Beautiful Blessings

It has to be said that the past couple weekends have felt like blessings direct from the heavens.  Amongst weekdays full of torrential rain, local flooding and the return of grey skies on a regular basis it was such a gift to wake to radiant sunshine on each day of the weekend.

Although the temperature has dipped a little, the sunshine blasting through gave a much needed glow.

The things of beauty I felt blessed with recently were two consecutive weekends of sunshine.  Lovely streams of light gracing the floor....  Dappled sunlight drying the puddles... The warmth of the October sun on closed eyelids.  I needed these days of sunshine when my family was home.  I needed to grasp the time and 'make the most of living' because it was sunny. 

Somehow, when it's unexpectedly sunny (even if there is still a chill in the air) I am all the more grateful for it.  It's like that little added bonus... I needed it, I gave thanks for it and being out in it brought much simple joy.

 

This recent weekend we visited some fab friends in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.  After some family time and admiring of their new family home we took the children out to run off some of their [extreme levels] of energy! 

We went to wendover woods and had a glorious time gently strolling a little distance at a time before stopping and sitting a while, all the time the children enjoyed foraging for pine cones and interesting leaves.  Happilly pottering within sight but independent enough to wander with stick and scratch around in the dirt.

We then came across pre-built dens

Little B built a fire in this one and made a new entrance system...

....and R had fun building her own structure. 

 

This was her new model - with window too!!

I love that these structures are left erect in the wood.  That different families, different children all come together, admire their simple structure and add elements on each visit.  A twig here, a branch there.  A collective building mission.

My children are really outdoor sorts and would have stayed for hours but we were forced to cajole them to leave the woods and accompany our friends with the offer of hot chocolate and snack here.  Ahhh, bliss.

The weekend before we had some really wonderful family time - a picnic out on the Saturday whilst we admired the changing colours in the surrounding countryside

We were lucky enough to say hello to a friendly pony as we were passing!

And while Ben worked on the Sunday (yes, poor love is working extremely hard at present) we took a visit to Marine Lake.  Gosh that sand looks like mud in this photo - it's dark but not dirty and is actually quite pleasant!!

 

The still water reflected the autumnal light - and although it's not the thundering seascape that we're spoilt with in Cornwall, it did look really pretty.

 



Little B had asked to go here since returning to school.  He had plans to make another dinosaur island and we took pirates too to add to the adventures.  The sand here is so pliable that it 'holds' water in its moats rather than it seeping away!!  This means after a little digging, smoothing and sculpting we can produce a riproaring dinosaur island.

We spent a merry morning raaaahing and swashbuckling.

 

Although it was a bright sunny day, the air was crisp and we were the only group 'settled' on the beach.  I watched various people coming and going and enjoyed the children being happy and content.

At times I joined in their frivolity, at times I just sat back face towards the sunshine enjoying the feeling of space and light, happy to hear the chuckling and plundering going on beside me. 

 

A bit of sunshine and outdoor time can be so healing to a mind that is struggling a little with the various pressures that we all face in life.  When things become stressful and I feel like I'm about to drop all the balls I'm juggling, a bit of outdoor time can really help to regain a sense of balance and perspective. 

Thank goodness the sunshine enabled us to enjoy it!

J9 x

Sunday Stars

I'm not really a superstitious character, but hubby passed me the mag section of a paper today and as I flicked through the pages I stumbled across my stars.

It read:

"It's prime time to start projects and believe in your creative talents". 

With regards to love it said:

"Once you were neighbours, now it gets very romantic".

Well, my now husband and I lived in adjacent semi detached houses at University.  Needless to say our romance led to marriage, kids, happiness... due to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary later this month.

The former quote I'm choosing to take as a kick up the behind - a much needed push to be a bit more open with my friends and family about this blog and my creative exploits.  It's funny, my family tell me to believe in myself often and I dismiss it shyly.  Yet Mystic Meg writing it in this weeks stars struck a real chord with me!

How is it that some people exude such confidence and self belief, yet others need much reinforcement and support before gaining even a degree of that self esteem?  My confidence took a huge knock from the results of my accident anyway. Now five years on I'm rebuilding my inner self as well as accepting the changes to my physical self.  I've accepted the wheelchair and crutches as tools to help me live life and that's what I choose to do.  I need to live this life...

Well I'm taking a metaphorical pat on the back from dear Meg and looking onwards and upwards....

I'll take courage and follow my path.  My first ta dah will come this week.  I've declared it and therefore, it will happen.

J9 x

This week I am grateful for...

The great British Weather - a week of gorgeous sunshine for the start of the holidays meaning we can break from the routine and get out to parks, beaches and play dates with friends, plus gorgeous garden play whilst basking in the suns rays.

Time together.... my accident resulted in me giving up my career.  I threw myself into my role as mother and home maker far more than I would otherwise have been able to do as the main breadwinner.  I can now enjoy more special quality time with my family.  I struggled with this change in the early days but 5 years on can see huge advantages in this shift. 

I can spend each day with my children, being inventive, creative, playful.... tired (we're only human).

Early rises - my children have always been early risers.  They strive to wake up before Ben leaves the house for work at 5:30am each morning so they get to say 'goodbye'.  Hmmmm... on weekends they rise a touch later at around 6 but still. It's early.  But with a pale skinned red head it works well to get up and out before the midday sun!!  We were at Marine Lake in Weston for early morning paddling and volcano building.

Some slow hooky - having seen so much wonderful crochet in blogland, I've been so wanting to learn basic crochet.  Sunday was a day for me when my brain just couldn't get my legs to function.  They just didn't want to work.  Not unusual now, just need to respect it, pace myself and rest.  Gladly it was a Sunday so Ben could take the children off for some fun and I did rest.  I've found that resting without a purpose doesn't work for me as my mood gets low, so I searched YouTube and found a number of demonstrators who covered the granny square really slowly so I could gradually follow- what a source of inspiration and learning!  My first squares took shape?  Not sure but they're a start!

Completion of my Cath Kidston style chair makeover - a sneak peak!!  I just keep stroking them- I'm thrilled with how they turned out.  My heart skips a little each time they catch my eye.

The tooth fairy - two visits in as many days.  What excitement a wobbly tooth or two can bring.

The start of the London 2012 Olympics - something for the country to be proud of, inspired by and children to endeavour to reenact.

Snuggle time, enough said.

Small things are often the overlooked parts of our day.  They are the parts to be savoured and revelled in.  Remembered with a smile.  We take these moments in life for granted yet they are the foundations of memories that give us the warm glow; a feeling of wellbeing that material things can never match. I savour them, recognise them and let them bring happiness.  It is satisfaction in these things that have got me (and continue to get me) through life changing disability and debilitating pain.  All things seem possible when enveloped in our loved ones arms.  It is our attitude to these small things we can manage.  We choose our response to lifes challenges and indeed it's wonders. 

Live in the moment and savour the precious times... time passes, money is tight, pain and illness strikes so unfairly.  But God loves us and brings great joy if we can only manage to recognise it.