FEELING GOOD....!!!

Its always good this time on a Wednesday.... i've finished the breast feeding workshop, did my ante natal clinic and private patient yesterday so I can sort of have a breather.... mind you I have a load of post natal visits to do tomorrow. But just for now I can feel I have done my work and its off to piano in a minute. I have had a revelation this week... if I practise the piano I improve!! I realise this probably isn't ground breaking research but I have done a reasonable amount of practise this week and i seem to have got a little better! Hopefully this will spur me on to do more, a bit like dieting.... when you loose weight you are inspired to keep trying and loose more.

Well , Better go and do a little more practise before the lesson......

The days pass so quickly and I haven't managed to write a thing, or else I haven't got a thing to write.....

Well, another weekend passed and it felt brief as always,
ian is doing some travelling these last 2 wks and will only have spent 2 nights at home in 2 wks. In the past he has done A LOT of travelling and not so much lately and if any just a night or 2 so I have to admit to feeling rather miserable about it. Rather pathetically I even shed a tear!! Started to think about soldiers going away and leaving their partners for months and being in a war zone, how awful must that feel?? doesn't even bear thinking about......

Knitted a different hat.... it didn't turn out well......

It was too small for a start, and only just fitted Joseph! You are meant to turn it into a snood whenever the fancy takes you . I must say it goes quite well with his school uniform but I am fairly sure they would NOT approve!! Not sure I will have another go with that one!!

ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE              

Had my 1 st proper lesson this morning, and it was REALLY great. Came out feeling tall and light! It a little like cranial osteopathy, I hope it makes a difference but I have to say my back is killing me now!

BREAST FEEDING

Had a break through today at work. Have been visiting this lady who had a c-s a week  ago and has been struggling with feeding. The baby just would NOT take the breast. We tried everything with limited success. The baby lost a load of weight and so there was no choice but to resort to bottles. Luckily Mum had loads of milk and was able  to give mostly breast milk. Today we tried at the breast again and she took it!!! She was calm and patient and did pretty well, hope its a start. I tried a different position with the baby straddling mums leg and coming straight onto the breast face on. The delivery had been quite stressfuk and I wonder if the baby had a stiff neck which made more conventional positions uncomfortable. Fingers crossed it will continue.....

Off to choir now though I might just stay at home and knit. Woke at 5.30 so what with that and fasting feeling pretty ropey now......

DAYLIGHT

Out the door as usual with Joseph at 7.15 and there was a change...... it was light or certainly almost light. The sun was coming up and it was not as dark as normal. Home by 7.30 and then out to walk the dogs, lately i have been waiting till at least 7.45 as its too dark but this morning it was LIGHT!! A lovely day too, blue sky and mild. Is Spring around the corner??

Off to the breast feeding workshop , then piano,(haven't done any practise this week) and finally my 1st session of Alexander technique. Am looking forward to that......

JANUARY BLUES

Hurrah...... January is nearly over, the days are definitely getting longer, I can walk the dogs around 5 and its just starting to get dark. Half term soon, in 2 and  1/2 wks and we are off to Morroco, just us 2 for  5 days.  The temperature is up in the 20's during the day with a BIG African sun shining down so it should be lovely!!!

Had some bloods taken at the doc the other day and the results show my Hb and iron stores are pretty low. Since getting this news I have been feeling REALLY tired and look dreadfully pale. I am such a hypochondriac, I felt fine a couple of days ago!! Nothing a dose or two of iron won't fix!!

Just off to make tea, falafel  with some home made flat breads and tahini sauce, YUMMY!!

TRIES TO BE FUNNY BUT FAILS!!

Had a big fight with Joseph last night and while he was thinking it over in his room he wrote a list .......
Reasons not to like Mum....  There were numerous reasons but the one that made me laugh was " tries to be funny but fails", also "she says my writing is dreadful... hypocrite"
Reasons to like Mum and there was only one of these..."sometimes she is nice"

I think I will keep it for posterity !!

NEW CARPET

When we moved here 21 yrs ago there was a rather awful carpet on the stair that we had to reluctantly pay £60 for and had high hopes for getting a new one quickly, anyway we have now and rather nice it is too

Quite stripy  but rather smart  and looks very posh, just like us.......

 CIABATTA

I had a go at making ciabatta for the first time and here they are

 Those were the better two, the others looked more like crackers....tasted good though. I don't know why they didn't rise as they had 2 packets of yeast in,anyhow they were fun to make and I will certainly have another go!

KNITTING

This is a slouchy hat i made last night.... not very slouchy so I made a bobble to make it slouch more.... it didn't work, so that will go in my pile for  next years Christmas sale and I will have another go.. colours are good though !

WEATHER

WEll, we have had some weather here in London

It has snowed very lightly for a couple of days and ended up with quite a decent covering, certainly enough to make a reasonable snow man. Everything looks soooo pretty for a while!

Of course all the trains were messed up and so Monday morning meant it was impoosible for Joseph to get nto to school.... so another day off for him. Of course he was delighted and spent most of the day outside and the rest asleep in front of the fire so a very good day for him.!!

He was up and off though this morning and looks like the trains are all ok ish.... this morning!!

CHOIR

Choir last night and only a few turned up so it means you are quite exposed..... to say the least!I can more or less hold a tune if I am singing along with someone and there wasn't anyone to sing along with in a couple of tunes so I sort of fade away.....

 Anyway we managed and it is so good for the soul and lifts my spirits  for a few days after!

Off to work now, see if I can quickly walk the dogs in the field just up the road, I have just had a HUGE bowl of granola and after "fasting" yesterday am feeling very, very full and need to walk off some of it.

Ante natal clinic today and not  too busy, i am waiting for a rush of babies to be born over the next couple of weeks. There has been a bit of a baby boom after  50 shades of grey!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

Well, now i can tell all......
The surprise was a flying visit to Glasgow to be with Sam on his 21st birthday. He had to leave London 10 days ago and was feeling sorry for himself that no family would be with him to celebrate!
So... i hatched a plan to fly up and surprise him .
Becca was also keen to come from Leeds too.
The morning arrived and i had to get up at 5.15 to get to Luton airport and when I arrived there  it was THICK ,THICK fog. The plane was delayed by 2 hrs. At first it wasn't clear if the plane would go at all, so I was panicking as Becca was already on her way.
Finally we were in the air and I arrived there 11.30 instead of (.30. the plan was to go to his studio and surprise him there but just as i got out of the taxi, becca called to say he wasn't there today.... so much pfaffing around was done and finally Rebecca and i arrived at his halls. They wouldn't let us in at the accommodation office but luckily a maintenance man was there so he did...(rather sneaky). We found his flat but he wasn't in his room and while we were standing around wondering where he might be he came out of the loo!!
Poor boy nearly passed out...... it was really good, he was soooooo pleased to see us and chuffed to bits that we had gone up to see him. He smiled all day long as we all did, it was a very special day, just nice being together and it felt a BIG treat to have my big two all to myself.

WEATHER. 

It has started to snow here, so exciting except everything STOPS! Ian is on his bike so I hope and pray he gets home safely. Joseph is at school a few miles away so i hope the trains are running ok to get him safely home. Becca's boyfriend Joe is supposed to be heading up to Leeds to see her for the weekend so fingers crossed that he can do that without any problems. it seems worse in the West and is spreading east during the day , so hopefully once he is on his way it will be ok! 

For me anyhow, I have done my work  after skidding along narrow bendy roads with lots of parked cars and nearly giving myself a heart attack a couple of times, so the fire is lit and i will have a cosy afternoon baking and knitting i think.......