When Ella was Asleep...

We had a very 'gentle' Christmas break this year - not too much rushing around, eating and drinking, and staying up late, but lots of quality time with family and friends. 

On Boxing Day we went to Worcester Cathedral Cloisters to see the annual display of charity trees.  The low winter sun was shining through the glass and it gave an extra 'glow' to the whole event.

 

 

Mum managed very well with her walker - she's at the front in the photo below.

(Standing and reading is incredibly difficult for people with HD.. but my Mum is always super-determined in these sorts of situations.)

 

I'm always in awe of the creativity in these displays.  This tree was provided by a vintage clothing shop in the town.  It's been inspired by a fairy from a 1950s tree.  The neckline is made of baubles and the sash is made of tinsel and beads.  So pretty!

 

 

I totally fell for the romance of this tree.  It was created by the local Operatic Society and has a 'Marriage of Figaro' theme.

 

Close up it's even more gorgeous.  I'd have a tree like this in my living room if I could.

 

Wouldn't it look amazing at a winter wedding?

 

I saw these 'parcel's at the bottom of the tree created by a local mental health charity.

They'd worked with a snow-flake theme ... "Everyone's different and equally beautiful".

 

On 27th December me plodded across the snow-fields of the East Midlands to see Mark's Mum.  She lives in Sleaford (south of Lincoln) which is an awkward return journey for us to do in one day from Worcester.  Nevertheless, with her health problems, it's easier to devote one day of the holiday to a lot of driving rather than trying to deal with both Mums at this end (I hope that doesn't sound harsh..)

 

Then... for a couple of days I was laid low with the nasty bug that's going round.  Mark was delighted because it gave him chance to do some jobs in the garage on his current project.

 

Yesterday we joined some friends at the local model engineering club for their members New Year's Day event.  Here's Mark (in the hat) learning how to drive the track...

 

 

I was still feeling pretty rough but I still drove a bit and rode behind my friend...

(No pictures of me - I looked seriously ''full of a cold'!)

 

And younger niece I. joined us for a few circuits in the afternoon...

 

 

Today Mark went back to work.  Ella was unimpressed by the early alarm clock.  I don't think Mark was that pleased about it either.  I managed to sleep through the whole thing.... which didn't impress either of them!!!!!!

Jx

Exploring the South Downs on my Birthday

One of the 'perks' of being a self-employed instrumental teacher, married to an engineer at Land Rover, is that we're no longer tied to school holidays.  This means that we can celebrate my end of November birthday with short breaks in areas that are completely new to us.

 

This year we decided to explore the area where the South Downs meet the sea.. the gorgeous Seven Sisters National Park and Beachy Head Estate.  We stayed at the lovely Tiger Inn in East Dean.  (Our bedroom was the window at the right hand corner of the building).  It's a 'walker's pub' rather than 'boutique' style and we enjoyed every minute.

 

 

We walked for miles along the coast... towards Beachy Head..

 

Then back to the National Trust Tea-rooms at Birling Gap.... and on over the Seven Sisters..

 

The views in-land were equally lovely...

 

On the second day part of our walk took us through Friston Forest and down the even more gorgeous village of West Dean..

 

Before heading out to the coast again at Cuckmere Haven,..

 

The 51st (GRRR!) birthday shot!!!

 

It's an awkward journey from Worcester to this part of the south coast.  It took us almost five hours on Friday afternoon.  Nevertheless it's definitely somewhere that we'd re-visit.  The walking was fabulous and the pub (which was a lucky internet find) was just what we wanted.

 

On the way home we picked up Thomas's ashes from the vets.  For those of you who believe in such things... you won't be surprised to read that he's a very active spirit at the moment.  I've heard him eating biscuits in the kitchen and 'agitating' a metal handle on the cabinet in the dining room.  He still shares the sofa with us (there's a cold patch) and pinches Mark's spot when he stands up.  (The first time it happened, we laughed because Mark sat down, looked slightly puzzled, then said "I think I've sat on Thomas").  This morning I heard him meowing and felt him jump on the bed.  To be honest, it feels like we still have a cat at the moment.  I'm sure that it will calm down eventually....

 

I can't believe that it's the 1st December.

Where has 2017 gone??????

Jx

Excuses for Being a Bad Blogger...

First of all we went on a road trip with the Marcos.

On the first night we stopped over in Kent at the lovely 'Five Bells' in Brabourne.

This was our room for the night...

 

 

..And here's the spectacular open-plan bathroom.!!!

(It's great for one night of romantic luxury but I don't think I could live with it on a permanent basis.. I like to have some privacy when I'm chilling in my bath)

 

Then we pottered down to the Tunnel and caught a late morning train to France.

 

 

After another four and half hours of driving we reached our base for the weekend -

A hotel near the Spa race circuit on the far side of Belgium...

 

On Friday morning we were up really early and started to explore the track.

We've heard masses about this circuit but never attended any racing there before.

It was so exciting....

 

 

There were only two other Marcos cars at the event.

They were racing in the Sixties Endurance Race.

We spent a bit of time chatting to their drivers in the pits.

(Sadly neither of them managed to complete the gruelling two hour race on Saturday evening but it was great to see them out on the track during the practice and qualifying sessions.)

 

The Spa circuit is on a significant hill-side.

On Saturday we explored all the pedestrian tracks to the furthest points of the track.

The main pits is behind Mark's shoulder in the distance...

(These track days are always something of a keep fit exercise!!)

 

We stayed at the circuit to watch some night racing on Saturday evening.

When we came back to our car the light was perfect for this atmospheric shot of our car..

 

She got lots of attention and lovely comments everywhere we went..

(Not bad for a car that Mark restored from nothing in the garage!!)

 

Since we got back I just seem to have been 'chasing stuff'.... the dull post holiday washing and ironing piles; filling the empty food cupboards and other similar delights!  BUT I've also been catching up with family and friends; enjoying the sun at a picnic with an ex-colleague on Thursday and spent most of today on another road trip to Leicester.

 

The calendar for June looks slightly less crazy... so hopefully there'll be more frequent posts in the near future.  I hope that you are all enjoying the Bank Holiday.

Jx

 

Yeah.... We did it!!!!!!!!!

Mum and Dad were super-anxious when we set off on Wednesday morning.

There were so many things that could have gone wrong... but we dealt with the challenges as they came along and had a really nice time.  I think my role as 'useful third person' contributed to this, but it's also fair to say that Llandudno is a great place to go with someone who has mobility issues.

 

We stayed at The Grand, which is right on the sea front and has fantastic views.

It's a cheap hotel to stay in and is very popular with coach parties.

(We chose it because we didn't know if Mum was going to cope with being away from home, and we didn't want to waste too much money on expensive rooms if we were forced to leave early.)

As it happens, the views from Mum and Dad's balcony were worth millions...

This was the view to the right, over the town and towards the edge of Snowdonia..

 

This was the view straight ahead across the bay...

 

And this was the view to the left, along the pier...

 

We were allocated a table on the edge of the dining room, with more superb views and plenty of space.  A seagull became convinced that Mum's hand movements were going to result in food, so it came to watch her eat at some stage during most meals...

 

The hotel keeps costs down by operating a buffet service for meals.  This is problematic for someone with HD so I got Mum's meal first, while Dad got his own, then they started eating while I quickly got my meal and caught up.  It worked ok because Mum has to eat slowly and I'm a fast eater (a teaching legacy I suspect!!)

 

On the first morning Mum managed to walk with her frame to the end of the pier...

 

 

..... then it was time for a coffee stop!

 

After lunch we even made it quite a way along the Promenade...

 

By the end of the day Mum had walked further than she had done for months.

We were all a bit bothered about how she was going to feel in the morning....

 

....To everyone's delight the gentle movement on the flat had loosen up some of her muscular problems, so we decided that everything was ok to drive up to the car park at the top of the Great Orne (the peninsular above the town).  Here's Mum with the spectacular view towards Conwy and Snowdonia...

 

Then Mum noticed the Tramway..... and the next thing we knew she'd decided that she was confident enough to tackle the steps (so typical of her fighting spirit when she's on form!).  Mum and Dad had an interesting hour riding the tram down into town and back up again, while I had a walk between the upper stations and took a few photos.

 

 I think the break/sea air did everyone a lot of good.

(Mum and Dad are very close, but they do drive each other a bit mad sometimes...

It was nice to be able to step in and 'head off' some situations before Dad's patience was tried and Mum got fractious - a difficult feature of the way HD affects the brain). 

I hope that we can do something similar later in the year.

 

AND the house was mostly in one piece when I got home!!

Jx

Door Opener in Chief!!!!

In just about an hour I'm leaving for a short break in North Wales with Mum and Dad.

Thomas was completely unimpressed with the idea that one of his 'servants' should be even considering the possibility of leaving him...

 

 

After all, who's going to fill his food bowl at 4.30???

Male servant never feeds him before 6.00!!!



 

I hope everyone plays nicely!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I hope I don't come back to this scene when I get back on Saturday!!!

 

Basically Mum and Dad have always loved going away, and travelled extensively before this stage of Mum's HD took hold.  Last summer they had two holidays that didn't really 'work' because of Mum's needs and they lost all confidence in travelling, even cancelling a trip to a cottage with all the family at the end of October.

 

These three nights away are a kind of 'test trip' to see if we can find the right elements of a holiday for the next few years.  I'm going along to open doors for the wheel chair, share the pushing and help to keep everything calm.......

 

Will report back at the weekend.

Jx

Blown Away on the Welsh Coast.

We spent half term in a gorgeous little holiday cottage in New Quay on the West Coast.

Follow this link to see the details of our accommodation.  It really was really lovely and I'd whole-heartedly recommend it to any couple looking for something a bit special in the area.

 

The weather was extremely variable.  There were lots of grey skies

and all the boats were out of the water to avoid the worst of the winter storms...

 

 

There was a little bit of blue sky at Aberaeron...

 

..and we had lots of fun exploring the quirky shops in Cardigan

 

We had ringside seats for storm Doris. 

This is high tide on the same day, after the worst of the high winds had passed..

 

Then we explored Aberystwyth and enjoyed one day of 'real' winter sun.

 

But the main thing was that Mark had a proper break from the challenges and hassles of his workplace.  The poor weather forced us to slow down properly and we spent ages just reading, crafting, chatting and enjoying the huge view from the upstairs seating area in the cottage.

 

I also went on a bit of a spending spree in the local fabric and yarn shops.

I spent two hours choosing fabric in Calico Kate when it was raining hard on the Wednesday morning (well there are 12 rooms of fabric to work through!!!!); visited Rosemary's Wool Shop in Aberaeron twice AND had to be dragged out of Clare Wools in Aberystwyth after a perfectly reasonable 45 minute brouse!!!  We also found a wool shop in the lower ground floor of Cardigan Market and stopped off at the wool shop in Brecon during the journey home.  All the ingredients for a great holiday really!

 

Sadly, things have been a little bit fraught since we got home.  My folks are fine - but I've had car problems and 'in-law' problems, which are time consuming and have made it hard to blog.

There was also an absolute mountain of washing and housework!

 

Hopefully we're back into normal routine now.

I'll post some 'work in progress' and stash photos later in the week,

Jx

Back from our Travels

My 'bucket list' for life outside the classroom is relatively modest - quality time with the people I love, time to learn new crafts..... and a September holiday!  We've just got back from two weeks holiday in France and it's been GREAT!

We took the overnight ferry from Portmouth to St Malo, then headed to the Gironde estuary for six nights.  This area is clearly a popular summer resort for French families and foreign visitors but it was blissfully tranquil out of season.  We stayed in gorgeous apartment overlooking the port at Mortagne.  It was a top floor studio apartment so the views were stunning and the sunsets were superb...

 

We've never been to this part of France before so we made sure that we visited all the main 'sights'.

Talmont - with it's dramatic medieval church by the estuary -

 

Pons - with the enormous castle keep in the main square -

and it's medieval pilgrim hospital on the road to Compostella -

 

and Saintes - with it's ancient churches and 2000 year old roman amphitheatre -

We also made time to 'seriously chill'.  We ignored the news, switched off Mark's work mobile, ate nice meals and drank lots of local wine (Bordeaux - the 'Haut Medoc' was especially good!)

 

 

At the end of the week we drove inland to Angouleme for the second stage of the holiday.  This was three nights in a small city centre studio apartment - so that we could attend this year's 'Circuit Des Remparts'.  Many years ago we promised ourselves that we would celebrate the first September of my retirement by watching this race.  As a result the whole weekend felt slightly surreal - but it was great fun.  The town centre is completely taken over by the event.  The cars were quirky and beautiful, and the atmosphere was lovely.

 

I'll certainly never forget the excitement of walking up to the old town at 7.15 am on the Sunday (in the dark), making our way into the circuit, listening to the cathedral bells chime 8.00 in the rising sun then watching the first cars make their way out onto the circuit for the first qualifying laps.  Fabulous!

 

On Monday we drove back up to the north coast of Brittany for the final phase of the holiday.  We spent the last four nights in a small hotel right on the sea front at St Malo.  This was the view from my pillow -

 

 

We walked for miles and miles along 'Grand Route 34' - which is a long distance footpath covering the Rance estuary and the part of the Breton coast line -

 

 

One day we started walking from the port at the bottom of the lovely 'Rue du Jerzual' in Dinan -

 

 

Another day we explored the headland to the north east of St Malo -

 

 

And on our final day we walked the coastal path from the Rance 'Barrage' to Dinard and beyond -

 

We ended the holiday with a day on the ferry from St Malo to Portmouth.  This was when we really noticed that we were travelling 'out of school holidays'.  The ferry was practically deserted and really quiet.  It was a lovely sunny day and the sea was really calm - a complete bonus at the end of September.

 

It's taken a few days to get back into routine.  Mark asked me to write an article for the Marcos Club Magazine about our trip to the 'Circuit'...which took up lots of potential blogging time.  I've also tacked the 'post holiday washing and ironing mountain'.  However don't feel too sorry for me because I've also been making the most of being able to read/craft in the garden in the afternoon sun...!  Hopefully we can hold onto the blue skies for a little longer.

Jx