Pink Green

Just chilling!

Thanks for all your lovely messages. I can assure you I am not overdoing it (most of the time), and to prove it here is a photo of what I spent most of yesterday doing.

During. The Price's Venetian Candles box is my crochet hook store, and came filled with all sorts of hooks and measures.

After.

I was in need of a rest - Weds was lunch in the Bathurst Arms near Cirencester with my lovely friend Gill, followed by a mooch around Cirencester. Thursday another friend came for lunch and some crochet (not too arduous a day!). Friday I was at school all day, followed by a Singstar night with several friends (none of whom were as competitive as I was, so I hope I get invited back to do it again!). I am making the most of my free time before getting back to normal!!

Sunday was spent at the allotment - the first time I've managed to get Andy down there this year. Sophie (who you may remember has the other half of our double plot) had her parents to stay from Sweden, and with usual Scandinavian efficiency, they had cleared all the brambles and debris from the edge of the plot during the week. We went to help burn the 3 mountains of brambles (again I was sans camera, sorry) and had a picnic. I managed to do some hoeing and we planted shallots, potatoes, lettuce, spring onions and radishes. Andy still has 2 huge beds to dig over, and has promised to do it this week so that we can get more stuff planted asap. I did however manage to take a photo of our first harvest of the season - white sprouting broccoli. It is exactly the same as purple sprouting, only white. 

My favourite thing to do with it is to steam it briefly and then eat it with toasted pine nuts, a knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. I also sometimes add some shavings of parmesan, but had run out. This makes a great lunch dish, and we have enough to keep us going for every meal for about 6 weeks! I think I'll be giving plenty away again this year as I can't bear to see it go to seed.

2 weeks and 1 day (and counting) until the brace comes off (fingers crossed). I'll still need to crutches for a while when out and about, but hopefully the end is really near now. Bodie comes home on Friday from 2 months at my parents house, and the girls are already making Andy promise to bring him to school to pick them up! I'm not sure I'll be joining them on walks for a while, but it will be nice to have his big soppy face resting on my knee of an evening (Bodie, not Andy). 

Hope you are all having a great week. 

Cathy XX

I know I usually start my entries like this, but I am sorry for the delay in posting, and for neglecting all your lovely blogs too. I am checking in with them still, but haven't been very good at leaving comments at the recently. 

Well, it's now only 3 weeks to go until I can lose the brace and crutches (YIPPEE), although I will probably need a walking stick for a while. I am going to have a huge celebration when the crutches go at last - they are the biggest hindrance, and prevent me from carrying anything. I have started using just one occasionally to get from the kitchen to living room with a cuppa, and that has improved my quality of life no end!! I am back at work and have done several mornings, a full day, and also a school trip to a Science Fair! Nothing like easing in gently. 

I hope you had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday (if it applies to you). We went for a picnic on Minchinhampton Common, and I sat in the sun feeling very at one with the world. We then went for a stroll (or hobble) around Nailsworth and saw the most amazing vintage bed in a shop there. We have been after a new bed for ages and this really fits the bill, and was a bit of a bargain. I am on tenterhooks waiting for the store owner to ring me about delivering it and getting a new mattress. We came back from there to a dinner of Rump Steak (my favourite cut) and feta salad, followed by creme brulee. Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it all! I did manage to take a photo of some Easter decorating that we did yesterday though. It isn't much, but it is a start!

(Please excuse the wheelchair and detritus in the background - tidying isn't the easiest of jobs on crutches in confined spaces!).

So, pretty good Mother's Day all round. The girls (with a guiding hand and wallet from Andy) got me this heavenly Paul Smith Rose perfume and body lotion, which is the nicest perfume I have ever smelt. It is really light and smells like the perfume I used to make out of rose petals in the garden as a child. The back of the box is covered with the rose print too, so perfect for storing little bits and bobs of jewellery in.

Talking of jewellery, just take a look at the scrumptiousness of my latest Etsy purchase. Isn't it gorgeous? A little treat to myself for all the hard work I'm doing getting my bones to knit together again! 

Whilst mooching around the house, which is something I am doing a lot of at the moment, I decided this mirror... 

...would be better off blue. 

I tried white but it didn't look right, so I mixed up a few splodges of blue acrylic with the white and I much prefer it. What do you think? It goes nicely with the jug of Mother's Day flowers from the girls, and Ruth's handmade card too. 

Well, after the lovely, sunny, happy day yesterday it's back to normality today. I've been to the dentist this morning for a couple of fillings, and have just tried slurping a hot chocolate, but got most of it down my front. I'll have to stick to orange juice through a straw for a few more hours I think. I did manage to hobble all the way into town and back, which is the furthest I have been so far. I have spent the rest of the day on the sofa with a magazine though, and don't think I'll be going far this afternoon. The best bit is that Andy will approve of this behaviour for once - he keeps telling me I shouldn't overdo it, and I am taking him at his word! I need to make the most of it - once I'm up and about 100% I won't get away with lounging around crocheting and reading all day! 

Hope you all have a happy week.

Cathy XX

Back to normal...

...or getting there at least. Thank you all for your lovely messages - they really mean a lot. The last few weeks have been very difficult, not just for me, but for the girls who have been abandonned for the second week this year, and for Andy who has been looking after them (and me). Still, we are on the way to getting life back on track. I saw the physio today who said I can go back to work if I take it easy - no full days yet, but a slow build up. So, I am back tomorrow, despite still having crutches and a brace (for another 5 weeks). Hurrah!

I used to have a job in a financial services company in a large office, and I hated every minute of it. I worked there until I had Ruth and then did some temp work in the same office. However, working as a Teaching Assistant is a totally different kettle of fish, and I love every minute of it. I have really missed the children, staff and the job, and even though it is only a little bit, I am glad to be getting back. It is the start of normality returning at least.

Usually about this time of year I have a big Spring Clean, which takes a week and is a very therapeutic occupation. Unfortunately it isn't so easy with crutches, and I had been twitching to get going. I tentatively suggested to Andy that we could get a company in to do a thorough clean instead (which wouldn't be the same or have the same therapeutic benefits), but to my complete astonishment Andy offered to do it with me. You see, having a broken leg isn't all bad! So, cloths, polish, windowcleaner and a bowl of hot water at the ready we made a start over the weekend. We did 2 rooms fully - our bedroom and the living room, and I managed to wash ornaments, windows and anything that didn't move. 

(Sorry about the dull photo - it was dusk by the time I took this.)

This is the room I am spending most time in at the moment, and it is feeling very Spring-like in here. This little table was a car boot find a few years ago and I absolutely love it to bits. I love the colours, the chippiness and the octagonal design of the trays. It was hidden down the side of the sofa, but I brought it out so as to see it a little better. 

As I have not had a great start to the year I have decided to treat myself to one of these!!

 

 I am going to get one in the next few weeks and am having colour traumas. I love the ice blue ones but think they are discontinued. I am even considering having either the ice blue or the Martha Stewart one (below) shipped over (by my lovely Aunt, who, fortunately, understands the importance of the right colour). Isn't this just gorgeous?

However, if I can get one in this country that would be even better. Does anyone have any ideas? Any shops with old stock that didn't sell? I can't believe they would stop making such a fab colour and replace it with some of the slightly odd versions they have out now. Please help!!

Well, the girls are going to be home from school soon, so I had better brace myself! See you all soon,

Cathy XX

I'm sorry my return to blogging has not turned out as planned and it has been ages since I posted. My grandmother died last weekend and I have been staying with my parents to help support my Mum. I don't want to discuss it in detail as I don't feel this is the right place, and I am trying to keep this a positive, light blog, but I thought I should explain my absence. I loved her very much and will miss her. The funeral is on Thursday.