thankful thursday

like any week, this week has had its good bits and its bad bits; the extra day off work, the day i walked away through fear, the day i wandered around history in the sunshine, the day i was attacked, the day i attacked, the day off from the weekly singing routine, the days free of school traffic in the daily rush hour, the fever that put me to bed as the sun hung its head, the morning in the park with my youngest nephew. i am grateful for it all. this week i am reminded how far i have come and although i may slip and be disappointed with myself, i choose to dust myself off and continue. sometimes battered often bruised but in hopeful confidence i stand willingly open to failure. life is in the living and it is in the mistakes we often glimpse the gold of possibility. 

Emma

saturday with the littlest

Emma

best part of the week

this week my eldest nephew turned four. seeing my sister and her kids get excited about seeing my brother and his kids on his birthday was a highlight. got to love facetime.

Emma

The final day in Hong Kong on a cloudy, misty Friday afternoon we took the Star Ferry across the harbour. It's something I've always wanted to do, and it lived up to expectations.


Jane

earworm

this weeks earworm has weaved it's magic daily over the radio, the brass refrain like bait over the airwaves and i'm hooked. once i found the video, well how can you resist? happy friday everyone.

Emma

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thankful thursday

this week i am thankful to find the funny in the mundane. stuck in rush hour traffic this week i have laughed at the pink flowers growing above the yellow tinged box hedge of a house that has pink and yellow stained glass windows - have they really planted their garden to match the house? a mother and son who i usually see cycling the school run have had a change. this week the mother was cycling with a rope from her bike seat attached to the crossbar of her sons scooter pulling him along. warm mornings have called for rolled down car windows, enabling me to hear the mothers laughter at the sons cries to not cycle so close to the overhanging greenery along the route, complaining he got a mouthful of leaves. stuck in traffic on my side of the carriageway the other direction is clear apart from a teenager on his bike. from a distance he appears to be riding hands free, as he draws nearer i realise he is but is holding something in his hands - his white earbuds give him away, changing tracks on his ipod whilst cycling? i couldn't help but laugh. i'm grateful that even in the hum-drum of everyday life there are triggers for my sense of humour.

Emma

waiting for uncle richard

Emma

best part of the week

"look, i made a snowman." cue much adult laughter. not pictured; trampoline jumping with individual nephews and a niece using a croquet mallet as a microphone (mick jagger stylie) all accompanied by giggles. as a week of birthday celebrations gave way to tiredness, childhood laughter really is the best medicine.

Emma

This week I'm in Hong Kong with work.  Today I was fortunate to be taken to a part of Hong Kong you don't normally see as a visitor.  The experience was humbling and I'm grateful for the opportunity and all I have.

Jane

second seventy

this week we celebrated my step dads seventh. on a tuesday night. the location might have been familiar but the line up was different. memories shared, photo montages and buses proffered by children, grandchildren drew and wrote as well as talked and played guitar for their beloved granddad on film. in return he was suitably overwhelmed. earlier this year when mum celebrated her birthday my step sister thanked us for sharing our mum around, this week she commented we all share her dad too. we are honoured to.

Emma

thankful thursday

the eerie quiet of a usually busy main road causes me to stop in my tracks and take note - the stillness immediately triggers my mind - what sounds am i missing? in their absense i am reminded; appreciate the everyday. the smell of dew evaporating from freshly mown grass on a humid week day morning, a cloudless blue sky perfectly highlighting the newly budding greens, the wind lifting dandelion clocks as if on its breath and forcing my hands to clamp my thighs as my black cotton skirt swirls upwards whilst walking in the warmth of the spring sunshine, birds appearing in such number i fear my garden is being dive bombed even without seed in the feeder. in a week when a friends health circumstances have changed i am grateful for my senses and heed the reminder to embrace all that surrounds that we all too often can take for granted.

Emma

best part of the week

another big birthday, another set of surprises. working on projects with the grandchildren this week has been fun.

Emma

Prom night. Memories made forever when you are 16. A rite of passage for Mum and Dad.

Jane

thankful thursday

this week i would be lying if i gave you a list of things i'm thankful for. to be frank, these last couple of days i've been anything but. some weeks are like that aren't they? we fall down the hole of frustration and self pity. i've tried really hard not to - i've remembered to be thankful for what i have got - a job, a roof over my head, a family. then yesterday i received this -

my friend knows me well. we all have a tendency to compare ourselves with others and this week i have been guilty of doing just that. this week i believed i was less because my life isn't perfect - but you know what - no-ones is. on a bad day we tend to forget that. so here is my reminder to you and to me - we are not perfect, never going to be, weren't made that way but what we are is gloriously individual, fantastically gifted (in at least one thing, honestly it's there - go look for it), capable of being compassionate in ways we don't expect, and the owner of a sense of humour with the ability to laugh so hard you fear you will not be able to catch your breath again. 

i have been told more than once by friends this week that they wished we lived closer. i guess i should add to the above list - never forget we have the ability to communicate with others. with that connection comes the giving of the precious gift of our time, a gift that once shared is something we only benefit from.

thank you jane.

Emma

best part of the week

long weekend, sunshine, good food, good wine, good company.

Emma

Sunday afternoon sunshine. Mother and daughter time gardening, time goes slow. Even better knowing tomorrow is a bank holiday.

Jane

thankful thursday

rainy day walking, best friend talking, southern niece hugging, birthday celebrations, family catchups, laughter, sunshine, declarations, roast dinners, creative projects, friend catch ups, bracelet making, singing and dancing. a short working week emphasing rest and play. all these things i am grateful for. the balance of the rhythm of rest.

Emma