floods....

Devastating floods have hit the UK (which makes me feel guilty for almost making light of our weather here). Hundreds of people have had to be rescued, many are reported lost....the scenes are absolutely terrible.



The armed forces have been called out, rescue services have been out all night, bridges have collapsed......my heart goes out to those affected.

xx

English weather.........

...is something that we all like to complain about. Trust me - most conversations we have includes an element of weather - 'it's too hot !', 'it's too cold!', 'roll on summer!'.

But I think we're truly lucky not to have the weather - and events - that some countries endure. True - we hve flooding from time to time which can be totally deestating, but I'm thinking about the fires, earthquakes etc that destroy whole areas.

In my degree course I've just been studying geological events such as volcanoes and tsunamis, and I've never been so thankful to live in the UK. The photo below is of Chaiten volcano in Chile, taken during a lightning storm as it erupted in 2008. Breathtakingly beautiful, but destructive as hell.




I really don't know how people live in areas which are prone to seismic events without dying of a stress related heart attack !! Seriously - I'd make myself so ill worying about it all the time.

So kudos to those who live in more 'dangerous' areas - I'm happy in safe old England :-)

xx

Squirrels, squirrels everywhere

Had to share this clip that I found on the Soap Queen website - just perfect for today's weather !! You wouldn't believe how much fun Jorge and Henry would have with that number of squirrels; even one makes them tear over the garden for hours !

Feeling really down today as a few days of feeling ill ended up with me at the emergency doctors last night, where I was diagnosed as having strep throat and laryngitis. Typical. I multi task all the time, even when I'm ill !!

I can hardly swallow, and am on liquids for a while - so none of the chicken pie that I'd made for Dave ! I'll make Gray - my Dad (Happy Birthday Gray !!) his bday cake next week; he knows it's worth waiting for.

xx

Half empty nest syndrome

Lucy has gone on her week's visit to the Outdoor Education Centre and I miss her so much already.

I cried so much yesterday when I took her to school - the other mums must think I'm mad, as they were all only too happy to 'get rid' of their kids for a while. It was lovely to see how excited she is though - she was doing her happy dance for ages whilst waiting for the bus to load her suitcase I know that she'll be okay - it's me I'm feeling sorry for - a week without my baby.

Dave had his birthday last Friday - 47 this time although still claiming to be 29. We made him a chocolate birthday cake (amongst other things !) and used the same '2' and '9' candles that we've been using for the past 18 years !!! It's a family tradition now.

My dad's birthday is this Thursday - 5th November - so will need to do even more baking for him. Not being a fan of chocolate I think I'll do him a Rum and Raisin Cake, I just don't know how I'd decorate that !!

xx

Remember me?

Er..Hi...it's me - the disappearing blogger. I got too busy (life.....blah...blah...kids......blah..blah....study......etc etc) so I kind of sort of forgot to blog. But I tattoed 'MUST DO BETTER' on my forehead so hopefully I'll remember from now on !!

It's so cold here - autumn has really set in. Sadly, the central heating isn't working so we're waiting for an engineer to come out tomorrow to fix it. So in the meantime I'm modelling countless layers, socks, cardigans, dressing gowns - none of which are husband approved (quote - 'Mickey, take a pictoure of your Mum looking like that to post on her blog so people can see what she really looks like.' CHEEK!!!!).

Good news - we finally booked a holiday for next year !! Two weeks all inclusive at a beach club in Ibiza. Really can't wait. Dave is desperate for a holiday with everything that's going on at work and with his Mum.

More good news - I passed my last course on oceanography !!! I'm currently working on two more - Earthquakes/volcanoes/tsunamis and archaeology.

Bad news - Dave's Mum is getting worse. By worse I mean, more frustrating, more annoying, harder work, less able to look after herself, more able to refuse point blank to do anything to help herself but still expect everyone to do everything for her. I know how heartless I sound, but it's unbelieveable how much trouble she's causing, to the point of accusing my husband and his sisters of wanting her to 'pop her clogs' to get her money. My sisters-in-law are running themselves ragged trying to look after her as well as their own kids, and their own lives. Dave is doing so much for her that we hardly see him sometimes.

More bad news (for me) - Lucy is going off to camp in two weeks. My baby is going on the annual school trip to an outward bound centre and I'm dreading it. Dreading saying goodbye, dreading waking up while she's gone and not seeing her, dreading her not being there at 3.15pm. Basically dreading everything about it.

Does anyone have any spare valium please ??

xx

Back to school

My two girls are back at school and college now. It seems so quiet without them - the cat and dog keep searching the bedrooms to see where they're hiding !!

It's been a busy few weeks again. Obviously they were both at home for seven weeks(twelve for Mickey), during which time Dave also took two weeks off. We went on various day trips such as West Midlands Safri Park and Llandudno and generally enjoyed our little 'staycation'. Micky had two weeks on a work placement that she earned on a school project, she also had her GCSE results through - 22 GCSE's !!!!!!!! She was featured in the local papers and on TV. Well done gorgeous girl !!

Lucy - my gorgeous ten year old went back to school today into year six - the final year of primary. My baby is growing up !! I'm really, really going to miss having her with me.

We've had horrible roadworks all over our road for a few weeks now with no immediate end in sight. The worst part is that the changes to our road are only going to make things worse - it's being done as part of the safety plans for Lucy's school but it's a terrible idea.

And I've spent about ten days being ill - we thought it might have been swine flu but I think it was just the regular kind. So I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself still :-(

So back to my studying too now.

Archaeology, volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes !!

xx

I PASSED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ipassed my OU course - I'm now Clare Bills Cert NatSci (open).

I get letters after my name !!!! I have a university certificate !!!!!!

ME !!!!!!!

Oh I'm celebrating tonight !!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx