Becoming a gardener

ELLIE MARY, QUITE CONTRARY,
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
WITH LOTS OF SNAILS, AND WAGGING TAILS
AND MY BULBS UPSIDE DOWN IN A ROW..ROW.. ROW..
MY BULBS UPSIDE DOWN IN A ROW!

Hello again,

This week I have had an urge to become a gardener as the sun is out and it feels like spring is here. Unfortunately I am not a very experienced gardener and planting things in pots is about my level, but I felt inspired to have a go. It is a very small garden at the new house but I see that as a plus point rather than a negative. In the last house the garden was probably three times the size but this meant the boys tried to play football in it, and if I ever tried to plant things in pots they always ended up snapped off and sad looking after having footballs land on them. They also had a trampoline which took over all the space and had a game that involved throwing shoes and trying to hit each other with them whilst bouncing. It wasn’t necessarily a game I approved of or authorised, but somehow it still seemed to happen and apart from having to ask the neighbour to throw shoes back, they also landed in any flowers I tried to plant.

The garden I have now is big enough for a patio set, a bench and a bar-b-que but that’s about it so I have claimed it as an "adult’s garden". As we live in a cul-de-sac now, there is plenty of space out the front with hardly any cars around for the boys to play football and on their bikes and scooters. This is a much better arrangement and I now want to get the back garden looking lovely in time for the start of bar-b-que season. I don’t think it matters what size a garden is, you can still make it your own little piece of tranquillity and once the sun comes out I am never inside the house.

I started by painting my old and ancient garden bench a very bright Mediterranean blue colour, inspired by the blue and white you see everywhere in the Greek islands. It’s actually a bit of an heir loom as it was my granny’s old bench but after the paint job it looks brand new again. I then bought some trays of pansies and primroses at the garden centre to fill all the pots. That was a hair raising trip as Luke wanted to help me and insisted on pushing the garden trolley for me. After nearly running down a person, and then bashing into a big pile of ceramic pots and making them wobble I decided I should push the trolley! I didn’t want to discourage his interest in gardening though, so when we got back I had great fun with a mad dog trying to dig and a 7 year old both "helping" to get the compost and plants into the pots. Despite the odds, the end result now looks very pretty! I also put up some of the solar powered lights on a string all along the back fence. Along with the blue lights running round my conservatory roof I now think it looks lovely at night, but must admit I am slightly worried the planes flying over to Bristol airport might think my house is a runway!

I also bought some Dahlia bulbs but quickly realised I had no idea which way up to plant them as there were no helpful diagrams on the back of the packet. We are not all natural gardeners; would it hurt to have a picture?! In the end I went for sprouty bits upwards but after discussing my dilemma in the school playground I was told that was upside down so had to dig them all up again and turn them round! Some of the knobbly bits fell off during this process so I am not holding my breath to see what comes up. Never mind, I seem to have about a million snails out there anyway so I expect they just would have eaten them anyway! I also saw some metal flower decorations when out shopping so bought 4 of those as I thought at least being metal I couldn’t actually do anything wrong and kill them!

I also finished off my birthday celebrations this week at the pub quiz with my work collegues.Unlike some pub quizzes this one has no real prize and is free to enter so it’s all just fun. We did pretty well but couldn’t agree on "What do chefs call the master spice?" Some said salt but I said it can’t be salt as salt isn’t a spice, then we thought maybe pepper but the more we thought about it the more other options we came up with. In the end we went for Saffron as it’s one of the most expensive and so could be called a "master" spice, but it turned out to be pepper after all! Always go with your first instinct! It was lovely to see everyone away from the workplace and we all had a nice evening. I had to stop every person there buying me a glass of wine for my birthday though as there were 8 people. Since I had work the next day and one of the people there was my boss 8 glasses of wine would have been a bad idea!

I hope wherever you are you have been enjoying the sunshine too and perhaps planting your bulbs more successfully than me! I will keep you posted as to whether anything actually comes up!

Thanks for reading,

Elle

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Birthday Fun!

THE DAY CAME AND I TURNED 40.....

STILL FOUND TIME TO BE A BIT NAUGHTY....

OUT FOR A CURRY WITH LOTS OF MUMS....

I MIGHT BE OLD BUT I CAN STILL HAVE FUN!!

Hello again,

This week I am writing to you as a mature and responsible 40 year old!

I must admit as the day grew closer I started to have a few panics. The thing is I just don’t feel 40. Apart from having a bit more self confidence, and perhaps a bit more wisdom I don’t feel any different to how I felt at 21! I started to ponder what does actually change as you get older, apart from becoming a bit more haggard in your physical appearance and this is all I could come up with;
1. I now enjoy Antiques Road Show.
2. I got excited when my Mum bought me a dishwasher.
3. Sometimes when I talk about old songs or T.V shows my younger work colleagues look at me blankly and I am shocked not everyone remembers who Geoffrey, George, Zippy and Bungle are.
4. I realise that not much in life is black and white; most things are a gray area if you really think about both sides.
5. My car insurance is cheaper!

The list of things that haven’t changed is too long to list here, but includes still painting sparkles on top of my nail polish, singing badly, playing music too loudly, dancing stupidly but energetically, watching children’s T.V shows such as “The Sarah Jane Adventures”, and “M.I High” and enjoying them just as much as the children, and going out with my friends!

I gave myself a talking to and said age is just a number and reminded myself that on my mum’s 60th birthday she abseiled down the Avon Gorge in a T-shirt that said “Spider Granny”. In fact, it was the same day she met Rob for the first time, I remember pointing up to the top of a cliff and saying proudly “that’s my Mum!” She also regularly dyes her hair with purple streaks! If that’s how she turned out at 60 I really shouldn’t worry about being 40 when we share the same genes!

I had arranged for a curry night out with the other Mum’s from Sam and Luke’s school on the Wednesday before my birthday. It was really nice to see them all for longer than just the normal chat after school when we moan about our children losing their coats and lunch boxes. There were 12 of us altogether and I had some really lovely presents. Some of them had clubbed together and then gone shopping together and put a lot of thought into getting something I would really like. I had some beautiful jewellery, a candle burner, some flowers, wine and chocolates. We had much too much to eat but enjoyed every mouthful, and then went on to a pub where we had a bit of a sing along with the juke box and the landlord bought us drinks.

On the actual day I had to work, but even there they arranged a cake with candles in the lab and sent me down to get something, only for me to find everyone singing to me!




After work my friends and family came over for “Birthday tea” and my friend Helen very kindly bought me a musical birthday cake hat which I wore for the rest of the day. She also bought me one of the pretty bracelets that you add beads to and can keep forever. I really did have a lot of nice things from many people but the surprise of the day was Rob’s present. He has got me tickets to see one of my role models and heroes in life Dolly Parton! Being a non-royalist I have always said whilst I respect the Queen for the job she does I would not courtesy to her if I met her, however I would courtesy to Dolly! She is my own Queen! This is her final tour and I don’t think she comes to England very often and I certainly haven’t ever seen her so it will be a once in a lifetime treat for me. I have to wait until September but am already planning my “Dolly” outfit which must surely include a wig!

I still have one more celebration to go, this Wednesday I have another night out with my work colleagues so in effect I will have celebrated 3 birthdays. (I hope that doesn’t make me 43!) We are all going off to play in a quiz. I enjoy quizzes and although I’m not a swot I do seem to retain lots of useless trivia which comes in handy sometimes. Not everyone can remember things like the name of the street where Paddington Bear lived!

All in all I would have to say it was a good birthday and for anyone not quite there yet, not as scary as I thought. I didn’t wake on the day with an urge to go out and buy sensible shoes and am showing no signs of slowing down just yet. Let’s hope the next 40 years are just as exciting.

Thanks for reading

Ellie
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Poorly Pip!

PIP’S BEEN TO THE VET TO HAVE HER OP....

WHEN I LEFT HER THE TEARS WERE HARD TO STOP....

HOPE SHE DOESN’T GET TOO MANY ITCHES....

REALLY DON’T WANT HER TO BURST HER STITCHES!!!

Hello again,

This week I am nursing a poorly dog! It was time for Pip to be spayed. She is not yet three years old and when I rescued her from the centre she had just given birth to her third litter of puppies. She must have spent roughly half of her life either being pregnant or nursing pups. After my own experiences of childbirth I have all the sympathy in the world for her and thought the time had come for her operation.

Even when you know something is for the best it can still be very hard though. I felt like the worst person in the world walking her up to the vet’s yesterday morning with her tail wagging, knowing that she wouldn’t understand why she was being left there and waking up in pain feeling wobbly. As soon as we got there she stood by the door in the waiting room trying to go back out. Her only other experience at the vet’s was her initial check where she objected to having her temperature taken and tried to bite the vet!

I was surprised at just how emotional it felt walking out and leaving her, I’m a grown woman who understands the logic of the situation and yet I still felt I was abandoning her. To try and make myself feel better I popped into the pet shop on the way home. She already has a dog bed but I had an idea to get her a big bean bag cushion, or fluffy blanket to sit on after the op. In the end I found another fluffy dog bed with a roof on top that I thought she might like to hide away in to feel safe and warm. She probably doesn’t need two different beds, I do realise that, but it made me feel better to get it whilst I waited for the call to say it was all done!

They called shortly after lunchtime to say it had all gone well and she was sitting up watching the nurses and I could collect her at 4pm.

I couldn’t wait to get there and bring her home. The house had felt strange all day without hearing her bark at the postman, and her name tag jangling on her collar as she walked around the house. I think this proves how she really is part of the family now; it just wasn’t right without her. Her legs were very wobbly when I picked her up and she was extremely subdued. She normally goes mad in the car and barks at everything that moves, but this time she just sat quietly on the seat looking at me.

Luckily she doesn’t have to wear the collar, or as Luke describes it, the"doggie satellite dish" on her head unless she starts playing with her stitches.

She stayed very quiet for the rest of the day but still wanted cuddles. She had painkillers but I could tell it still hurt as she was shaking slightly and when you got up close to her she was making a very quiet crying sound. I couldn’t help sympathising again and remembering how I felt following a caesarean!

Anyway, today she seems a lot better. The tail has started wagging again and she has eaten. She also barked at a scooter going down the road so I know she is getting there! I’m not allowed to take her for a really long walk, or let her off the lead for 10 days but she seemed quite happy to go round the block.

Also this week Luke had his friend Harry round for tea and we had our famous "sausage surprise," and yes, we did get the inspiration from "Eastenders." In the programme Stacey’s Mum seems to make this a lot but you never get to see what it looks like, so we have created our own version. It is sausage and mash with veg and gravy but the trick is getting the sausages to stand upright in the potato! We also then do our own impressions of Stacey’s Mum shouting "sausage surprise "as I present it onto the table. I think a lot of your own personal "family ways" sound quite strange when you write them down but Harry seemed to find it entertaining anyway! We finished this off with the Iceland Lemon Sponge Pudding which I had to buy again after having it on my list of test products, because it was so nice.

Other than all that, this week I am just making the most of the last few days of being "in my thirties". Only three days left before I have to buy sensible shoes, cardigans, and "slacks"! The big day is looming and am sincerely hoping I don’t have to see pictures of myself as a baby tied to lampposts as I drive to work on Thursday, Rob if you are reading take note! That is NOT necessary - a few balloons at home will suffice!

Please come back next week when I can tell you whether anyone was strong enough to give me the bumps
and how I celebrated!

Thanks for reading

Ellie

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Old Friends

LAST TIME WE MET WE WERE ALL AT SCHOOL....

LOOKING FOR WAYS TO BEND THE RULES....

25 YEARS ON AND MUCH THE SAME....

I WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN!

Hello again,

I wonder if anyone else reading this has ever been to a school reunion. It’s one of those things people talk about a lot but quite often when it comes to actually doing it the plans seem to fall apart.

This was the second reunion organised for my school year but the first one I had ever been to. Last year was just the wrong time. I had just lost one of my closest friends from school at that time and wasn’t ready to see everyone else from that era. This year felt much more positive and there were others there who shared the loss of both Rachael, and other loved ones. It was a celebration of the time when we were all together. It is also a special time for all of us as, we all turn 40 within the same 12 months. I suppose it is sad but inevitable that out of a group of 100 or so people not all of them would be still around at 40, but I think all the more reason to celebrate and make the most of every minute we are here, and to be grateful, in their memory.

It was quite nerve-wracking getting ready to go and my biggest fear was someone remembering me but me having no idea who they were. What would I do if that happened? Let them speak and keep talking in the hope it would jog some memory later? Or just say from the start “I’m sorry I don’t remember who you are?”
I am usually a very honest and up front person so thought I would go for the second option and just come clean straightaway if I didn’t know.

In practice it was actually very easy to recognise people, just the hair, height and clothes were different but the faces all looked the same! I think it’s true that as you get older your long term memory stays intact and it’s the little day to day things you forget. Ask me what I had for lunch yesterday and I’d have think long and hard about it, but ask me if I remember who flicked the rubber band that took a wrong turn and hit our French teacher resulting in serious shouting and a detention all the details are there!

I was very pleased that one of my closest friends from that time Katy was there. We helped each other, and every time the door opened and more people arrived we had time to quickly put names to faces. I even scored points for remembering two of our old teachers that were there!

The atmosphere was unlike any other social gathering I’d been to, in that everybody spent the whole night laughing and smiling as we all shared memories. Once the initial ice was broken I was surprised at how we were all able to talk to each other so easily even after all those years. Someone calculated that the time passed added to all the people there accounted for roughly 1000 years, a lot of catching up to do in just a few hours! A lot of us had children and passed pictures around. We even had one person soon to become a grandparent! There was a genuine interest in each other’s lives as they are now and it never felt competitive in any way. I must admit before I went that was another potential worry I had. I used to hate the toddler groups I went to when the boys were young where it seemed the discussions revolved around who had the most teeth, who was out of nappies first , etc etc and I felt trapped in a race I didn’t want to be in. I wondered if people would be doing similar comparisons at a school reunion regarding jobs, lifestyles etc. but am pleased to report there was none of that, and the overwhelming feeling was one of friendship and solidarity!

I heard a quote the other day and due to the short term memory problems I described earlier I can’t remember exactly where I saw or heard it, but it really struck a chord with me. It was along the lines of “success doesn’t bring happiness... happiness brings success.” I always say success should not be based on your grades at school, your qualifications and your annual salary. To me success means waking up each day and being happy with where you are, your friends and your family and looking forward to another day in your own life. I think if you can feel like that whatever your job or lifestyle you can claim to be successful rather than basing your success rating on the car that you drive or the job that you do.

I think instead of making you yearn for “the good old days” a school reunion makes you appreciate what you have now. It’s just nice to be in a room where your memories aren’t only your own, they are shared with 40 other people. Despite my rose tinted glasses I wouldn’t want to actually go back to a time of teenage acne, homework deadlines and major adolescent insecurities. What I would like, is to see the people who went through it with me at the time in the present again!

So my conclusion this week is that if you have ever thought about having a school reunion don’t be scared, just go along and I bet you enjoy it more than you think you will! With the rise in social networking sites it is much easier to find people that you probably never thought you would see again, so I’m sure more and more are being organised. If you are really brave perhaps you could be the one to organise it?!

Thanks for reading
Ellie
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