Bits of Life

The camera spends a lot of time out of action right now. I spend a lot of time out of action too. So this is almost all of my photographs from over a month of living. All the highlights, you could say, the times when we could go out, do something, feel normal. Briefly.

Fire at my mum's house, before the Green Parent weekend.




Pretty much the only crochet or knitting I have done in months.

The girls found this beautiful injured moth outside the gym one evening after a class. Jenna gently put it in some bushes in the hopes that it would survive to fend for itself once off the pavement.


Rowan, very poorly, last week.
She was so hot and drowsy, and then after she woke up she was really worrying us with her shallow breathing and fluttery heart, so off we went to A&E where we were relieved to be released quite quickly once they were sure it wasn't a return of her horrendous reactions to infection. Two days later she was as if nothing had happened! :)

A trip to Wollaton Hall.


Halfway up the hill, the skies opened, and we stood under a huge old oak as the weather raged and thundered and threw huge great lumps of hail at us!




We went to the Cheescake Shop on the way home. What can I say? I've been craving toffee apple cheesecake for ages. By the time we got home I felt too sick to eat it though, so it lasted me all week!

A lovely day (and picnic) on the local park this week with Naomi and family.


Children's pictures! A snake, a penguin, a butterfly, and some fairies. By Morgan of course. :)

Some dragons (in progress) by Jenna. :)

A fruit snack in the garden yesterday after we spent a while harvesting strawberries and blackcurrants. I have made blackcurrant fruit leather, and have a tray of the fattest currants drying now. Yum!

Green Parent

Promised pictures, and wonderful memories. Ohh I miss you all, I wish we were all back there, it's just so easy.

My wonderful wonderful friend Ashleigh visited us, and we envied her beautiful rainbow knitting. This is her turning out her third pair of tiny rainbow baby socks for my bump. Aren't I lucky?!


And me just hanging out, not the most flattering picture but ah well. I think I probably looked a bit grey all weekend, but at least it was a nice friendly place to feel so sick!

Bonfire and food and company, and marshmallows on sticks. I think this, for me, is the perfect Green Parent Meet photo, so lovely! Leni, you have a fabulous smile!

Walking in the forest.





Yes, that child DID have a haircut just before the meet. She asked Jenna to make her fringe short, and as you can see, Jenna did that just fine... :S


Some fantastic den building in the common room. I had to get a record of that!

A smile and a half from Lici, taken by her big sister. :)

Missing presumed pregnant...

Yeah still here, well, just about, and not online obviously. I don't know what it is about this time but I just hate being near a screen. It's hard to focus, too, I guess I'm dehydrated on and off and that doesn't help. Life is strange and up and down. Some days are ok apart from the sickness. Some days the sickness seems normal and everything else just feels like a distant dream.

Along with those other reasons, I have been away from internet spaces because I do enough whining in real life and it seems unreasonable to inflict the steady stream of complaints on a wider audience. :S

Last night in the bath Morgan was playing one of her favourite water games. She takes the wash cloth by one corner and swirls it around under the water, telling me it's a mermaid. Normally that's it. Swish swish, "look mummy, my mermaid is swimming in circles", swish, swirl. Last night she started story telling.
"My mermaid is making breakfast. She just went to the shops to get raisins and now she's making porridge with honey and raisins in it."
What will the mermaid do next?
"When she finishes her breakfast she's going to have circle time and then do some painting."

Morgan proceeded to make up an entire under-water circle time for her 'mermaid'. Obviously a certain Normal is heavily impressed upon my middle daughter. I'm torn between finding it sweet and feeling an undeniable sadness that none of those things are normal right now. Breakfast is bought cereal, and never served by me. Circle time has happened once this week, an old one, led by Jenna. I wasn't even in the room. As for painting. Well, they took the watercolours down the garden last week, and painted each other. That's the first time paints have been out in about two months. The old normal is on hold. What if we never get it back, or anything resembling it?

Ack, this is weighing heavy, weeks and weeks of barely keeping food down and being mostly alone in the house... Well, Martin lost his job last week, so I'm not alone in the house any more, and someone else can give the children a bit of time, but the stress on top of stress I could do without.

I'll make up for this huge long complaint with some pictures, soon, not least of the Green Parent meet which was such a wonderful respite from feeling alone and overly responsible for everything! I am, though, finally past the dates at which I lost Lael. These things need their due celebration. Perhaps any day there will also be those first recognisable movements to report, and I will finally start feeling pregnant rather than merely incapacitated...