bicarb shampoo

My research lately has been on bicarb, vinegar, castile soap, etc... and how to use them for cleaning. I used a Na bicarb (baking soda) paste o a nettle sting last night, then used the rest with an old toothbrush to clean my manky keyboard which is very nice to see now. I've just had a relaxing bath, trying to fight off what may become my 17th sinus infection in the last 2 years, and used another teaspoon to wash my hair. It actually felt like it was working as I used it, which really blew my mind. (Just the left half sadly :) the right side was too congested) It will be iteresting to see how it feels in the morning.

I'll add links later, especially if it works ;)

God Bless!
Chris

ps. Special prayer requests for Geoff, Ian and Vicky please. Thank you

It's been ages

Yeah, it's been awhile. Well to follow the last post the kitchen is done and looks good. the noise of them walking up there above my head made me so nervous that I drove to Kay's house and cooked us both lunch in her kitchen. When I get back, the "young lad" is nervously waiting to tell me there's been a small problem. Long story short, I have pictures of the hole made by this apprentice stepping backwards and falling through. His boss was really pissed at him for wrecking my kitchen light. The wonder of it all was, the flourescent long tube, bounced off my very hard ceramic tile floor and bounced, without breaking.

Present:
I've been reaally knackered for several months know, getting almost nothing done on a daily basis. Again long story short, Geoff and I finally realized that I was getting my period every 2 weeks. After over 4 months of this I was "promoted" to every week. Now we've got my BC implant removed, with was causing the problem and I'm now back to getting shot every 3 months. Joy.

 
 
 
 

Soooo much work has been done, though in some ways the house doesn't look or feel any different. All 3 roofs as been renewed, we have a huge layer of loft insulation and a nice layer of insulation inside the new kitchen roof as well. The upstairs windows are all new, lockable, open and shutable, very well built and draft proof. They even have cool vent strips we can open when we need to. The front of the house looks immensly better with the new dash and the rest is being painted. We also have a new boiler which we've not yet become happy with. it's a combi boiler, can heat water and house together or separatly (before we could only get hot water by turning the heating on) but the water pressure is poor and we keep getting very loud noises in the pipes. We finally got the grant work done, though there a a few issues left to deal with, so that I got a night to relax with the joy of no builders or hassle. So, as you might expect, new builders arrived the next morning and took down the kitchen wall connected to the living room. Actually it was just the plaster they removed, as it was all bad largely due to a leaking drain directly above the roof.

Ruth says, "That having the kitchen in a tip does not feel very good, and I don't think that the house is not as pretty as it used to be, and having the whole house in a tip doesn't feel good. I liked the house when it was different. I don't like that the bathroom windows are different because now I can't see through them. I only like the point that my room is tidy and it stays tidy most of the time. I like mommy's room because the bed is nice and bouncy and I bounce on it all the time. I loved it when it was nice and warm in the summer, but now it has changed and it doesn't feel good because in the rain it is cold, wet damp and the mud is squelchy and it definately doesn't feel good because when it's not raining we get horrible winds. And I am expecting a storm."

Hmmmm... and I really tried to get her to say something positive. Oh well, at least you have all gotten an update. There's more info on the picture comments

Going places

Hello everyone, how's it going?
Many of you have commented about why I'm not blogging not before. There's quite a few reasons for that. one of the consequences is that I'm making this blog private so you are going to need to send me your email.

,started this months ago. trying to get back into it, but very ill and just threw up so God Bless!

This week

It's been a long hard week, following a long but very productive month. I've made a lot of progress with the house. We've got 2 insurance claims being fixed, the bust drains under the house are definately covered, a pleasant surprise. The second claim was made for storm damage with a large "ingress" of water flowing down the former exterior wall inside the kitchen where the kitchen extension is attached to the original structure of the house. Damn, that's wordy. Long story short the "ingress" was caused by a leaking overflow pipe from the header tank for the central heating system. We are not covered for the leak but should be for the damage caused by the leak. No story shorter, we fixed the leak together, at no cost as Geoff's dad had a spare ball valve, and there are now 2 industrial dehumidifiers drying out the kitchen and living room, having first checked the ceiling did not contain white Abstestos, which was appartently used in Artex (the funny plaster shaped/used to decorate ceilings)until 2000. The drains are on a 4-6 week planning permission delay and the walls will take at least that long to dry out before any repairs can be made.
Otherwise the grant work/restorations to sort out the roof amongst other essential jobs should be starting on Monday, the scaffolding has been up for a week now.
However the drain from organizing all of this; cooking most meals, cleaning, taking over most of the laundry, and arranging entertainment for the kids, birthday parties and more, all of this has wiped me out. I've dropped club and lost most of my garden time to keep up with it all. Also, my volunteer helper has only come once in the last month and losing that 2 hours of help/chat/advise each week has hurt. I have been trying to take breaks ever 30 min, with mixed success, but it does make a positive difference. I am very much looking forward to seeing the consultant who leads the CFS/ME clinic in a few weeks.
I'm tired now, so God Bless you all
Chris

Tardy party

This year things were so hectic that DD,5's Birthday Party was about 3 weeks late. Clare brought paints and together we did nearly everyones face. It was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. DD,5 loved the party and had a great time.

Muncaster rounds and Owl Center

Geoff's parent's challenged him to have a picnic on the next nice day. He was very anxious about this, but after some thought he decided to face his fears. I was proud of him when he invited me to picnic at Muncaster. He did most of the planning and packing, and we reserved the motoriaed scooter so that I could do the walks with the kids. It was a great day that I want to blog more about, but it will have to wait as I'm falling asleep.

God Bless!



ps. WE would appreciate prayers for our Uncle Ron and Aunt Pat. Thanks

Christening

Irma's Christening. I was very lucky because I got to cuddle her for ages and then I went around and "introduced" her to everyone. Pretty much everyone knew her, bu not me, but she gave me the courage to go up and talk to strangers.

Blackpool Pictures

Enjoy them

More Blackpool

11:25 am Wed, Blackpool

Well, I had a slow start after getting up several times through the night, then waking up sharply with the rain around 5:30 am. I got a bowl of cereal then tried to relax with Pride & Prejudice (my sleeping pill ;'} ) Eventually I fell back to a restless sleep. Mom did breakfast again and Dad tidied it up while I got myself mobile. Ruth, after some fuss, sat on my thighs for a bit and eventually we tried a touch of exercise, at her insistance, but sadly I wasn't strong enough. However, I'm now moving, my bed is tidied away, and we should head off to Pleasure Beach within a half hour. I havn't needed a wheelchair yet and I hope to keep it that way. This laptop is bounced on my thighs as my they're twitching so badly, so hopefully getting out and moving will help them out.

23:51 pm Wed,
Wow... It has been an amazing day. Thanks to G. we had wrist bands ordered and paid for at a discount and waiting for us at Pleasure Beach. We got there without too much effort, though it was rather confusing figuring out where exactly to park and how to get in. Pleasure Beach is rather like any amusement park in the USA. The map was cool, with the standard cartoon/picture top view of the park on one side with a metro style map on the back with family rides/white knuckle rides/food routes that were amazing easy to follow.
Following the down pour of the morning the rest of the day was very overcast with the barest of drizzles occasionally touching us. This meant lovely short lines for all of the rides. David was nasty to Grandma at the very start and so lost his first ride, instead getting to watch Ruthie travel a Cheshire Cat through Wonderland. This impromptu choice of mine turned out to work very well and David improved for some time, though he is still testing Grandma and Grumpy to see what he can get away with and acts out even more when they discipline him. They are doing very well with both kids, I would just like them to stop giving the kids soda pop and salt.
David seemed a bit dubious about many of the rides, but definitely wanted to go on them, and certainly enjoyed the day. Ruth had fabulous fun, but I think that Dad and I may just have topped her. Together we hit 5 white knuckle rides and we had a blast doing it. We started with the Pepsi Max, while Grandma took the kids to Burger King for lunch. Later, bless her, she took the kids on a series of rides while Dad and I hit Space Invaders II, Avalanche and The Zipper. The $22 (10 lbs) That Dad paid for the picture was soooo worth it. What do you think? I pray that I never forget the fun and excitement, sharing those rides with Dad. Unfortunately the Wild Mouse nearly broke both of us. It was a very rough ride and we were both moaning and limping away from it, like a couple of cranky old farts after a fender bender. The Impossible, a family ride was a fascinating maze of optical illusions and physical tricks that ended with us piling into a large suspended "tram"ish style car. Then we got inverted... actually the room rotated around us. I had been warned by a lady, whose 2 year old was left in tears, about it after it was too late to go back, so I preped him and talked about closing his eyes if he didn't like it. Well... David loved it and I got so ill that I had to close my eyes and could barely walk afterwards. All in all however, a great day. Ruth says, "Brilliant, fab..." David says, "Mommy, it was great fun" (with just a bit of prompting as Grandma has just given them bubble wands)
Now it's 11:49 am Thurs, the place is tidy - ish and we are heading out for the nature reserve.

Blackpool

I'm back and it was great. I took my laptop but as usual, I didn't' get to spend much time on it typing blogs. The good side of that is that I spent that time having fun with my family. So Below is what you get and if you would like more you need to type your questions in a comment and I'll do what I can.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1:00 am Wed 28, May, Blackpool

Today has been a fun and interesting day. I really have to thank my mom for paying for this trip as I really needed a mental holiday from everything at home.

We are staying at Marton Mere, a caravan park just north of Blackpool, a UK equivalent to a cross between Ocean City and Kings Dominion. We've got a very nice caravan with a double and twin (2 small beds) bedroom a spacious, open plan, Kitchen, dinning, living room; including TV gas fire and microwave. I'm sleeping in a fold out bed in the living room. There's a decent pool complex, packed and the usual activities found in family holiday parks hidden in a large fun arcade complex.

Today, mom and I were up and chatting by 8:30. I tidied up my bed while mom sorted out breakfast. Then before I managed to sneak off for a shower (over an hour later, we were having a good time chatting) the kids were up so we had some fun playing together and sharing cuddles. David had been in bed with me following a restless night and then a bad nightmare sometime after daylight; so he was understandable cranky when he woke and needed a lot of attention. He wasn't very happy that I also cuddled Ruth and talked with Mom. Eventually I managed to get in a lovely shower, and after I got Dad up for breakfast. We all had a relaxed morning,tidied up and finally got moving by noon. We had a great time a the Sea Life Center, with the kids getting a short play in a climbing/play area at the end while we three pooped adults rested.

My marriage

For some time I have been digesting the comments, mails and chats that I have had with numerous people about my marriage and relationship with G. I want to clarify several points and then respond to my brother's (Matt) comment, published on precious post.

For years, you have heard my complaints about G's inadaquecies or misconceptions of cleaning, his lack of interest in gardening and housework, etc...

Our disfunctional marriage is not a result of these, rather these issues merely aggravate me. The root of our problems is our relationship, husband and wife.

G works all day and that is important. His salary pays the bills, just as mine used to. I have actively supported him with his job to the best of my ability and knowledge. I also work all day, to the extent I am able. I have established our home and work to maintain that and our family. G contributes to this, some days better than others.

Matt's right and has helped me to see that I have poorly communicated my frustrations. G does do work around the house and in the garden. I often feel that he is not doing enough or he does the wrong things but he does NOT come home from work and laze around like some men do. There have frequently been times when G has only done the work I specifically tell him to or times when he has come to me to question me about nearly every aspect of running our family; when to eat, what to eat, what to give the kids, what to do with the kids, etc... We have, together, began to work on this and again G. is improving. Another problem that has annoyed me is his attitude to necessary jobs with the house, garden or children especially his only helping when I insist or his taking a very sulky attitude or worse a "we can't do it" attitude. Again we are now making headway on these issues.

Another important note is that both now and before we married, neither of us believed that the strict traditional roles of husband bringing home the bacon, and wife doing all the home and child rearing work were appropriate for our lives. When I worked as a teacher, Geoff cooked most of the meals b/c I always had another 10 hours of work do to each night, an impossible task while I generally gathered up all the trash and took it out. He did all the laundering while I was responsible for cleaning hobs, ovens, toilets, sinks, etc... Other jobs we did together. How well either or both of us finished these jobs, especially in a timely manor, have varied from very badly to great.

We both agreed, years before having children that once our first was born I would stop employed work and focus on our children instead. I always believed that with this I would pick up the majority of many household chores given my increased time at home. I looked forward to cooking most of the meals, a passion of mine, and envisioned myself making fresh bread several times a week, expanding into baking and increasing my reportoire of meals of all styles and cultures. I fully expected to take over most of the laundry as well as most of the tidiing and kitchen work.

While all of this will have an impact on a marriage I believe that the core of a marriage is the relationship between husband and wife; sexuality, intimacy, friendship, companionship, love, trust, openess are all contribute to this core connection between husband and wife. It's deeper and wider than the connection between friends. Sadly this is what is missing between us and the sorce of the majority of both our problems and my heartache and deep sadness. A sadness that I have instinctually hidden from all of you most of the time. Only G. has known about it. For reasons I wont go into here, G. shutdown his side of that connection the day after we married. I found out when and why he did this about 3 years ago. I've learned a bit more since.

I have always believed that a marriage takes two and that it needs daily maintaince and attention. We have both, from the begining to present made mistakes, hurt each other, miscommunicated ourselves etc... I have never believed that I was blameless nor faultness in this marriage but through the last 9 years I have tried to be open, be aware of my thoughts and actions, be aware of my impact on others, be honest with myself especially about my faults, to improve myself as a christian, wife and person. It took me a year to recognize that we had some major problems to resolve and I have tried everything I could think of to fix our problems. But it takes two...

I very much apologize to to all of you for my miscommunications and the confusion they have caused. I continue to find it difficult to clearly articulate the problems I have had in my life and marriage and I thank all of you, especially Matt, for your time and efforts to help me clarify my thoughts and expressions.

I'm back

My laptop power cable plug was broken when a certain small child ran through and accidental pulled my laptop off my sewing desk. A replacement as obviously arrived and put me back in touch. Before that I'm afraid that illness and a few personal issues kept me from posting, although I have been throughout that time trying to contruct a few posts on different topics
God Bless!
Chris

Thoughts and Pictures That I want to never forgot

Playing with Sarah and the kids at Drigg Beach today, especially David standing at the edge of the waves in the knees bent, shoulders hunched over, big boy position saying, "Mommy, I'm peeing like a big boy" and Ruth very carefully running behind her brother and saying quieting to me, "it's ok Mommy, I'm making sure David wins" (David stops and has a screaming fit everytime someone else is winning)
Walking in ankle deep warm clear water and enjoying the sea and scenary there.

The God given peace that filled me during two conversations a week of so back, that would otherwise have been very stressful and emotional.

During our recent caravan holiday (Which I've been meaning to blog but simply havn't gotton around to, so I apologize) A fabulous shopping trip to a Tesco's extra with Kay. Excellent talking, joking and companionship. Kay, Geoff and I all making handrolled sushi for the first time from 1-3 am. Ruth, wearing arm bands, swimming the length of a pool for the first time. She was the very image of the turtle; plodding on one stroke at a time with a relaxed face that knew it would get there.

The wonderful times of just cuddling Ruth and/or David.

The whole day, night and following day of the birth of Ruth and of David, stories which I hope to record soon, before I forget anymore details.

My wedding day, from waking through the whole day.

You are what you think... and then I vent it all out

You are what you think. A Unity Church phrase, favorite of great Aunt Gwen, Mother of "My cousin Chrissy" Dad's cousin really, but that is what I have always called her. I am going to send some time mulling over what I think and what I am.

Wed morning she blessed me with a wonderful call and encouraged me to talk about my problems, specifically the marriage. She was and is wonderfully compassionate, a great listener and asked several good but difficult to answer questions. Then in the end she summarized the problems very succiently. I wish I could remember her words. I am going to send some time mulling over what I think and what I am.

And I can write all these wonderful things about her, that would probably embarrass her to read, because I know she has no internet connection.

I wish that all of you were as open to me. I wish the world was a place were no one judged and everyone could just be open with each other and just talk. That we were all blessed with the wisdom and empathy to understand each other, and could ... well I can't even describe it but I'm frustrated of course. I try to be open to friends, to truly be honest with myself and listen and identify suggestions that I havn't tried, to follow appropriate options to fix problems. To discard "the chaff" and work with the true grains of wisdom. But most people, it seems, just throw everything back at me, it's my fault for ... whatever. Even Geoff does not understand this and has tried to talk to some of you about it, often to no avail. Nearly everyone insists that he works all day, he is a man, you can't expect him to ... Whether its packing his own clothes for a trip, be loving, cook a meal without specific directions or leave the kitchen in a usable state, He is a MAN and men can not be expected to do these things.

Obviously I disagree. We both made a lot of mistakes in our relationship, both before and after we got married. I spent months trying to ignore the blatant problems then years trying to talk to Geoff about them. I believe that a marriage should be a partnership, where each person has rights and responsibilities. Where each loves, cherishes and supports the other. Where each contribute to running the house, and "bringing in the bacon" does not equate to half of that work any more than cleaning does. I believe that any partnership will always have ups and downs, fights and making up, good times and bad. But through it all both must be actively involved if it is to work.

We've both had counseling, but that is no magic wand, only a guided process to help a person sort out their problems themselves. We've prayed on and off but not consistently.

I have done everything I could to stop the denigration of our marriage, I tried every approach possible from the standard to the extreme, talking, counseling, praying, begging, seducing, ignoring, waiting, leading, following and everything else I could think of. Geoff says he can not think of anything I should have tried or anything I could do now or could have done in the past. But here we are.

We've just come back from church. It was a nice service in the children's liturgy and we went for coffee after. I had a lovely chat with a women I am barely aquainted with, but I'm trying to establish a ? reporie ? make friends, whatever the word is. She has twins a year older than DD,5 and a son a year younger. They had great fun running around and playing with our kids (BRB, Very tired son just weed on floor while reading a book) Then we took a nice walk through the Grotto. It was a lovely sunny day, the boys went ahead while we girls strolled along talking about God, the history of the grotto and Mary. Then G walked with the kids, who were tired of quiet voices while I slowly did the stations of the cross.

Why no blogging for so long? several reasons in no particular order; my health went down hill, I was busy with several ongoing chores (decorating, garden, kids, G, etc...), my marriage has collasped into nothing and I have no idea how to address this in life much less discuss it on blog, etc...

All prayers appreciated. God Bless! Chris

Garden update

Well... It's certainly been a while, hasn't it. So what's up???

+++++++++++++ written last Saturday ++++++++++++++++

Today we worked out in the garden, ben dug over 3 beds I did numerous small jobs with breaks then took over the sawing. It's amazing the difference when you pull out the course cut heavy duty saw. G had been getting frustrated and kept yelling at the kids, especially DS,2 who kept wondering around the area the G was working in and just didn't get the idea that he wasn't allowed to play by his sandpit, where I had arranged the wood for G. So I moved in and gave him a break, swapped saws then, after getting the rthym of sawing, I invited the kids over gave them a demo then let them do a bit of sawing. DD,4 was very keen until I said I was going to let them help, then was scared and only came over to saw "by herself" when I said she had to. Mostly I figured it was a great chance for some good mommy/kiddie time. Then DD,4 declared (following a clever hint from Daddy) that she could help by sitting on the stud to hold it still for me. She was great help and we had a fun time sawing.
Later, she was a great help gathering tools while I gathered everything else during a light drizzle/hail downfall. Geoff was out, taking Ben back home and s,2 was napping, so it was just us playing and working. After G came back we settled DD,4 inside and he and I finished making the base frame to attatch the greenhouse to. The hail started before when finished so the packing up that DD,4 and I had done meant that we got in faster. Now we just need to level the ground, cover it with weedmat, level and cement the base in place before we can finish assembling the Greenhouse. I really hope we can do it.

++++++++++ the above was finished today as was the following ++++

Too tired to write more. Migraine for 24 hours now though the level of pain has one down. Will tr more later.

Boo!

Got you!

Four days later

What to say...
I thought about blogging yesterday, but after staring at the screen for five minutes without writing I gave it up.
The good: I actually slept well, 6-7 hours (wed night) which hasn't happened in ages, and I could move so I was doing some improve aerobics to Shania Twain while making the bed and tidiing around. Mostly moves from the exercise section of my Art & Relaxation class, focusing around a grapevine and reach that incorporated a Tai Chi Ankle loosener with added hip action.
I kept a good balance of work a bit rest a bit through the morning, doing up the shelves for my crafting materials, tidiing the kitchen, cleaning and re-assembleing
David's car seat and having a great webcam with my bro.
Ruth, my volunteer helper came over and we had a nice lunch, then she took David out on his bike while I tidied again and worked on the shelves.

Ben wasn't fast enough to say no yesterday :) so I picked him up and he gave me a hand with the kids, the kitchen and the garden. I planned 2 jobs and 1 backup, Ben insisted on a 30 min timer which was good for me and we dug over the raised bed and weeded it. Ruth didn't want to work on her patch, so I said "That's ok, say goodbye to your tomatoes" This led to a big cry then a nice talk and "we agreed" to do it together, and we got it cleaned up. Then I releveled the whole bed and raked it it all flat including Ruth's section. And lastly I planted a 2' row of french radishes and another of gladiator parsnips. I also threw some samuri (red) carrot seed down the middle of my winter onions thru the net keeping the birds off off them just to see what would happen. Literally, I just drizzled them over the net. Meanwhile Ben made a good start of attacking the old, baddly maintained strawberry bed.
Then, after 35-40 min :' ) I came we came in and started dinner with Ruth doing her HW. but after a bit, I pulled a pan out of the cupboard and knocked out a pair of stacked pyrex measuring jugs which smashed and scattered. It shocked me badly so that everything after was a bad struggle, and while I managed to actually make the meal, burnt but edible Welsh rarbitwith can of beans and goat vs diary with homemade tomato soup that I had already nearly finished, I then crashed while eating it. So G. who was off for his appointment and had to take Ben back had to help me get the kids upstairs where I rushed them through the night routine and into bed and was asleep myslef before 8pm
Unfortunatly I woke up at midnight and got no rest after that (thurs night) so this morning a major struggle with stiffness and pain. I forced myself up did a min. of tidiing fortunately had some breakfast, though I shared with a demanding DS,2 who had already eaten his and went downstairs. There I did a bit of work of the shelves then tried to rest for a bit which DS,2 didn't allow. Nothing bad, just the standard one thing after the other. Teresa then helped me just packed up and off to the steam room which made a huge difference
So after that I went for a bit of shopping since I had to return a large item and then went to crosby's for the best Fish & Chips in the area for some more soul refreshing then some more shopping at Wilks for the primer I need to finish the Living room. Unfortunately DS,2 was really misbehaving and after the corner, the apologizing and getting cuddles he fell asleep in the trolley so the poor dear had just been tired. I tried to finish quickly but ended up having to call Ann to pick up DD,4 as I wasn't going to be able to make it back in time. I had a sleeping David, a huge tub of bargin paint (and I have to return it b/c I got silk by mistake) plus a big bag of shopping to get back to the car. In the end I had to wake DS,2 and he cried the whole trip back to the car with me holding his hand and praising how good he was being every step of the way. And he did such a good job, I'm very proud of him. Further, he didn't fall back asleep in the car, which blew my mind.
If only DD,4 had been so good, but she whinned the whole trip home, got sat down to do HW with only water and plain bread for her snack with a lecture of what some children must do for food when she complained plain bread was horrible (she ate it though and later begged and got some of DS,2's PBJ from him) complained during most of HW and then G. got home and she was taken to her room for quiet time. After awhile and a chat with Daddy "good girl" returned and stayed for the rest of the night.
Sat Morning, 5 am
I just gave up sleeping and got dressed been very uncomfortable in bed, tossing and turning for the last 4-5 hours with intermittent sleep and then woke up from bad teaching dream at 4
I've gotten to do a bit of gardening, which has made me a bit happy. I planted up all my peppers in a seed tray last night, it's got a lid for a mini greenhouse effect plus some elephant garlic and a mini tray with 4 types of basil.
I'm actually kinda tired but afraid that if I try going back to bed I'll just toss and turn but having finished this I’m going to try.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was the most peaceful day i've had in ages, probably since Scotland.
I got marvelous cuddles from everyone, with some extra special love from DD,4. We all got dressed and ready for church without much fuss. I even got to do Ruth's hair up in butterfly braids. (5 mini braids looped around to make a kindof butterfly shape) We drove down to Seascale for church with Mum, and were only 10 min late :) Geoff, Ruth & Mum walked back to her house in sun while David and I drove back so that I could sneek in the Bailey's Choclate Cake with Bailey's sour cream ganache that we had made for Mum into the house and hide it. I had even been able to make a quick card for her during the children's sunday school class (using the theme of the day of course, Samuael chooses David to be King.) All of my craft supplies are still buried in the flat due to the decorating so I could not make her a proper one.
Ws had a gorgeous meal of Roast Chicken with Albert's bacon and Sausages, Cabbage, carrots and roast potatos with canberry sauce and gravy on the side. YUM! But no pudding as G had "arranged" for her not to make one so we were both surprized when not only did G present Mum with her cake, but Ruth and David brought in a cake that they had made and decorated for me.



I wanted a black circle frame on my cake, but it's taking to long and I can't figure out how to do it. so tough.

Anyways, after the boys did the dishes we adjurned to the living room for cuppa and had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. I had my seed binder (which is huge... I need a better system) and was intermittently working on organising my garden notes while we talked, Geoff read Dad's computer magazines and we all played with the kids. I was struggling with pain thoroughout but felt so peaceful that 1. I didn't feel the need to pretend I wasn't and 2. I felt so relaxed and comfortable that I moved to Dad's recliner after he went to work on his engineering bug and just rested/dozed while enjoying Motherhood/watching the kids play and thanking God for these most beautiful blessings/and occasionally getting cuddles with one of them.

I also made sure to thank Christine for being such a wonderful Mother-in-law/Mum; I truly don't think they come any better than Christine.

God Bless!