Go here for more Silent Sundays….
http://loveallblogs.com/2012/04/silent-sunday-20/
Apr 23
Our Song Meme…
There’s nothing like the power of a good song to take you back to a time and a place. I was tagged by uber-blogger, Lady Liz of Jarvis over at The Mum Blog in her Our Song meme. Mission: to name the song that is THE ONE. The one that always makes you smile, makes you look at each other with that secret smile of shared remembrance and brings it all flooding back.
Martin and I have a few songs like this. Lou Reed’s Perfect Day and Pulp’s Something Changed to mention a couple. But when I read Liz’s post, this was the first one that I thought of…
“I come awake with a gift for womankind.
You’re still asleep
But the gift don’t seem to mind.
Rise on this occasion
Halfway up your back
Sliding down your body.
Touching your behind…”
It’s quite filthy, but with a comical innocence and completely captures that early morning laziness that comes after a morning of lurve. How many of us women love snuggling up in the duvet while our man goes downstairs to make the tea and toast?
I hear this song and I remember happy times, full of laughter and love. It came on the radio the other day whilst we were listening to 6Music. It had been a tough, full of medical jargon and fraught conversations. Ian Dury and his gang of likely lads got us both laughing and remembering what is really important. And of course, I made Martin go and put the kettle on…
I forgot my tags cos I am daft. I tag
Can’t wait to find out your songs…
Mar 28
Extreme close up -The Gallery
A lovely walk in the woods on Sunday, a chance to breathe in the warm air, be together as a family and enjoy fighting each other with enormous sticks. Rooting through the remains of the burnt out car by the quarry and finding the petrol cap intact. High five! Finding the joy in the small things and simple pleasures. Building memories…
And messing about with the iPhone camera. Here’s O’s extreme close up….
This is a post for TaraLara’s Gallery. Go there for more close up fun…
Mar 12
The twists and turns of life…
Sometimes life takes a turn that leaves you gasping for breath and crying until you think you’ve got nothing left. We’ve been there before. Facing breast cancer and the terrifying uncertainty that it brings is something I never thought I would get through. But I did. And I did it with the love and support of my family and friends and most of all, Martin.
And now life has turned once more and it’s not me that’s ill, but my lovely man and it’s harder, so much harder to bear. He’s been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and we are reeling with the shock and the broken dreams and the fear that such a diagnosis brings. It’s early days and we’re hoping that he will be well for a long time and that his medication is effective in keeping him together, but I am so sad that this has happened to him, to us.
I won’t say too much. If I do, I might never stop writing. Maybe that will all come later. But we are coping – Martin is amazingly positive and determined to still live, love and enjoy life. And his determination and positivity is what is helping me deal with such a devastating diagnosis.
I feel angry, sad, scared and sick. But I also feel loved, grateful and hopeful that we can still live our lives together and make the most of what we still have. This past week I have been weeping and broken. Today was a better day, a day for making plans and getting a grip once more. I don’t know if I’m going to write about it all on here. Who knows? Just for now, this is it.
Feb 29
The Gallery – Friends
It’s Sticky Fingers Tara’s Gallery time again – it’s been ages since I joined in, but with a prompt of ‘Friends’, how could I not join in?
I have a friend, Friend from Way Back. We’ve known each other since we were two. Through the fun and giddiness of early childhood to the often hideous trials of teenagerdom and female infighting (the dreadful ‘secret best friend’ debacle springs to mind) we’ve stayed friends and now we’re sharing motherhood. She’s always been in my life. I was her chief bridesmaid – she drove all the way home to come and see my newborn baby boy when he came out of the SCBU.
Here we are at my 3rd birthday party. She was the only guest 
She’s a cupcake making, bootee knitting, former financial whizkid, fab photographer and all round good sort. We share a special something that neither of us can quite pin down. But it’s obviously built to last. And it looks as though our boys are forming a similar bond.
I am blessed to have many wonderful friends. Without them, I would sink and fall. I’d like to thank them all (you know who you are) and a special one to She Who is Way Back…
Feb 20
The something, the SOMETHING…
The scene: round at Mum and Dad’s house
Mum: Oh, yes. Do you remember that one? You know, that programme…
Me: Which programme?
Mum: You know, that one. It’s got him in it – him you used to like.
Me: Mum, I don’t know which one you’re on about…
Mum (impatiently): You know! You used to watch it all the time! Him with the hair – tall, that deep voice…
Me (exasperated): Mum, I need more than ‘him with the hair’…
Mum (gesturing frantically): You know, ‘The…Something’. That was it, ‘The Something’. [with added emphasis] ‘The SOMETHING!’
Me: *gives up and puts head on table*
My mum is brilliant….
Feb 13
I like word games – don’t judge me…
It was the week before Christmas and I had one of those card things through the door from the post woman – ‘I tried to deliver your parcel but you were out having a life, so you’ll have to go and pick it up from the cheerless delivery sorting office place.’ I assumed it was an Amazon parcel – after all, Christmas was coming and my shopping had been sporadic and mainly online…
But it wasn’t from Amazon. It was a handwritten parcel and it was for meeeeeeee. It contained my very first bloggy review opportunity and how utterly perfect for a word geek. My very own set of Bananagrams. I know, I know…
If you don’t know about Bananagrams, then there’s a website which gives you more info – www.bananagrams.com. The premise is simple:
Players race against each other to build crossword grids and use all their letter tiles. There’s no turn-taking —it all happens at once and it’s a race to the finish. No matter how old you are and how many anagram games you’ve played, Bananagrams is sure to drive you absolutely bananas … in the best possible way!
No rules, a race to the finish and all happening at once. I think you could safely say that we enjoyed Bananagrams – it was a festive treat. As a child, I played all sorts of cards games, word games and dominoes with my parents and my Gran and sister. These games were played in the only way we knew how. Fast, furious and with numerous (justified) accusations of appalling cheating. Our experiences with Bananagrams were no better. Luckily, I managed to have a few games with O before my mother and sister sullied the game with their cheating and tile hurling. It was a shame O had to sit on the Bananagrams tiles to stop his Granny from swapping her Zs for Es…
The game was a great hit with O who is seven – the beauty of it is that he could play without having to learn a myriad of rules. We played together on a big sheet of MDF and I tried to hold myself back from helping him too much. I needn’t have – he was a natural. He simply used his tiles to make his crossword and really enjoyed the challenge. His first ever board is below. If you can ignore ‘QUAGIR’ and the fact that he’s watched his mother play ‘QI’ one too many times in Scrabble, I think it’s not a bad first go…
The other fab thing about Bananagrams is that there is an iPhone app available from the iTunes store. How I love this app. All the fun of the real thing with the option of playing random strangers or making up challenges with Banana-y obsessed friends (I’m looking at you, LauraAWNTYM). Here’s the leaderboard for All-Time Best Cafe Time. Look who is at the top. If you fancy a little online Bananagrams, then download the app and look out for fenngirl. I’m ready for all challenges! You can also follow @bananagrams_uk for competitions and Bananagrams-based tweetage…
Just to say, if it wasn’t obvious from above, Bananagrams sent me the game to review. And I think it’s bloody amazing…
Dec 19
My blogging inspiration – and please can I have a calendar?
The blogging behemoth duo, Tara from Sticky Fingers and Jay from Mocha Beanie Mommy have created a calendar packed to the gills with photos of bloggers. It is the BRITISH PARENTING BLOGGING CALENDAR 2012. I want to get my mitts on one and the only way to do it is to write my blogging CV. Tara and Jay are stern task-mistresses (which sounds kinky) and I am compelled to comply. As long as there is not a picture of me brandishing a large rubber appendage for the month of July all will be well…
There’s a lot going on in my little corner of the world at the moment. My blog is feeling unloved as every time I try to write something I’m staring at the screen and thinking about what I SHOULD be writing about. But I can’t just now. And here’s another one where my heart is full and my eyes are brimming.
Tara and Jay said that we had to post a photo of our blogging inspiration. I’ve gone a bit overboard and posted a few. My world revolves around my little family and my blog is dedicated to them.
Here’s the reason I’m doing this. I give you Martin and Owen…
Nov 07
Four years ago today
So here I am. Four years today I was sat in a hospital room, empty and clinical. The only thing on the table was a box of tissues. I knew then that the news was not good. I will never forget those words:
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid it’s breast cancer.”
Four years down the line. It feels a long way away. And of course it also feels like no time at all. I have come a long way since that day four years ago. Life is never easy after a cancer diagnosis, but it can be lived and lived well. Some days I really struggle, some days I have the time of my life and some days are quite dull. I quite like the dull days…
Thanks for reading. Strike one more November 7th off the calendar…
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