So much life in the garden after some fine Spring weather last week. The ladybirds (ladybugs) are making hay while the sun shines! I've only pottered gently but already I can feel my joints and muscles getting a bit more movement in them. Feels like I'm stretching out in tandem with all the buds and shoot tips. Here are the first red leaves and buds on the Berberis...
Clusters of Spring flowers have emerged in the dappled light under the trees and I imagine most of the trees will come in to leaf in April. So much change. See my garden in detail here
It's been a weird month, lots of crappy things at the start so I had to postpone my own birthday but when I finally opened my presents it was amazing, beyond my wildest dreams type of amazing. My brother bought me a MacBook Pro and my parents got me Adobe CS5. I was utterly flabberghasted. I don't think anyone has ever seen me speechless before. I don't think I can ever thank them enough. The whole drive home I just kept saying 'I can't believe it, I can't believe it'.
I can finally make my books and edit years of archived photo's and designs without it being an archaic grind. Well, I will once I can afford to get all my peripherals to work with it, it's so whizzy and new it doesn't recognise my scanner, cables, camera, printer etc. That was one reason I could never get a new Mac, because if I spent any money on it I'd have nothing left to get it workable with all the extra bits. Now I can afford to do that over the next year or so - which is probably how long it will take me to learn all vastly updated software.
I've been fiddling with some old designs just to get a feel for what's new in Photoshop CS5 (I was using Photoshop 7 and I abandoned Illustrator about 9 years ago). They are so much faster though freakishly more complex. I can see there will be tears ahead trying to get to grips with Illustrators bazillion new options. I'm glad I don't have any deadlines.
And as for In Design, it didn't even exist when I got my last Mac, I've always been a Quark Xpress girl. I can tell it's going to take ages to learn since my brain struggles to remember my own phone number these days, but it will be so worth it. Learning curve here I come. Just think, no more compromises, no more workarounds, no more frustration as I wait an hour for a book page to save. These things are annoying at the best of time but when you have M.E. every little bit of wasted energy is like a huge chunk of wasted life. With my memory coming and going I really want to get things put into more books to keep it all from slipping away completely.
I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. And so grateful. With all the shit happening around the world I feel guilty about something so good happening to me, but then I think that I should just appreciate how lucky I am, when lives can be upturned in an instant it would be crazy for me to make the most of something so positive happening.
Too much is happening, mostly not nice. I will post when it's all a bit calmer tomorrow. The positive thing is Mr P having a day off for his birthday (though actually he had to do marking all morning). The sun shone till lunchtime and he enjoyed 1/2 an hour sitting in the garden with the cat, the dog and a cup of tea. Nice meal planned for the evening.
Now you see it...
now you don't...
Thank you all for your birthday wishes on the previous post, they made up for not having a meal or a cake or even a present from my best friend (it's sitting there in a bag but Mr P is so scatty he still hasn't actually given it to me!). My birthday cake arrived belatedly today. It was part of the vegetarian selection pack from Droppa and Droppa, £19.99. It's all wheat and dairy free so I can munch without trouble. So far I have only eaten the mini carrot cake, and OH what a moist DELICIOUS cake it was, and not as mini as the name implies. Incredibly good, I'd never have guessed it was wheat free. The pack includes a little chocolate cake, bread, rolls, teacakes, a spanish tart, a vegetable pasty and a 'cheezy' leek and potato pie.
The cake is not the only thing that was here one minute and gone the next. Yesterday Mr P had a cancellation so was free to take us for a drive to the hill to walk Lucy. We were only away for an hour but when we got back the trellis that stops Lucy escaping out of Mr P's garden was stolen!
::I've moved the details to the comments section of this post, but here is the picture of the missing trellis which has been spotted in the garden of our new neighbours!!!!
Left: in my garden 2007
Right: in neighbour's garden today!Mr P plans to talk to the neighbours at the weeekend so I will let you know you next week about the outcome. Till then, I shall control my frenzied thoughts with that veggie pasty.
Wheat & dairy free veggie pasty from Droppa and Droppa
Update - the pasty was really nice as was the 1/2 toasted teacake I tried and the 1/2 of chocolate cake! What a pig. What a happy pig.
PS for those who showed an interest in my mention of Cesar Milan I can wholeheartedly recommend watching his Tv show The Dog Whisperer :: the rest of this section has been moved to the comments for this post
Lucy at Flotterstone
Lucy at Flotterstone
Good morning pussy cat, or rather, good afternoon (I slept late)
One year older, finally the age I've been thinking I was for the last year. I woke to sunshine and snowflakes. When I took Lucy out this afternoon the wind was so cold it froze my face. I felt like I'd been at the dentist, no feeling in my cheeks and jaw but oh my goodness, everything looked so beautifully bleached in the sunlight...
I had an exhausting but wonderful weekend at my parents with Lucy. I was in my element using all the knowledge gleaned from obsessive watching of Cesar Milan and succesfully controlled a pack of 4 large dogs. It was hard work but at the time the adrenalin carried me through. Today I can't move my arms - ouch, lactic acid overload in the old muscles. But I feel like I achieved something, and that feels really good. Mum and dad couldn't believe I got all the dogs fed in the same room at the same time without raucous barking and general insanity. They even video'd me feeding them all their breakfast.
We stayed over because Sunday was Mother's Day. Mum was a bit worried about leaving Lucy at home with the others (though they all got on fine) so instead of us taking her for a meal, she cooked up a feast. SO tasty and included lots of things I could eat. Oh, my mouth is still watering at the thought of the tastiness.
The nice thing about going there is that the fields are right behind the garden so I don't have to walk on any concrete to walk the dogs. I don't think I limped all weekend. Not that I was running around, I only wen a little way into the field but the others went further and then the dogs ran like wild happy creatures between us all. I loved it, the dogs loved it and I think the family did too. My brother came on the Sunday and we were doing some planning for our trip in 10 days - totally exciting. I'm thinking of blogging when I get there and you can guess where I am.
I'm too sore to sleep so I little post seems a fitting distraction and a chance to edit some Christmas photo's. It was strange being at my parent's house on Christmas day but having no energy to 'be busy'. Instead I had time to notice things I'd made around the house. One shelf had Christmas cards I'd made, one was about 20yrs old and was painted on fabric, Id forgotten it completely until that moment. Then there was a collage card I did for Mum on the back of an envelope...
Card for Mum's birthday - old envelope, pen, felt tip, pencil, tape, tracing paper
Above are some badly photographed images of a birthday card I made for mum. I saw some cute chickens on Flickr and knew my mum would like them illustrated and patterned. As is often the case, it didn't turn out as I'd planned in my head so I thought it was shit, but I knew my mum would like it. Seeing it framed I quite like it now. It's like finding old folio pieces, you see them with fresh eyes and can appreciate them for what they are, instead of worrying what they were meant to be. Like so many things in life, we should enjoy things more at the time.
Another card that was a disappointment to me, but a hit with everyone else was for my Dad's birthday which has just passed. I had planned an elaborate papercut but with my muscles as they are it became clear (by 4.30am on his birthday, through tears and frustration) that I simply just can't do even basic paper cutting just now.
Instead I did a layered cut out card of their house, with the fields and rowan tree, each on different layers, with a hot air balloon attached by a pin so it swings when the card is moved. We got him a hot air balloon trip for his birthday, though he can't take it till later in the year. We all plan to go on it with him but until then the card will be the reminder of what is to come...
Card for Dad - photocopies on cereal boxes
Happy Wintery Birthday Anna!
My white post still not ready. I've been unable to do anything much since returning, my muscles and joints like glue, body like lead and so many aches... then I discovered yesterday that the liquorice my mum gave me was full of wheat! I had no idea it would have wheat in it, not a clue, and I ate a huge bag of it over 3 days. Consequently I have been unable to do anything at all, not even made a birthday card for my dad. Feel SO guilty but have no control, just have to sit it out till it clears from my system. But the White post is sitting in my drafts, it just needs all the links added, and that is the time consuming part. I may need to delay till after christmas. Must stop, hurts to type. x
On the bus, 18 - 81, yet so similar.
Their coats were the same colour too,
one a raincoat, the other a combat jacket.
Amazing, just realised my last post was my 500th. No wonder I get tired.
One of the things that is always guaranteed to bring a HUGE smile to my face is Morran, Camilla's dog, on video. See her dancing! Camilla also had a link to this beautiful piece of jewellery by Andi Gut (found via Ma Roulotte).
Other good things I have been missing during my semi-absence (other than everyone's May Birthdays - Mr P has his today) are the posts over at Sew Green where I also post, usually. With all the Spring cleaning that happens this time of year you really should read 'Laundry Soap DIY' and 'Clean Green'. And if your not getting your home gorgeous, you're probably getting yourself gorgeous, but what lurks within those beauty products and what are the alternatives? All is revealed in 'cosmetics: it's what's on the inside that counts' and 'green toes'.
Miss P got me Neways as they make safe products for your skin which include labelling for people with allergies. She gave me Great Tan for my Christmas and I did a test on my leg recently, nice colour- not orangey at all, so I'm very pleased. Thanks Miss P.
Makes me want a sorbet.
I'm utterly obsessed with the whole Clustr Map thing just now, I thought maybe 20 people a week were popping by, but the map has only been on for 8 days (and it didn't start counting till the 3rd day) and already there have been 1102 visits! I'm gagging to know who on Earth you all are? And Katharine says that figure doesn't include people using RSS feeds, which I know a good few of you are using. I'm so stunned! What makes you visit? What do you like seeing or reading about. I'm utterly intrigued. I squealed myself breathless when I read that 200 people visited on Friday.
I am also a bit mortified. It was one thing to think it was a handful of you, but to have so many people seeing my atrocious spelling. I hope you come for the pictures and don't notice the grammar. The writing part is really for myself, I never imagine that many people read it. My mix of UK, US, UK schooling means I got totally muddled about which grammatical rules to follow and it would appear I now make it up as I go along Fal-dee-da. But I do spell colour with a 'u'.
Chives in old Ecover tubs at Damhead Farm Shop.
One of the things that stops me commenting on sites is word verification. I don't mind the first few but after about 5 I get irritated, esp. if they are long ones. I get that impatience from my mother. We laugh because she used to get annoyed waiting for the bread to toast and would pop it up and eat it before it was ready.
So, to encourage you to leave a comment I have turned it off word verification for a few days (or until the spam starts). I hope you'll leave a note to say who you are, what you do, what interests you about this blog (and what doesn't). Are you all men? I'd love to be able to visit you too if you have a blog or website, but feel free to leave an anonymous comment if you prefer.
I'm having a go at socialising tonight, friends round for Mr P's Birthday dinner. Fingers crossed I make it through without having to go back to bed. Hope you've all been having a good weekend. I can tell you right now that you have all perked up my weekend with your visits.
Happy Birthday Liz!
Another 2 Doc related traumas (you can imagine) have laid me up Liz, so I didn't have the oomph to finish the post I'm doing for you.
Till I do, here's a trailer for you to peek at if your mum has broadband. It's an animation called Madame Tutli-Putli that is showing this week at Cannes. Looks lovely. You know how when you fill in forms they ask for you title, and offer the standard Miss, Mrs, Ms, Mr, Dr. etc. Today I was offered a lot more options including - Brigadeer, Cardinal and Archbishop.
