It was lovely to have snow on my birthday, really it was. I had a lovely day and felt really special. I’ve had gifts that showed me that the giver had thought of what I’d like and shopped accordingly.
I even got a couple of texts from two people who know reminding me that it was snowing on the day I was born!
We had bucks fizz followed by a full English breakfast, and after a quiet but enjoyable day we went out and had a meal at an Italian restaurant, which was really nice.
The journey home was a bit of a nightmare, my train broke down, so I had to wait over an hour for the next and missed my connection, and only caught the next train to my destination by virtue of the fact that it had been delayed by 5 minutes.
I walked to work 3 days last week, and my hips and knees protested for the next 4 days, I really could do without any more snow now til spring, but no, there’s more falling as I type. Wonderful. Hopefully this batch will only be a thin layer and will melt away soon and leave is with the crocuses and snowdrops we like to see!
Now, right this minute, I’m going to collect a cup of coffee and hang up some clean washing, probably in the reverse order, but that’s next!
Take care and stay safe.
Or rather, the post-Christmas muffin-top you get when you try and put on your work jeans that fitted fine three weeks ago only to find you have to lie on the bed to fasten them!
I wasn’t best pleased at that, they’ve been cutting into me something awful today; partly because I’ve gained weight after all the feasting we did over Christmas and partly because it’s so cold I’m wearing long leggings under my jeans at all times!
As I said just before New Year, one of my promises is to regain control over my eating habits and eat correctly 90% of the time so that I stand a better chance of reaching a healthy weight.
Change of subject now, I have rediscovered a delight of cold weather. Walking home after work through falling snow. It was absolutely beautiful. I did have to walk; the bike put up it’s usual protest about the weather and wouldn’t co-operate with me, but it didn’t really matter because I was looking at the falling snow and the light patterns and listening to the stillness.
Happy winter, and stay safe, wherever you are for the next 24 hours.
Where yesterday was calm and peaceful, today was difficult and a bit sad.
Every time I go to Dan’s for a weekend I feel sad on Monday going home, I miss him before I’ve even left. If I’m there longer than a weekend it’s harder still. I love him as you know, but also I get on well with his parents and I love the house very much too.
One of the things that was lovely and odd and difficult all at the same time was Jewel. She’s spent almost the whole time from Christmas Eve to yesterday hiding in Dan’s bedroom not quite out of reach, but then after tea yesterday she was roaming all over the house and again this morning. And then I had to bundle her into the carrier for the journey home. I felt awful that she’d found the confidence to go out and I’d had to stop her exploring.
Oliver made a right racket about the indignity of being in his carrier (which is the bigger one, more space to turn around), but Jewel just sat and looked out of the front and waited to be taken wherever we were going.
After all the snow and ice we got back to Bedford safely and easily, and the phone call I’ve just had says that Ted and Dan got back home again safely too.
Next of all, I have to start looking at packing down the Christmas tree and decorations as they are going to Dan’s this weekend for storage rather than stay here and be carted later. It’s quite exciting really and for all that I was low this morning I’m much happier and more positive now
Now that it’s the day after I have a little headspace to be able to tell you what happened over the last couple of days without needing to think about what’s got to happen tomorrow.
Christmas Eve was very busy.
For me it’s a working day and a day shift at that. I had to get up, get dressed and feed the cats and myself before charging to work through ice and snow to work.
It was terrifying. The ice had started to melt the day before and then refroze in the night and everywhere was an ice rink. I fell off the bike and landed on my back just trying to get to work over a patch of ice that looked fairly safe.
We had our traditional indian feast mid-morning and then finished off and went home midday, again, as is traditional here. More ice. I walked the bike home knowing the ice wouldn’t have gone in four short hours, and sure enough it was still there. This time I fell on my knees across the bike at a point where it had looked really safe.
I got home and warned Dan and Ted about safe parking and proceeded to bundle two confused moggies into carriers, make a flask of coffee and shuffle together the final items of food that had been stored out of cat reach and then sit witha drink til the Bongo arrived to take me away for Christmas.
For all the snow and ice it was a smooth journey. The roads were busy but not gridlocked and we got through in only slightly more time than it normally takes. The cats cried as expected but they calmed down and just waited to see what would happen next.
We got things unpacked and then let the cats out in Dan’s room and left them to settle while we had a traditional Chinese takeaway dinner and set the last presents under the tree.
I did develop a bug that turned into a cold and as a result I’m really tired, so this is going to be more than one post to sum up the weekend.
Take care one and all
It really is almost done now. The mincemeat is ready to bake off from this week, the cake is ready to marzipan this week, all my cards are written and most are posted, all the gifts are bought, barring a few that need to wait a few days and just need wrapping up.
My biggy is that I have found my dress for this Christmas. It’s brave and bright red and gorgeous. I’ll put it with silver sandals and some other bits and bobs and it should be great.
I think I’ve already had one of my best Christmas gifts. Last week I was finally invited for consultation with regard to the fact that my position was being made redundant. It may sound odd to be happy to be in this position, but I’ve been waiting 22 months for this meeting and it’s been hard work and quite depressing in all honesty, so yes, I’m happy. I have lots of plans and I can now put them in place within an actual timeline. [More]
At the end of a cold and damp week, Ted and Dan come down to Bedford to pick me up for the weekend. I only just got home in time because I thought I had time to make one final trip to Tesco before they arrived, and I did, but only just! We threw my bags of goodies including mulled wine in the car and left, just as it started to really rain! We made reasonable time and got back just after nine including stopping for chips on the way.
In the morning after bacon sandwiches, Dan and I washed up while Ted and Dee went shopping, and then we sat on the riverbank and watched the tide – until it started to rain! Dan managed to aquire a headache during the morning, so he was sent to bed with tea and paracetamol. Dee and I entered “major bonfire build mode” which entailed finding loads of scraps of wood and a few pallets and other bits, putting them together in a big heap and then packing them with newspaper, odd offcuts of wood and any other garden prunings we could lay our hands on.
Karen and Colin the neighbours came over with their firepit, Ted located and wiped off a load of garden chairs and set them on the bank ready – all while Dan slept off his headache! We got everything sorted just as the sun really started to go down, then went in to warm up and get ready for a big evening by the river.
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Dan and I were up bright and early despite the long journey, breakfasted, dressed and packed. It’s my sister’s wedding and we were determined to be there and to enjoy it, so we were!
Ted and Dee picked us up and took us to Cornhill Manor – the reception place, and then went on to Canons Ashby for the afternoon. My mum and Beckie shepherded us in, cameras, bags, wheelchair and all, and we were surprised by being served lunch before anything else happened! After lunch Mum showed Dan around Cornhill (it’s a place we as a family know very well) while I went upstairs and helped Anne get her 2 little girl ready. Dressed, brushed and shining, we were ready to go.
Since there wouldn’t be huge amount of walking around at the chapel, Dan elected to leave the chair in the back of mum’s car while we were there. We stood outside a while, chatting with friends and family, taking some pictures and laughing at one particular character who had obviously been dared to come along in some outrageous costume.
The various song we would be singing were printed on a handout that was (obviously) handed out as we went in. There was no bridal procession, Karen is far too shy to have survived that experience, and in another slight departure, she wore a long pale blue dress instead of a more traditional white or simmilar colour. Blue is Karen’s favourite colour, who were we to deny her that on her big day? [More]
We had a very long day indeed on friday. We had to drop off our hire car before 10:30 in Helston which meant a fairly early breakfast and a fast packing of the van. Final checks of the cottage complete, we drove out to Helston and dropped the car, then on to Hayle to get pasties for lunch later and from there up the A30 past the 3 windfarms in Cornwall.
We took some time out in Devon to visit Glebe Cottage garden, the preserve of Carol Klein. Well, we had our pasty lunch, and then Dee and Ted went to look while Dan and I relaxed by the van in the sunshine. [More]
After an egg and bacon breakfast Thursday took us out through Penzance to Marazion and the beautiful view of St Micheal’s Mount. We all stopped and got out of the car and admired the view. It was a beautiful day, the tide was in and Dan and I took the opportunity to take a lot of photos of the island and the bay.
Then we got back in the car and drove on. Actually, lovely and sunny as it was, the sun took a good while to war up properly; so we were all wearing fleeces and sunglasses (and in my case wondering if I looked just a bit silly) for quite a while.
We went through Penzance and Newlyn, stopping briefly at each to take pictures of the harbours as we went round. As is always the case when I’m on holiday in Cornwall, my camera was never far from my hand! [More]
Tuesday dawned foggy and wet and really not the nicest start to our holiday, so we decided to look for an indoor-type attraction where we should be dry and relatively warm. We decided that Goonhilly might be good, so we piled the wheelchair, map, coats, waterbottles and ourselves into the car and set off with great expectations.
It was great rolling up. There’s this almighty satellite dish close to the gates that you can see for miles around. We went in, got our stickers and went off to look around the exhibition.
It was quite interesting, there was a display showing how we progressed from Morse to the telegraph and on to the telephone and international calling and how the world of communication has changed and evolved. There was a display telling the story of undersea cables and how they were laid to carry calls to America and beyond. [More]