Pammy has not been creative for a while
But plans to be more spontaneous in the New Year.
She's pencilled herself in.
xxxx
But plans to be more spontaneous in the New Year.
She's pencilled herself in.
xxxx
Perplexed stumblings through fiction and the every day.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Happy New Year, Sarah Mac
OK Sarah
you asked for it!
A Merry Christmas may not be on the cards for Sarah Mac this year but I post this in the hope that New Year will be better and note that it is a day closer.
Sarah Mac, this year you have been an inspiration, support and a friend. You had been on my mind constantly over the last few days - even before I read your post- because it seems so odd not to be able to send a card or a text to someone you care about at Christmas. In other circumstances, I would tell you about my new job and we'd laugh about it and I'd ask you what you were having for Christmas lunch. I was hoping all was better, well even! It seems not and I know the hollowness you must be feeling just now for it has happened to me. It won't help today, but if it happens again, the trick is to plan and to learn to turn this particular negative into a positive. It took me a few years to get the hang of it but it can be done, I promise.
But for now, look after yourself. If doing/thinking of stuff is painful, then do nothing. Do not give the sadness energy my fabulous girl. Get those smellies and Pingu vids out, whatever was in the box.
Know that I am here and thinking of you.
Les xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
you asked for it!
A Merry Christmas may not be on the cards for Sarah Mac this year but I post this in the hope that New Year will be better and note that it is a day closer.
Sarah Mac, this year you have been an inspiration, support and a friend. You had been on my mind constantly over the last few days - even before I read your post- because it seems so odd not to be able to send a card or a text to someone you care about at Christmas. In other circumstances, I would tell you about my new job and we'd laugh about it and I'd ask you what you were having for Christmas lunch. I was hoping all was better, well even! It seems not and I know the hollowness you must be feeling just now for it has happened to me. It won't help today, but if it happens again, the trick is to plan and to learn to turn this particular negative into a positive. It took me a few years to get the hang of it but it can be done, I promise.
But for now, look after yourself. If doing/thinking of stuff is painful, then do nothing. Do not give the sadness energy my fabulous girl. Get those smellies and Pingu vids out, whatever was in the box.
Know that I am here and thinking of you.
Les xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
What do you do with your days Mum?
Do you mean after I've made the lunch boxes and dropped you off at school? Ah you do! Right...
Well Darling,
Today for example, I tidied up a bit and printed off everything I needed for my interview and did a bit of ironing.
Then I got ready and drove the 20 mins to the interview and was there for one and a half hours. Then I drove into town and did the shopping and waited for The Elf outside New Look as we arranged except it was freezing and raining and someone in a luminous tabard and a hat with ears was flashing me his best sexy smile and complimenting me on my shoes and begging me to chat to him. To be honest, if he wasn't trying to sell me a guide dog , I maybe would have flashed my best cougar smile back and tried to sell him some socks.
Then, as you know, we met you and forced you to carry a shopping bag to the car and we all drove home where I put your dinner in the oven and unpacked the shopping before taking The Elf and driving the half hour down the A47 to Short Shorts' school for her parents evening. After a mixed hour and a half, we set off for home and once back, dropped your little sister off at her school play before coming home to discover you'd not left me any dinner and I ate two crunch corner yoghurts before e-mailing the teachers we couldn't get an appointment with. Then I collected The Elf from her play and here I am on the sofa with you, watching Futurama because you want to, although it gives me a headache. Does that answer your question?"
"Think so. You're basically telling me that you've been sitting down for most of the day."
Well Darling,
Today for example, I tidied up a bit and printed off everything I needed for my interview and did a bit of ironing.
Then I got ready and drove the 20 mins to the interview and was there for one and a half hours. Then I drove into town and did the shopping and waited for The Elf outside New Look as we arranged except it was freezing and raining and someone in a luminous tabard and a hat with ears was flashing me his best sexy smile and complimenting me on my shoes and begging me to chat to him. To be honest, if he wasn't trying to sell me a guide dog , I maybe would have flashed my best cougar smile back and tried to sell him some socks.
Then, as you know, we met you and forced you to carry a shopping bag to the car and we all drove home where I put your dinner in the oven and unpacked the shopping before taking The Elf and driving the half hour down the A47 to Short Shorts' school for her parents evening. After a mixed hour and a half, we set off for home and once back, dropped your little sister off at her school play before coming home to discover you'd not left me any dinner and I ate two crunch corner yoghurts before e-mailing the teachers we couldn't get an appointment with. Then I collected The Elf from her play and here I am on the sofa with you, watching Futurama because you want to, although it gives me a headache. Does that answer your question?"
"Think so. You're basically telling me that you've been sitting down for most of the day."
Monday, December 12, 2011
Not tippling but wobbling.
Dear Everyone Everywhere
Frikkin' Fantabulous Festivities to you all!
I am sat sitting in my lounge and despite appearances, absolukely sober although I feel a teensy bit squiffy as some sort of vertigo-like-thingummy sees me career to the left every now and again. I've already smashed 3 baubles and a shepherd.
It seems to be catching because I had a lunchtime phone call from school to pick up The Elf who had a migraine coming on.
It is a funny sort of a migraine as it means you have to lie in bed fully clothed with the curtains shut and the light off feeling sick, whilst chomping your way through your lunch-box. Then you fancy watching TV with the sound off, followed by the urgent need to make paper chains with a dressing gown over your school uniform.
Hope I catch it!
So, as I said, I am sat sitting in my lounge with a blanket and leaning slightly to the left, feeling smug at having been teetotal for 7 months. My liver must be at least partly regenerated now. It's probably in a Christopher Ecclestone state before rebirthing as the full David Tennant or perhaps Matt Smith. I actually prefer the latter, but I wouldn't be prepared to die for the cause. Anyway, wonky ears, stuffed nose.. this may not be heading in a Yuletide-supportive direction.
So this December has seen Short Shorts get her first proper Saturday job in a shoe shop! Yes, the heavens have surely been smiling upon the house of Pammy.
I may have to open an eBay shop to make space for all the new ones coming in.
Oh yes, and her GCSE's are looming large but that's not nearly so exciting as SHOES! and £4.50 an hour! Her photography goes from strength to strength and so if you have an old Apple Mac or photoshop to donate then a) how fantastic! Thank you
and
b) Mug!
Snoryboy as we know, was let go by his old footie team which broke his heart .......but only briefly because a much better team has taken him on and plays him in a much preferred position. I am supremely happy about this as there is a more approachable brand of 'soccer-mom' in this team. No more Billy-no-mates for me on the sidelines. Look how supportive I am being here, despite the December temperatures!
His Duke of Edinburgh Bronze has been completed under duress with 2 full packets of plasters and was successful -from his point of view- only because it left his flapjack intake entirely unregulated.
School is not a problem to The Snorer despite the fact that something fluey/glandular kept him off school for a whole term.
The Elf is as ever, gregarious, happy-go-lucky, cheerful and energetic. It's infuriating. Secondary school has done little if anything to curb this. There are not as many hospital appointments or meetings as there used to be, but not quite so many snuggles either. She is a tall, willowy young lady.
Sometimes, all these combined factors, make me wonder if she's mine. There's probably an 11 year old, lazy, miserable over-eating high achiever stuck somewhere in a giggling,clean- living bob-sledding family; rammed into and overflowing out of a lycra suit, with doughnuts hidden in a helmet that receives Sky.
We have just hosted our 3rd and 4th couchsurfers. They were lovely. We wanted to keep them; two Italian sisters. They were unfortunate in that they wanted to be here for the Christmas fair but arrived just as it was winding down and getting dark. They wanted to see Burghley but even though I zoomed them there in the car, it was too dark to see it. They did however, see a deer. I found myself hoping there were no Italian deers, just so that we'd have offered them something unusual...maybe I should have ran it over. Then they opted to help me with the Christmas decorations just as weariness befell me and so they were treated to an interminable X factor final before they sensibly gave up hope and went to the pub....where the landlord informed them it was 15 minutes to closing time. Afterwards they enjoyed a fitful sleep on my sofa before being dropped off at a service station on the A1 to begin hitch-hiking back the way they'd come. They were only in the UK for 4 days. We know how to give foreigners a good time!
Anyways, back to me, me me! I just had another article accepted for the local rag and have been trying to get a festival goods business up and running and have had quite enough time- thank you very much - away from consultancy and advocacy.
So it's all systems go in 2012. If I ever get the websites functional.
Keep an eye on me at www.glampitup.co.uk and valyoume.co.uk. Now that I know you are watching, I will have to work on them.
Frikkin' Fantabulous Festivities to you all!
I am sat sitting in my lounge and despite appearances, absolukely sober although I feel a teensy bit squiffy as some sort of vertigo-like-thingummy sees me career to the left every now and again. I've already smashed 3 baubles and a shepherd.
It seems to be catching because I had a lunchtime phone call from school to pick up The Elf who had a migraine coming on.
Hope I catch it!
So, as I said, I am sat sitting in my lounge with a blanket and leaning slightly to the left, feeling smug at having been teetotal for 7 months. My liver must be at least partly regenerated now. It's probably in a Christopher Ecclestone state before rebirthing as the full David Tennant or perhaps Matt Smith. I actually prefer the latter, but I wouldn't be prepared to die for the cause. Anyway, wonky ears, stuffed nose.. this may not be heading in a Yuletide-supportive direction.
So this December has seen Short Shorts get her first proper Saturday job in a shoe shop! Yes, the heavens have surely been smiling upon the house of Pammy.
Oh yes, and her GCSE's are looming large but that's not nearly so exciting as SHOES! and £4.50 an hour! Her photography goes from strength to strength and so if you have an old Apple Mac or photoshop to donate then a) how fantastic! Thank you
and
b) Mug!
His Duke of Edinburgh Bronze has been completed under duress with 2 full packets of plasters and was successful -from his point of view- only because it left his flapjack intake entirely unregulated.
School is not a problem to The Snorer despite the fact that something fluey/glandular kept him off school for a whole term.
The Elf is as ever, gregarious, happy-go-lucky, cheerful and energetic. It's infuriating. Secondary school has done little if anything to curb this. There are not as many hospital appointments or meetings as there used to be, but not quite so many snuggles either. She is a tall, willowy young lady.
Sometimes, all these combined factors, make me wonder if she's mine. There's probably an 11 year old, lazy, miserable over-eating high achiever stuck somewhere in a giggling,clean- living bob-sledding family; rammed into and overflowing out of a lycra suit, with doughnuts hidden in a helmet that receives Sky.
We have just hosted our 3rd and 4th couchsurfers. They were lovely. We wanted to keep them; two Italian sisters. They were unfortunate in that they wanted to be here for the Christmas fair but arrived just as it was winding down and getting dark. They wanted to see Burghley but even though I zoomed them there in the car, it was too dark to see it. They did however, see a deer. I found myself hoping there were no Italian deers, just so that we'd have offered them something unusual...maybe I should have ran it over. Then they opted to help me with the Christmas decorations just as weariness befell me and so they were treated to an interminable X factor final before they sensibly gave up hope and went to the pub....where the landlord informed them it was 15 minutes to closing time. Afterwards they enjoyed a fitful sleep on my sofa before being dropped off at a service station on the A1 to begin hitch-hiking back the way they'd come. They were only in the UK for 4 days. We know how to give foreigners a good time!
Anyways, back to me, me me! I just had another article accepted for the local rag and have been trying to get a festival goods business up and running and have had quite enough time- thank you very much - away from consultancy and advocacy.
So it's all systems go in 2012. If I ever get the websites functional.
Keep an eye on me at www.glampitup.co.uk and valyoume.co.uk. Now that I know you are watching, I will have to work on them.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
My new alcohol
I have gone up 3 dress sizes 
since having a break from my career, and I have been teetotal for the past 6.5 months.
This is only significant because, when I struggled with my weight before being teetotal, it was usually remedied by cutting out alcohol.
I have been struggling with this anomaly (or is it a paradox?) as my arse got increasingly bigger.
I also love being outdoors and paradoxically (definitely the right word this time) have spent less time outdoors than ever before now that I have the time to do it, and I soooo miss it! I do not enjoy wasting my days by watching TV. But that is exactly how I spend too much of my time.
About a month or so ago, I realised that TV was my new alcohol - it has a much stronger grip on me than I have on it. It is all about NOT being in the here and now of life, it is something that takes me away from my reality. This also puzzles me as I am happy with my home, my friends, my family. A friend of mine tells me she thinks it's an escape from an otherwise busy life, sole responsibility for 3 children takes a lot of juggling and organising
and so, she maintains that I use it as a way to switch off. I don't feel that's correct. Maybe it explains sitting down after tea but not switching it on the moment they have gone to school. Nope there is something else going on.
I went out tonight and got into conversation with someone who has a similar profession to me. She's an art therapist who is reassessing the job she loves. I love my job, I just can't do it at the moment. I am burnt out.
I had an interview to be a postie this week (will let you know when I hear about it, it will be 4 weeks apparently) It will pay about a quarter of the wage I am used to but my dream job has always been to be a postie and the interview only fired my enthusiasm even further. I can think of nothing nicer than walking all day, watching the seasons change, being a pivotal part of the community and having little stress
My friend the therapist has also enquired about being a postie. She has sold her house because she fancied renting for a while, and has found it incredibly liberating. She does not have to constantly repair and improve this house. She can simply relax in it and she has found she has freed up a lot of her time.
I found myself telling her about the TV situation and she said that made sense to her because she stopped smoking 9 years ago, and food took the place of cigarettes
Now, my new friend told me, she always knows when she is stressed because she finds herself frantically looking for food the moment she finishes work -turns her car upside down. Knowing this, she started an exercise regime but feels that it will easily become an addiction. I replied that twice in my life exercise became an addiction and developed alongside a borderline eating disorder. It then dawned on both of us, that we have addictive personalities. I am lucky in that I never step so far over the edge that I can't get back. So, the food and the TV are not only the new alcohol, but they are new addictions taking over from the previous ones. So, so soooooooooo. What are the addictions replacing? Can I get to the bottom of that? What do I constantly need that I do not have/get? How can I sort that one out?
Answers on a postcard please. Otherwise, what's your addiction?
This is only significant because, when I struggled with my weight before being teetotal, it was usually remedied by cutting out alcohol.
I have been struggling with this anomaly (or is it a paradox?) as my arse got increasingly bigger.
I also love being outdoors and paradoxically (definitely the right word this time) have spent less time outdoors than ever before now that I have the time to do it, and I soooo miss it! I do not enjoy wasting my days by watching TV. But that is exactly how I spend too much of my time.
About a month or so ago, I realised that TV was my new alcohol - it has a much stronger grip on me than I have on it. It is all about NOT being in the here and now of life, it is something that takes me away from my reality. This also puzzles me as I am happy with my home, my friends, my family. A friend of mine tells me she thinks it's an escape from an otherwise busy life, sole responsibility for 3 children takes a lot of juggling and organising
I went out tonight and got into conversation with someone who has a similar profession to me. She's an art therapist who is reassessing the job she loves. I love my job, I just can't do it at the moment. I am burnt out.
I had an interview to be a postie this week (will let you know when I hear about it, it will be 4 weeks apparently) It will pay about a quarter of the wage I am used to but my dream job has always been to be a postie and the interview only fired my enthusiasm even further. I can think of nothing nicer than walking all day, watching the seasons change, being a pivotal part of the community and having little stress
I found myself telling her about the TV situation and she said that made sense to her because she stopped smoking 9 years ago, and food took the place of cigarettes
Now, my new friend told me, she always knows when she is stressed because she finds herself frantically looking for food the moment she finishes work -turns her car upside down. Knowing this, she started an exercise regime but feels that it will easily become an addiction. I replied that twice in my life exercise became an addiction and developed alongside a borderline eating disorder. It then dawned on both of us, that we have addictive personalities. I am lucky in that I never step so far over the edge that I can't get back. So, the food and the TV are not only the new alcohol, but they are new addictions taking over from the previous ones. So, so soooooooooo. What are the addictions replacing? Can I get to the bottom of that? What do I constantly need that I do not have/get? How can I sort that one out?
Answers on a postcard please. Otherwise, what's your addiction?
Saturday, November 26, 2011
I tried singing to you!
I did! I tried last week.
I find it odd that you can make a home video and upload it into a blog but a teensy wee sound recording? Apparently I have to join some new-fangled online community first - You Tube I think its called. Half thought of asking all 15 of you for your phone numbers and crooning down the phone individually. I could manage the technology involved in that.
Well, it's been an eventful few weeks. Here are the highlights.
1. Had a Couchsurfer (to visit! To visit!) He is a fantastic young environmental artist -take a look! Apparently, one of his drawings was bought by Chris Packham! Despite this, he is modest and gentle, brought his own muesli and made the house calmer just by dint of him being there.
Couchsurfers are strangers that you lend your couch to.
They get a rating -a bit like eBay- so you know whether you can trust them or not. They don't take your couch away with them or anything, they just borrow it for the night-in situ.
It's a fantastic way to meet people from other backgrounds and countries and then you can couchsurf in return and it doesn't even have to be with the same couchsurfer!! Anyway, Jethro made me a meal and I was able to have a bath then come down to delicious food. It was bliss.I took him out to orientate him around the town, ready for his conference and my kids were so stunned at seeing me leave the house that one gave me a torch and another asked whether they should wait up. I'd forgotten that it had been months since I had been out and in an actual pub and I enjoyed myself. We met up with his friend who was around my age; a Scottish artist Kate Foster. another fascinating and gentle soul with fabulous taste in knitwear.
2. Went to Huddersfield
This had never struck me as a destination of choice and I have come to realise that, to a large degree, this was mainly due to their being a lot of udder in Huddersfield. The name comes with a large mental image, and a bit of a smell.
Cowever (see what I did there!) I was wrong. I didn't hear so much as a quiet moo. I did see lots of terraced chimney-scapes because of the very steep hills, and I found those rather beautiful and reminiscent of my youth in Welsh valleys and a Scottish childhood. This is apt because I went to see my old flatmate and bandmate, Rachel who hails from there. To be honest, she really sold the place to me because she is so passionate about the town and all it had to offer culturally and personally. I was all for moving the kids there and finally meeting my Heathcliffe*
We took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield which has a special place in my heart for one large and squaddie-shaped reason though I had never been to either place before.
Here I must thank lovely Rachel for reintroducing me to culture which is so much part of her, and has been too long absent from me. The YSP was hosting a Jaume Plensa ** exhibition which had the most striking and emotional impact on me. It reached inside my gut then pulled me inside out and gave it all a cuddle. When someone knows your truth and invites you to look at it because it's their truth too, it is a hugely nurturing experience.The installations knew me and I knew them. I had entirely forgotten that Art could do that to you. I immediately had very physical and emotional reactions. I urge you to go to an exhibition if you have the chance
The gallery was also hosting the most marvellous knitting exhibition I've ever seen. Donna Wilson knits landscapes and fantastical animals
and they were so beautiful to look at and soft to the touch that I am going out this very day to buy some wool and start being creative. Luckily I bought 3 million or so, knitting needles from a car boot sale and a Kaffe Fassett's Glorious Knitting and if I ignore the 80's styling, I can really get going on a scarf! (One has to have realistic goals) Maybe, if successful, I can progress to that extension I have always wanted..
But this sense of being looked after is a theme running through the past couple of weeks and it's made me a bit wobbly if I am being honest. I am used to doing the looking after, I am rarely looked after unless I do it for myself with smelly candles and a clean house and a hot bath and a roaring fire and lovely music or a good movie. This is all lovely, but so much nicer when someone else does it.
Rachel really looked after me by cooking for me and putting out guest towels and buying face packs and chocolate and reintroducing me to my beloved music (she has always been great at doing that)***
It was wonderful to see her.
Unfortunately, midway through the weekend my I-Phone completely died and on my last morning when we were due to go to Last Of the Summer Wine town of Holmfirth before I headed home, not only was there a real pea-souper and no phone, but there was something different about my car which I couldn't quite put my finger on for the longest time. Finally 'fucking gits!!!!!' seemed to be an appropriate response since my quarter light on the driver's passenger side was covered in broken glass and the main passenger window was missing -there was mud over the back seat , an open glove compartment and a missing sat nav. Shit!!!!
Fog, no phone and a gaping hole in the car. After calling the police and insurance, I was advised that there wasn't much to be done except to drive home having first cling- filmed the entire door, both ways (and that's not something you hear very often ) to effect an double seal scenario.
After a mile, it became apparent that this in itself was worth nothing if it had no discipline from parcel tape - cling film is surprisingly flighty and badly behaved on a dual carriageway.
Against all the odds and after 2.5 hours, I arrived home. Autoglass was baffled by the relative lack of glass shards before he tried winding the main passenger window up and finding it entirely in tact. As the lovely Yorkshire policeman said to me when he called to give me an update "You have given us a chuckle down the station". My daughter reminded me that I often give policemen a chuckle and I wondered who had been gossiping before she reminded me of Nibblesgate!****
Anyways, that Sunday my daughter made her first Sunday Lunch very successfully, so that was 7 meals I hadn't had to make in 1 week! This was to become 8 because.....
3. On Wednesday, my friend Liz invited me to her use her time share. She made me a cooked breakfast before leaving me there to spend the day writing and overlooking beautiful Rutland Water (regular readers will know that this is my favourite place) I got loads done and felt very cosseted and relaxed. Liz was very insistent that I am normally resistant to letting myself be looked after and it had to change.
4. 2 people who work with me in various capacities have refused to take payment from me this week yet continue to provide services because I am apparently a lovely person (nope I am NOT back on sqauddie territory here! You should be ashamed!!)
The world is looking after me
Apart from that 1 woman and her daughter at the Christmas Fair -least said.....
So, this week, I have been feeling rather weepy and confused. It seems that I need not be an island after all. It'll take a bit of getting used to...
* (and btw, there could be no finer and more gusset wrenching Heathcliffe than Tom Hardy in the recent ITV adaptation before he got huge in Hollywood (narf narf). Something about his mouth...)
** Spanish Sculptor
***Post to follow- remind me
**** Interested parties can apply for more information
I find it odd that you can make a home video and upload it into a blog but a teensy wee sound recording? Apparently I have to join some new-fangled online community first - You Tube I think its called. Half thought of asking all 15 of you for your phone numbers and crooning down the phone individually. I could manage the technology involved in that.
Well, it's been an eventful few weeks. Here are the highlights.
1. Had a Couchsurfer (to visit! To visit!) He is a fantastic young environmental artist -take a look! Apparently, one of his drawings was bought by Chris Packham! Despite this, he is modest and gentle, brought his own muesli and made the house calmer just by dint of him being there.
Couchsurfers are strangers that you lend your couch to.
They get a rating -a bit like eBay- so you know whether you can trust them or not. They don't take your couch away with them or anything, they just borrow it for the night-in situ.
It's a fantastic way to meet people from other backgrounds and countries and then you can couchsurf in return and it doesn't even have to be with the same couchsurfer!! Anyway, Jethro made me a meal and I was able to have a bath then come down to delicious food. It was bliss.I took him out to orientate him around the town, ready for his conference and my kids were so stunned at seeing me leave the house that one gave me a torch and another asked whether they should wait up. I'd forgotten that it had been months since I had been out and in an actual pub and I enjoyed myself. We met up with his friend who was around my age; a Scottish artist Kate Foster. another fascinating and gentle soul with fabulous taste in knitwear.
2. Went to Huddersfield
This had never struck me as a destination of choice and I have come to realise that, to a large degree, this was mainly due to their being a lot of udder in Huddersfield. The name comes with a large mental image, and a bit of a smell.
Cowever (see what I did there!) I was wrong. I didn't hear so much as a quiet moo. I did see lots of terraced chimney-scapes because of the very steep hills, and I found those rather beautiful and reminiscent of my youth in Welsh valleys and a Scottish childhood. This is apt because I went to see my old flatmate and bandmate, Rachel who hails from there. To be honest, she really sold the place to me because she is so passionate about the town and all it had to offer culturally and personally. I was all for moving the kids there and finally meeting my Heathcliffe*Here I must thank lovely Rachel for reintroducing me to culture which is so much part of her, and has been too long absent from me. The YSP was hosting a Jaume Plensa ** exhibition which had the most striking and emotional impact on me. It reached inside my gut then pulled me inside out and gave it all a cuddle. When someone knows your truth and invites you to look at it because it's their truth too, it is a hugely nurturing experience.The installations knew me and I knew them. I had entirely forgotten that Art could do that to you. I immediately had very physical and emotional reactions. I urge you to go to an exhibition if you have the chance
The gallery was also hosting the most marvellous knitting exhibition I've ever seen. Donna Wilson knits landscapes and fantastical animals
and they were so beautiful to look at and soft to the touch that I am going out this very day to buy some wool and start being creative. Luckily I bought 3 million or so, knitting needles from a car boot sale and a Kaffe Fassett's Glorious Knitting and if I ignore the 80's styling, I can really get going on a scarf! (One has to have realistic goals) Maybe, if successful, I can progress to that extension I have always wanted..Rachel really looked after me by cooking for me and putting out guest towels and buying face packs and chocolate and reintroducing me to my beloved music (she has always been great at doing that)***
It was wonderful to see her.
Unfortunately, midway through the weekend my I-Phone completely died and on my last morning when we were due to go to Last Of the Summer Wine town of Holmfirth before I headed home, not only was there a real pea-souper and no phone, but there was something different about my car which I couldn't quite put my finger on for the longest time. Finally 'fucking gits!!!!!' seemed to be an appropriate response since my quarter light on the driver's passenger side was covered in broken glass and the main passenger window was missing -there was mud over the back seat , an open glove compartment and a missing sat nav. Shit!!!!
Fog, no phone and a gaping hole in the car. After calling the police and insurance, I was advised that there wasn't much to be done except to drive home having first cling- filmed the entire door, both ways (and that's not something you hear very often ) to effect an double seal scenario.
Against all the odds and after 2.5 hours, I arrived home. Autoglass was baffled by the relative lack of glass shards before he tried winding the main passenger window up and finding it entirely in tact. As the lovely Yorkshire policeman said to me when he called to give me an update "You have given us a chuckle down the station". My daughter reminded me that I often give policemen a chuckle and I wondered who had been gossiping before she reminded me of Nibblesgate!****
Anyways, that Sunday my daughter made her first Sunday Lunch very successfully, so that was 7 meals I hadn't had to make in 1 week! This was to become 8 because.....
3. On Wednesday, my friend Liz invited me to her use her time share. She made me a cooked breakfast before leaving me there to spend the day writing and overlooking beautiful Rutland Water (regular readers will know that this is my favourite place) I got loads done and felt very cosseted and relaxed. Liz was very insistent that I am normally resistant to letting myself be looked after and it had to change.
4. 2 people who work with me in various capacities have refused to take payment from me this week yet continue to provide services because I am apparently a lovely person (nope I am NOT back on sqauddie territory here! You should be ashamed!!)
The world is looking after me
Apart from that 1 woman and her daughter at the Christmas Fair -least said.....
So, this week, I have been feeling rather weepy and confused. It seems that I need not be an island after all. It'll take a bit of getting used to...
* (and btw, there could be no finer and more gusset wrenching Heathcliffe than Tom Hardy in the recent ITV adaptation before he got huge in Hollywood (narf narf). Something about his mouth...)
** Spanish Sculptor
***Post to follow- remind me
**** Interested parties can apply for more information
I tried singing to you!
I did! I tried last week.
I find it odd that you can make a home video and upload it into a blog but a teensy wee sound recording? Apparently I have to join some new-fangled online community first - You Tube I think its called. Half thought of asking all 15 of you for your phone numbers and crooning down the phone individually. I could manage the technology involved in that.
Well, it's been an eventful few weeks. Here are the highlights.
1. Had a Couchsurfer (to visit! To visit!) He is a fantastic young environmental artist -take a look! Apparently, one of his drawings was bought by Chris Packham! Despite this, he is modest and gentle, brought his own muesli and made the house calmer just by dint of him being there.
Couchsurfers are strangers that you lend your couch to.
They get a rating -a bit like eBay- so you know whether you can trust them or not. They don't take your couch away with them or anything, they just borrow it for the night-in situ.
It's a fantastic way to meet people from other backgrounds and countries and then you can couchsurf in return and it doesn't even have to be with the same couchsurfer!! Anyway, Jethro made me a meal and I was able to have a bath then come down to delicious food. It was bliss.I took him out to orientate him around the town, ready for his conference and my kids were so stunned at seeing me leave the house that one gave me a torch and another asked whether they should wait up. I'd forgotten that it had been months since I had been out and in an actual pub and I enjoyed myself. We met up with his friend who was around my age; a Scottish artist Kate Foster. another fascinating and gentle soul with fabulous taste in knitwear.
2. Went to Huddersfield
This had never struck me as a destination of choice and I have come to realise that, to a large degree, this was mainly due to their being a lot of udder in Huddersfield. The name comes with a large mental image, and a bit of a smell. Cowever (see what I did there!) I was wrong. I didn't hear so much as a quiet moo. I did see lots of terraced chimney-scapes because of the very steep hills, and I found those rather beautiful and reminiscent of my youth in Welsh valleys and a Scottish childhood. This is apt because I went to see my old flatmate and bandmate, Rachel who hails from there. To be honest, she really sold the place to me because she is so passionate about the town and all it had to offer culturally and personally. I was all for moving the kids there and finally meeting my Heathcliffe*
We took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield which has a special place in my heart for one large and squaddie-shaped reason though I had never been to either place before.
Here I must thank lovely Rachel for reintroducing me to culture which is so much part of her, and has been too long absent from me. The YSP was hosting a Jaume Plensa ** exhibition which had the most striking and emotional impact on me. It reached inside my gut then pulled me inside out and gave it all a cuddle. When someone knows your truth and invites you to look at it because it's their truth too, it is a hugely nurturing experience.The installations knew me and I knew them. I had entirely forgotten that Art could do that to you. I immediately had very physical and emotional reactions. I urge you to go to an exhibition if you have the chance
The gallery was also hosting the most marvellous knitting exhibition I've ever seen. Donna Wilson knits landscapes and fantastical animals and they were so beautiful to look at and soft to the touch that I am going out this very day to buy some wool and start being creative. Luckily I bought 3 million or so, knitting needles from a car boot sale and a Kaffe Fassett's Glorious Knitting and if I ignore the 80's styling, I can really get going on a scarf! (One has to have realistic goals) Maybe, if successful, I can progress to that extension I have always wanted..
But this sense of being looked after is a theme running through the past couple of weeks and it's made me a bit wobbly if I am being honest. I am used to doing the looking after, I am rarely looked after unless I do it for myself with smelly candles and a clean house and a hot bath and a roaring fire and lovely music or a good movie. This is all lovely, but so much nicer when someone else does it.
Rachel really looked after me by cooking for me and putting out guest towels and buying face packs and chocolate and reintroducing me to my beloved music (she has always been great at doing that)***
It was wonderful to see her.
Unfortunately, midway through the weekend my I-Phone completely died and on my last morning when we were due to go to Last Of the Summer Wine town of Holmfirth before I headed home, not only was there a real pea-souper and no phone, but there was something different about my car which I couldn't quite put my finger on for the longest time. Finally 'fucking gits!!!!!' seemed to be an appropriate response since my quarter light on the driver's passenger side was covered in broken glass and the main passenger window was missing -there was mud over the back seat , an open glove compartment and a missing sat nav. Shit!!!!
Fog, no phone and a gaping hole in the car. After calling the police and insurance, I was advised that there wasn't much to be done except to drive home having first cling- filmed the entire door, both ways (and that's not something you hear very often ) to effect an double seal scenario.After a mile, it became apparent that this in itself was worth nothing if it had no discipline from parcel tape - cling film is surprisingly flighty and badly behaved on a dual carriageway.
Against all the odds and after 2.5 hours, I arrived home. Autoglass was baffled by the relative lack of glass shards before he tried winding the main passenger window up and finding it entirely in tact. As the lovely Yorkshire policeman said to me when he called to give me an update "You have given us a chuckle down the station". My daughter reminded me that I often give policemen a chuckle and I wondered who had been gossiping before she reminded me of Nibblesgate!****
Anyways, that Sunday my daughter made her first Sunday Lunch very successfully, so that was 7 meals I hadn't had to make in 1 week! This was to become 8 because.....
3. On Wednesday, my friend Liz invited me to her use her time share. She made me a cooked breakfast before leaving me there to spend the day writing and overlooking beautiful Rutland Water (regular readers will know that this is my favourite place) I got loads done and felt very cosseted and relaxed. Liz was very insistent that I am normally resistant to letting myself be looked after and it had to change.
4. 2 people who work with me in various capacities have refused to take payment from me this week yet continue to provide services because I am apparently a lovely person (nope I am NOT back on sqauddie territory here! You should be ashamed!!)
The world is looking after me
Apart from that 1 woman and her daughter at the Christmas Fair -least said.....
So, this week, I have been feeling rather weepy and confused. It seems that I need not be an island after all. It'll take a bit of getting used to...
* (and btw, there could be no finer and more gusset wrenching Heathcliffe than Tom Hardy in the recent ITV adaptation before he got huge in Hollywood (narf narf). Something about his mouth...)
** Spanish Sculptor
***Post to follow- remind me
**** Interested parties can apply for more information
I find it odd that you can make a home video and upload it into a blog but a teensy wee sound recording? Apparently I have to join some new-fangled online community first - You Tube I think its called. Half thought of asking all 15 of you for your phone numbers and crooning down the phone individually. I could manage the technology involved in that.
Well, it's been an eventful few weeks. Here are the highlights.
1. Had a Couchsurfer (to visit! To visit!) He is a fantastic young environmental artist -take a look! Apparently, one of his drawings was bought by Chris Packham! Despite this, he is modest and gentle, brought his own muesli and made the house calmer just by dint of him being there.
Couchsurfers are strangers that you lend your couch to.
They get a rating -a bit like eBay- so you know whether you can trust them or not. They don't take your couch away with them or anything, they just borrow it for the night-in situ.
It's a fantastic way to meet people from other backgrounds and countries and then you can couchsurf in return and it doesn't even have to be with the same couchsurfer!! Anyway, Jethro made me a meal and I was able to have a bath then come down to delicious food. It was bliss.I took him out to orientate him around the town, ready for his conference and my kids were so stunned at seeing me leave the house that one gave me a torch and another asked whether they should wait up. I'd forgotten that it had been months since I had been out and in an actual pub and I enjoyed myself. We met up with his friend who was around my age; a Scottish artist Kate Foster. another fascinating and gentle soul with fabulous taste in knitwear.
2. Went to Huddersfield
This had never struck me as a destination of choice and I have come to realise that, to a large degree, this was mainly due to their being a lot of udder in Huddersfield. The name comes with a large mental image, and a bit of a smell.
Cowever (see what I did there!) I was wrong. I didn't hear so much as a quiet moo. I did see lots of terraced chimney-scapes because of the very steep hills, and I found those rather beautiful and reminiscent of my youth in Welsh valleys and a Scottish childhood. This is apt because I went to see my old flatmate and bandmate, Rachel who hails from there. To be honest, she really sold the place to me because she is so passionate about the town and all it had to offer culturally and personally. I was all for moving the kids there and finally meeting my Heathcliffe*Here I must thank lovely Rachel for reintroducing me to culture which is so much part of her, and has been too long absent from me. The YSP was hosting a Jaume Plensa ** exhibition which had the most striking and emotional impact on me. It reached inside my gut then pulled me inside out and gave it all a cuddle. When someone knows your truth and invites you to look at it because it's their truth too, it is a hugely nurturing experience.The installations knew me and I knew them. I had entirely forgotten that Art could do that to you. I immediately had very physical and emotional reactions. I urge you to go to an exhibition if you have the chance
The gallery was also hosting the most marvellous knitting exhibition I've ever seen. Donna Wilson knits landscapes and fantastical animals
and they were so beautiful to look at and soft to the touch that I am going out this very day to buy some wool and start being creative. Luckily I bought 3 million or so, knitting needles from a car boot sale and a Kaffe Fassett's Glorious Knitting and if I ignore the 80's styling, I can really get going on a scarf! (One has to have realistic goals) Maybe, if successful, I can progress to that extension I have always wanted..Rachel really looked after me by cooking for me and putting out guest towels and buying face packs and chocolate and reintroducing me to my beloved music (she has always been great at doing that)***
It was wonderful to see her.
Unfortunately, midway through the weekend my I-Phone completely died and on my last morning when we were due to go to Last Of the Summer Wine town of Holmfirth before I headed home, not only was there a real pea-souper and no phone, but there was something different about my car which I couldn't quite put my finger on for the longest time. Finally 'fucking gits!!!!!' seemed to be an appropriate response since my quarter light on the driver's passenger side was covered in broken glass and the main passenger window was missing -there was mud over the back seat , an open glove compartment and a missing sat nav. Shit!!!!
Fog, no phone and a gaping hole in the car. After calling the police and insurance, I was advised that there wasn't much to be done except to drive home having first cling- filmed the entire door, both ways (and that's not something you hear very often ) to effect an double seal scenario.
Against all the odds and after 2.5 hours, I arrived home. Autoglass was baffled by the relative lack of glass shards before he tried winding the main passenger window up and finding it entirely in tact. As the lovely Yorkshire policeman said to me when he called to give me an update "You have given us a chuckle down the station". My daughter reminded me that I often give policemen a chuckle and I wondered who had been gossiping before she reminded me of Nibblesgate!****
Anyways, that Sunday my daughter made her first Sunday Lunch very successfully, so that was 7 meals I hadn't had to make in 1 week! This was to become 8 because.....
3. On Wednesday, my friend Liz invited me to her use her time share. She made me a cooked breakfast before leaving me there to spend the day writing and overlooking beautiful Rutland Water (regular readers will know that this is my favourite place) I got loads done and felt very cosseted and relaxed. Liz was very insistent that I am normally resistant to letting myself be looked after and it had to change.
4. 2 people who work with me in various capacities have refused to take payment from me this week yet continue to provide services because I am apparently a lovely person (nope I am NOT back on sqauddie territory here! You should be ashamed!!)
The world is looking after me
Apart from that 1 woman and her daughter at the Christmas Fair -least said.....
So, this week, I have been feeling rather weepy and confused. It seems that I need not be an island after all. It'll take a bit of getting used to...
* (and btw, there could be no finer and more gusset wrenching Heathcliffe than Tom Hardy in the recent ITV adaptation before he got huge in Hollywood (narf narf). Something about his mouth...)
** Spanish Sculptor
***Post to follow- remind me
**** Interested parties can apply for more information
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)