Windows ..of opportunity and a small window

Well I waited to picture this small window at St Levan Church today.. It was my Dad's birthday last week.. He would have been 92 ... and he died aged 47 so it has been a long time .. and his Anniversary is next week so I always make sure I have been this week, it was windy and blustery but we left carnations and chrysanthemums which will be quite hardy.  

 I plan.. as I have forever.. to get a headstone for him and Mum but somehow it always remains a plan and not an action.

I used to think it odd when my step-grandmother could tell you dates and ages of people no longer here but as I get older I understand .. Jordan and I sometimes say we should have a day of the Dead like in some Latin countries so we could celebrate their lives but somehow we are just too British, don't you think!

Daffodils are making an appearance 'out West' and I spotted a whole field of them near Penzance..I guess the Scilly Isles have been sending them to London markets for several weeks already..It is so mild down here.

Breezy though today and the kite surfers at Marazion took the chance .. or is that their 'windows of opportunity'

It is a phrase we also are aware of this week, things to decide on and plans to get sorted as our planning for two factory type units jn our field is up and the three objections are from our nearest neighbours .... but have been negated by the agencies concerned.. as I put it .. We and Cols dad live next to the workshops so if it's okay for us what would it affect someone 100 yards away?. and after all I am not planning to build a nuclear power station or a pig farm!

..and I thought this view of my special place in cartoon mode was cute.

Winter View: Places I Visit

Well I am not sure if I am going to visit anywhere today that I will visit each season so I have browsed back over my Winter pics to bring you some of the places I go to ever so often.. 

also place I am sure will look different each season..

..they should make a nice collage 4 images of the same place.. I have a lovely drawing Jordan did as a child of the 4 seasons., I shall find it and post it here sometime.. (yeah, thanks Mum I can hear her say! ;-)  )

Marazion

Paul Churchyard

Treryn Castle at Porthcurno Bay

St Ives Harbour Mouth

Resolutions: Drink!

So... We are just getting going now into January and it's not easy! The phones are pretty quiet and we are functioning on half staff so it feels like a lull. .before the storm maybe.. as they promise us yet more blustery weather tonight and tomorrow.

We already had thunder clapping as the New Year arrived and a grey day yesterday.  Col and I took flowers out yo our Mums and it was pretty grey in the churchyards. .brightening a bit at Marazion later on. We even tried out a bar/kitchen in an Old School..New Years egg on toast .. I love to see how old schools and chapels get converted into new space..often very inventive.

We had some sun today before the wind started to pick up...I have been to restock on food and in fact may well have more in than over Christmas. .but that's a good thing.

It's not like I need anything else to yap about but for some reason I am suffering with some kind of anxious thing... back before our trip in September I thought I had the start of a sore throat, I always expect some cold or something if I am going away..a bit pessimistic I guess. It never materialised and before we went away in November I felt it again..a kind of pressure on my throat, like a collar done up too tight..not inside..just as if I pushed on my throat with my fingers..

So I went to the doc. .a boy of about 12 years old.. who listened and clicked his NHS windows to arrive just where he had decided in the first ten seconds and just where I had expected .. a Globus Hystericus or some other 'mad middle aged woman' type diagnosis. Reassurance and come back in 3 or 4 weeks if no better he said, with the undercurrent of ...'and then see someone older who may actually have an original thought of his own ' .. not sure if it was him or me who thought that the loudest. .haha

Well all was well..I was reassured and it passed off with the flurry of Advent activity ...until the week after work finished. .It just feels odd..not all the time..just all the time except when I drink or eat or get busy! 

So I eat, drink, keep busy but it is still there ....last night I read more..more self diagnosis and honed the sensation down to a more precise diagnosis..yep..still based on anxiety .. to be fair I guess I should go back and check but the idea of a nasty thing stuck down my throat and endless hours passed from pillar to post until I catch something proper nasty does not appeal. .but then I think I sound like an even crazier person who refuses to go to the doctor!

So what do I have to be anxious about? Baring all the things which are pretty much resolved from the past x number of years .... life is currently going along very nicely.. ahah. .maybe that's the rub..I now have created in my happiness something to worry about!!

So..not quite driven to drink ..and for this I offer you a recent purchase..chocolate Bailey's. ...just a small bottle, as yet unopened..I plumped for a nice cup of tea..with a smidgeon of sugar to help me along (yep the healthy eating today went by the by after the second chocolate digestive...but I do have an excuse!)

And also a collage of my picture views from yesterday..

Paul, Porthcurno & Mount's Bay 

Where do I begin...a month of days!

So I think I have a bunch of photos to tell the story of the past month! I will make a few notes but let the pics speak for themselves.. I have sadly lost momentum with the challenges so I will include the view pictures I have tried to take , my saving grace I think!

Since my last note we have spent seven nights in America visiting with Col's Uncle Bill and Deborah and seeing two of Col's first cousins who he only gets to see every ten or fifteen years.

Add caption

 We had a lovely afternoon sailing on the Potomac (the river where that plane crashed in icey water about 30 yrs ago) We loved seeing planes landing at National airport right over our heads..

It was great weather and we got in the pool a few times, absolutely just what we needed, except we know now that summer is gone for good!  

The last few days we spent with friends about an hour from Col's Uncle so it worked out well..we ate and drank so often I felt quite full for a week when we got home!  The hospitality was fab and it was amazing to spend time with Michele who is an encyclopaedia of food and I think all things Italy! Their family came by too so we got to meet all the new additions to the family.

Cake!

Our Zac arrived at Heathrow about an hour after we did on 22nd September, it was just great to see him ad worked out just right for travelling home together.  He goes away again this Friday, that month has really flown by; no big parties as weather and house / building works have not leant themselves to a proper 'do' but he has seen family and friends, chilled and had nights out and we have just enjoyed having him about..

Found this little video.. Zac loves technology!

Boating with Pops and pal Liam

And here are a few of my October views..the window view has Col& Zac sitting just here the window use to be!

October .. where the window view was!

Not forgetting Lyla.. so funny x

Porthcurno Oct view

A different sofa view, the other one, this time Lilly and Annabelle!

Getting reacquainted! July views! Food and more food..etc!

WARNING.. VERY HEAVY PICTURE POST FOLLOWS !! ;-)

Oh my goodness a month has passed since I last wrote, lots of things have taken place, people have come and gone and events have happened, but it is so hard to get back on the blogging horse when there is so much to say.   I know I should just pick up here and run with it but as I kind of diarise it is hard to 'miss a bit'

As a starter I will go the easy route and share my July views..as ever excuse the quality of some of these pictures!

This is the latest July yard view.. I have a verandah almost! 

The kitchen arrives late July so August will see a lot of boxes in my window view, but in July we have used the new room for some dining..

 This is the view into the new room where my window view 'was' ... ahhh we had just got home from a trip to Manchester (more on that later) and Zac was having his last few days with us; also our pals from the States were staying to work on a trolley venture and spend some time ..that's Ben between JB and Colin, food is the theme again here!!

 The view from further back shows that Kate's pole will still find a home, even amongst the building! I will probably lose the red theme on the walls and see if a nice light feeling can permeate the room... at least til I get a red splashback!! hahah... more food!

A little more restful was the Porthcurno July view, slightly ringing the changes, the view from the top of the hill, a peaceful sea, we should have been boating perhaps!..this was just before the glorious weather began.

Ahh Jordan came out boating last week, she is going to be a great boater, learning lots from Colin and never afraid to get wet!  It was a good chance to grab a Mount View, this was about 7pm and the sun was still nice and warm

Annabelle is just fab.. she is smiling and reaching for things and doesn't answer back yet so she is Ross' favourite!!  We had the three girls last week for Lisa & Tom to get a meal out, she is just 25 and I am just so proud of her, a Mum to three lovely girls, working so hard to make their business a success and giving her girls so much fun and love too.



The sofa was full with us two and the girls, I really should use the decent camera instead of my phone, esp in the evenings, but the moments just happens! 


 I have the other sofa view too, Ross and April were great keeping the girls (and us) amused with old style TV via Ross' Apple TV .. Sesame Street, the Magic Roundabout and the Clangers!

 

Since last I wrote Zac has left for his next sea phase, he is out of Seattle for three months and off to Alaska each week, like a geography field trip for work! Glaciers everywhere!

Before he left he had a few days in Southampton for the naming ceremony of the new Royal Princess.. and as you can see his camera is much better than mine!..the Sky walk piece of the new ship lets you walk out 'over the sea' and it has a glass floor!


























Oh hello there!

But it hasn't just been Zac out with the paps.. Col and I went to Manchester mid June to see Robbie Williams, our Christmas gift from Lisa and Tom. I have really enjoyed planning the trip and while there we had a great time, saw some old friends, ate and drank lots and just chilled in grown-up fashion.

Ollie Murs was the support act and I just loved every minute of the stadium experience at ManCity / Ethihad.  Oh and my breakfast at the hotel should no go unmentioned..

When Ollie met Robbie..

Banana waffles of the MalMaison variety!

So now I am going to look at the calendar to see if there are any big events I have missed..of course July is a busy birthday month for us here..Ross turned 27, Lisa 25 and our gorgeous Lilly is 5 today..JB did them proud once again with Cake.. a Genoese sponge with raspberry / strawberry coulis and fresh fruit.
















It's amazing I have been blogging almost five years now as Lilly's birth and my Mum's passing a few months after really spurred me on to put fingers to keyboard and preserve the memory!  I have found it hard to settle into blogging and also scrapbooking the last few months, the house has been in turmoil with the building work and somehow it doesn't make me feel very organised to relax and do cerebral memory things.

I wonder too if maybe five years on I am coming out of the shadows, the worries that if I don't chronicle things for the family 'history' etc that it will pass unnoticed.. I don't know.  

Getting the room sorted and space again to work on some pictures will hopefully give me chance to finish some of the half started scrap projects for Zac and JB.. and anyway with Zac away I have to blog to keep him breast of the family news.

As a PS I have just looked back over the challenges that Lynne and Anne have set and I hope that maybe this post shows just how 'Lucky' I have been with such a busy lovely life and how I am still taking the pics even if I'm not posting every day! 

 I am not sure the life I have sounds very 'Relaxing' as Anne prompted in June but I am thoroughly chilled and when we can Col and I have been grabbing a few hours to lay about and even nipping away for a few days. It is quite strange but very therapeutic, my favourite relax is Sunday brunch in a little cafe in Torquay where there is a free jukebox and we play Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison and lots of other 60s stuff.  Yes, that's our relax, some 'old tunes' on the stereo and some great memories!

Pizza travels and Views galore!



Happy Mother's Day from Zac x



Can't believe how the time has run away from me the last two weeks! I have been reading blogs from everyone quite a bit but not been able to comment much as on my phone and just so so busy..I feel like I have lots to tell, time to account for but not sure where to begin..so here's the highlights:

..25-27 Feb ..got caught up at work, ticked all the boxes for things I 'should have done',

..got the train to Southampton on 28th Feb, met Zac, had Pizza Express and a lovely hour with him..

 

.. met his flatmate, yapped for England, had Domino's pizza when Col got back from ferryport about 10pm (only one piece for me!)

..stayed in Winchester for a couple of nights, cute little hotel but the parking (for a long wheel base van) was a nightmare, we had to get special agreement with the Council Parking dept to be sure we didn't get a ticket, even in a coachpark!

..1st  March, Pizza Express for dinner and then out to see Al Murray with Zac & Sean, great seats in circle at the side.. Al is a brilliant clever guy and incredibly talented with an audience.. and the Winchester theatre is wonderful.

2/3 March we travelled home and had a pretty good night out in Torquay, plenty of wine and oh yes, a Prezzo pizza!!  (can you see a pattern here.. we are nothing if not predictable!)

This week.. back to the grindstone, well the office, plenty to do and great to have Col home for another couple of weeks before his next trip! 



Tuesday 5th :JB & I had a nice sortie to Truro after she secured herself a Foundation Diploma place for next year at a great little college called Tregye.  We shopped for her, we don't do it so much lately as she drives herself now.. oh and there were birthdays to think of:

In the evening we went to see Micky Flanagan, again a great comedian but for sure Al is King xx

Pop's first hold..



7 weeks



Wednesday 6th March.. Kate turned 16 years old and Lyla was 2!  We all got together and had takeaway here, a bit chaotic and a little sad as Kate and her first b/f are looking like they are splitting up... but hey, there are more fish just over the hill!! ;-)

She had lots of clothes for presents and when the weather improves she is having a camp out..

 

ahhhh I knew there was something else to tell.. the porch has gone! So my views from outside are very different! I am made up, we even went out to look at kitchens and lights this weekend.. more on that later! Happy bunny!

Here are some of my pictures from the last week, and my views..



March Sofa view on Mother's Day..why are the boys the ones sitting down?

We went to our Mum's today with Ross & JB, the weather was very wintery!

Sure fits this month's verse:

March brings breezes loud and shrill, stirs the dancing daffodil.

 

... and very lastly I have sinned in Lucky Snapping, the first time.... I did not post last week for Lynne's challenge..

 'look closely, the beautiful may be small...'  a little guy Jordan found on our holiday..the island is full of them, so cute!



Impossible not to..love the view!

..and impossible not to appreciate the bright blue skies, the gorgeous much-missed sunshine and the blustery winds as we went out west today!   After the grim, grey week both weatherwise and in my body and soul it was fantastic to blow the grey cobwebs out and enjoy these scenes at Porthcurno.

My faith in camera phones was restored when I looked at these, I bemoan the phone for it's impossibly rubbish camera but really I ask too much of it to work indoors in a not well lit house. Like me, give the phone some sunshine and good vibrations and it comes good! ;-)

Those who know me will notice that I have included a gorgeous little springer spaniel doing what they do best; chasing sand, running for all they are worth and getting good and deep to ensure the spaniel aroma is on max-setting when they get in the car!  Three more of them arrived together just as we were leaving.. crazy dogs, they launch themselves off the cliffs with a leap of faith / stupidity that usually comes good, quite simply they are energy on legs, in my experience the more you walked them, the farther they would run! xx

The cobalt blue sky as we left the church having taken flowers for Dad (91 yesterday).

Col remarked on the simple vapour trail of the plane and pondered on the conversations taking place above us.. champagne in First Class, just cruising over Land's End etc..

Certainly I topped up my levels today..and red pepper soup at the Logan Rock beside a log fire was the perfect end to the trip out..xx


Oh and here, somewhat belated is my February visit to Porthcurno for 'the View'

February



 

January

...still quite barren from a growth point of view but much brighter and rougher today than in January..