Day 580

Day 580...

And we have a Tuesday.

And it was a pretty standard sort of Tuesday. My morning was spent in work and was a mix of the usual admin, chats with my team and a visit from our local Asda community champion, Jon. This was his first proper visit since restrictions have been lifted and it was great to have him back at pre-school and we had a great activity introducing the children to some different foods with unusual tastes and textures.

I then headed home for the afternoon, with a quick stop by the local supermarket to pick up a few items and even picked up some things to go in the freezer ready for Christmas!

And although today was an afternoon that I don't ordinarily work I did actually spend most of the afternoon doing work! It is the last week of this term and I want to make sure I am up to date with everything so that I can enjoy my week off next week. Although I was also chief post officer for Shutter Studios as Molly had had a sale on her Etsy store and as she is away this week it was up to me to complete the packing and posting!

We rounded out the day with a trip down 'our gym' before cooking dinner and it will then be an evening of chilling in front of the TV.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 519...Keyboard Day

Day 519...

Well today has turned out to be a day primarily stuck at the keyboard. I was determined to get all the remaining policies for pre-school updated and so once up and about it was just me and the laptop.

I had a break mid-morning as we had another company visit to quote us for some artificial grass. We have two areas that we would like laid with maintenance free artificial turf but it's turning out to not be as cheap as we were expecting. Although both companies that have quoted so far are quoting pretty similar prices so at least we know that we are being quoted fairly. But I think we may wait until next year as we have other more important projects around the house that we would like done first.

And then it was time for lunch and another walk out for Simon and I and today we were armed with umbrella's as the minute we stepped out the door it started to rain. Thankfully the rain stayed away until we were just a few minutes from home, after completing another 2.5 miles in 46 minutes.

And while my afternoon was spent attached to the laptop Molly was spending her time in the garage with resin and a sander. She is beginning to make some beautiful creations and really sussing out the approach she needs to take to get her ideas taking shape...and of course she has incorporated a little Disney in there too!

But by the end of the day I have managed to get all the new policies and procedures completed - woohoo! Although I still have a handful more that I need to go through; the ones I completed today were policies provided to us through our membership of the Early Years Alliance but we have a few more that we have created ourselves over the years. So I now need to go through these and make sure they are still relevant and that they reflect our current practice. I was also able to chat with a couple of new parents over email and confirm start dates for their little ones. In an ideal world I'd like to think that the few bits of admin that I need to get done before we return in September could be completed tomorrow but I think that may be wishful thinking!

And with that Simon finished work and we headed down our 'gym' for some weights and battle ropes workout! And all that we have left to do today is settle down to watch this weeks RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 6....the game within a game...finally, we hope! (If you watch you will know what I am talking about!)

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 494

Day 494...

And we have another Sunday and we had a very lazy start to the day.

But when we finally got moving I had the fun job of completing the online grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow. And while I did that Simon set about a few jobs that needed sorting around the house.

First he is repairing some wood around the garage door and had some expanding foam filler to squirt into the holes. He then decided to look for any more holes that needed filling to make best use of the filler. He found a couple just alongside some guttering just underneath the edge of the house roof...slight issue as by filling in the holes he disturbed a wasps nest!! Thankfully the wasps seemed more confused than angry but I have contacted our 'wasp man' to come out and 'sort' them out!

Next job was to help Molly with a little project she has in mind for her Shutter Studios business that involved resin which Simon is rather adept at using. She has a plan to create some bespoke items with coloured resin that she will then sell under the banner of Shutter Crafts.

Then we had the big job of the day which was to continue with the job we'd started a couple of weeks ago of chopping back some rather well established trees and bushes with an aim to remove them completely. So with hedge trimmer in hand and a pair of loppers we, well mainly Simon, made good progress. We managed to fill two bins and burn a lot of the very dry stuff and although we still have more to do we have definitely made progress.

While Simon did the majority of the gardening I had a little podcast recording to complete. Michelle and I hooked up online to record a special show for our Patreon supporters. And then no sooner than we'd finished recording it was time for our Disney quiz via Zoom, which I was the joint winner of...although this does mean that I have to come up with questions for next week's show!

And with that I am stopping typing as it's late and I need to chill.

Take care.
xx

A Short Post

Day 264...

Today started with me and Molly off out to collect the weekly grocery shopping with a little detour via pre-school as I had some money (a float) to drop off ready for this weeks fundraising activities.

On the way home we popped into another local supermarket in search of wrapping paper, mulled wine (Ethan's favourite) and other festive bites.

When we arrived home Simon was busy in his workshop, aka our garage, working on a couple of helmets. He had one that needed 'cleaning up'; this means removing all the overspill and getting it ready to ship and another that he was casting.

Shopping and helmets out the way it was a quick trip to the post office to get a number of parcels on their way before heading out for an afternoon walk. It was decidedly chillier today but we managed 4 miles in an hour and 18 minutes.

Back home and in the warmth Simon was 'chatting' with the person buying the helmet and was able to get payment sorted and the helmet all packaged up and ready for posting to the US; fingers crossed this will arrive quickly as it has been bought as a Christmas present!

Molly has been working hard on her website today as she wants to be able to sell her cards and prints direct from her website rather than use a third party and pay them fees and commission! Check out her website for her photos, art and more - Shutter Studios.

This evening saw Molly making use of the facilities at her karate gym while Simon and I took a second trip to the post office to get the helmet on its way to the US. And in between all of that Simon has started to spray paint his R2D2 build. 

Another productive day.

Take care out there.
xx

Lockdown Birthday

Day 245...

Well today we celebrate two birthdays; firstly that of Mickey Mouse and secondly and most importantly my dad.

But it was still a work day and this morning I set to sorting through my 'to do' list to catch up on a number of tasks for work. And my day revolved around those jobs dipping in and out at times to get other stuff done but my main focus was trying to get on top of 'work' stuff.

We took a walk out at lunchtime and headed out over the fields for a 40 minute walk in very blustery, but thankfully dry, conditions.

Before I re-started work this afternoon I decided to make a low carb, dark chocolate cake for my dad's birthday. This is a very dense chocolate cake made with 85% dark chocolate, butter, eggs and vanilla essence; very yummy and goes great with some cream and raspberries.

While I was baking I decided to video chat with Molly as we had been chatting all morning via text about possible changes and improvements to her Shutter Studios website. She was debating about whether to opt for a different website platform and weighing up the various options as ultimately she would like to be able to sell her products via her own website. Lots of things to consider and lots of differing costs options.

She also showed me some Christmas Cards that she has had printed and is thinking of putting onto her Etsy store; must admit I am thinking of ordering some myself from her because they are really very good.

The afternoon rolled along and I was pleased to get everything done today that I had wanted to get done; still more to do but happy that I had achieved what I'd set out to do.

It was then time to fetch my dad and bring him back to our house for dinner. My dad doesn't often venture our way and it was lovely to be able to persuade him to come visit for a couple of hours. We had a little video chat with Molly while dinner was cooking and then after we introduced my dad to the low carb chocolate cake which was pretty well received.

So a day of birthdays, cake and good company.

Take care out there.
xx

A Photoshoot by Shutter Studios

Day 221...

So as we turned back the clocks one hour last night and can now fully embrace the autumnal season I thought I would change my little icon at the top of these posts to something more appropriate.

The day started with the usual Sunday online grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow, and then we got ready for an afternoon out!

Molly had been asked by my sister-in-law if she could take some photos for her and so our afternoon out was to help Molly with this photoshoot. My sister-in-law runs a small business called China Petals where she makes mosiacs from fine china. She has a small studio space and had asked Molly if she could take some photographs to be used in publicity; some shots of the studio, of her at work and some headshots.

So armed with camera and lightboxes we spent a few hours this afternoon as photographers assistant and driver. Molly did a great job and took over 350 photos which she now needs to go through and edit

Once home we had time for a coffee before jumping online to join in with the weekly Disney Dream Girls podcast Disney quiz. This week I had come up with questions all about the movie Hocus Pocus and my partner in crime, Michelle, had done the same all about the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Another fun hour chatting with Disney loving friends from around the world.

Simon has been working on an art commission for a contact in the US and some digital drawing for himself as well as a little VR time travelling around an art gallery! All in all, today has turned out to be quite a creative sort of day.

Until tomorrow, take care out there; wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx

Work, work and a little more work!

Day 162 or as I like to call it a 'work' day!

So considering I am technically on 'holiday' I have been rather busy today with pre-school work!

But the day started out by playing delivery driver for Molly. She had an order to be dispatched locally so I had said I would drive her to where it needed to go. Molly has a company called Shutter Studios and had received a request to have some of her photographs reproduced as cards. They turned out really well so Molly is going to order some more and add them to her Etsy store.

Beach scene cards by Shutter Studios

Once back home it was head down and get on with pre-school work. I drafted a new 'welcome to pre-school' email for all our new starters that I could then send out personalised to each individual. I had cash flow forecasts to recalculate, invoices to re-work, uniform orders to update, emails to respond to, policies to amend and update, website to update, new parental agreements to draft, a newsletter to expand and learning journals to set up...by 7pm I was done! And I still have more to finish off tomorrow - argh!

I had a small break mid-afternoon as I had to meet our estate agent down at our other house to get some photographs taken so that we can get the house on the market to rent and by this evening it had gone live online...fingers crossed we can get some tenants in pretty quickly.

And while Simon and Molly headed out in the rain to the 'gym' I carried on with my admin work so that I could get to a point where I was happy to stop and perhaps get some time this evening to chill out!

Whatever you maybe up to take care, stay safe and wear a mask!

xx

Day 94

Day 94...

And it's the weekend and at least the weather decided to get a little more Summer like as it is officially the start of Summer! 

After a slow start it was sorting out a couple of helmet sales with Simon; one in the post to the UK and the other out to the US. We also had a few Ebay items that sold successfully this afternoon so that will mean more packaging to do once the payments have been received.

Simon spent some of the afternoon fixing his 3D printer after it had stopped working a couple of days ago. Diagnosis was that the hot bed had failed so he ordered a replacement which arrived this morning and sure enough new hot bed installed and a working printer once again. He has also been messing about some more with electronics for both his R2D2 and mouse droid projects as both will need combinations of flashing lights and noises. Apparently this involves programming an arduino...I would have jumped in and helped obviously but thought best to leave it to Simon and a little help from Ethan!!

Molly received the prints that she has ordered for her Etsy store today and they look lovely...won't be long before the Shutter Studios store will be open for business! Here's just a couple of the prints...

'Squad Goals'

'Don't be a prick'

I've managed to get quite a bit of my jigsaw done today at various points and we have had our first socially distanced gathering in our back garden...well I say we but actually I mean Molly and four of her friends. The great thing was we had disposable plates and cutlery left over from Molly's 18th birthday party last year so a little impromptu get together ended up having a tiki bar/luau vibe going on...we even had hawaiian leis as well!

And as all the girls were socially distancing outside I found myself as chief cook! The great thing was that all the girls brought something and had a lovely few hours listening to music, chatting and catching up on the last few months. The weather at times came over rather dark and threatened rain but thankfully the majority of the time it was dry, sunny and warm. We opened up the garage just in case there was a downpour so the girls had somewhere to shelter and I think they only dashed there once and not for too long!

So a Saturday that had hints of normality to it and I suppose the further we get into the easing of restrictions the easier we will find it all and the more accustomed to it we will become. Although I think at the back of my mind will always be the wonder of whether or not we are truly getting on top of this virus or whether we are going to see further outbreaks...and only time will tell.

Take care, stay safe 

xx

Day 86

Day 86...

Well I had said that I wasn't going to do any work today...but that didn't quite go as planned.

Hopping online this morning I had a few emails to respond to as well as generating a couple myself. There were some parents to chase for responses that were outstanding and spreadsheets to update. I even had phone calls to deal with today.

But by lunchtime I was pretty much on top of everything so we took our usual walk out. We did just another couple of miles in about 40 minutes and although it didn't rain it was rather grey and windy.

After lunch I did a little online shopping...nothing exciting as it was mainly sorting this weeks grocery order along with a little bit of something for my dad for Father's Day. Although I did inadvertently stumble across Hotel Chocolat and saw a few items for sale...well...it would have been rude not to! Can't recommend these chocolates highly enough; I am a member of their Chocolate Tasting Club and receive a very yummy box of their dark chocolate creations every 12 weeks.

The afternoon was made up of getting some more of my current jigsaw complete and helping Molly with her business venture. She has done a fab job of creating some cute designs that she is going to produce as prints and hopefully t-shirts. Today we went through the designs that she has picked for the prints and made sure we ordered the correct ones along with envelopes, thank you cards, address labels and sweets! 

One of Molly's designs for Shutter Studios

She also showed me the t-shirt designs that she has come up with and they all look fab; she has 5 at the moment and now needs to complete the setting up of her Etsy store so she can get selling. It's all very exciting and I have everything crossed that she manages to get this venture up and running.

And that has been my day; a fairly quiet day and one where I seemed to have stayed away from the news for the vast majority of the day. Some days the news can be overwhelming and the start of the day felt a little like that so it has been nice to avoid the majority of it today. There is so much going on at the moment, and while I am very aware of everything that is happening, there are some days where I just need to disengage. Some days when I need to turn down the volume and take things at a pace that feels less fraught and less out of my control; days where I can be in control and complete something or help someone so I feel much more productive and much less stressful.

Take care out there,

xx

Day 85

Day 85...

After the glorious sunshine of May we seem to have entered a rather grey and rainy June. 

My day consisted of mainly more work related stuff; responding to and chasing a few emails, going over some health and safety checklists and updating safeguarding policies to reflect the current situation. I am hoping that I have got everything covered ready for re-opening on Monday and will try to take some 'time off' tomorrow!

By lunchtime the rain had stopped so Simon and I managed to get outside for our now usual daily walk; another couple of miles in just over 40 minutes. So far over the 85 days of 'lockdown' we have walked 145 miles in a total of 52 hours (thanks Strava app)!

I took a little time today to have a look at online production of t-shirts as this is something Molly is wanting to do as part of her Shutter Studios business venture. She is working really hard to come up with ideas on how to monetise her creative skills and I want to be able to do everything I can to support her. This is a fantastic opportunity for her to develop something that she enjoys doing for a living.

I did stop late afternoon and took a little time to work on my current jigsaw...

Thomas Kinkade - Snow White

...and as the jigsaw I ordered last night turned up this morning I thought I'd better get a move on...

Newest jigsaw - Jafar, Disney Villainous

The end of the day was a lovely catch-up with my fellow Disney Dream Girl, Michelle, as we recorded our podcast ready for releasing this Sunday.

So yesterday our government announced the ability to form 'social support bubbles' as from this weekend; where a household of one person can now mix directly with one other household. So this could mean that my dad can now come and visit us inside our own home or that we could visit him and sit inside rather than chat through the living room window that we have been doing. And while this is a much welcome relief to some people it still leaves a lot unable to reconnect with families. It means that people like my dad could have to choose between my household or my brothers household as he can only hook up with one. Situations where close families do not have any 'single' households still can't meet up. Young people who perhaps still live at home with their families can't go spend time with their boyfriends/girlfriends. It all still feels rather unfair.

I can go to work, mix with other adults while trying to keep to 2 metre social distancing over a 6 hour period, work with small children who do not know how to social distance yet I can't see my brother and his family, I can't go see Michelle and her family in person and Molly can't have her fella come to stay with us. Something just doesn't feel right about it all. I know where the people closest to me have been but knowing where people that I work with and more importantly the children that I will be looking after have been is impossible to know. So who am I more at risk with?

I understand the logic behind the guidelines but it doesn't make it any easier to live with; and especially when there are plenty of people out in society who appear not to be adhering to the rules set out. Just the other weekend while out driving me and Molly saw a group of six young lads, all out on their bikes, all around 15 years of age and very evidently not part of one household and not following social distancing. A colleague reported seeing another gathering of teenagers in a local park who were 'hanging out' as if everything was normal. If we need to follow the rules then we should ALL be following the rules and those that don't should be held to account.

I will say it again, I just hope the powers that be know what they are doing and that we are getting topside of this virus but I still fear that we are not and behavior like this will just push back further our chances of getting to a new normal.

Take care, stay safe

xx

Day 70

Day 70...

OK so 10 weeks of lockdown now!

I have been in a very fortunate position during lockdown to be able to work from home, to have Simon and Ethan work from home as well. We have relied heavily on online shopping and avoided going anywhere we didn't need to be going.

We live extremely close to the countryside so getting out for exercise has never been a problem and we have enjoyed getting out most days. We have in fact lived a very closeted life, keeping safe and trying to make the best of the situation.

It has made me realise that I am quite happy being a 'home bird' and while I have missed seeing friends and going places I have been able to keep in touch and feel connected. But it also means that the thought of coming out of lockdown is, for me, a daunting one. We still have hundreds of people dying every day and we have the highest death rate per capita than anywhere else but it's suddenly alright to start and venture out...

After 10 weeks of being told 'stay home', don't go anywhere you don't have to and weeks prior to that hearing all the horror stories coming from countries like Italy and wondering why we weren't reacting over here, it is difficult to comprehend the logic at times. I know there are differing opinions as to the best way to react to this pandemic but I can only deal with the information that is being fed to us via mainstream media which all the time has been downright scary. So being told we can start doing things again while 'staying alert' (again what does that mean?!), but keeping to social distancing and remembering to wash our hands often and not touch our faces and that perhaps wearing a face mask might be a good idea...Oh but we can't go visit relatives and give them a hug...is all a little concerning! Do I feel comfortable getting back into the outside world? I don't think I do!

So as far as I understand it next week I can go visit a car showroom and test drive a car but I can't go see my dad in his own home and give him a hug...feels like the priorities are all out of whack. The cynic in me says this is all about money and not about protecting peoples lives...but what do I know?!

Well today has been mostly work, and very important work as it was pay day! There were more emails to read and I've begun to write some policies as well as look at the number of children I can take into my pre-school and when. The guidance for early years recommends keeping to small groups of no more than 8 children but if you can't do that then 16 is fine - what?! It would appear that more of my local primary schools are being cautious and at the very least delaying their opening to more children. Guidance from our council to primary schools is to ensure that social distancing is maintained at all times for those children being invited to return which is mainly the 5 & 6 year olds, which means that a lot of schools will not have the physical space to accommodate the children. Goodness knows what schools are going to do as other year groups are supposed to return! Oh and there has been no specific local guidance for those of us who look after 2, 3 and 4 year olds!

We had our usual couple of miles walk out at lunchtime in glorious weather before returning to more work and then helping Molly with her resignation letter for work. I really can't see the point in her doing something she is so unhappy with, she is the right age to be just 'going for stuff' and trying things now while she has no financial commitments to hold her back. So please find Shutter Studios on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and give her a like and a follow.

Take care out there,
xx

Day 69

Day 69...

Back to work today as I'd got lots to wade through in order to get to a point where we can be confident that we can re-open pre-school safely and in accordance with all the government guidelines.

So lots more reading and dissecting of guidelines and recommendations; feeding all that back into our risk assessment and my own notes. More emailing with parents to confirm exactly what their requirements are and sorting that into spreadsheets so that I can start to figure out exactly what we can offer everyone. Then chatting with my deputy manager over email exchanging information and ideas as we get ready to meet up sometime soon to thrash it all out.

I still have new policies and agreements to write as well as ensuring all staff are informed and know what the expectations of us all are; so lots more to carry on with tomorrow!

I received a letter from my local hospital today with a new date for my mammogram that was cancelled back in April, at the beginning of this lockdown. I now have an appointment next week and rather than it being at the breast unit of the hospital I was treated at it will now be at one of their satellite locations. It comes with guidance on when to arrive and what to expect because of covid; I am only to be there 5 minutes before the allotted time and to only attend on my own. Apparently I will have to wait 2 weeks for the results which I'd hoped by having it done at hospital wouldn't have been the case, but I guess with it being in another location that's the reason why. Just brings back all the memories from last year...having the first mammogram and presuming everything was fine and then discovering it wasn't, followed by the re-testing and biopsy and waiting for results.

Lunchtime saw us complete another couple of miles in around 43 minutes in absolutely glorious weather yet again and today we saw almost nobody on our travels. After more work this afternoon I managed to step away from the keyboard late this afternoon to steal about 20 minutes outside for a bit of chill time.

Molly has been approached by her employer about going to back to work...she works in non-essential retail and she really doesn't want to go back yet nor can she see the justification in re-opening at the moment. If we are honest this isn't the job she wants to be doing and was just a way of earning a little money; and at a contract of just 4 hours a week I really don't think it is worth her getting stressed over. She is desperate to pursue a career in photography or media but is struggling to find anything out there...I think she needs refocus and push her energy and time into her own venture, Shutter Studios. She is young and talented and should be using this time to do what she wants to do and to 'give it a go'; life should be lived for the moment and for trying and aiming high, you never want to be left saying 'I wonder what would have happened if....' or 'I wish I'd done...' Grab the moment and just go for it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

And there you have another day in lockdown...I think we're still in lockdown...well whatever it is I'm going to stay put as much as possible as I don't trust anyone in power at the moment. It would appear it's one rule for us and a completely different rule for them. I just hope that the majority of us are being sensible and abiding by the social distancing and staying home as much as possible as I would hate to see a spike in a few weeks time. Unfortunately only time will tell...

Take care, stay safe
xx

Bye Bye 2019...Hello 2020

Well it's that time again when it's customary to look back at one year as we start a new one.

And to be honest 2019 has been a bit of a roller coaster of a year with some very low points peppered with a few highs.

The year started off fairly standard returning to work after two weeks off over the festive period only to be struck down by a stomach virus after just 2 days of work. This resulted in 4 of my staff team all being out of action with the same virus which meant I had to close the pre-school I manage for 3 days; a first in my 18 years of pre-school work!

Moving into February and one of my best highlights of the year. I was lucky enough to get VIP tickets to see my most favourite of bands 'White Lies'; this meant not only did I get to see them in concert but also got chance to watch them do their soundcheck, meet them and get my photo taken with them as well as come away with some great merchandise. This was a fantastic night and one that will stay with me for a long time...to say I was a little bit excited would be an understatement!

Enjoying the soundcheck

Meeting the band - eek!

Front row!!!

This was the start to a couple of weeks of fun times; celebrating a friends 50th, attending our regular burlesque evening at La Deda Cabaret, getting my pencils out at a local life drawing class called Dr Sketchy's and even a weekend away during an unseasonably warm weekend at the end of February.

In amongst all of that I had an appointment for a routine mammogram...just one of those regular things that us women of a certain age get asked to attend. Two weeks after the scan I received a letter from the hospital asking me to visit because they just wanted to 'double check' my scan...nothing to worry about...just one of those things! Suffice to say there was something to be worried about and a diagnosis of breast cancer saw the next 4 months being a blur of hospital appointments. Here's a link to a blog post that marked my last day of treatment and goes into more detail about my diagnosis and treatment; Last Day

During these four months life carried on as normal as possible; Ethan was finishing his final year at university and Molly had the last few months of sixth form ending with her A-Level exams, we had more 50th birthday celebrations, I took part in a charity fashion show, there was Avengers End Game to see, Molly turned 18 and another burlesque evening!

Then in May I was able to get a little more ink...and Molly got her first! See my earlier post; And Some More Disney Ink

Molly getting inked by the lovely Saint Heywood at Acadia Tattoo

And the completed ink...just had to be The Lion King

And for me a pink ribbon...

During this time we had also made the decision to book a holiday to Disneyland Paris...it had been 4 years since our last trip to Paris as a family and 6 years since our last visit to Walt Disney World. We were desperate to get a little Disney into our lives and with all that the year had brought so far we were determined to get out there and live life to the fullest! See the post - 69 Days and Counting

June saw Simon and I celebrate 30 years of marriage....

A 'now & then' photo!

...Molly and Ethan both sat their final exams and finished their respective times in education and my treatment came to an end.

In July we had the chance to support an event called Real Food Rocks held in the Lake District; it was chance for people to discuss and learn more about our approach to food in relation to our health. How if we wish to retain our health or reverse conditions like type 2 diabetes then we need to look at the foods we eat and readjust. Read my post from July all about the event - Real Food Rocks

The end of July saw Ethan achieving a first in his Computer Science degree and we had a great day at his graduation. He then secured himself a programmer job working for a computer games company which is something he has always wanted to do.

August saw Molly receive her A-Level results doing fantastic with an A*, A and B, she is now busy working part-time while establishing her own photography business Shutter Studios

This year was becoming a year of changes; both 'kids' leaving education and moving out into the big wide world, us getting used to the fact that the 'kids' are no longer 'kids' and then my body going through changes as a result of my treatment.

So our trip to Disneyland Paris in August seemed to time itself perfectly. We all had a fantastic time...and I really must find the time to look back at the holiday and get a few posts written and photos shared.

We ended August with a trip to London to see another of my all time favourite bands, She Wants Revenge, who played the O2 academy in Islington. We had seen them only once before, many years ago at a small venue in Sheffield and were thrilled to get the chance to see them again.

As we moved into September I had a hospital check-up which went well and now means I have an annual mammogram for the next 5 years just to make sure!

But within a few days of receiving that good news Simon's mum was diagnosed with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. This then plunged us into 4 months of doctors appointments, phone calls at all times of day, hospital visits (so many that we joked the car could drive itself there), organising home care and panic alarms, calling out paramedics, house sitting waiting for medical equipment to be delivered, liaising with social care, hospital staff, doctors, nurses...it was a never ending deluge of 'stuff' we had to deal with. Now what I should make clear at this point is that Simon is an only child and therefore the responsibility for his elderly mum all fell at his feet and he accepted that responsibility with good grace, care and diligence despite everything. Simon had also been the sole carer for his parents over the last decade or more, doing all he could for his dad when diagnosed with dementia until he passed away 3 years ago. He supported his mum through his dad's illness and then subsequently with every day life after his dad passed away. But this has never been an easy situation to handle, and one that has lasted for most of Simon's life. It is only through events over the last few years and months that we have begun to realise the emotional abuse that Simon, and as a consequence me, have been subjected to by his mum. This is not the forum to go into details but suffice to say the actions and behaviour of one person have had an unbelievable impact on our lives and well being. Sadly this meant that when she passed away just before Christmas it was met with a great sense of relief rather than sadness and mourning, along with the realisation that we are now free to move forward with our lives.

Oh and while all this was happening I got told that the pre-school I manage was being evicted from its current premises (we had been there for 17 years) and that we had just over 3 months to find somewhere new! This was a complete shock to us all and absolutely heartbreaking. But plans are in place and things are now moving forward; there will be lots of changes ahead but the good news is that we hope to be in our new premises by the end of February.

But despite these past few months we have pulled together, made each other stronger and somehow found the time, energy and strength to carry on and get on with life as best we could. So while we had to sacrifice going to the gym or getting Molly to her karate classes, or had to re-schedule day-to-day stuff we still enjoyed some precious moments.

We had some great nights out with friends and family, we introduced Molly to The Rocky Horror Show in the theatre, we enjoyed a night out to see Tim Minchin live, we had more burlesque nights and more life drawing afternoons!

We also were able to get out with our fellow Star Wars cosplay friends and troop at a number of events. We attended Feel the Force in Peterborough, a special comic-con set up for families with additional needs and for the third year running we attended the Nottingham Hospitals Charity Children's Christmas parties. And with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker film we were asked to take part in one of a number of troops held at our local Odeon cinema which saw us raising money for two charities; MIND (mental health) and PASIC (cancer support for children & young people).

Feel the Force - with Joker Squad

Nottingham Hospitals Children's Christmas Party - with East Midlands Garrison

Odeon Cinema, Derby - troop with East Midlands Garrison for the release of The Rise of Skywalker

The last weekend in November saw the house get taken over with Christmas decorations...both inside and out! I just love this time of the year and love the tradition of decorating the whole house!

Part of my back garden - love these blow mould decorations

My main tree...and it's all Disney of course!

Black & Silver tree

And tree number 3 lives in my kitchen!

For my birthday weekend we headed down to London to see White Lies in concert (again) at Brixton Academy. This was a special concert forming part of a small tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album. They played the album in full plus a selection of other songs; it was a fantastic concert, with an amazing atmosphere...we made new friends, had beer thrown over us and Simon got kissed by a random man! Such a great night!

Singing my heart out!!

Made this frame to remember both White Lies concerts 

And just before Christmas we had an evening at the cinema to see the latest Star Wars installment...the evening started at 6pm with a showing of The Force Awakens followed by The Last Jedi followed at one minute past midnight by a showing of the latest movie The Rise of Skywalker. Back home and in bed for about 2.45am to be up at 6.30am for work!!

We have then rounded the year out with a very relaxed Christmas and New Year, we have re-connected with relatives, spent time with friends and family and simply enjoyed the time we have had together as a family.

We are now looking forward to what the year ahead shall bring. We are making plans for that big Disney holiday we have been longing for and making sure that every moment counts.

Wishing you all the very best for 2020 whatever that may bring you. Keep smiling and keep those you love close and cherish every moment you have xx