate for money.  It costs around £15,000 a month which is a lot of money.

That takes me on to my sewing.  I haven’t made much from it so far. I need to concentrate on the items that do sell. I want to double the sales that I made in my first year.

Other goals are to do with learning.  I had a lovely new bridge camera for Christmas.  A Nikon P520. It has all the manual controls that you would find in a full DSLR.  I think it may even do the washing up! I want to learn how to use all those functions properly.  It is my intention to try to do a photo a day.  A 365 Photo diary.  We’ll see.   It may just help me get the blogging habit back.

Lastly, I intend to try out a new craft each month.  That seems to be a decent amount of time to try something out and get a feel for it.  If I take to something and enjoy it then I can take it on.  I am going to begin with knitting. I will keep you posted on progress.

So 2014 is set to be a good year for us.   A challenging year quite possibly and a year of change if Simon decides to cut his working hours further.  I’m up for it though, so bring it on, I can’t wait to get started.

I’m sure you have all been setting your own goals today and whatever they may be I wish you luck with them.  I wish you love health and happiness and as always I wish you ENOUGH.

BYE BYE 2013

WELCOME 2014

When is a resolution not a resolution?  When it’s a goal!

Where is my bloggin mojo?

Just had a look at my poor neglected blog. Last time I was here was back in August and prior to that May! There once was a time when I never missed a day. I seem to have lost my blogging mojo.  I started a blog for my Fabrilushus shop a while back and that has ground to a halt too. There just never seems to be enough hours in the day.  I have even got very lax in reading blogs so I am totally out of the loop.  I miss my friends.  I see FB posts but that simply isn't the same.

Not much has changed here apart from the season!  How can we be in autumn already? As seems to be the norm in the UK, we had a pretty measly summer.  It wasn't as wet as last year but we didn't have that many sunny weeks and it wasn't ever what I call hot.  Feeling pretty miserable right now at the thought of the long winter months ahead.

We are all doing ok.  I have been a bit worried about Simon, he is tired and gets headaches and yesterday had a pain in his eyeball all day.  A sharp pain.  This is his good eye too and he wouldn't do anything about it!  Don't suppose I had mentioned here that he lost most of the sight in one of his eyes back in the summer?  He has a central retinal occlusion. It was pretty worrying for a while as they though he had a stroke.  That eye is getting better slowly.

The rest of the family are all ok. Our big news is we have our 6th grandchild on the way. Saskia is expecting her first baby in March.  It is very exciting.

Alfie and Loulou are both still with us, although Alfie has bladder cancer and Loulou's tumor is growing. I worry about them all the time but they are pain free and happy so we are enjoying whatever time we have left.

I am busy doing all the usual stuff.  I also look after Jessie 2 days a week.  Once the housework is taken care of I spend quite a lot of time making things to sell at Fabrilushus.  Sales are very slow but they are coming.  The rest of my time is spent doing stuff for the dog rescue.  Both Simon and I are more and more involved there which is great as it is something we do together. It has also had the added benefit that we have made some very good friends.  We love each and every one of the dogs and spend many hours playing and grooming and just generally teaching them about love.

I would like to get back into my blog.  I always used it as a sort of online journal of my life and I am so annoyed that this year there are great chunks missing.  SO, I am going to try and do a daily photo to get back in the swing of things.  I figure a photo won't take too much time to do.  We shall see how it goes.

Wishing you all a happy Autumn.

Random stuff

Just a few random thoughts.

1.  Why is it that however well you stock up, the shopping always has to be done again at some point?       I wish the cupboards would just stay full.

2. When will spring actually start?  OK, I know it has started in theory, but when will the spring weather arrive?

3. Out-laws are a bloody nightmare.  The Daleks should exterminate them.

4.  Helped on the market stall on Saturday in aid of the doggies and we made £509.  Brilliant.  Worth going out so early in the biter cold and pouring rain. Missed seeing the doggies though.

5. If other half invites someone to our house that I cannot stand why is it not OK for me to go out and leave him to it?   In fact why can't he just go and see them instead of inviting them here?

6. I will not be told by anyone who I can and can't like. It doesn't work that way.  Some you like and some you can't stand.

7. Had horrid headache most of yesterday.  I know what started it.

8. Still can't get people to read here and still missing Multiply.

9. Am going to start a new blog specifically for Fabrilushus.

10. Insurance company are refusing to pay for Alfie's prescription diet food.  It is around a £100 a month.  Simon just collected his tablets today and a months supply is £180.  Thank goodness the insurance covers that.

11. Just realised that Easter isn't far away and in just over a weeks time Simon will be under my feet again for 2 weeks.  Wish we were able to go away somewhere hot and sunny.   It isn't possible as we can't leave Alfie and Loulou.

12.  Still have headache.  Think I will go to bed and read.

Friday

Friday, the end of the week. Just realised we are exactly half way through March. That means spring really should be here soon.  Today it is supposed to be raining.  Right now it just looks grey and cold.  I like Fridays, Simon is home at 4pm and the weekend starts.

I haven't got up yet.  It is 7.30am and I am just drinking my coffee. I thought maybe if I write a few words now I will have a blog. Haven't got much to say though.

Who has heard of Sound Cloud?  I just found it.  I was reading a book review and it said to "click here" to hear an extract on Sound Cloud. It has some good stuff I think but limitations too. I haven't really explored it.  I am currently listening to Smooth Jazz.  It is quite nice.

I am hoping for a sewing day today. I haven't much housework to do. When Simon gets home we are going to Gyll's house with the trailer to load up the car with stuff for the market tomorrow.  Gyll is the owner of the dog rescue. Do you remember that once a month they have a stall on Peterborough market, selling donated goods?  It is tomorrow.  We will get there about 7.30am, Simon will go once we are unloaded but I will be working on the stall until about 2pm.  I actually really enjoy it but I am not looking forward to the cold.

Random bits:

A photo for you........... Evan. He was going to a party and requested smart clothes and gelled up hair! he is 4.  He does look cute though!

If your children call you Mother instead of Mum does it mean you have been especially annoying?  Coralie called me Mother on her Facebook page.

Simon had a pre Ofsted inspection yesterday and was graded "Outstanding"  so he is feeling pleased with  himself.

I went to a Women's Institute (WI)  meeting on Wednesday night.  Max and Gyll were the guest speakers and they asked if I would like to go along. I was very interested as I have considered joining the WI.  They have a group in my village and I had intended to join when we moved here.  I thought it would be a way to make friends.  I am glad now that I didn't join.  I don't think it is really me.  I had this idea that they do lots of fun stuff, like cooking and sewing and crafts.  Well they may well do all of that but not on their meet up evening.

This was a small group, only 12 women and they were all very elderly which wouldn't be a problem for me.  They start by singing Jerusalem, all the way through.  I have to say that they sung it beautifully, but they wouldn't have wanted to hear me joining in!  That was followed by a long tedious period where all kinds of admin was dealt with.  It was really boring.  Can't be doing with that.

Then Gyll and Max spoke about the dog rescue which was interesting. I think I would enjoy most of their guest speakers.  Next month they have someone coming from the VA to talk about the art deco period.  That sounds good.   This WI was in a village quite a long way from here and my own village one may well be different but none the less, I think this has shown me that I am not ready for WI just yet.   Oh and they don't serve coffee only tea, that is no good!

Besides, I don't have enough time as it is and I have made friends amongst the doggie crowd.

I am however ready for my breakfast, so I guess it is time to get up and shower.