Hello…

I’m back….

And thank you to all those who were concerned that I had disappeared!

I was away on holiday. In paradise to be exact. The Maldives – a beautiful group of coral islands off the tip of India. Lovely. I hope I will get the chance to visit again. It turned out to be the perfect family holiday – scuba diving with sharks and manta ray for the active members of the family; swimming in a warm ocean, sunbathing and making the odd trip to the spa for the lazier ones. No TV, lots of reading, a little sock knitting, lying in bed listening to the waves and food, really good food…lots of fish and lots of curries. Just what we like.

And now I’m back to real life. It was 3 degrees and snowing when we arrived in Zurich last night. I have a mountain of laundry and a mountain of translations, most of which need to be done yesterday. But that’s OK. It’s nice to be home , the heating is on and everything is cosy.

Life is good. And I have a suntan!

Helen

Well, if you must….the answer is no.

I’m afraid to say.

I don’t really have an excuse, other than that life somehow always seems to get in the way.

I think I managed a grand total of 3 rows yesterday on the unfinishable sock. Three measly rows. That’s not a lot. At all.

Why?

Hard to say. Life I suppose. Life got in the way. Everybody was here and every time I picked up the needles it set off a little alarm in somebody’s head…’muuuuum……’. I did French, twice. Lots of vocabulary. How come I still remember all the words, 30 years on, yet those who purport to have learned them look at me as if I’m from another planet and claim (always with great vehemence) ‘that’s not on the list’? The words always were on the list – and I can only say that today I think I still know all the words better than those who should….mmm tricky…..but we keep plodding on…

Only the sock doesn’t really. It’s interminable and I’m almost tempted to put it to one side, but that would be admitting defeat….by a sock…

And I’m not going down that path…..barefoot….

Helen

This week I’ve been listening to the Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner on my i-pod and knitting…..and knitting…. BRCM seems to be a very suitable book for knitting to – all that frontier life and everything!

….and I’ve come to the conclusion that this must be one of those socks that the knitting fairies unravel in the middle of the night…

I can’t believe I’m not finished with the first sock.

I knew it wasn’t going to be a fast, whizz off the needles sock because the needles are only 2’s, so they are, frankly, pretty tiny. The pattern on the leg is fiddly, but easy to learn and pretty, but for heaven’s sake, the rest is stocking stitch….motorway knitting….and I’m still not done….

Today though, come hell or high water, this sock is going to be finished.

The fairies can’t unravel it if it’s finished, right?

Having said that, it’s a lovely sock and the yarn (Three Irish Girls) is a positive delight. I’m not sure my photos really do credit to the colours.

Watch this space. Tomorrow there WILL be a sock in it!

Helen

17

My little girl has grown up. Yesterday she turned 17. She’s tall, willowy, quiet and sensible, seems to know where she’s heading and is a joy to be around. We seem to have slipped by the terrible teenage years with ease. Maybe there is worse to come, but somehow I don’t think so.

17 years.

I mean, 17 years!

Such a long time, but it seems to have passed by in the twinkling of an eye. It’s only moments ago since I took her to her first day at kindergarten and now in less than a year she will be an adult and in under two years she’ll be finished school and will be making her way in the world.

I can’t believe how quickly the years have run by. Seventeen years of being at home and caring and watching three children grow. Seventeen years of ups and downs, routines and emergencies. Seventeen years of trying to create a secure, calm loving home. Seventeen years of giving children the best start in life I can. Seventeen years since I left corporate life to embark upon a whole new adventure – one that has given me more fulfilment, more heartaches, more sleepless nights than everything that came before.

I wouldn’t swap those years for the world.

Thank you to my daughter (and her sister and brother) for enriching my life more than you can imagine. Thank you for helping make me the person I have become. A better person I hope, a happier one, for sure.

I love being your mum!

Helen

We can do no great things

Only small things with great love

Mother Teresa