A room without a roof

Happiness comes in many forms.

Meeting up with these beauties brings me real joy - look at them!

Vix did a post about Our Day Out here.

 

New frocks that cost a fiver...

unexpected tulips in my garden...

borrowing my neighbour's gorgeous ginger fella...

 and seeing Nina's art work (she painted the foxes) in her school mural:

these things are happiness on a plate.

Oh look - more Nina. 

With Uncle Gary.

Two of my favourite people.

Lemon drizzle cakes (made by me)...

huevos rancheros for brunch (not made by me)...

and a Fanny that plays records.

These are Good Things, clearly.

 

 So is a visit to Chatsworth House... 

 especially when there are hats to try on...

with my gorgeous niece. 

Always good to have a weekend away - how about Stratford upon Avon?

Beautiful sunshine, blue skies, and this man...

Yes, there are lots of reasons to clap along, if you know what happiness is to you.

Hope everyone is well, I'll be popping by soon. 

xxx

We move like the sea

There's nothing like a blast of sea air to blow away the cobwebs.

And a visit to Tynemouth means great company too.

My sister Sabena and her partner Gary; two of my very favourite people.

Jumping for joy on the beautiful Longsands beach. 

Some more successfully than others...

There is a market every weekend at Tynemouth metro station too, which Sabena and I browsed around...

while Gary took the kids to the match at St James' Park.

I am woefully out of practice at blogging, and feeling sadly adrift from my lovely community of bloggers whose support and company I value. Real Life has its distractions at present, but I'll have a good go at catching up with you all - I miss you. 

1970s hand made maxi dress - Mooch vintage shop

Boots - community fair

And it's hard to find a good spot in my new garden to take a decent photo!

xxx

Down to believing

Looking back, my last post seems elegiac. Unintentionally so, at the time, but there is an air of weary melancholy about it all the same, a sense of mourning and loss. 

I didn't know - then - that I would be absent for so long. Or that when I returned, life would have changed so much.

 I've composed this post repeatedly in my head. I didn't know how to write it, and still don't. So I'll try and keep it simple and brief.

Simon and I are in the process of separating. I'm moving out, the kids will live between both homes, and we'll do our very best to share their care and upbringing in a loving and decent fashion. (They seem to be doing OK, so far.)

 

On holiday in Crete in May

I confess to feeling daunted. 

I'm starting again, alone, from scratch, at 52. 

Fifty-fucking-two. 

On my birthday in June.

The To Do list runs over several pages and keeps getting longer.

 The logistics of managing the schedules and possessions of three kids across two households will be a challenge.

 My impending poverty is alarming. Church mice will be offering to buy my drinks.

It's a little overwhelming. 

 

Love - that elusive joker - seems a world away.

But...

I guess it comes down to believing.

Believing in the support of good friends, and the fact that I know that money doesn't buy what is truly worth having.

Believing in resilience, resourcefulness, and the possibility of new beginnings.

In my own judgement of my worth, and trusting the truth in my misshapen heart, scratches, scars and all.  

So I guess it comes down to believing, and whether we do or we don't.

And I think, I hope, that I do.

xxx

 

   

Catching up

Is anyone still there? I do hope so, despite my extremely poor blogging form of late.

 

I've been spending a lot of time here...

 

 

and increased my hours to full-time for a week to cover my manager's leave. That was a challenge.

I've been wearing colours inspired by some street art which I pass every day on my walk to work.

Inevitably, there has been an ever-growing list of Jobs To Do waiting for me on my days off.

Uniform-buying, optician's appointments, some modicum of housework, that sort of thing. And trying to get out and about with the kids on the sunny days, while feeling pretty guilty that they have had a rubbish summer...

 

 

although Nina looks happy enough here.

 

 

Claudia got her first proper haircut at my hairdresser's...

and not to be outdone, Owen tried on a pink wig, which looked alarmingly good on him.

(Anyone else thinking Grayson Perry? He only needs a frock.)

I've found some bits and bobs in the shop, of course; a 1960s St Michael top and 1967 pattern...

 

 

and a 1964 edition of The Tempest, which I rescued from the book recycling box for the sake of the gorgeous cover illustration.  It's by Leo and Diane Dillon. 

 

 

1960s silk maxi skirt - gift from much-missed Krista

Fringed top, large ring and bangles - charity shopped

Necklace - gift from Gisela

Sandals - retail (sale)

 

 

1970s dress - vintage shop

Cropped cardigan and bangles - charity shopped

Sandals - retail (sale)

 

So that's me - a bit frazzled, enjoying work but finding it tricky to balance it with everything else in life that needs my attention, and hoping that the kids returning to school might help to establish a better routine. 

 

 

And finally, I must mention our local girl Jessica Ennis-Hill, who won a gold medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing last week. 

 

 There was I, slumped on the sofa with a cup of tea, bemoaning my aching back and tired feet; and there was Jess, retaining a world title in a multi-discipline event just over a year after giving birth. If she can defend her Olympic title next year, she'll be only the third athlete in track and field to do so after becoming a mum.

Go Jess!

(Painting by Pete McKee.)

Now - what's been going on with you? I'm about to find out!

xxxx