Dear So and So

Dear Money,

Just wondering but when you leave my account but you haven't arrived into their account, where the heck are you? I want you back! I NEEEED you! And now I have to wait 3 working days for you to arrive properly (presumably with a written invitation and wearing black tie) before you can be refunded. And guess what? I then have to wait another 3 working days for you to properly leave their account and arrive back into my account where you rightly belong. Hope you enjoy your trip wherever you are. Send a postcard!

Wearing out the redial key to the bank, Me

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Dear Big One

I am so proud of you. Even though parents weren't allowed to come to your sports day yesterday due to lack of grass on the playing field (!), your 3 first places and 2 third places is amazing. I so wanted to post it on facebook but thought that would be gloating so (privately) very well done.

With big kisses even though I know you are starting to get embarrassed by it, Me

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Dear Weather

Any chance you could make up your mind? There is only so much room in the basket of my pram for raincover, sun lotion, sun hats, rain coats, fleeces etc.

Wearing bikini under my macintosh, Me

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Dear Car Rental Companies

Great idea, cheaper than buying a second car for the occasional weekend when we need two cars. But could you possibly reconsider the 'like for like' refuelling policy? Please explain how I am meant to return the car with the exact same amount of fuel as when I hired it, if it is not a full tank? I know. I know. I could underestimate and then get charged a super inflated premium rate for any shortfall (note: only you will 'know' that there is a shortfall and by how much), or I could overestimate thereby spending more than I need to anyway.

Knowing I am going to get ripped off, Me

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Dear Wee One

Why are you waking up every night? Bored now.

Knackered, Me

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Dear Tarmac

Thank you for 4 days of entertainment. Watching you scrape up our road like a hot knife through  butter was the best fun. And *whispers* we left a foot print in the new road.

Giggling, Me

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Dear Princess

Please speak normally. The whining voice that you have recently been practicing is pretty much perfect and requires no more rehearsal time. Save it for when Daddy gets home.

Wearing earplugs, Me

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Now pop over to 3 Bedroom Bungalow for more Dear So and So link ups.

The Gallery - Travel

Tara's prompt this week for The Gallery is Travel which was a great excuse to browse through some old pictures for inspiration.

There was the memorable trip to Indonesia with two friends, one of whom wanted to really experience the country, the other who just wanted a hot shower. I was so with the latter. The former was set upon by a pack of monkeys while she tried to get a photo of an iguana. The monkeys were more intent on the contents of her backpack than her fortunately. Several hours later by the pool where friend 2 had spent the afternoon sipping G&Ts (sensible), we wrote to the insurance company explaining that her camera was somewhere up a tree in a reserve in Bali and should the camera be retrieved we would provide photographic evidence of the attack.

The Kenyan safari was another experience that was exceptional in its beauty and wildlife. Eight rolls of film, more hours in a jeep than I could count and a very numb bum, I would go back in a heartbeat.

But at this point in my life, travel for me is all about my kids and giving them the experiences that they will remember hopefully for more than one sleep.

So here is a shot of the Big One (on the left) and friend for their first ride on the top deck of an old fashioned bus in Norfolk clutching his newest, bestest toy, a shiny tractor.

He still remembers how scratchy the seats were!

On Beauty

Open your eyes.
Look around you.
Look through a photographers lens.
Just look.




I did this and watched my daughters golden hair swinging from side to side as she ran, in her own penguin like way. I wanted time to slow down so I could savour every lock catching the light, reflecting the sun. I wanted to hold the golden tones and feel them run through my fingers, sure that they would simultaneously be heavy and soft to my touch. The waves of her hair and its fluidity filled my heart. If I could hold them, I could keep them and save them.

I saw a feather drift through my back door on the afternoon breeze. Time was, I would have tutted and tossed it in the bin. Instead I held it up to the light and turned it into the sun transfixed by the amazing regularity of each barb and how the light was distorted as it passed through this simple, discarded piece of anatomy. Such uniformity creating the perfect tool with which a bird can fly and look down on me looking at it's feather.

It rained. The smell of green was wonderful, no beautiful. The earth gave up its fresh rich scent that held me, smiling, and sent me into the garden to touch leaves, lift flowers, brush raindrops from abandoned toys and reach into the sandpit to feel its cool dimpled surface. I didn't expect that. I didn't expect to be pulled outside. My bare feet, with grass and earth stuck to my toes, woke me and led me to get my camera.

Beauty is there to be appreciated. But there isn't always time to indulge in it.

I will make time.


Inspired by Josie at Sleep is for the Weak and the Writing Workshop .

Silent Sunday

A Mother's CV

You've probably worked at some point in your life, if not your whole adult life and you've probably got a CV (resume for anyone the other side of the pond).

What's on it? Nosey aren't I?

Mine has followed a career path in retail and strategy with a couple of High Street stores and a large global brand. The purpose of this post isn't to brag or tout for a new job (although that had crossed my mind). What I want to illustrate is that it is in the last 6 years that my CV would make the most interesting and diverse reading. It is no coincidence that The Big One is 6 years old.

So in a useful A-Z format a list of my career 'choices' in the last 6 years.


A is for Art Critic - Constructive criticism even though you have absolutely no idea what it is supposed to be.
B is for Barista - Well you have to take a coffee break right?
C is for Cook - Chef would be far too grand a word for beans on toast.
D is for Dictionary - A walking talking a to z of all those important words like 'tyrannosaurus' and 'bulldozer'.
E is for Entertainer - Not quite Britains Got Talent standard but a passable clown act.
F is for Friend - One that is easily forgotten in the disarray.
G is for Goalkeeper - Sometimes in the garden with a football and sometimes at the dinner table with roast potatoes.
H is for Hairdresser - Never thought I would have to master a french plait.
I is for Image Consultant - That pink t-shirt with those red jeans?
J is for Judge - All the evidence could be circumstantial of course.
K is for Knitter - Well I have needles and wool. Just need a few extra hours in the day.
L is for Librarian - Alphabetised or colour coordinated bookshelves?
M is for Mother - I wish it was that simple.
N is for Nurse - Administer of Calpol and plasters but really not very good with blood.
O is for Occupational Therapist - Who knew that cereal boxes and toilet rolls had so many uses?
P is for Psychologist - Just trying to work out what is happening between those 2 ears.
Q is for Quantum Physicist - A part time hobby you understand.
R is for Referee - Oh for a whistle and a red card.
S is for Story-teller - Although the number of times I've read the same book they should be able to recite it for themselves, surely.
T is for Teacher - Just got to keep one chapter ahead in the text book.
U is for Upcycler - Have you seen my post about the Butterfly Garland?
V is for Volunteer - So helpful when you find out your child has offered your assistance at the school fair.
W is for Washerwoman - What the? Which century are we in?
X is for Xtreme Housewifery - Bugger that. Who's for gin?
Y is for Youth Worker - For the days when they think they are teenagers.
Z is for Zoologist - Worm farms and tadpole tanks - blurgh!

I'm exhausted and the most over qualified housekeeper ever!

So what would you have on your CV?

"A woman wears many hats in one lifetime, why shouldn't one of them be a crown?"
Annie Jones

Silent Sunday

Upcycle Butterfly Garland

Feeling a teensy bit creative.

It was decided (by me) that we (I) would make a cute butterfly garland for The Princess to hang in her bedroom.

Take one sheet of (used) wrapping paper, scissors, thread and paper glue.

Cut out as many butterflies as you wish (can be bothered to). It does help to have a steady hand and ensure that there isn't anything on TV you want to watch. Watch out for those tricky antennae (or whatever the correct anatomical name is for butterfly's sticky up bits).

Cut a length of string or ribbon (or in my case embroidery thread because the chances of me ever doing any embroidery are slim to nil).

Apply glue to the wrong side of a butterfly and lay the thread down the middle.

Find a matching butterfly. Ideally do this before you have applied the glue or, as you try to delicately turn the glue covered butterfly over to remind yourself what colour and shape it was, you will cover your worksurface and yourself with glue thereby increasing the degree of difficulty of the craft exercise by a factor of 10. I also recommend (from experience) that you do not try to do this on the garden table, as the slightest breeze can make it a tad tricky to keep your butterflies from flying off in all directions.

Apply the second butterfly directly to the first matching up the symmetrical shapes. (Did I mention that it helps enormously if the shapes you are cutting out are symmetrical so that when you stick them back to back you haven't got ugly edges sticking out).

Repeat with more butterflies at approximately 10cm intervals.

Allow to dry and hang decoratively at the window thus.

I thank you.