Ever seen a Pheasant paddling?

 Well we did! The first picture is not a pheasant - you knew that didn't you? That's my favourite son-in-law. My daughter calls him Biker Boy on her blog so I shall too. He has a DSLR camera that I envy like mad while knowing in my heart of hearts that it would never be taken out of automatic mode if it were mine.

We went to the Wetlands Centre, created as a sop to the wildlife faction when the Cardiff barrage was put in place. The Welsh Assembly compulsorily purchased - or the local council I forget which - prime farm land all along the sea wall and designated it as wetland sanctuary. Mostly they get reed loving land birds and water birds in their thousands. On Saturday we saw a pheasant paddling in the lake with a couple of ducks. He looked quite at home.

Daughter and S-i-L and Miss Em went for a walk while Mr M and I sat in the coffee shop and watched the swans and the coot chase the ducks and tread carefully around the pheasant.
It was a beautiful day, and while the air was crisp and cold the sunshine was just what was needed after what seems to have been an incredibly dark and wet year.
My theory is that the poles are reversing. Nothing to do with global warming and all to do with magnetism and the pull of the sun - oh and the wobble of the earth.
In the mean time we just enjoyed the day out.

Simply a moment - February

2.45pm Friday 15th February

We have just climbed back into the car after a very filling lunch at the West End Cafe in Llandovery. Where else would you go at the end of your birthday week if you are Mr M and you love to eat? Miss Em is safely strapped into her seat and is continuing to practise her multiplication. She is just beginning to see the patterns within the numbers "Look Grandma, two times 62 is two more than two times 61. It goes in twos!"
She falls silent as she concentrates. Mr M is silent too as he keeps a wary eye on "...the Richard Cranium" in the car behind us while the Sunday Driver in front tries to decide whether to use all the gears in the gearbox or to keep top gear for best or for holiday travel only.
I used to drive a lot. I enjoyed driving. I would find a reason to drive every day if I could. These days I avoid it. I think about that briefly and realise it all stems from the time when the "fear" started. Can't go out through the door, can't be left alone in the dark, can't read a fiction book because I don't know the ending. So much fear filled my life.
Then I think some more about now. I CAN go out when I have someone with me, I can turn off the light on the landing when I go to bed - as long as Mr M is in the bedroom waiting :) . I can read fiction with only the slightest palpitation and have even managed a murder mystery! After ten years, I realise that the fear is ebbing away and real life is slowly filling that dark and evil place.

"Get the camera ready, we are nearly at Mam's crocodile" says Mr M and I grin as I press the button and make ready to take yet another picture at 50 miles an hour - see? a crocodile in the field.

Simply a moment was devised by Alexa, who invites anyone to join in and tell us all about their own simple moment. Take a look at her blog Trimming the Sails  and join in with us.

Mummy! that's AWFUL!

We went out for lunch today, and we took Miss Em with us. During the course of the ride Grandpa was pretending to get her nickname wrong and she was pretending to get cross with him. Her nicname is longer than her real name but the end of it is Booboo bear. Grandpa kept saying "booboo fish" and things like that and then he want on to other things.
When we were back at home the teasing and pretend crossness continued and when Mummy came to collect her she said "Mummy, tell Grandpa my real nickname"
"Oh" said Mummy, "let me see. was it Booboo sauce?" "No!" "Was it Booboo chip?" "No" "Was it Booboo fish? "NO! It's not food Mummy!"
This is when Grandma added her four pennorth and said "Booboo snotfood?"
"Oh yes, " said Mummy "Was it Booboo snotfood?"
The look of disgust on that nearly eight-year-old face had to be seen to be believed. "Mummy that's AWFUL!" she said, and turned her back on both of us in disgust.
We are still in the doghouse even now, but it was really worth it just for the face.

Out for a birthday lunch...

Today is Mr M's birthday. He has one every year and the weather is always cra awful. He had already decided that he would have lunch at his favourite place as his birthday treat and as it is half term we had the Divine Miss Em with us.
Where did you go? I hear you ask. Now think about this for a moment here. Where do we always go if we are "in the area"?. By "in the area" I mean within two hours driving, of course. Oh, you guessed! Well it is just up the road in Leominster.

The daft thing is that we went there via Hay-on-Wye, so that I could look in the book shops. The problem was that he didn't tell me this and my brain was all set up for going to the OK Diner, having lunch and doing something on the way home. Instead we went to Hay and it was SNOWING! I didn't have my waterproof coat or my gloves and by the time we had been to the loo I was so cold I ached and my stupid neck began to hurt again. I had a bit of a stupid panic and kind of folded in on myself and couldn't speak because I would have burst into tears. We got straight back in the car and moved on to the OK Diner.

We came straight back home again afterwards so it wasn't quite the special day he had planned. We do have the rest of the week to do things because Mr M always books this week off work so I think we shall have to find something warm to do - or hope that it snows real thick and we have to stay at home... but that's copping out really isn't it?

My Precious - Story telling Sunday Three February

This time my story is short because I have a muscle spasm in my neck that started on Tuesday and is reluctant to let go, even with the persuasive power of Codeine, Paracetamol and Diazapam it is still causing severe pain. Story Telling Sunday is brought to you by the lovely Sian over at From High In the Sky . why not take a look at some of the other stories about Precious things after you have read mine - of course

In 2011 My cousin gave me a box. It was absolutely plain, not a single mark on it anywhere. She told me that she thought I might use it to keep those things that do not sit easily on a scrap book page. The wood was smooth and had that wonderful new smell about it and I fell in love with it straight away. She said that if I would like it she could put a design on it because she does Pyrography. I couldn't decide straight away so I took my lovely box home and looked at it for a while. I knew exactly what I would put into it and soon it was pretty full.
Around March 2012 I took the box back to my cousin and gave her a detailed description of what I wanted on the top. I said "Can I have a few leaves and stuff and the words "Keepsakes" please?" Fortunately She knows me very well - a lifetime of finishing each other's thoughts can do that - and you can see the design she gave me. I think it is the most beautiful gift I have ever received, that wasn't from my husband or children. I keep it in my bedroom on the chest of drawers so that every day I look at it and think about the contents. Some of the things in there hold painful memories but memories I don't want to lose. Everything has a small piece of acid free paper explaining what it is and why it is kept and my children also know the stories for when I am gone.
So this is a very precious object and it contains many more.