Slight longing of the soul...

Nature soothes me. A lot. Nothing quite beats being outdoors does it? I am, however, not so fond of rain.... We've had a fair amount of the wet stuff recently which has seriously cut into my 'being outside' time.
I've even been known to sit out in the garden, with a brolly and a cup of hot, sweet tea just breathing in the fresh air all full of heavy raindrops just waiting to happen.
And then there's the wrapped up warm version.... Snug in coat, hat and scarf with a hot drink, candle in a jam jar and book at the ready.....

Doodles even learns better when we're sat outside doing his education type things...  When the kids were little we put a giant board up on the side of the shed and painted it with chalkboard paint - et voila, instant outdoor art! It's also where we introduced algebra to them as well but that's a different story!

Look how little doodles looks.... that's probably 10 yrs ago.  The creation of Shovel guy looks cool though.

I'm sure I've got a weird gene slyly implanted somewhere in my DNA.

Many a night spent in front of the fire pit. *swoon*

We no longer have the trampoline but the sunshine looks goooood.

Anyways, I'm longing for the warmer, dryer weather to hurry up and get here so I can slip outside and feel the grass between my toes with Crosby, Nash and Paul Simon singing their version of "Here comes the sun" as a soundtrack in my head....
I've also discovered (hidden under my pillow) a serious case of wanderlust which has been brewing for about a million years. It was brought to the forefront by our wonderful nephew (seems weird calling him a nephew when he's only about 10 or 11 years younger than me!) who is setting out on a year of adventure!! He's at the tricky stage when he's consolidating everything to either sell/store/leave behind which I think must be mega scary. Can you imagine compartmentalising your entire life? I can barely decide if the new packet of toilet rolls should be kept in the stairs cupboard or in the bathroom itself let alone put all my shit together enough for life changes!

LaLa..... I asked to take a photo of her and this is what she asked me to work with....

My food seems to go in groupings of colour for some reason. Orange was the soup de jour. Well it was tomato really, followed by oranges.

Found this during a spring clean, it was of the kids'  favourites. 

Out for a coffee with LaLa and Sherm. 

Le Nephew (who I'm totally not jelly of....course not!!)

Still, I've got a hideous case of nephew envy. Nah, not really - he deserves to have an amazing time and let his soul soar.

So we had snow.

Le snow dawg

There. I said it. We have had snow..... I normally loves me a bit of the white stuff but this time I'm just finding it a bit tedious (anyone who really knows me will be jumping back in horror saying 'tell me it ain't so'.. right now) and it makes me walk funny cos I think I'm going to fall over, sort of like a bit of Dad dancing but really slowly..... Sigh.....







The girl child has made the massive step of getting a tattoo, her Dad (the awesome husband) is not 100% on board but I think that he worries for the future and doesn't want people to make judgements after seeing the tattoo first rather than his wonderful daughter. I can see both their points of view so I'm just trying to keep a happy medium between them both.

Girl childs' latest adventure

I spent last night writing up things to be grateful for from last week. Journalling about good things is very different.... normally the negative, angst causing, stomach churning feelings tend to get more of an airing as it helps me deal with them if I say/read/write them out loud but yesterday I missioned my way through good things! Yay me! It's not as easy as it sounds and didn't come naturally to me but I can see it becoming a regular thing to remind me that there really, truly is good out there in this big 'ol world of ours.




And last but not least.... here's wishing
Journeymama much love as she sits patiently waiting for her little bubba to make an appearance :D

Happy New Ears

So, whenever I tried to type Happy New Year on my phone it came up with 'happy new ears' which is soooo much better than the original greeting!
So folks, 2013, it's going to be a good 'un, me thinks. I will reach the grand old age of 40 and we'll see the wedding anniversary that is 20 whole years!! (or 'ears' if I type it on my phone)...

I'm hoping to become less insular this year, I reckon that the more time you spend on your own the less time you want to spend with people. I'm sitting in a bit of a bubble at the moment and need to remember that I'm loved and needed out there in the big 'ol world.
I envy people who can live in communities, do they get the same fears and anxieties of social interaction as other folks? Obviously I should have been born early enough to have enjoyed the sixties living in San Francisco - lol, it could have taught me to take life a little less seriously....

Loll, Hannah & Cieran

Zorro meets Star Wars

Was easier than firing up the fire pit plus I got to enjoy coffee outside on a frosty night :)

They are both awesome (except for the pink dude in the middle), Raj n Cam

Christmas day reflection