tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349006772024-03-20T09:07:24.538+00:00My thoughts, my ramblings, my life...Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.comBlogger718125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-58172234121961870012023-12-31T15:33:00.015+00:002023-12-31T21:25:49.121+00:00

2023 was a funny old year, a proper mish-mash - good bits, bad bits and a lot in-between, but overall it was quite a tough year.  I suppose that goes for pretty much every year, but this year just felt MORE like that.  A number of things didn’t go to plan, there were several disappointments, things that should have gone really well, didn’t and often things were “okay, but not quite as

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-69439768874829786332022-03-03T16:47:00.001+00:002022-03-03T16:47:32.915+00:00

 Something happened this week that, on the surface, may seem inconsequential but WOW it made my heart smile.   So, the background is that Issy invented a game that she had Roxy and I playing.  It was very sweet – we each had to take a turn to write the name of someone we love on a Post-it note, crumple the note up, and then fling it in the general direction of the person whose

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248239725014600765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-17660288997041408722021-08-17T15:30:00.002+01:002021-08-17T15:30:29.406+01:00

Yesterday our Issy came and gave me a big hug and said "I love you Nana, you always care for me".  It seems such a small, everyday, kind of thing, but those words made such a huge impact on me.  The way I see it, all that any of us really wants is to know that we are loved and cared for ALWAYS by someone.  That kind of love gives us the freedom to be who we are, to be

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-33544504543313899492021-04-02T12:22:00.009+01:002021-04-02T12:27:16.985+01:00

Today is World Autism Awareness Day.  A few years ago that would have meant absolutely nothing in my life, but today it holds such weight.  As most readers of my blog will know, our granddaughter, Isabella, is autistic.Our family has been on a steep learning curve about autism in the last few years.  Before Issy arrived on the scene, in my mind an autistic person would have

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-88055925916898491702020-10-12T18:41:00.004+01:002021-07-26T12:23:12.462+01:00

This post comes a little late.... roughly 3 years late to be exact... but better late than never I say!On the way to my 50th birthday weekend away (almost 3 years ago!) Grant and I made a list of 50 things we want to do in our 50s.  We then got distracted by celebrating our birthdays and then emigrating and to be honest we haven't even looked at the list since then, until I stumbled upon it

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-45973774560760938352020-09-16T14:14:00.000+01:002020-09-16T14:14:31.177+01:00

 I thought it was about time I did another update on the Coronavirus situation.Things are looking quite different since I last updated!  On the date of my last update, on the 12th June, the stats looked like this:Covid-19 stats:Deaths internationally: 424 716UK: cases 292 950 and  deaths 41 481Buckinghamshire cases:1030 and 365 deathsSouth Africa:  58 568 cases, 

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-2733384359175359652020-07-15T09:42:00.002+01:002020-07-15T12:26:05.061+01:00

I’ve been wanting to write this blog post for a couple of weeks… I just haven’t been able to find the words to describe my feelings, I still haven’t to be honest.  I have been going through a period of intense sadness, and for want of a better word, mourning, about our Issy.  What makes it hard is that I am carrying two opposing feelings in my heart at the very same time: on the one

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-19697581995030277312020-06-12T15:44:00.001+01:002020-09-16T13:08:00.197+01:00

I thought I'd do a little update on the Coronavirus situation. On the date of my last update, on the 1st June, the stats looked like this:Covid-19 stats:Deaths internationally: 378 112UK: cases 276 332 and  deaths 39 045Buckinghamshire cases:1005South Africa:  35 812 cases,  deaths 705Today's stats:Deaths internationally: 424 716UK: cases 292 950 and  deaths 41

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-35471035015235308352020-06-04T15:45:00.000+01:002020-06-04T15:46:57.039+01:00

I've decided to stop my lockdown posts at this point.  Although lockdown isn't officially over, many of the restrictions have been lifted.  For me personally, life is largely back to normal, so I can't really see any point in continuing the posts, unless something unforeseen happens.... like a second wave of Covid (which to be honest I have a feeling may happen, as I honestly think

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-55233561462340403672020-06-01T21:19:00.016+01:002020-06-02T15:50:34.890+01:00

Today was the day life really began to return to normal.  Grant has been working in earnest for the last couple of weeks and today I started to homeschool Issy again.  So things are looking very much like they did before lockdown started.  The only real difference is that Grant isn't travelling into London at all and he also isn't doing any overnight site visits.Today was a big day

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-89559582758994768752020-05-31T19:07:00.002+01:002020-05-31T19:07:38.868+01:00

Another gloriously sunny and warm day today.  We got up early and went for a 10km walk to the reservoir, via the canal and Halton village, with a little stretch through farm land and the woods too.  It was absolutely lovely.Can't believe how the cygnets have grown!I had to catch up on some work this afternoon, which was a rather unpleasant shock to the system, but the rest of the day

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-65769789560416575812020-05-30T22:07:00.018+01:002020-05-30T22:07:06.732+01:00

Grant and I got up early this morning and headed out for a walk.  We went into town and did a circular route, through a part of the residential area, along some footpaths through a farm, past the allotments, down to the canal and then looped back into town where we stopped at the Bakers shop to get a pastry for breakfast and some sausage rolls for our picnic this afternoon.We met Rox and Jon

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-84524656723647214582020-05-29T22:33:00.012+01:002020-05-30T16:54:13.768+01:00

After a quiet morning, I met up with Paula and we took Issy for a walk along the avenue in the woods, to the Pirate ship play park.  It is very frustrating to see all this lovely play equipment and yet, because of the pandemic, we can't allow the kiddies to use it, I must say the children have been very understanding about the situation.It was such a beautiful day today, the weather was

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-21683916757627724052020-05-28T21:23:00.004+01:002020-05-30T16:51:33.176+01:00

Battling to keep up with my daily posts here!  Issy is with us for her weekly stay and I find my normal routine goes to the dogs when the little princess is here!  I'm far too busy playing Queen and servant (guess who is the servant 😉) Hide and Seek, and Snap!So it was a fairly ordinary day around here.  Grant went to site, so I did my usual housekeeping, admin, work routine.&nbsp

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-25043116331363124432020-05-27T22:34:00.001+01:002020-05-28T16:35:12.198+01:00

Grant went to work on site this morning, so I used the alone time to catch up on some housework and admin tasks and do a little bit of work too.We changed up our walk a little today and went for a nighttime stroll instead of our normal daytime walk.  It was not without excitement!  Grant and I were walking along, in a particularly dark part of the woods when all of a sudden a loud

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-3232526598192341922020-05-26T22:30:00.021+01:002020-05-27T12:59:06.302+01:00

Guys, I just can't seem to ditch this "going to bed late and waking up late" thing!  It's doing my head in!  I really, really need to be getting to bed, at the very least, an hour earlier and then waking up more than an hour earlier.  I don't know if the problem is being on lockdown, or whether it's the fact that it's Summer?  Maybe a bit of both.  But in any event, I

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-79655112659055834262020-05-25T23:05:00.014+01:002020-05-26T13:14:52.391+01:00

Such a gorgeous day today and it's a bank holiday, so no work for Grant!We went for a lovely picnic in the woods with Rox and Jon today and then we had a little mini-picnic in the garden outside with Paula and Cal - at a 2m distance of course!I love how people are doing fun things to entertain passers-by during the lockdown.  These were spotted outside a couple of houses in Prestwood:This

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-69503048221004943792020-05-24T21:39:00.009+01:002020-05-25T17:49:59.950+01:00

2 months of lockdown!I had a bit of a lazy day today - it was windy again and after braving the elements yesterday, I didn't feel like heading out into the wind again today.  So I faffed around at home and got some random things done that I've been meaning to do for ages.  Jon sent some freshly baked bread over - that's one very positive aspect about lockdown - Jon has honed his

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-39737001260486736492020-05-23T22:19:00.002+01:002020-05-24T12:33:57.641+01:00

Such a weird day weather-wise today!  Grant and I went on a walk this morning - it started out a bit windy and cloudy, it then got really cold (on goes the rain jacket), a couple of minutes later it was pouring rain (thankful for the rain jacket!), 15 minutes later it was partly cloudy and very warm (peel off rain jacket) and about 1/2 an hour later there was a howling gale (on goes the rain

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-38816334613538715862020-05-22T19:20:00.010+01:002020-05-23T09:24:46.021+01:00

Shew, 60 days of lockdown behind us!It was a really windy day today.  I must admit I didn't feel like heading out into that bluster for our walk today, and if it wasn't for Grant forcing the issue, I would probably not have walked at all.  I'm so glad Grant gave me the push I needed to get my butt out of the house, because ultimately it was a really nice walk.  Being in the woods,

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-26859503229580881842020-05-21T22:10:00.013+01:002020-05-22T09:40:46.914+01:00

A rather mixed day today.  I woke up with a sinus headache that basically stayed with me all day, which was really annoying.  Grant and I had planned to do a good, long walk once Issy left, but I just couldn't face it with a pounding head, so our exercise situation was a bust yet again!  Rox and Dan brought us a picnic lunch which we enjoyed in the field that Issy loves

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-59375970648313758042020-05-20T20:32:00.000+01:002020-05-21T10:35:58.635+01:00

The most exciting thing about today was my new-look blog design!  I rather like it! If you have any thoughts, please comment below.  Anything I should change or consider?For the first time since lockdown started I am feeling like I need a change of scenery!  I think this weekend I need to go for a drive or something, just to get out and about a little bit.  I'm all for routine

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-29547940336913981752020-05-19T22:33:00.016+01:002020-05-20T09:00:17.902+01:00

Rather an uneventful day today.  Got up and did some work stuff and some housekeeping stuff and some blog stuff.  After lunch Paula and I sat outside on our respective picnic blankets and had a nice visit.  Grant and I went for a 5km walk this afternoon and then our Issy was delivered to us for the night.  So not much exciting going on, but a pleasant enough day in any

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-52662177317826103682020-05-18T21:50:00.000+01:002020-05-19T08:50:29.713+01:00

8 weeks of lockdown!Grant went back to work proper today - he travelled to site for the first time since lockdown began.  I must admit, the introvert in me really enjoyed being home alone for a while.  I've loved having Grant home, but I "recharge" when I'm alone and alone time has been in very short supply since lockdown began!  I gave the house a much needed deep clean this

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34900677.post-49307602031020202172020-05-17T18:53:00.000+01:002020-05-17T18:53:06.341+01:00

Grant and I got up relatively early today and we decided to go for a nice, long walk first thing.  We chose a new route for today's walk.  We headed into the woods towards Halton and then walked along the tow path for a long stretch, before cutting through some farm lands and making our way home.  It was a lovely walk - quite slow, because once we got to the canal, I had to stop

Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14910101541494674555noreply@blogger.com0