... five miles each way really isn't that far
... i'm not as lazy as i thought i was (now i don't think i'm pushing myself hard enough!)
... the ride is different, so very different, each and every time i do it - new sights, smells and sounds greet me on every journey: each morning the sky changes, painted with colours from a new day's palette, with a variation of cloud type and density; each day the river flows with a new rhythm, with more or less urgency, fluctuating depth and waves; every morning there are new flowers and plants growing, a variety of scents from the foliage dependant upon what's blooming and the weather which assails it; so many different birds, not all of which i can identify by their call alone. all of which is very obvious and i was of course aware of, but somehow missed it all on every previous journey cocooned as i was in the car
... freewheeling is fun
... wet grass is slippery
... falling off hurts
... especially on concrete
... i bruise like a peach
... and whine like a whiney thing
... i can smell the fresh scent of washing drying on the line as i cycle past
... i can cycle through a river
... the edge of the pedal is sharp - although i don't think my brain has fully appreciated this fact yet given the alarming frequency with which i pierce my leg with said pedal
... the sewage works really smells some mornings
... i have discovered my very own 'cyclists wind' - no matter which direction i cycle in, no matter which way the wind is initially blowing ... it is always in my face, with occasional gusts from the side
... pedestrians can sometimes be more of a hazard than cars
... keep my eyes open for clouds of bugs, and my mouth closed
... and just to be doubly sure, breathe out through my nose when cycling through them, on no account inhale - as this leads to a noseful of bugs (not pleasant for them or me!)
... there is no small amount of pleasure in being able to cycle up that big hill in a larger gear
... much as i adore the sun (oh yes i do), cloudy days make for better cycling than thirty degrees in the shade
... it's best not to breathe in when a bin lorry passes
... the leaves are starting to fall already
... the person/people who developed padded lycra should all be made saints
... there really are otters in the river
... i feel a smug, guilty pleasure as i cycle past all of the cars that, having whizzed past me five minutes ago, are now stuck in a traffic jam
Sunday, August 3
Thursday, July 31
Wednesday, June 25
it gets easier with time ...
... is a lie, a myth.
it gets harder.
each passing day is another day without my nan and aunty mare, another day i haven't spoken with them, another day i haven't hugged them, another day since i last saw them, another day of missing them both.
it gets harder.
each passing day is another day without my nan and aunty mare, another day i haven't spoken with them, another day i haven't hugged them, another day since i last saw them, another day of missing them both.
Monday, April 21
the work of mourning
she took the branch from the tree
salted the earth with her tears
as she wrapped it for the journey
she planted it in the garden
there between the spring flowers
the crocuses, the daffodils, all unseen
now she sits amongst the lilac blossom
the leaves whispering around her
it is not grief they speak, but memory
she took the branch from the tree
salted the earth with her tears
as she wrapped it for the journey
she planted it in the garden
there between the spring flowers
the crocuses, the daffodils, all unseen
now she sits amongst the lilac blossom
the leaves whispering around her
it is not grief they speak, but memory
for our nan
how to choose the words to tell you about our nan? we can tell you where and when our nan was born, that she had one sister and three brothers. that, at the age of 14, nan went into service and at the age of 18 she joined the ATS, where she was to meet our grandad.
these are some of the happenings from our nan’s life but we would like to share with you our nan, as we remember her.
all of us will have so many of our own precious memories but did you know that our nan could tickle a trout? it was quite easy apparently! sundays at nan’s house meant roast dinner with all the trimmings – her roast spuds were THE best, and her apple courting cake really was legendary. nan always had to make extra for us, some for now and some for later.
although nanny never had much, what she did have was always shared. nan’s door was always open and everyone was always welcome through it. anyone who befriended one of the family became one of the family and everyone who came into nan’s home always went away with a full tummy.
nan was always there for us, to listen to us ... to give us advice. but no matter what happened in our lives, no matter what choices we made, nan never judged or criticised. nanny was happy if we were happy and was always so proud of even the smallest achievement.
i do mean this in the nicest way, but i won’t need to tell you that nan had her stubborn and contrary moments! when nan would tell you about her day, or something that had happened, we would pretend to tell her off, saying ‘nan, you can be so contrary sometimes’. she would look at you, the biggest smile would light up her face and she would say ‘yes, but i am lovely with it!’. and she really was, and that would get her off the hook so many times. nan had such a sense of humour and boy, did she have a wicked laugh!
did you know that nan had a jar of magic cream in her cupboard? when we were little and had bumped or grazed ourselves, nanny’s magic cream would make an appearance and with a little dab of cream whatever hurt had ailed us would be cured. it wasn’t until we were quite a bit older that one of us asked what nanny’s magic cream had been ... it was a tub of nivea! and the magic ingredient ... the one that stopped the pain and the tears ... that was love.
nan shared her love of nature with us, even the shortest walk would have nan passing on the names of flowers, plants and trees and she loved to watch the birds feeding in her garden, the antics of the squirrels trying to steal the bird’s food would have her in stitches.
nan also passed on strength, determination, so much love, the importance of loved ones and i hope, a little of that contrariness! we just hope that we can be as ‘lovely with it’ too!
for every memory we commit to paper, we remember another dozen that we haven’t mentioned here. what a lovely legacy though ... a lifetime of love, laughter and happy memories.
with all of our love, good night nanny, God bless and don’t let those bed bugs bite!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
what we miss about our nan.
i miss nan now she’s gone.
i miss her threatening to hit me with her stick.
i miss her smile as she takes the swipe.
i miss telling her how much we love her.
i miss her saying “love you lots”.
i miss her sitting in her chair.
i miss her roast potatoes.
i miss her “aunt bessie” yorkshire puds.
i miss her “apple courting cake”.
i miss talking to her, never judging.
i miss her support.
but most of all, we miss you, nan.
these are some of the happenings from our nan’s life but we would like to share with you our nan, as we remember her.
all of us will have so many of our own precious memories but did you know that our nan could tickle a trout? it was quite easy apparently! sundays at nan’s house meant roast dinner with all the trimmings – her roast spuds were THE best, and her apple courting cake really was legendary. nan always had to make extra for us, some for now and some for later.
although nanny never had much, what she did have was always shared. nan’s door was always open and everyone was always welcome through it. anyone who befriended one of the family became one of the family and everyone who came into nan’s home always went away with a full tummy.
nan was always there for us, to listen to us ... to give us advice. but no matter what happened in our lives, no matter what choices we made, nan never judged or criticised. nanny was happy if we were happy and was always so proud of even the smallest achievement.
i do mean this in the nicest way, but i won’t need to tell you that nan had her stubborn and contrary moments! when nan would tell you about her day, or something that had happened, we would pretend to tell her off, saying ‘nan, you can be so contrary sometimes’. she would look at you, the biggest smile would light up her face and she would say ‘yes, but i am lovely with it!’. and she really was, and that would get her off the hook so many times. nan had such a sense of humour and boy, did she have a wicked laugh!
did you know that nan had a jar of magic cream in her cupboard? when we were little and had bumped or grazed ourselves, nanny’s magic cream would make an appearance and with a little dab of cream whatever hurt had ailed us would be cured. it wasn’t until we were quite a bit older that one of us asked what nanny’s magic cream had been ... it was a tub of nivea! and the magic ingredient ... the one that stopped the pain and the tears ... that was love.
nan shared her love of nature with us, even the shortest walk would have nan passing on the names of flowers, plants and trees and she loved to watch the birds feeding in her garden, the antics of the squirrels trying to steal the bird’s food would have her in stitches.
nan also passed on strength, determination, so much love, the importance of loved ones and i hope, a little of that contrariness! we just hope that we can be as ‘lovely with it’ too!
for every memory we commit to paper, we remember another dozen that we haven’t mentioned here. what a lovely legacy though ... a lifetime of love, laughter and happy memories.
with all of our love, good night nanny, God bless and don’t let those bed bugs bite!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
what we miss about our nan.
i miss nan now she’s gone.
i miss her threatening to hit me with her stick.
i miss her smile as she takes the swipe.
i miss telling her how much we love her.
i miss her saying “love you lots”.
i miss her sitting in her chair.
i miss her roast potatoes.
i miss her “aunt bessie” yorkshire puds.
i miss her “apple courting cake”.
i miss talking to her, never judging.
i miss her support.
but most of all, we miss you, nan.
Friday, April 4
quote of the week
from ken livingstone, on his 'five children by three women' shocker being 'discovered' by some tabloid or other (don't ya just love 'em!).
"I have never discussed my private life because it is not a relevant factor. I don't think anybody in this city will be shocked by what two consenting adults do, as long as you don't include children, animals and vegetables"
just a wee p.s. to the original post - i was on the bbc site this morning and a member of the concerend public had written to express his dismay that mr livingstone hadn't included 'dead people' on his of things that two consenting adults shouldn't include! what can we infer from this mr sun reporter?!
"I have never discussed my private life because it is not a relevant factor. I don't think anybody in this city will be shocked by what two consenting adults do, as long as you don't include children, animals and vegetables"
just a wee p.s. to the original post - i was on the bbc site this morning and a member of the concerend public had written to express his dismay that mr livingstone hadn't included 'dead people' on his of things that two consenting adults shouldn't include! what can we infer from this mr sun reporter?!
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