Merry Christmas

Wow, it's been 4 months since I was here.. apologies for my absence.  During that time I can see that the link to my Humphrey Hamster's instagram has failed, so I have removed the page.  Maybe over the Christmas hol I can connect it once again.  Saturday night food by Hubby needs updating also.  You see, I told you that I rebel against regularity!

Well, just tomorrow to go before Christmas Day.  I think we are nearly ready.  Although there is a part of Christmas one is never ready for -  those unfilled chairs and yet another seating rearrangement in an attempt to minimise the sad reality of our dwindling numbers.  Not to mention the lack of Domino's hamster cage and Lola bunny's cheeky face at the rabbit cage bars.

A couple more parcel deliveries to arrive, some house cleaning to be done by me and some veg shopping to be done by Hubby, then we can shut the door on the world for a while.  Hopefully we will emerge somewhat revitalised  for the New Year.  Unlike most years, I do have a specific plan (apart from the usual weight control fantasy!) and my plan is to develop my love of quotes along an even more spiritually uplifting path.  I won't be wearing flowing garments or getting all ethereal, but positivity will definitely be the name of the game, along with time out for Yoga and meditation.  A little tip from me to anyone who tends to be anxious about stuff - stop topping up anxiety levels with daily doses of The News.  Seriously.  It is working for me, so give it a try.

Hope anyone reading this has a peaceful and merry Christmas.  I'll probably speak to you again before New Year.

Laters

Anna-May x

Exam success

Hi there!  Exam results day and we have smiles, so all is good.

I have done a small amount to my amigurumi creation of Hedwig - pic on page, but don't rush!

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Took this pic in June.. lovely fresh air..

Hobbies

Hello!  Well here I am, lunchtime has been and gone.. and no sign of either offspring!  I take it they have had a longer 'all nighter' than I anticipated!  

I have added another page to the blog, this time regarding my interest in completing electronic projects.  I am hoping that by adding a few details of these interests I am going to be inspired and spurred on to do more and upload the proof!  As you can tell, I am interested in many things and have the wish to become submerged in many hobbies.  However, when I think of the household chores that are waiting to be done and thinking of all the things I'd prefer to be doing, I end up doing nothing!  Of course energy, or lack of at the moment, is a huge issue.   That drive I used to get for clearing out a cupboard or improving the layout of a room, or sorting the paperwork.. I am missing that at the moment.  Oh yes I can sit here and type away, and flick through other people's blogs, that's easy!   Anyway, come September when routine is once again upon us, I am hoping to follow some sort of pattern of doing chores in the morning and then choosing one of my hobbies to do in the afternoon (working around my business commitments of course).  Or maybe choosing one hobby for the week, to really get somewhere with it and have something to show you! 

Laters..

Today

Have just texted Hubby a short shopping list as the children are planning an 'all nighter' whereby they will stay up chatting and eating snacks until they both fall asleep around midnight!  This was on their list of things to do during the holiday and we are slowly but surely running out of time.  Bearing in mind they will be good for nothing next day,  the fact that we have a late night with friends planned for the weekend, and early starts for days out next week,  I think tonight is their best choice.  If they do stay awake past midnight, hopefully I will be able to get some sleep once I know that they have not choked on the  popcorn or hurt themselves with the kebab sticks!

Yesterday evening was fun.. Hubby was celebrating the fact that he has now had a thousand views on his quadcopter blog!  He collected barbeque type food from the supermarket and we enjoyed a mini feast out in the garden.  He has bought a map of the world to mark where his views are from, but it's massive! 

We all watched another Harry Potter film later on.  We have two left.  I enjoy watching films but the difference in volume gets on my nerves.  I am constantly turning it down and then back up.  It has become usual now for me to move Humphrey into the back room where the other animals are, incase the film gets too loud for his little ears!

Nothing much to report today so far, I have cleaned the rabbits out and am in the process of emptying the wash basket... 

Laters..

Summer Holiday

Hi.  Have been surfing through a few blogs .. I think to find confirmation that I'm doing it right.  Most of the blogs I came across before I started blogging were really impressive - with all sorts of stuff going on and I am of the constant opinion that mine is so basic.  But this morning I found some that were actually similar to mine, just day to day ramblings.. maybe without the kpop but I'm not apologising for that!

The weather today is fairly bright.  The children aren't up yet but maybe we will venture out for a walk later. 

I have left a bag of old clothes out to be collected, but I am doubting that the appropriate collection people will see it between the parked cars.  Maybe I should stick it on the garden wall, or on my car roof.  That's not really the type of thing I do though.

The summer holiday is passing by very quickly.  I love having the children at home and miss them when they go back to school.  I do however seem to have this feeling of guilt that I should be doing more with them.  They are older now and are quite able and happy to entertain themselves, so why I feel like this I'm not sure.  We go for walks on the beach or to the park and they enjoy that even though we've done it many times before.  I'm always around and they know they have my attention if they need it, so what's bugging me? I wouldn't enjoy driving anywhere for a day out without Hubby, and neither would they.  Speaking of Hubby, next week he has the week off, so we shall hopefully have some nice days out together then.

Laters..

Random Pop and Popcorn

from last night's family 'movie-night'!  (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

Flowers from Hubby

Lovely flowers from Hubby today!

Origami

Origami flower made for me by Suzie :-)

Romance

Enjoyed a romantic walk on the beach with hubby this evening, whilst both offspring were at karate.

Cute!

It's been a while since we had one of these welcome visitors to the garden!

  There were a couple of Dave's (the cat) saucers left on the doorstep.  At about midnight we heard the saucers clattering together.. and it was this little fellow sniffing around for the cat food.  Unfortunately, Dave had finished the last tin earlier on in the day so there was none in the cupboard.  I've read that hedgehogs shouldn't be given bread and milk, so I gave him a saucer of water.. just to give him something to encourage him back again!  Sooo disappointed there was no cat food to offer!  

What a cutie!

It was past their bedtime, but at least it's the holidays -Suzie came down to say Hello, as did Dan - hopefully no-one saw my 17yr old son striding about in his robe and Batman trainers!

Fun

Playtime with Humphrey before breakfast.

Orange Flower

Relaxing

took this pic last week, the sea was so calm

 

 

 

Creativity

'Amelie' stationery

 
At the moment, my creativity levels are high, but my energy levels don't really match.  So I spend time merely thinking about the next amigurumi project, the next piece of piano music I will learn, or the next culinary experiment etc etc.  However, I have managed to sort out my art equipment into two pretty sets of drawers I found in WH Smiths.





And I really enjoyed doing some sketching for the first time in ages ...

 

The first two drawings are based on pictures I found in an old nature book.  The third is my attempt to copy the photograph of  L.B., who has heightened my already keen interest and love for wildlife and nature.

New pencils bought today!

Nature Pics

Random

Some pics I have taken recently..

One More Day

Well that's the "undelete" button pressed.  Let's start with Hello.  This is what I do - fall in and out of love with social media, and rebel against regularity.  Well I'm here now.

How are you?  How am I?  I have been cross and upset with the world. 

Ironically, my very first post mentions nuisance behaviour by seagulls...

However, I wonder if the bad press they get, is actively encouraging certain dubious people  to be purposely unkind and physically abusive towards them.  I know they are a problem, but that doesn't make cruelty towards them acceptable.  Here's a  little 'story' I wrote.  It's a bit rambly and won't mean much to anyone.  Except me.

One More Day 

The tranquillity of the street was only slightly disturbed as he tumbled gently down from in between the chimneys.   Though not quite awake and rather bemused, he landed safely in Anna-May’s front yard.   Anna-May was taking her afternoon nap.  No-one was around to witness the startled but proud ruffling of feathers.   Anyway, people being people, they would have been too swept away in their mob-like hatred of seagulls to care - nevermind appreciate - another ‘nuisance bird’ miraculously defying the odds and surviving the first ‘flight’ from nest to ground.  In a heartbeat, however, mother bird was at his side.  One of two highly attentive parents, she was alerted by a difference in his incessant call.  The echo effect possibly being caused by the metal cat house that he had fallen next to.   She knew that the infrequent inhabitant of the said cat house was not going to be a problem.  Darcy was well used to the yearly feather–ball arrivals from up high and, in his superior feline opinion, they were too big to waste his energy on. 

 “Better late than never” the mother bird thought, as she directed an amused but comforting squawk towards the tottering bird.

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 Her other chick had made contact with the ground a full two months earlier.  She had to admit though, as she smoothed her own feathers, that this had been far too soon and her nerves had not yet quite recovered.   This, together with a poorly leg, made the rearing of two ever hungry chicks quite a task.  Nevertheless, she had carried out her feeding obligations with more devotion and dedication than many human parents.  As she went about her daily routine, she was oblivious to the fact that someone else was monitoring the progress of that first fluffy ball of a chick.

Anna-May had an almost perfect view of the growing baby bird over on nextdoor’s flat roof.   A cleaner kitchen window would have helped, but decent photographs were possible if she climbed onto the work surface to view him through the top pane.   She named him ‘Egbert’, and spammed her family Instagram followers with his developmental feats.  

As the weeks went by, Egbert got bigger and so did his mess.  Understandably, nextdoor moved him to a nearby field.

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Awaking from her nap and spying the young seagull at the front of the house, Anna-May thought it was Egbert.  That he had wandered through from the field, to be close to the chimney and nest from which he had dropped two months earlier.  Although concerned for his safety so close to the traffic in the street, she decided she did not want to cause distress by placing him back in the field.  A decision she came to regret.  

It made her sad.  He was fine one day, limping the next.  Anna-May needed to find out why.  She checked back on the cctv camera.  The rage she felt on seeing the grubby white minibus drive over him was immeasurable.  It was obvious that the driver had full view of the bird as he drove up the hill.  Obvious that he had done this on purpose.  Although having retreated from cringy social media as much as a business person can these days, Anna-May had an overwhelming desire to post the despicable footage on every networking platform in existence.  She was stopped by her resignation to the fact that humankind may well be human but it certainly isn’t kind.  Basically, no-one would care.

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The realisation that the injured bird was not actually Egbert did not ease the emotional trauma very much.   The unmistakable call of a young seagull drifting through the workroom window at the rear of the house and the subsequent mini trek around the church buildings with hubby, gave proof that an unlimping Egbert was still healthily in situ.  She named the bird at the front of the house ‘L.B.’.  She had become too fond of both birds.

Despite an injured leg, ‘L.B.’ had survived the first manic driver.  Adjusting and adapting as he practised his hardest to learn how to fly. 

 One more day. 

 One more day and he would have done it.  

 With a breaking heart and hate for the world, Anna-May checked out the grainy image she’d seen during a quick scan of the cctv camera.  All that feeding by the mother bird, all that protecting by the father bird, all that practising to fly.  What for?  Another manic driver. Stupid man, stupid people.  He drives so fast with his music blaring.  He doesn’t know... he didn’t see all the work that nature did.  He doesn’t care.  No-one cares.   

~ Fly high always L.B. ~

Helloo..

Hi, just checking in to say I am sneezing slightly less and the eyes aren't so puffy.  Energy levels are low, so not done much apart from ferry Dan to and from his exam.  Was helping him revise a bit this morning. I'm sure I've asked this before, but why didn't I find things this interesting when I was at school? 

Well actually I did, - he did PE when I had history, was on his way to science when I was on my way to art, and was waiting outside geography when I was outside music.  You get the picture. He, in contrast, must have been concentrating rather well on his studies as he went on to become an airline pilot.

Anyhoo, it is just a quick hello whilst  Hubby helps Dan go through things for tomorrow's Law exam. This is after a day at work and cooking tea for us, not to mention collecting nextdoor's recycling receptacles that had blown all over the road. I've never liked flying.  Enough said. 

Laters ...

Pass the tissues

Hello, feeling a bit grotty actually.  I have the cold that has been circling around us all this week.  In the wonderful knowledge that I can also divulge my accompanying weepiness here with no threat of the "whats-the-matter-hun" response, I can tell you that I am in fact decidedly weepy.  Analysing this, I would say the route cause is down to a couple of things.  One, the fact that I became cross with my peeps just two days after they had given me lovely presents and two, the fact that yesterday was the first day I allowed both offspring to separate from Hubby and myself on our weekly visit into town.  I am aware this is a hugely overdue 'allowance' and it only lasted three quarters of an hour.  However, it is a milestone that highlights the passing of time and the amount of growing up that has been done.  Another tissue please.  

On top of this Hubby is back to work tomorrow and children will be back in school (Dan is revising for another exam as I type).   Although I am happy with my own company, I like my family at home where I know everyone is safe. So there's that in the mix as well.  And of course we have the blood pressure monitoring coming up.  Hubby's father could be feeling a little better and my Uncle's funeral is a week tomorrow.  So maybe more than a couple of things causing the puffy eyes.

I think Sundays do have this ability to encourage any underlying negativity and I'm sure I'll feel brighter after my pork dinner and Hubby's muffins.

Laters.. 

Pics

Good evening, more pics for you - I thought I might as well show you my attempts at getting the bee in focus..

 

Possibly 3 different bees actually, none of them as clear as I would like!



A few more pics before I call it a night...

Good Night :-)