Saturday Fun

After the week it is so good just to go slow, switch off and relax. To-day I did not get up till 10.45....heaven.

This afternoon I've danced round the kitchen to this:

Fun, laughter, the week forgotten.

Perfect.

Jane

Gifts

By Thursday it was fair to say I was a bit fed up. The continual balancing act between work, home and keeping everything going was leaving me feeling rather stretched.
On Monday night there was the minor issue of realising I should have by now booked transport to get to the Olympics (everyone else seems to have done), Tuesday I'd forgotten to pay a bill, Thursday a mad panic to get a shoe box for science day for school, and I won't even start on work.

Arriving home at the end of the day was an unexpected card from a friend.......

It's a David Hockney- on the back it links to the exhibition 'A Bigger Picture'. It struck a chord, and made me think of what the bigger picture is compared to the stuff that wears me down.

Tonight, was a scout BBQ by the river. I didn't want to go. It was raining. But when we arrived I received another gift:

Hope, promise and a much bigger picture.

Jane

last week

i opened my back door to discover a squirrel eating my strawberries. i picked the ripe berries and took them to my nieces and nephews. dinner out. cooking in. a lot of. a garden party; reunion of friendships made last year, meeting of other halves and children this. rain. but not as much as forecast. merriment until the wee small hours. flying visit to jane. the wimbledon final on a big screen. dinner and drinks around the fire pit. home. tired but happy. turns out squirrels eat green berries too. must buy netting. and get an early night.

Emma

Reflections

A year ago I was on my way to Thailand.

It was a trip that defined 2011, both in time taken to plan, being there and fundraising afterwards. As I have written previously I did things completely outside of my comfort zone, saw and experienced living in places I had never thought I would see, and most of all was humbled by the beautiful people I met.

So a year on what next? I would do anything to go back and visit again, and maybe one day I will. At the time it taught me to live simpler, to think more carefully about money, to think how you spend your time, what you do with your days.
Already I can see how the western culture for wanting more has quickly impinged back in my life, and how easy it is to lose your focus.  I am still seeking answers on what to do with my days, of how to make a difference.

But to-day, I want to thank God for the time I had there, the people I met, and say you taught me so much. Days are for living and being different in, and of making the most of those moments.

Jane

A Trip to London

Well I've been a bit quiet the last week as lots of things have been quite difficult, and taken away any ounce of creativity.
To-day I was in meetings in London all day. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. At lunch time I wandered outside for 20 minutes, and was met with a buzz that you only get in London. A packed square, deck chairs, tennis and piano against a wall that anyone could play.

This afternoon we moved rooms. The view was amazing.

Working in London for the day has benefits. Inspiring skylines, energy that you just absorb. Creativity restored.

Jane

magic madge

back in march jane wrote a post about mothers day. in response i wrote a post not just in memory of jane's mum barbara but to acknowledge the prod jane had given me about taking your parents for granted. it took three months to find a weekend we were both free but finally this weekend we spent time. leaving the working week and the grey manchester skies behind i headed to wales to embrace the "micro climate" i am constantly told about. it rained but i'm sure not as much as it did in manchester.


i arrived on friday evening clutching peonies as a present. mum loves flowers but tells me that she has never bought peonies herself and was only this week looking at them. i explain that going to buy flowers i thought it was fitting that i bought peonies as it was jane and barbara that inspired this visit and peonies were one of barbara's favourite flowers. i have bought peonies for both jane and barbara before, i have obviously never bought flowers for mum when peonies are having their three week window at this time of the year.

over dinner our plans for saturday were concocted. we had an idea to board a stream train and take a journey. plans were changed when not only was i not old enough nor male enough to pose as graham for the rail card but they were out of date. by three days. plans were rearranged. 


mum and i opted for a spot of antique rummaging 

followed by lunch

followed by a drive through conwy to head down the conwy valley.

once we had had our fill of the welsh air we headed home to have a well earnt cup of tea and a slice of homemade carrot cake. sitting down with graham in front of the tv wimbledon was on. we were set for the evening with andy murray giving us a performance that kept us glued to our sets until the 11pm curfew. night matches from wimbledon, a whole new concept i could easily get used to for a fortnight a year.

a new day. sunday. today, time for graham. mum and graham have been married ten years this year. that has gone fast. with his dry sense of humour and love of music he was an easy fit for us. he loves boats. model boats. passed down through his family. sunday morning brought a trip to the boat club and an opportunity to talk to people from all walks of life, the housewife, the retired gent, the breast surgeon. 

after lunch thoughts turn to heading home. not without checking out the garden first. it is a cacophony of colour. i posted my photos of mothers day showing that i bought mum a pot containing bulbs, anemone bulbs, my mum's mums (my grandmas) favourite. she wanted to show me that flowers were beginning to come.

mum and graham love the garden. theirs is built into a hillside. graham had given himself a fright while we were out on saturday; he had been gardening and some of the rockface had given way while he was on it. concerned wife and step daughter told him to be more careful next time, his face said it all whilst telling the tale, i am sure next time he will be.

preparing to leave, talk turned to what a good weekend we had had. we had laughed and joked and chatted for a long time around dinner tables. we had tested each others musical knowledge and how up to date we were on current affairs. we had reminisced and shared current stories. we had enjoyed each others company. we spent time just being together and taking an interest in each other not just taking each other for granted. it was good. thank you jane.

Emma

temperance

today was humid. and. the sun shone. i'm still waiting for the rain. but. for now i will take the warmth. i commented this morning that i am sick of wearing black. it's summer and we are all still wrapping up against the elements. by this afternoon it was obvious i was wearing the wrong outfit. driving home from work, windows down hoping for a breath of air to waft through and cool the dark interior, i was stuck in traffic. the car behind was doing the same. only his car had a stereo that worked. this song wafted through the traffic jam.

the stones roses. i was immediately transported back to my youth. i frequented the hacienda as a student. this song was a regular on temperance nights. this was a song that made you feel like you belonged. in the middle it breaks down. if you were on the dance floor when this was playing and you knew the track, you knew how to dance to it. if you didn't. you didn't. it separated the men from the boys. the cool kids from the wannabes. the roses are everywhere at the minute. they play heaton park in manchester this weekend. a reunion tour. obviously some guy was getting himself in the mood early. it made me think about this track too.

this is my favourite new order track. temperance nights always played this 12" version. i still remember the image of a lad who every week without fail would be on the stage dancing to this. fringe covering his face, arms alternating up and down in time with the music, silhouetted against the coloured strobing lights. that was the thing about going regularly to the same club night; there were some tracks that were played every week. not just that. there were some tracks that were played at the same time every week. when the beatles ticket to ride and the mamas and the papas california dreamin' came on you knew it was midnight. stuck in traffic today i remembered that growing up in manchester gave me access to the first "super club". to me it was my back yard. i thought every teenager had a hacienda in their town. as you gain life experience and knowledge you realise that not everyone did. my formative musical taste was formed by this kind of experience. this kind of music. as a teenager i didn't go to local pubs, i would catch the 157 bus, change at parrswood and get the number 50 to the international. a £2.50 ticket would buy you access to a support act, a headliner and a disco afterwards all washed down with a vodka and lime. again i took this for granted. funny how a few bars of a song can bring all this flooding back.  music. the world would be poorer without it.


Emma