"Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you. If you find some point which may be suitable for you, then you can carry out experiments for yourself. If you find that it is off no use, then you can discard it." Dalai Lama...

Sunday 17 August 2008

A great Dad...

A couple of reasons why I love my husband.

Milly and Alan were going to go up to the other end of the village to feed a friends cat while they are away for the week.It was a dry night and as usual Milly had no shoes on, As they set off Alan called out "Emily are you not going to wear shoes"! she looked back and said "No" although she was a little confused, we rarely question the fact she chooses to go with no shoes on(she often gets negative comments and funny looks from other's about her decision to walk with no shoes )Alan said "well neither am I",the look of delight on her face that he was going to join her barefoot on the journey was worth a lottery win,and the two of them walked off giggling.

We have been really busy over the weekend with painting and jobs and entertaining family for lunch today and have hardly had a minute to ourselves.Al was going out into the garden to get the last of the sun to read his book for some well deserved time on his own.Emily came bounding into the room just as he picked up his book,she asked him to draw with her,I knew how much Al really wanted to just sit and read and yet he changed his plans and the two of them have been sitting at the table in the sun chatting and drawing for an hour.

I love him for many other reasons but these have been a couple over the last few days that have reminded me he is one in a million and I am glad he sticks with me xx

Monday 11 August 2008

Bust ups and set ups...

10.45 am.Milly still in the land of nod!!

Just been up to check and she looked at me blearily and then turned over and went back to sleep.

She had two friends over for a sleepover on Saturday.Lot's of laughter and play .They were quite good and kept the noise down but it was about 3 am when I last heard them.They were sleeping on mattresses in the living room and unfortunately we can still hear them talking even when they are doing it quietly.All of them slept until 10.30 the next morning, then it was a relaxed day for us all.Homemade pancakes for breakfast then play for them and pottering doing small jobs for me and Olympic action on TV for Al.Homemade pizza for lunch and more play for the girls till we took friends home at 3.30.
Home via shop for crisps chocolate and wine ;-)

Major bust up between me and Milly!! Both very tired and she was vv angry about a small incident and I reacted badly and it slid into shouting and tears quite quickly:-( Not happy at all with how I handled things.I can now see where her anger started but in my tired haze I was not switched on and didn't react well enough to stop it getting to the stage it did.Her initial angry reaction brought out feelings of resentment in me about how ungrateful she was being after all we had done to enable her to have a sleepover and a day with friends, unfortunately I voiced it which only inflamed things.

After a time to allow things to cool down we talked and sorted it out as best we could clearing up a few things and then all had tea whilst watching the Alex Rider film Stormbreaker.I came through to do some paperwork while they watched Midsomer Murders(god is it a week since I last posted?)

Milly finally got up at 11.00 am.Loose plans to go for a walk on the beach and to the big playground were changed and we stayed inside and had a great day full of cuddles,tickles,painting,story tapes,top trumps.Polly pocket and playmobile set ups were made through the day I got to sit with the pile of things and pass them to her as she set up her scene.

We also managed to talk more about what had happened yesterday and each got to say how we felt and what we could do differently next time,given that exhaustion on both sides played a big part!!Lessons learnt on both sides.......

Wednesday 6 August 2008




You Are an "A-OK"



Your life philosophy can be summed up as, "Whatever will be, will be."

Your greatest wish is to live each day a little better than the next.



You are naturally calm and stable. Some people would call you a rock.

You feel one with the world. You are a spiritual person, though no one who knows you would guess it.

Monday 4 August 2008

A typical day?

I am not sure you could call any day typical as each day does seem to be so different.One thing that is fairly typical though is that most of our days do have a certain flow to them, generally a slow start and then a relaxed pace through the day.

This Sunday started off early for Alan and I.He walked Beauty while I made us some porridge for breakfast and when he got back we chatted for a while as we ate before he went to watch the news on TV and I came on the PC and visited my usual blogs.Got a great link from Schuylers blog and spent time drawing a house!!I will post that later.

The plan for the morning was that Alan was going to start painting the exterior of the house and Emily and I were going to a garage sale that one of her friends in the village was having.I went up at 8.50 to see if she was awake yet.She was fast asleep,I knew she had been really keen to go to the sale so I attempted to wake her, but gentle stroking on her hand didn't wake her and as she was in such a deep sleep I decided to leave her a while longer.I lay next to her for a while then got up to get a few things ready and came back at 9.30,she was still in a deep sleep and it took some time to wake her.When she rolled over I quietly reminded her about the sale but said that it was OK for her to go back to sleep if that is what she wanted to do.She turned round and I said the other option was that we could change plans and just snuggle in bed and read to which she gave a big smile and nodded enthusiastically.(I took the picture a little later when I reminded her we had talked about recording today as our typical day.Milly is not always happy for her private life to be blogged so I checked first.Milly has her own room but likes to sleep on a mattress next to our bed)



Before we started reading Emily was keen to talk about our holiday plans.We are going to New quay in Wales in September and we are taking her older friend with us and she is beside herself with excitement.Emily said she was keen to start a packing list today and wanted to do it on the computer and she also wanted to get a book that she could use as a holiday journal and stick pictures in and write in each day.We talked about her relationship with her friend E and she said it felt like she had an older sister.

We read for quite some time and about 10.30 Alan broke off from painting to come up to remind us about the sale,he and Milly had a cuddle and we decided just to carry on reading when Alan went back to painting.The book prompted a discussion about running away and why someone would feel the need to run away.She talked about options to dealing with problems and said she would never run away.Certainly hope she never feels the need ;-))

We got up and I got dressed quickly and made her a crisp sandwich with chopped apple on the side and water with ice in to drink.(a favourite meal at the moment breakfast,lunch,or tea)She took it back upstairs and chose to listen to a story tape called The Knight of the storms and stars by Terry Deary set in Tudor times.

We were expecting my sister and nephew for Sunday lunch and after I had finished preparing the chicken and trimmings I called up and asked if she would like me to continue reading.She came down and we read some more and when one of the characters described himself as a Pacifist,she reminded me that Simon in the Spiderwick Chronicles had been a pacifist. She said she considers herself a peaceful person and does not like fighting at all, but would not hesitate to defend her friends if they were being threatened.The conversation then moved on to her other best friend who had been away on holiday and did not yet know E was coming on holiday with us and Emily was concerned she would be upset and it is playing on her mind a little.She decided to draw A a picture showing the two of them climbing a tree and Best Friends written across the top, to reassure her that she still loves her.She did most of the card then a conversation we were having as I was cooking reminded her of Harry Potter and she decided to go and watch one of the films.I took her through a snack of fruit and some mint tea I had made from our mint in the garden.

We had a really lovely lunch with My sister and Nephew and then lots of chatting,playing,swinging,trampolining.

When they had gone Alan went back to painting,we had a great sunny day and the forecast was not looking good for the next few days so he wanted to get as much done as possible. I took a while to wash the pots, and in between spent time sitting with Emily as she finished watching Harry potter.When I went upstairs to put something away I decided I would tidy Emily's room.



Yesterday Emily and E got an early start packing for the holiday and sorted out which Bratz they should take with them!!It only took a short time to straighten things up and I fulfilled my need for order and Emily was happy to have a clear floor for more set ups ;-))

Later in the evening Alan and Emily took Beauty for a long walk,Alan said they never stopped talking all the way round and they were out for over an hour.They have an ongoing story about Black eye Bill the pirate who lives in the woods and who has amazing adventures in the different areas they pass on the walk!!
Paddling in the stream in the woods is one of Milly's favourite parts of the walk.I made a light tea for us.They took theirs into the other room to watch Midsomer Murders.Emily loves it.
I browsed on the PC and then sat and watched TV in here for a while.Emily came through at 10 when her programme had finished, she was so pleased this time as she guessed who the murderer was ;-))
I asked if she was heading to bed,she said she would soon but she felt like going outside, so out she skipped, to go on the swing, stroking socks as she went.






Back inside and into a quick bath while I read to her and then all three of us got into bed and read a little more Best friends before lights out and the end of a beautiful day.