Luv Winnie.xxxx

We arrive at her waiting line and she just looks tense.

Apprehension was written in her body lanuage, but she stayed in line and tried to calm herself by tapping her fingers to thumb.Bless.

She was sent off to the tennis event. Nothing spectacular, all she had to do was try to hit the ball once, they got three tries at it. Well she gets her raquet sets herself up, the chap over the net hit the ball with a whack, and blow me she hammered it back.

Yay, she kept her eye on that ball as it bounced up towards her, and bang, back it went. That was that, no more goes, she drops the raquet and jumps about like a mad woman shouting "I hit it,I hit it, look Mummy I hit it. I have to say I cuddled her really close and burst out crying, the joy she got from that one hit was just amazing.

Well that seemed to boost her confidence for the relay race, because she took off at great speed and thundered round without dropping the batton.Way to go Ruthy.

By this time, I am almost on my knees with emotion, and a sore throat from shouting and egging on the Kids.LOL By this time her confidence is through the roof, and she does not bat an eye lid when they send her off to the Rugby Corner!!!!!!!

I asked her if she has ever played Rugby at School? No, but its o.k Mum, I have seen it, you just pick up the ball and run. I thought , Right, but kept my other thoughts firmly to myself. So off we set, and she teams up with her side, and Grandma, Caty and I sit tight on the sideline. An area is marked out as the goal line, and Ruth stands herself not far from this, very close to us, actually,LOL. Me thinks that she took fright when the group of mainly boy's start to scrum in. Anyhow at one point a full blown,head down squash the opposition takes place, and Ruth is edging closer to us hoping no-one notices that she is not taking part, when the ball flies out from the writhing heep and lands at her feet. Now the fun starts. Ruth looks at this egg shaped thing, looks around, looks back down, picks it up and starts to run, Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, OOOps, wrong way Ruth,heheeeeehehhehehe.

Look there she goes, but she hears us all,LOL. The laugh, the two youngsters in the background were congratulating themselves, on Ruth heading for the wrong goal, or whaterver it's called.

Big U turn and she is heading the right way, the boys in the background just flop, it was quite funny. The young man in the Blue in the foreground was holding his head in his hand with frustration, he did not see Ruth turn, but boy did he jump for joy when she came through and slammed that ball through the line.LOL

The only point of the game, she was floating on cloud nine and some. Bless her, she really had the "best day ever". Funny she has a lot of those,LOL.

The Sports Day was held in the school garden and playground, as the Sports field they normally use was having a face lift. I have to say that, though the children had to squash up,  space and markouts limited,they really did put on a good show. Sadly however,of the 300 or so children taking part, there were only about a quarter of the Parents or Grandparents there. As for cheering the kids on, it was like someone had swooped in and taped peoples mouths shut and tied their hands behind their backs. What is it? What is wrong with cheering the kids and clapping them home? At most times, the only spectators cheering and clapping were the Staff, Grandma and I. Cor, even Caty gave the odd howl of encouragement, but would much rather have taken part,hehe.

Ah well, that was Sports Day, and Ruth has decided that, it is not quite so bad after all. Tomorrow we find out how well her House did when they total the points, but no matter the final score, each and every child earned a point, and was a winner for giving it all a go. Well done to them.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

Home she came from school this past Tuesday with two invites to Birthday Parties on the same day. Ugh. As you can imagine Ruth was distraught, even she could work out that it would be a difficult situation to go ahead with her Party. Funny though, as Ruth's Party was set for her actual Birthday. Little K, was 8yrs back in May but her Party was delayed due to Parent work issues, and Little P is not actually 9yrs till August but it was felt that giving invites out too early would mean folks would forget. Summer School Holidays start in a week and a half, so I can see their point of view.

What to do, what to do! Go ahead and hope we get a few turning up or scrap it and have it another week? The following weekend we are away, and the preceding weekend is her very best friends Party and they alway's have a sleepover, a tradition there. Ugh.

So conference at the table was called and ideas flung hither and tither, a solution reached.

No official Party. A day out to http://www.adventurewonderland.co.uk/ , with her three best girlfriends, but not on her Birthday, the next day though. This so that she can attend the other two parties. On the Monday she will have a few others round for Birthday Tea and cake.

We have one very happy girl on our hands, she gets two events rather than one.LOL Smart girl.hehe. There was a moment there though, where I felt like crying with her, and wanted to shout, I hate Birthday Parties.LOL.

Cheers Winnie.xxxx

Never the less we were on the road by 10am, the Theatre is just next to my previous place of employment so all I had to do was park across from the building, I spent years working in, yet I got it wrong. I took the wrong exit off the motorway!!!!!!

Still I managed to get round the back of town and woosh we were there on time, just.LOL The girls, Mary and Ruth, were met at the stage door by their teacher and Sarah and I were dimissed. Our supporting role as parents was done, we were no longer needed. Now you might think we were a little nervous at this point, but folks, here we are in Winchester and only two hours to go before curtain up, no time to feel emotions. Oh no , the dreaded shops were in need of some custom and we were for once in need of retail therapy.

So charged up, plan of action set, "Coffe shop, quick cuppa, frock shop and shoe shop". We head forth into the town and lo, The Hat Fair is on? Now the Hat Fair is not a market selling hats, it is a weekend of buskers and artists, jugglers and bands, showing off their talents for pennies in their hats. So the ten minute walk to the coffee shop, took an hour, we just kept getting distracted by the performers. On arriving at coffe shop, we order and sit to chat, for a few mins. Uhm well, next thing, it was 12.30pm and time to head back to the Theatre. No new posh frocks nor shoes.Ugh.

We take our seats, three rows from the front, and the show begins. First up were the littlies, giving us a grand little sketch on the enviroment and life according to Ants and grasshoppers. Then the primary level gave us hilaroius sketch set in Mexico, involving a village preparing for a Fiesta.

Then it was the Upper school, and Ruth's turn. Their sketch was about a fancey dress party where Aliens, turn up to study human kind. On they come take their places, and the lights go up. There is Ruth, she is supposed to speak first.

Well she looks straight out to the audience, suddenly she takes a mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssive gulp,sets a gargantuan grin on her face, eye's bulge, a second's silence!!!!!!!!!!!! She then recovers herself, starts to shake her booty which travels through her entire body, head to toe, just like a wet dog would do, stands up straight and  say's her lines, word perfect, through chuckles from the adudience. The next twenty mins were just grand, the poor leading Lady, tripped and fell, but she kept going and improvised it into the Play beautifully. What a bunch of little stars.

At the end of the show, a presentation ceremony was conducted, where the children were awarded various certificates for there efforts throughout the year. Ruth got a "Best at Improvisation Award" and a " 1 year Acheivment Certificate". Little Mary also achieved her 1 year certificate and a special award for effort. We were so proud of them.

As a special treat at we took Ruth out last night for a post performance meal at her favourite Resteraunt.

Oh and young Caty? Well, she spent the day with her Daddy, her best friend Alice and her Daddy at the Local Park, where they had an open Day. There were face painters, bouncy castles, mini golf and puppet shows. Oh yes and the Daddies were happy because cream teas were on sale to raise funds for the park, they participated with verve and enjoyed three cream teas each.Me thinks cycling to work is definitely the goal of the week for both of them.LOL.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

As a dyslexic Ruth has a wonderful memory for remembering things she has heard, so if you read her a book, she can repeat back verbaly, great tracts of the story from memory. She also has a powerful imagination and an ability to improvise a story at the drop of a hat.

When she felt she was failing at school, and not being able to keep up, her confidence took an nose dive into the deep. The school in an endeavour to find something that she could be good at, suggested a "Developement through Drama" course, for children who lacked confidence or social skills. Well, outwith school Ruth did in no way lack confidence, and she would talk to anyone willing to listen, well actually, even if they were'nt.LOL Ah but anything to help her build self esteem is not to be sniffed at, so we got in touch with the Drama Academy and yes they had a place for her.

Well it turns out that she is rather good at this acting thing, and very,very good at memorising her lines, so she takes to the stage, to participate in a sketch, that she and a few fellow actors have put togeather to entertain us Parents and families and share with us their new found skills. They moved Ruth up a year group, so I was rather worried she would struggle, but not so.

However, last night, it hits her. "Mummy I have forgotten my lines" and big tears. I quickly grab the script and do all the other parts, and lo she made no errors in her parts, unlike Mummy, ooops and I had the script, yet she corrected me. She knows everyones lines off by heart,hehe.

This morning she was chattering on about!!!!!!!! well I am not sure?, something about a bird and a nessy type monster, out to save the world, because the groots? had stolen all the clouds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any way, there is sudden silence and a little voice pops up, "Mum how many people will be there watching us?" Hmm two hundred or so, I say. Silence, then:

"Mummy I dont think I can do it, those in flight nevers, that Miss L told us about have stolen my thoughts. My brain has gone all dark and mushy, and if I have to go on the stage, it might ooze out my ears and make the people feel sick. The cleaning people wont like that. So can I sit with you instead"

I think she meant nerves,LOL. I loved the cop out though. I wonder what the next amazing excuse will be? I did say she did'nt have to do anything she did not feel happy about though. That soon changed her mind, the show must go on, even if everyone gets sick.LOL 

Fingers crossed for her and all the youngsters taking part in their annual show.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

She entered the year with a timid and unconfident air, not surprising really as her Dyslexia had only just been diagnosed and she really had no understanding, of what that meant. As far as she was concerned she was the only kid who could not read or write. On arriving at the Junior school, many new rules were set forth, giving Ruth the impression that she was not going to cope.

One of these rules was that children who did not finish their set written or reading task was sent to Time Out Zone during the break to complete it. Time Out Zone was also for those who mis behaved. So you can see the conundrum building in this little girls head. She had never managed to complete a written or reading task in the Infant School, and was not likely to in the Junior, so this must be a bad thing if one gets sent to TOZ. Fear set in, that she was going to be in TOZ a lot.

Infact the whole thing came to a head one day when she refused point blank to go to school, because they would have to write a poem for the HeadMaster, and she feared she could not finish it in time and be sent to TOZ. I had to phone the school and ask to speak to her teacher, who was lovely. She spoke to Ruth and assured her that because she was such a good girl and always did her best, she would never be sent to TOZ, and there was nothing to fear from the head, because if she was sent to him, he would more than likely give her a cuddle than a lecture.

Happy, Ruth went to school and did everything that was asked of her for the next school term. In Ruth's report today she recived 5s and 4s for effort in all subjects 5 being top effort. Then to find that her reading level has gone up from 0 to yr2 level and her writing to yr1 level was the icing on the cake.

We are so proud of her and for her, she is beaming away with a smile that would light up the world if it could be seen. This report tells Ruth that she can officially read and write. I can only thank the team that came togeather to help our wee girl, to achieve this in only 9 months and her teacher Mrs Short, who never once allowed Ruth to feel she was not achieving something in all that was undertaken no matter how small that achievment was.

I dont really try to reward this sort of thing with much other than praise, but just to make her dream a true reality, we agreed to take her to buy some books that she can read herself. Not that she does'nt have books she must have 500+ up those stairs, "but Mummy read them all to her".LOL.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

So today the weather is fine, not too hot, not too cold, a good day to tackle the jungle that last year was called garden. So today's task, was to relieve the herbs of their unwanted annual visitor ,Herb Robert. Actually a rather prolific, sweet smelling and colourful weed. Having said that, there is nothing weedy about it. It spreads everywhere fast and glorious. Thankfully it does not have a deep root system and pulls very easily.

So Caty and I set too, she with her little barrow and me with mine. We filled them, stamping down, every so often. An hour later we were done. Satisfied we empty the remains into the council garden waste bag, Herb R, does not go into my compost, uh,uh no way. Kettle on, minti moment, but the phone again. Seriously I think I will take it off the hook tonight, just to get some peace.

Well back to the garden and the shock, the herb patch just looked so, whats the word, uhm, Managed, thats it. It looked too nice and neat and ornamental. What happend to my nice wild, greeny,pinky colour that I so enjoyed looking at while stuck at the sink. I had just massacred it. How could I be so mean. Humph, serves me right for being so rightious about ousting old Robert from his digs.

Next year he gets a trim, just a little thining, weed or not, herb or not, he brought colour to my world, for that alone he deserves a permanent home in the herb patch. So ladies, if you even get a hint of me looking to rid my world of Robert next year, remind me of this years folly.LOL

Luv Winnie.xxxx

My English tongue is returning to a semblance of normal, funny though you just get into the flow with another language and wham they all bog off, and leave my brain feeling unsure of its vocal duty.

The girls are playing up a bit at bed time, not surprising having spent last week camping out in our room, and having Daddy away, means the routine is slightly different, so all avenues of prevarication are being explored. A little leaway was allowed the first night, a bit tougher last night, and tonight it is solid brick wall.  No giving on my part tonight, no way kiddos. I am making the most of the peace and quiet for the next few evenings.

A weird thing happend the other night though. My Dad who is very sleepy and does not interact much these day's, was found on Friday last to be in a state of high agitation. Someone in the family was poorly and in Hospital according to him. My Sis tried unsuccessfuly to reassure him that we were all o.k. No! he was not having it, so out came the mobile phone and all were phoned and he was partialy soothed. Now not half an hour later the phone goes again, and It is The Western Infimary in Glasgow informing me that my Uncle had just been admited to the A&E and would be tranfered to another Hospital in the morning, for further tests.

Well I laughed, once I got over the shock. Uncle was fine, but needed a little treatment, however if there is two people in this world that, do not see eye to eye on anything it is My Dad and his BIL. Funny old world, Dad has a second sight revelation, but about Uncle A. Call us twisted, but that cracked us all up, even Dad and Uncle A. Life is very strange at times. He,he.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

So now on to lighter things, we managed to get the girls out and about to see the delights of Essex most days even though the weather was awfull for most of the week, so who kidnapped Springtime, thats what I would like to know.LOL

Ruth though was very much into highjacking her Aunties wardrobe and this little picture which I love, is Ruth giving us her Sophia Loren style.

Then Ruth gave us further cause for mirth, as she highjacked a friendly motor bike cop, and begged for a go on his bike,LOL.

This was at the Southend Air Show, it was freezing cold with cutting winds, but the kids enjoyed watching the displays, down at the front prom and did not argue once.hehe.

A day out without Animals is a must, so we ventured to Tropical Wings, and met up with some wonderful creatures, Butterflies, a Cuckaburra he was so cool when he did his flying display then there was the Owls, wow did Ruth love them, again getting in on the act.

and the white wallabies were definitely my favs.

Then to finish with we have the beach, if that is what one wants to call it,LOL. A streatch of sand clinging to the mouth of the Thames Estuary, but wow did the girls love it, you see as far as Caty is concerned all holidays have sand, so who are we to say no.

Caty and Ruth on The Beach.

And that you will be relieved to hear is the last of it. Well actually we did loads of things and took millions of piccies, but I do know when to stop, honest I do. LOL. Wow, wee, it is just good to be home.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

While there I saw a Kitchen, it was just the thing to suit our little cooking corner, but at £6000 to buy and install, well a girl can dream cant she. So back to the bathroom aisle,showerhead and bits bought we leave the store.

Yesterday hubby is up at the crack of dawn with the girls, and shortly after I hear drilling and thumping, I groaned in anticipation of a new and disasterous project taking place in the Kitchen. What could it be this time, a go cart to mow down unsuspecting pedestrians, home made scooters for the dolls, that they forgot to sand down, splinter heaven. Nah I could stand it no longer, up I get to go check and ensure over enthusiasm was not running out of control.

I stumble in to the said room and Wow, Oh my word, well goodness me, speachless. Taking shape was a new Kitchen. Not the full monty, just the doors, the very ones I was drooling over, in the shop. Hubby went back when he was out on his cycle, and enquired as to price of doors. Apparently the Kitchen bits were on offer at half price, and he had a voucher for a further 20%, so for a cool £130 he got the doors. Went back to pick them up on Friday on his way home from work.  To top it all he went back this morning and purchased the sink unit aswell. It looks fantastic, and I cant believe the difference in the room.

Now I know that we dont have that money to spare, all finance is accounted for, so where did he get the pennies. Well it turns out that he used his Music Money. Every year his one indulgence is to take off to a "Hands on Music" weekend where musicians of traditional persuassion, share techniques, hone their skills and yes get merrily inhebriated. With Dad going through this slow painfull demise, my hubby decided not to book his place this year, incase he is needed. So as a little something to cheer me up he bought the doors with his savings for the weekend.

I really am gobsmacked and kind of speechless, but bless I do love him to bits. Daft I know but I keep running into the Kitchen and going Oooooh aaaahhh and hubby is getting a lot of hugs, and I mean a lot.hehe.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

Caty on the other hand is now convinced that female humans should stay firmly on terra firma and that tree climbing is not a sensible occupation for little girls, so she proceeded to lecture her big Sister on the danger. When Daddy asked if it was o.k for him to climb trees, she said, "it alright cause you a boy",  Hmm dont think she has any idea of emancipation of the sexes.LOL.

Ruth is really coming on well at school since they implemented the new SEN programme for her, she now has extra one to one with all subjects and not just literacy, this has really boosted her confidence and she is interacting more and more in class situations. The school has implemented an extra dimention by involving all the children in understanding why there is extra time for some children, and why that is necessary. The SEN children have been encouraged to talk about their difficulties and how life at school is a little harder to cope with at times. This has helped all the children to understand each other more and acts of help and kindness have been more forth coming with each other. So far Ruth has talked to three year groups about her Autistic issues, young Ben about his Downs Syndrome and Lizbeth about her Cerebral Palsy, long may this openess continue.

My Dad is still with us and looks to be fighting the inevitable, he is not ready to go, but is very tired and frail. Trying to fight two cancers is a lot, but he is not giving in just yet. The paliative care team are doing a super job in trying to keep him pain free, which is a blessing and as much as we can hope for at this moment in time. He is so unaware of his illness that he just thinks it is all rather boring, to have this irritating pain. The viral dimencia is spairing him any anguish, thankfully.

Well I suppose I have to go get domestic, or the clothes will be upping stiches and starting a revolution, the dust will be shouting about clean working enviroments, and the freezer will be reporting me for starving it. LOL.

Take care of you all. Luv Winnie.xxxx

Luv,Winnie.xxxx

However on Sunday when we took the girls to see "James and The Giant Peach" up at the Uni,  I had the most wonderful revelation. Caty did not get to the theatre to see the short Play's the Uni puts on for toddlers as we had other commitments on Saturday's untill recently. So this was her first trip and it was a full production of two and a half hours.

I dithered as to whether to take Caty as, Marg I too flap, and the blurb stated "to suit 5yrs and up". However nothing ventured nothing gained and Caty got to come. Well the look on that little girls face was magical. When she entered he Auditorium she was blown away by the low lighting and the Giant peach on stage. When James came on she let rip and shouted look Mummy it's James and Mummy, Mummy there is a spidey. James talked back to her and asked her name and what age she was and would she like a story. Caty beemed as she told him and said she loved stories. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, Caty sat mesemerised at the events unfolding on stage.

During the break, she could hardly eat her Ice Cream for chatting about what she had seen and what would happen next. In the second half she was one of the first to get on stage to dance with the insects and bugs and the actors all got a cuddle from her as she came off stage. Now the revelation is that I would have missed all this if another bub was here, I would not be able to interact on the same level as I get to do now.

The sadness of leaving behind the baby years has gone and I look forward to getting to experience events that are old and established for me, with a totaly new perspective. I will get to see the joy of Ruth and Caty experiencing life and its Joys first hand rather than second hand through Hubby or the girls themselves.

So no more what ifs, or what might have been, I have found that for me, there is a shift in perspective and no more sadness, only joy at the delights I can now share fully with our growing girls.

Life is good. Luv,Winnie.xxxx

Hubby completely unaware, I had been out ,was still snoring away. I really must do this more often, it set me up for the day. Now the Hubby and girls have gone off on their cycle, and will be back for lunch and to get ready to go to the theatre. We are off to see "James and The Giant Peach".

I am quite excited as we are a large group and we have not been meeting up lately due to work preassures and family. So we Parents have a lot of catching up to do afterwards, and so do the children. We have all now reached that point where the children can be involved in all the goings on.

No more, well so and so is too young to sit for that long. Ah, cant be bothered with the camping out with a 3month old. Little T is too noisy or too sooky at the mo. No, all is even, the kids can camp, festival, theatre, ride bikes, you name it, they can paricipate equally.

What I did not realise was how much I longed for this day, when a day out suggestion would work for all and no-one would feel left out or isolated. I loved it when the girls were babies, and people would drop in and lounge around getting to know the girls and chatting, but to actually get out and join in is heaven.

I feel so free today, is it the spring? the cycle? or the meet up? Hmm, all combined probably.

Have a wonderful day whereever you are. Luv,Winnie.xxxx

The charity rescues primates who are or have been abused by their not so distant cousins the Homosapian. Many of these apes have never known freedom or even been outside since the day they were born. Some were taken as babies and used as side show freaks to pull in trade to resteraunts, some were used in animal experiments and testing, and some were traded into abuse through the illeagal pet trade. Whatever their fate it is heartbreaking to see these apes still suffering the trauma of their experience.

The apes have now found sanctuary in a little green part of Dorset where they live in family groups and have access to fresh air and daylight for the rest of their lives. Not Ideal but those that live at the santuary would never survive again in the wild.

Meet Tuan a male Orangutan, found wandering the streets after he escaped a life of captivity in Tiawan. He is now head of his own family group and has become a Dad to three baby's in an endevour to stop the extinction of his species.

Tuan.

As we arrived near lunch time we decided to have our picnic straight away so we could go visit the apes and take in the talks without breaking off to deal with two grumpy Monkey's of our own. At which time an argument ensued over Strawberries. Caty believing the said fruit to all hers.

Ruth did not agree.

All fed and argument settled the girls were soon friends again and sharing their knowledge on how best to see the apes.

We met many different family groups, Chimps, Orangutans,Gibbons and many more. The chimps were the most interactive and very inquisitive espescialy about the children, the very young chimps would try to get the children to join in their games. The Adult chimps had retired inside for afternoon naps, while a nanny chimp was left to lookout for the young. One Adult female had had enough of the antics of her fellow primates and had found herself the ultimate corner to get some sleep.

A fantastic day was had by us all, and the girls got to see at first hand just how alike we and the apes are. Ruth was fascinated at this lady chimp,who had got a speck of something in her eye.

This chimp methodically worked away at her eye untill she got hold of the speck and removed it.

We will be regular visitors at the santuary, and the climbing frames are not just for chimps and their friends. They have the most wonderful arrangements set out for children to scramble and climb, so that they get to experience a little of what life is like up in the treetops and swinging through the air.

We all had a fun yet informative day, and would definitely recomend a day out to anyone who is near the area. My favourite moment though was when Ruth jumped on my lap for a cuddle and said, "thakyou Mum this was my best day ever".  I know that is a wild statment because she has a lot of those, best day ever moments, but I love the cuddle moment so much more.

Luv, Winnie.xxxx

The first thing to catch my eye at dawn this lovely morn was Harriet the Hedgehog, running at great speed across the grass, heading for the compost heap, her favourite place in the past. This is the first sighting of her this year and a sure sign that spring is here. Glad to have her fit and well, and joining our little garden family again

The blossom is velvety white on the plumb trees and the squirrels are jumping in and out of them playing hide and seek, and trying to steel the bird food. Mr Robin was surveying his territory with pride and is determined to see off a Magpie couple that have moved in to next doors Beech Tree. He is such a fun little character and thinks himself to be as big as an eagle in full attack mode. Thankfully he is a one bird army and not many will take him on. I will miss him when he goes, as he has been with us for three years now, and is quite fond of his human pets. He quite often comes to chatter and pass the time of day as I hang the washing or do some gardening, good company in winter and summer.

Mr and Mrs Blackbird are getting all romantic, and dancing jigs on the lawn, I think it wont be long till a family appears again to welcome the forthcoming summer. Mr Pidgeon (actually a collard dove) has gone, the Cats got him, though it was inevitable. He suffered from obesity, got so fat he could not lift himself far into the air. I would love to know where he was getting all the food from, though I feed the birds he rarely ventured onto the feeders and I am diligent about what goes on them.

Mother Nature is smiling on us at last, she has dried her winter tears and brought life to us all this fine spring week. People were smiling and chatting on the way to school, the children are hyper to get out in the fresh air and don their Summer School Uniforms. The Kitchen doors are open all day and the heating has turned itself off.

Tomorrow the North wind is popping in for a while to say goodbye for the Summer but Monday he will go and allow the gulf stream come to warm our bones. An Awakining is happening and the feeling is pure joy for us all here.

I cannot share a blog the way you do Marg, but I thought you would like to hear what Mother Nature is doing in other parts of the world, and what joy she brings to us here in her own inimitable style.

Luv,Winnie.xxxx

In the meantime walking is difficult so I get to lounge around a while and play games,jigsaws and PC time, see there are benefits to most things,hehe.Thankfully I got the study sorted before the little cyster got her knickers in a twist,so I have all my files down sized to three boxes, courtesy of Ikea.

British Summer Time is officially here, I wish they would tell the weather that, well cant have everything,grrrrr, why not.LOL

I also have a confession, earthhour took place during the screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and we watched it. Sad girls us, my hubby was most put out  and rightly so. We did switch off all other electric lights etc, and enjoyed quickly watching the City's lights go out, but the clouds were thick so no star gazing, alas we went back to watching the film.

Hubby has gathered up all the neighbourhood children and Dads all 9 of them and whisked them up to the Common in the big van,come bus thingy with all their bikes strapped to various gadets on the vehicle.I wish I had found the camera, it was quite a sight to see. So I and a good number of Mums are enjoying a quiet couple of hours to do our own thing.  I thought however I would get my lap top up and working with all the little fun down loads and graphic thingy's, but no I end up rambling in a blog on minti. Well it is my time to use as I wish,or so the Hubby said as he tried to heard kiddies into car seats.LOL They were all so excited at having a mass cycle and picnic, they were all over the place and Hubby is not the best at getting kiddies to focus.

Ah well thats my ramble for this fine day, I should go go do something constructive, like read a book, or watch a film,or play on minti for an hour. Hmmmmm,what to do?

Have a great day,where ever you may be. Luv,Winnie.xxxx

So dreams do come true if you work long enough at it and I got my study. We moved in here 7yrs ago and in my room I had the walls shelved, a desk installed and a little settee for blobbing and reading in peace. What I did not bring into the equation was Parenthood and children. Silly me.

Today I needed to track down some paper work that has literaly not seen the light of day for 6yrs or so. An easy task one would have thought, in this well ordered room. Huh, in my dreams.

My study has turned into a play room the contents of neatly filed boxes have been gradually removed to make room for, jigsaw puzzles, painting equipment, and every conceivable sort of toy and game you could think of. Shakesphere has given way to Daisy Duck, the Oxford Dictionary has been usurped by The Complete Thomas the Tank, and the box where my notes were stored, contains kiddies musical instruments??????? How did that happen? When did that happen?

Oooooops order has turned to utter chaos and I let it happen. I would empty one of my boxes into another to free it up for the girls, thinking I would go back in the evening and refile to the loft. Problem in that thinking was, that in the evening something more pressing or necessary would arise and I would forget to go back to the box.

Stupidly today I decided to get the order sorted and find the paperwork, thing is I dont know which box I put it in???? Yep, I did, I started to sort through them all . How could I do that, I am now surrounded by piles and piles of mixed up paper work and accumulated junk. Proof positive that Parenthood can addle an already, mushed up brain. This is going to take day's to sort and even the cats are looking at me like I have lost the plot. Though the said cats are having fun chasing in and out of the recycling bags and arguing that all this paper really needs to stay and decorate the floor. Not,no,no girls,the paper will be going and you little minxes will have to go back to terrorising next doors Tom. Though it could be a few days, before he sees any of us. LOL. Wish me luck, I may be some time. LOL. My girls are so not going to be impressed with their Mum in the morning, Ooops. He,He.

So life goes on and we are having a couple of day's at home over Easter then off up to visit my Dad.  My Father is terminally ill, but has defied the medical establishment on more than one occasion, infact it is a weekly thing at the moment.  Dad has Lung Cancer with on going pneumonia, he has bouts of Acidosis and Sepsis, gets taken to the acute medical ward for minimal treatment, we are all called and told that time is of the essence, we rally and travel to sit with Dad for hours through the sweats and spasms, while he is unconscious only to find him coming round within about 8 hours to announce that he has been in here for weeks and never seen a Doctor???LOL.

The situation has affected his short term memory, and he does not remember eating or who visited him, but is very content, full of fun and jokes and above all accepting. Suddenly over a period of a few hours he begins to believe he can walk and gets agitated, we now know this is a sign of the infections winning out and another bout of Acidosis will hit within hours.

What has really has been amazing is the attitude of the staff at the Hospital. Dad has been admitted to Wards 4,5,6,7 and 9 on various occasions since Christmas. In all these wards he has built a strong bond with the Nursing Staff who on numerous occasions thought they would be the last to care for him.

Now on entering Hospital he has visits from these lovely Nurses and Auxilliaries, as they come and go from their ward duties. He has no recollection of them, but they all have fond memories of nursing him and cant believe he is still with us. On his last admitance two Nurses from two different wards were waiting for the ambulance as it arrived, word had got around that Mr.Mac was on his way in again, for pain free TLC. They just wanted to see him one last time incase he was not with us in the morning. However he said he would not be buried in Stoer till the ground was soft and spring was in the air, and I think that is the very thing he is waiting for. I hope he gets his wish, as spring up there is later in arriving, it tends to pop its reluctant head out at about the end of April begining of May.

So we go on with our daily lives thankfull that we get just a little more time to spend with our Dad, but aware that his time will come and we will all send him home with love and a sigh of peace that he will suffer no more. This will be my last blog about Dad untill his time, and I thank you for all the support you have shown me and mine through this ordeal, you have shown care and humanity, to a family of strangers, it has warmed our hearts and minds, so thankyou from us all.

A Little Picture of Home. Luv, Winnie.xx

So I am now having to use my Daughters computer which is frustrating. This is a neat little lap top, with all the latest technology, but it has lots of Special Educational Needs programmes on and is configured in a certain way. I cannot download, upload or cut and paste anything from the internet. I cannot put pictures in my blog, I cannot put graphics in my friends lounges, and am restricted to 20 mins at a time, as the clock is locked, to not allow her to spend too much time on one activity.

So sorry to those of you who may feel I am ignoring you. I am not,promise but just cant get all I would wish to do, done, and it is frustrating. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. 

My lovely Hubby said I could use his puter till mine is out of quaranteen, but guess what, he is never off his, or it is running tests, when not in use. Thanks mate..................!

So I keep putting things off, untill I get mine back. First it was going to be overnight, then a weekend turned into a week and now they tell me it will be next week. I think they are playing with it?????? They tell me it is not a prob it can be fixed, it is just that it is a neat virus and they are studying it. Ruddy PhDers. 

I NEED MY PUTER, NOW. Booooo,Hoooooo. So I have decided to get the dinosaur out of extinction, dust it down and plug it in over the weekend. I hope it still works,LOL. All being well with the old soul, I should be wooshing around, and going BOO, in your lounges soon.

Take care of you all, have a great weekend, and please wish me luck with the old puter as i am technically challenged, so anything could happen when I awaken the Dinosaur. With my luck it will probably blow up. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

Luv,Winnie.xxxx