What I Wore: South West Blog Social

I don't pose for pics very often...you totally can't tell, right?

Okay, I'll be honest.  This feels a bit weird... never in a million years did I think I'd be doing an outfit post, but I thought I looked pretty cute yesterday and the photos came out quite nicely, so here we are in foreign territory!

This is the outfit I wore to the South West Blog Social in Exeter yesterday, minus an emerald green cardigan as it turned into a scorcher of a day!  The tea dress is from Sainsbury's and when I got to the till I discovered that it was in their 50% off sale, so a bargain £9!  It's a gorgeous print, and very comfortable to wear.  Joy of joys...it's a v-neck too!

The real star of the show is these fabulously bright footless tights that I ordered from We Love Colors on Kat's recommendation.  Not only are they beautifully opaque (and thus able to hide a multitude of sins), but you can actually get them in plus sizes!  This may not seem like a big deal, but plus size footless tights in the UK are only available in ubiquitous slimming black which leaves ladies blessed with substantial legs, like me, looking longingly at the pretty-pretty while morosely taking the boring and safe black tights to the till.  I bought a bright and cheerful green as well as scarlet, so as soon as I find the perfect skirt I'm going to have loads of fun!  (PS You'll have to pay Customs Duty on these tights, but I think they're worth it!)

I found these uber-comfy ballet shoes at ASDA.  I didn't expect to get my super-wide trotters in them, but not only did they fit...there was actual comfort involved!  They seem pretty good quality for £6, but for that price I've got no qualms about chucking them in the bin if they fall apart.

I had a great time at the Blog Social; it was lovely to see Louisa again, finally meet Michelle, and to meet loads of lovely new people!  Take a bow, Alex, Sarah and Kim!

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Taking Stock

Sunshine and green fields at Tyntesfield

I'm enjoying some peace and quiet just now, so it seems like a good time to take stock again...

Making another square for my latest project, the Ron Weasley blanket from the Harry Potter films.  I've knitted 42/80 and I'm thinking that this is going to be a massive blanket!
Cooking a raspberry lemonade cake later on.  Nothing right now, though, it's much too hot.
Drinking some Cherry Coca-Cola.
Reading "Against All Grain" and trying to psych myself up for going paleo again...
Wanting a Welsh dresser for the dining room.
Looking at recipes.
Playing Doctor Who Legacy on the iPad.  The Silence are totally kicking my ass at the moment!!
Deciding to start exercising on Monday.  I am also deciding to spend Tuesday lying down!!
Wishing I could eat whatever I wanted and somehow be slim!
Enjoying some peace and quiet.
Waiting for Dave, his Dad and Lucas to finish building Lucas's new bed. Can't wait to see it!
Liking life.  It has its ups and downs, but overall it's pretty damn awesome!!
Wondering how to quilt a blanket.
Loving my little family, as always.
Pondering how to paint my plates at the ceramics workshop I'm going to soon.
Considering which brand of shower to buy.  There are way too many choices.
Watching the first episode of the Fargo TV series.  I loved the film so much, but it's taken me forever to get around to watching the series. Thank goodness for 4oD!
Hoping that it doesn't get too hot this week.
Marvelling at how blue the sky is.
Needing to frame some pictures.
Smelling the strawberries that Lucas had at lunchtime.
Wearing my oldest, comfiest clothes to slouch on the sofa.
Following some new bloggers, folks I met at Blogtacular.
Noticing how untidy the house is. Whoops!
Knowing that life is good.
Thinking about friends who are going through hard times.
Feeling content.
Admiring some of the amazing bloggers who spoke at Blogtacular.
Sorting through my books.  Still trying to thin the herd and make more room!

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Life after a blood clot: Post-Thrombotic Syndrome

"Put your feet up"

Today's post is something a bit different for Little Apple Tree.  I don't normally post or talk much about my health as that could, frankly, get more than a little boring.  I could go on and on and on and on... You get the picture I'm sure!

However, between today's Blog Every Day in May topic which was "Walk to Work", to which I snorted with laughter, and a chat I had with the very lovely Lucy from London Loafing (you should go and read her blog right after you finish reading mine!) about my dodgy leg where she said, "I had no idea about any of this" and "you should post about that," I thought that I would.

So.

In May 2012 I discovered that I had another blood clot or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in my left leg.  I've had a few false alarms over the years since I had my first clot back in 1998, so I didn't think anything of it.  It was a pulled muscle, it would be fine.  Except it got worse rather than better, so I dragged my leg along to the GP.

Ten minutes later I had a positive finger prick test and an appointment for an ultrasound to pinpoint exactly where the clot was in my leg.  I was also absolutely in bits.  I sat in the carpark and sobbed for twenty minutes.  You see, this wasn't my first clot.  I had one in 1998 just after I graduated and I wound up in hospital for two weeks.  How on earth would I cope with that now?  I had a kid!  What about the school run?  What about anything??

I pretty much cried my way through the next 24 hours and then cried even harder once the clot was confirmed.  The only thing that stemmed my tears slightly was hearing that blood clots are now managed within the community rather than as an in-patient.  Sure, there'd be daily trips to the clinic for a few weeks, but that was a million times better than having to stay in hospital and cause massive disruption.

I assumed, like I guess everyone who has heard about DVTs, that I'd take the medicine and then I'd be fine, just like last time.  Not so much.

Fast-forward a few years: today, after an awesome weekend in London at Blogtacular, I am hobbling around and dragging my left leg which is a bit uncooperative.  It's swollen and tender to the touch, to the point that I have swapped my keys and phone around so that no pointy things can jab me.  It's pretty pathetic, actually. The mere whisper of the fabric of my jeans over my thigh stings and walking Lucas a couple of hundred metres to school hurt.  Now you see why I laughed at the "Walk to work" topic!

My blood is super-thin at the moment, a little thinner than it should be actually, so there's no fear of another clot.  So, what's going on?

Well.  If you've had a DVT in your upper leg you are at increased risk of something called Post-Thrombotic Syndrome (PTS).  If you've had more than one DVT, your risk increases dramatically.  Lucky old me.  I'm going to try to explain with an analogy.

Think of your blood vessels as a road system.  Your deep veins are the motorways. They're wide and can carry a whole load of blood back to your lungs for more lovely oxygen.  Every so often there's a slip road which where small veins join up and dump blood from extremities like fingers and toes into the main motorway.

If there's a crash on the motorway, what do all the cars have to do?  Find alternative routes.  And then, those routes get overloaded and your day goes to hell.  It's just like that with a DVT.  The blood can't get back to the deep vein, so your body cleverly sends it down alternative smaller veins which can then become damaged in turn because they're not used to dealing with such big volumes of blood.

To add to the blood transport woes, the tissue surrounding these small and now overworked veins can also become damaged and highly sensitised.  This has knock-on effects on little things like the skin, for example.  The skin on my left leg looks peculiar compared to the right.  There's obviously something not quite right about it.  I don't mind that very much as I've never been one for skirts, but if I get bitten by an insect or cut myself, then it can take months to heal.

Sadly, a DVT can't be cleared as easily as an accident on the motorway.  Warfarin treatment doesn't drag the clot out of the way like HATO drags cars to the side of the road so that the motorway can flow smoothly again.  It takes months of treatment to dissolve the clot--and I've never had a straight answer from specialists as to whether the clot actually dissolves or is absorbed or whether the blood is simply made thin enough to slip past it--and get things back to normal. Or a new normal in my case.

The frustrating thing about Post-Thrombotic Syndrome is that it can strike at any time.  Sometimes I go into a weekend away just knowing that my leg will be shafted for the week afterwards due to loads of walking, queuing, sitting still in the car for hours and so forth, but other times I can sleep ever so slightly 'wrong' and wake up to a swollen and unhappy leg.  It does limit what I can do sometimes and I often feel very guilty when we're out having an adventure and my leg calls a halt to things way before I'm ready to go home.

A few tips to make life a little easier

• Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated
• Gentle stretching every day helps a lot; I try to stretch first thing in the morning when my body is warm and relaxed
• Exercise.  It's a dirty, dirty word in my book, but I can't deny that when I was going to the gym regularly I had zero problems with my leg.  I walked 9 miles around London one day and the only pain the next day was on my heel where I had a blister.  
• Don't sit for long periods without a break.  Duh!
• There's no shame in sleeping with your leg up on a cushion if you've got some swelling or aching going on.  I've been known to nap with my foot up on the wall on occasion.
• Don't scratch your leg if it itches!! 

If you think that you're affected by Post-Thrombotic Syndrome then you should make an appointment with your GP.  Be prepared for them to have never heard of it--my rather young GP hadn't, but the senior partners at the practice had--and explain your symptoms and ask for a referral.  Some Primary Care Trusts won't bother bringing you in to see a specialist and will simply diagnose you by letter (mine did), but others will take a keener interest.  It is, as with so many other things, a postcode lottery, I'm afraid.

Lifeblood, the thrombosis charity, has a useful PDF on Post-Thrombosic Syndrome 

If you want to read another blogger's experience of DVT, Bee has written a fantastic post which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of a DVT.  I was about her age when I had my first clot.  DVT can strike at any age and you certainly don't need to be on a plane to get it!

I hope that this post helps you understand why friends or family who have suffered a DVT aren't just 'bouncing back' or perhaps makes you, yourself, realise that all these little niggles you still have after your DVT really are something and you're not going mad or suffering from hypochondria!

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Ask Away Friday with Tamara & Friday Favourites #19!

Meet Tamara!

I am incredibly excited to be swapping questions for "Ask Away Friday" with the lovely Tamara from Tamara (like) Camera.  The first thing you need to know about Tamara is that she is incredibly sweet and thoughtful.  The second, she takes amazing photographs that just burst with emotion.  And the third?  She writes beautiful and intimate posts about her feelings and whatever happens to be going on in her life at the time.  I try not to delve too deeply into my innermost thoughts, there's a mental "Here Be Dragons" sign hung on a few patches of my life, so I am always awed (in the truest sense) by her ability to talk so frankly about her emotions and thoughts.  She's what my Granny would have called a "deep thinker".

If you aren't familiar with "Ask Away Friday", well, it's pretty much as it sounds.  You pair up with another blogger and ask them ten questions about themselves, getting as nosey as you'd like!  To see who else is participating or to learn how to join the fun, head over to visit the hosts: Penny from The Real Housewife of Caroline County, Amber from The Bold Fab Mom, Tiffany from Mrs Tee Love Life Laughter and Stacey from This Momma’s Ramblings.

And now, to the questions!!  Afterwards, hop over to Tamara's post and see her answers to my questions.

1. The two of us seem to have a lot of TV/movies/books in common. What is an episode of Doctor Who that has made you cry (or come close) and a scene in Harry Potter (books or movies) that has done the same?

Oooh, tough question.  Doctor Who, first!  I cried for Donna and all that she had lost, and would never know that she had lost, in Journey's End.  As much as I initially railed against the casting of Catherine Tate, she portrayed Donna's growth from a selfish, shallow woman to a compassionate, assured woman over the two years (our time) she spent with The Doctor.  Her mind being wiped of all that growth and maturity felt like the cruellest possible fate, a long, slow death if you will.  I was very surprised to find myself crying over that one!

In terms of Harry Potter, I cried at Sirius's death.  But!  Only when I read the book.  We re-watched Order of the Phoenix at the weekend and it just doesn't have the same impact on-screen.

2. I know you love to read. What's a book that changed your life/perspective and stayed with you long after you read it?

This is such a hard question!  I don't think any books I've read have left a massive mark on me, but I do remember thinking a lot about religion after reading Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.  PTerry is very incisive and has a great deal of wisdom and insight hidden amidst the wit and humour.

“What have I always believed?
That on the whole, and by and large, if a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right.”
― Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

3. Do you have any large collections of something (other than books) in your house? 

Do drifts of toys or piles of laundry count?  No?  Damn.  Shame you discounted books--Dave has over a thousand graphic novels (aka comics) in the computer room!

We have quite the collection of DVDs and I've almost finished my collection of Doctor Who DVDs.  Dave has a collection of superhero figurines which really need to expand onto a second shelf...

There's quite a bit more on the shelf these days, but 'tis hard for a shortie to photograph!

We do have a collection of sketched from comic cons and pages of original comic book art that we've bought, but I wouldn't describe them as large...

4. If you could meet one person you haven't met yet, who would it be and why?

I pondered this question for a couple of days.  I feel like I should say someone tremendously important and worthy like Leonardo Da Vinci, but really I think I'd like to meet Nigella Lawson.  We'd have coffee, cake and later on...cocktails.  I'd like to meet the woman behind the image and have a really good gossip about food, fame and crazy relationships.

5. What is your favorite blog post that you have written?

I think my favourite blog post is the one I wrote just after our summer holiday last year.  We stayed at Chark Farm, a working dairy farm in Cornwall--our second time visiting--and I think that my post perfectly captured the amazing time that we all had there, despite some rather wet weather.

Lucas loves going out and feeding the animals first thing in the morning and checking the nesting boxes for still-warm eggs; I love turning them into scrambled eggs and omelettes.  You can roam through the little vegetable garden and gather runner beans, rhubarb and occasionally some berries if Fluffy the pig hasn't marauded through the garden recently!  I'm hoping for non-stop sunshine and lashing of fun when we're there again this summer...this time with almost all of Dave's family in tow!

6. What has been your favourite place (or places) to travel or visit (if it's local)?

I loved visiting Rome.  I went there a few years ago, actually it's more like ten years now I think about it, with my friend Pauline.  We had great fun flirting with the Italian men, and criss-crossing the city in search of the best pizza and gelato.  I loved the Capuchin Crypt ossuary, full of beautiful and macabre decorations made from skeletons by the Capuchin Monks.  You haven't lived until you've seen a chandelier made from pelvises, I always say!  (Well, it's not strictly necessary, but the human body is all kinds of cool.)  I was also stunned by the beauty of many of the statues and fountains.

(from flickr)

7. If I came to visit you, where would you take me? (I'm going to love and dream about your answer, I just know it!)

I love this question--it's going to be so much fun to answer!!  Okay, so we're going to make a day of it...and unsurprisingly it revolves around food a little bit.

First up, breakfast at Yurt Lush.  Everyone should have breakfast in a yurt at least once in their life!  Excellent local food and I adore their chai lattes--I could drink them all day.

Afterwards we'd hop into the car and zoom over to Wales to go to The Doctor Who Experience!  We took Lucas at New Year (another post I have yet to write up, whoops!) and were very surprised to see that they had The Moment and Handles on display already.  The experience part of "The Experience" is rather fantastic and I won't spoil it for you just in case!  You can roam around the museum for as long as you like afterwards and even clamber inside a Dalek!

We should have afternoon tea at Thornbury Castle, a Tudor castle only a few miles from our house.  You can't go wrong with a proper afternoon tea on silver salvers, with tiny finger sandwiches and exquisite little cakes as well as scones and clotted cream.  Afternoon tea is definitely my favourite meal of the day!

And assuming we still have room...dinner at Riverstation, out on the balcony--in dreamland it's always sunny and dry, yet not too hot--overlooking the river as yellow river ferry boats zip through the water occasionally disturbing swans who honk indignantly at them.

8. What's the funniest thing Lucas has ever said to you?

My mind went blank as soon as I read the question.  Then I asked Dave, and his mind went blank, too!  Luckily Facebook is a useful aide memoir...

At bedtime one night...

"Mummy, do you like One Direction?" said Lucas.

I, shuddering internally, said, "No, they're not my sort of music.  I like Metallica, not boy bands."

Lucas thought for a moment, then came back with this gem: "But they're a boy band, too!"

You can't fault his logic.  He was most peeved that I cried with laughter, though!  (And Metallica is totally not a boy band!)

9. Share a favourite photo you took and tell me a story about it. What was going through your head when you took it, what's it about, what happened that day, etc.?

I took this photo of Dave and Lucas almost two years ago when we were walking home from school through the woods.  I can't believe Lucas was wearing shorts in March!!

Dave had broken his collarbone playing football (soccer) with Lucas a few days beforehand, hence the snazzy sling, and since it was a lovely day we walked to school together to collect Lucas.  On the way home, we adventured through the woods, as I wanted to look for bluebells,  I got distracted by the flowers and when I looked up, they were forging their way forward confidently. just like they do through life.  I love my boys.

10. Five favourite songs always on your playlist throughout your life?

I seem to add a favourite song every few years, so this reflects my musical evolution, if you will.  That sounds a bit smug, doesn't it?  It's not meant to, honest!  I've linked to videos/recordings so you can wallow in nostalgia with me, too!

Free - Wishing Well.  My Dad never listened to current music (and I can't blame him since I don't listen to the dross that's in the charts these days).  I have fond memories of going out for a drive in the car with him on weekends and listening to Free at top volume in the car, scaring the sheep as we zoomed past!
Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle. This track, and Appetite For Destruction as a whole define my teenage years.  I always feel young (and slightly belligerent) when I listen to the album!
Metallica - No Leaf Clover. This is chronically underplayed but we were lucky enough to hear it live at Wembley a few years ago.  I sang myself hoarse.  This song is always on our playlist when we go on holiday--the three of us always sing along.
Metallica - Turn The Page.  I love this cover of the Bob Seger classic.  There's something about it that always tugs at my heart strings.  Maybe the video has something to do with it?
Santana (feat. Everlast) - Put Your Lights On - It was a toss-up between this and Smooth for the last spot on my mini-playlist.  The lyrics can be taken in so many different ways and the guitar is just beautiful.  Santana is probably the greatest guitarist of all time...when he plays it speaks to your soul.

Thanks so much, Tamara!  You should all hop over to her blog to see her answers to my questions, too!

* * *

It's been a while since I've remembered to write my Friday Favourites--whoops!  Here are a few things I'm loving just now...

Favourite TV series: Person of Interest

I am busily catching up on season one of Person of Interest via Netflix, and I can hardly believe that I managed to miss such a bloody fantastic bit of TV for a whole year (or more)!!  Jim Caviezel, who I have belatedly recognised as Jesus Christ from The Passion of the Christ, is so amazingly fluid as John Reese, a fugitive ex-CIA operative.  I could cheerfully watch him fight all day long.  It's probably mostly fight choreography, but he pulls off all his fight scenes with ruthless and brutal efficiency. J'approve.

Michael Emerson is brilliant as Harold Finch, paranoid genius and master of dry put-downs.  It's nice to see him in a role which, while still creepy, doesn't terrify me as much as Ben Linus (LOST) or his guest appearance on L&O: SVU.

The plot, in case you don't know it, is that Finch recruits Reese to help prevent crimes before they happen, via information from a Machine that he invented.  It's a glorious mash-up of tropes from Minority Report, spy thrillers (John Reese shares Jason Bourne's efficient and improvisational fighting style), with elements of The Terminator and LOST chucked in.  Not to mention a bit of social commentary on the now omnipresent and rarely questioned amount of surveillance we're all under these days.  And best of all...it works.

Also, last week The Independent has told us all that "binge watching" TV is actually good for us.  So, I need feel no guilt about romping through PoI or House of Cards when Lucas goes to bed!

Favourite Internet Discovery: Ice Music

I was ten when I realised that ice could be more than just a slippery winter annoyance.  We read an article on the Quebec Winter Carnival at school and saw pictures of the amazing ice sculptures that artists create every winter.  Over the years I've heard of ice hotels--loved seeing one (albeit a mock-up) in Die Another Day--and ice bars but making music from ice?  That's a new one on me.

You absolutely need to click through then scroll down to the bottom of the article to hear a clip of the music.  It's stunning!

Friday Funny:

Every. Single. Time. I have to turn the hose on them to drive them away!  True story.

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An attitude of gratitude

So, I was watching Ultimate Spider-Man and Spidey had a bit of an epiphany and said something quite profound that hit me like a punch to the gut.  (Yeah, I still watch cartoons...it's a very cool one.  Sure, Spidey's Fourth Wall asides are more akin to Deadpool than him, but it's still a super-cool show.  You've probably noticed that I'm a geek, right?)  Anyway, he said..."It's all about having an attitude of gratitude."

After the day I've had, I'll take my moments of enlightenment wherever I can find them.

My day started with my car not starting, having to jog--well, I walked most of it--Lucas to school, nearly breaking my fingers when I tried to look under the bonnet to see if there was anything obviously wrong with the car (that even an idiot could spot), and then sitting around waiting for Green Flag to come and fix the car.  I performed the Ancient Ritual of Summoning by making a cup of coffee and sitting down on the sofa to drink it in peace, and then promptly scalded my tongue on it.  And then I waited, and waited.

As it turned out, the car started a few hours later when I decided to go out and wait in it--hovering by the front door was getting old--so I trundled it down to the garage who can't look at it until tomorrow.  I've got to drop it off first thing, then spend the rest of the day on shank's pony. The weather forecast is for heavy rain all day tomorrow, there's a weather warning and everything.  Oh what fun!

It's fair to say that I've spent the whole day in an absolutely filthy mood interspersed with moments of extreme anxiety that the car would go back to being dead as a dodo.  I've dived out of the house on several occasions to check that the engine is still turning over.  Which reminds me... BRB.

So, back to that profound moment...an attitude of gratitude.  It got me thinking that even though it's been a craptastic day, there's still a lot to be grateful for...It's turned into quite a list:

♥ I managed to walk Lucas to school in a decent amount of time.  A couple of years ago I couldn't walk to the end of the road without major pain in my leg apres a DVT, so that's a biggie right there.
♥ That I have a breakdown service to rescue me
♥  I have the bestest brother-in-law who gives me great car advice.  Thanks, Tony!
♥  Lucas offered to give me all his money so that I could buy a new car.  He is the loveliest little boy ever, full of compassion.  He melts my heart on a regular basis
♥  My Fitbit Flex has started working again after months of not working properly
♥  All the extra walking has meant that I've clocked up loads more steps.  I'm at 7221 steps currently, and there's still time for another thousand or so!
♥ Lovely bloggy friends who cheer me up when I'm sad
♥ Speaking of blog things, I'm flabberghasted that I have 61 Blovlovin' followers.  Helloooooo everyone!  Thanks for following my adventures!
♥ And yet more on the subject of bloggy friends, Jenny wrote some absolutely lovely things about Little Apple Tree which made me smile loads.  Thanks, Jenny!
I'm also grateful for an extra two hours of peace and quiet while Lucas is at a birthday party.  I love 'dump and run' parties so much!
♥ I am grateful in advance for the huge hug I will get when I pick Lucas up
♥ I'm also grateful for having a lovely warm house to come home to
♥ I'm very grateful for my family who are organising a birthday meal for me.
♥ Lastly, but most importantly, I'm more grateful than I could ever say for having the world's most awesome husband!

What are you grateful for today?

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Taking stock

By Bill McIntyre on flickr

I seem to be in a reflective mood tonight, so I thought this might be a good time to try the Taking Stock meme that I've seen here and there in the blogosphere, but especially on Bee's lovely Fill My Little World blog.

♥ Making: lists.  We have lots of little odd-jobs around the house that need to be done, new appliances to be bought, the garden to be finished off... This calls for colour-coded and prioritised lists!
♥ Cooking: paleo pulled pork with spice sweet potato chips.  Nom nom nom!
♥ Drinking: mango and passionfruit juice.  All the pleasure of passionfruit without the horrid seeds!
♥ Reading: Eleven Doctors, eleven stories
♥ Wanting: a new oven.  Ours has been a fine workhorse for the seven years we've lived here, but it's time for it to go to the great scrapyard in the sky.  Still, it has been interesting to essentially be cooking like my Granny did--low, medium, hot.
♥ Looking: forward to spring.
♥ Playing: word games with Lucas
♥ Wasting: too much time worrying about little things
♥ Fixing: a blocked drain.
♥ Deciding:  to be assertive and make a complaint rather than stewing over things for days/weeks/years
♥ Wishing: I would wake up slim.  An impossible, and probably terrifying, dream!
♥ Enjoying: time with friends and family
♥ Waiting: for Dave to get home from his run, so that we can have dinner and watch a movie together!
♥ Liking: being surrounded by books
♥ Loving: my amazing new knives!  They are so sharp, like the Vorpal Blade!
♥ Pondering: a trip to Scotland at half-term.  Lucas has never visited Granny's house, so I'm sure he'd have fun!
♥ Watching: Archer.  It's all Dave's fault.
♥ Hoping: for more sleep
♥ Marvelling: at the rain.  When will it end?
♥ Needing: my roots touched up; my hair has grown so fast lately!
♥ Smelling: honeysuckle-ish fabric softener
♥ Wearing: old, yet super-soft, jogging bottoms and a cosy jumper
♥ Following: blog FB pages
♥ Noticing: drops of water, frozen on the bare hedge branches.  They sparkled like fairy-lights when the sunlight hit them.
♥ Knowing: that I have lots to do tomorrow
♥ Thinking: about how fast Lucas is growing
♥ Feeling: content
♥ Admiring: beautiful images on Pinterest
♥ Buying: far too many books
♥ Getting: older
♥ Bookmarking: recipes, recipes, recipes
♥ Opening: the oven door far too often. I'm so impatient!
♥ Giggling: with Lucas.  My gorgeous, crazy kid; love him to bits!

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Two weddings and a funeral...well, almost

Our wedding at Goldney Orangery in 2003

On Sunday night, Dave and I indulged in a total geekfest as we watched Sherlock.  Not for the usual reasons of spotting the short stories making up the whole, or the joy of figuring out whodunnit before he does--hey, it's happened--but because we recognised Watson's wedding reception venue.

You see, ten years ago we got married at Goldney House in Bristol, and held our reception in its gorgeous Orangery, just as John and Mary did.

Goldney House is one of Bristol's hidden gems.  Many people walk past it unwittingly every day--unless they students who live in the hall of residence within the grounds--as it is hidden behind a rather forbidding tall wall.  If you climb up the next hill you can get a glimpse of the house.

Goldney House from the road

Many houses have their good sides and Goldney's faces out over its sumptuous gardens.  It, like the Orangery, was thickly covered in glossy green wisteria when we got married.

The "prettier" side

Sherlock was filmed in April, before spring really got started in Bristol, so the wisteria hadn't started growing yet which is a bit of a shame.  If you compare the top photo and the one below, you can still see that it's clearly the Goldney Orangery, though!  (And in hindsight, I do have memories of Cliftonwood residents going bananas on twitter about the BBC vans blocking the pavements on both sides of Constitution Hill; I should have been more nosey about what was going on!)

The Sherlock wedding at Goldney Orangery, 2014

We watched avidly, occasionally commenting in hushed tones--Oooh, they've redecorated.  It's very yellow; I don't like it--while every clink of a glass or burst of laughter brought back so many happy memories.  A wash of emotion, really.

The top table was set up differently to ours, but it's still clearly the same room!  After flicking through hundreds of images of Goldney and its Orangery on Google, I've reached the conclusion that the somewhat lurid yellow walls and murals were TV trickery.  Which is a relief, really!  I think the peach walls work much better, but then I'm biased!  The Orangery is such a lovely room; loads of light, bounced around endlessly by the mirrored doors...just gorgeous.

Wish we'd seen the Watson's cake--here's ours instead!

Sherlock didn't show off the gorgeous (but rather recognisable) grounds, and since I'm in a thoroughly nostalgic mood I want to give you a peek.

Hercules and the Tower, the Mahogany Parlour where we said our vows, and a rather pretty archway in the gardens

If you fancy flicking through more gorgeous pictures of the house and gardens, there's a gallery on the official website.  I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for this year's open day so that we can wander round happily and perhaps have a picnic on the lawn again.  But first, I may indulge myself by watching The Sign of Three once again and continuing to wallow in glorious nostalgia!

PS The "almost funeral" comes from Sherlock.  Our wedding was entirely crime-free!  John would be most envious.

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Happy New Year! (+ obligatory resolutions)

© Chris Chabot via flickr

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!  Isn't the future awesome?

Everyone makes a slew of New Years Resolutions, don't they?  I always wonder how those go over the year... Do many (if any) of us actually accomplish them?  Well, last year I resolved to keep being awesome, and that definitely worked out well!  It's a shame that awesomeness doesn't extend to pesky little things like housework, though.

But I digress...

In past years I've made NYR.  A lovely laundry list of everything that was wrong with me that I wanted to fix.  Lose weight, get fit, be more social, learn about this whole make-up/hair/being girly thing, have a show home, paint my toenails every Tuesday, learn Italian...the works.  But none of it ever happened, because it turned out that those resolutions?  They were just wishes.  There was no timescale, no thought of how I was going to make these magical transformations happen, no SMART goals.

This year, I am going to become more organised.  There are a number of different reasons for this, ranging from the "I don't want to be tumble-drying school shirts at 0810 on a Monday morning," through to "I'd eat healthily if there were healthy snacks/easy meals in the fridge," "I could have sworn I had some cinnamon in the larder," and "I can't find the lottery ticket and we've won millions!!"

I'm going to start by spending the rest of January following The Organised Housewife's 20 Days To Organise and Clean Your Home Challenge.  (The random stuff everywhere after Christmas is bothering me, and I've got quite the tolerance.)  Once I've finished that, and the house is decluttered, organised, and gleaming, I'll reassess things.  I've been wilfully disorganised for years, so I imagine that this is going to be quite the project!

Happy New Year, everyone!!

(I'm still going to keep on being awesome, though!)

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2013 in review

The year is drawing to a close, so like 99% of the blogging community I've been reflecting on the happenings--both good and bad--of the year that's passed.  Without further ado, let me present my highlights of 2013:

January
♥ I've got to say that January did not have the brightest of starts.  Christmas Eve had been spent in hospital having a biopsy on an "interesting" lump in my nose to see whether it was cancerous or not and I spent most of the month in a hideous limbo before the all-clear came.  Still, I'm told that my post-op ramblings were fun on Christmas Day!

♥ We were Romans for a day at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.  Amazing statues and mosaics!

♥ Later in the month, we woke up one morning to find that it had snowed.  Lucas was incredibly excited as it turned into his very first snow day from school (as the teachers couldn't get to work)!  I was less excited as I am like Bambi on ice when it comes to snow!

February
♥ We geeked out this month and went to the London Super Comics Convention.  2014 will be its third year and it's managed to zoom to the top of my list of favourite cons!

The standard of cosplay is always incredibly high at this con.  Aside from admiring all the costumes we caught up with some friends and creators that we know, and had a wonderful weekend!  Definitely the highlight of the month.

March
♥ March was all about Dave's birthday.  At the con in February I conspired with one of his favourite artists, the very lovely Ian Churchill, to commission a 40th birthday sketch of the sensational She-Hulk as a surprise.

♥ There was also a R2-D2 cake, which was a bit stumpy, but still recognisable (thankfully)!

April
♥ In April we veered between two extremes.  We zoomed around the annual Bristol Italian AutoMoto Festival, shopping for our dream fast cars, and then took things slower by walking around Oxford for a day.



May
♥ In May we flexed our National Trust membership again and wandered around Dyrham Park.

Lucas is all, "Welcome to my crib."

June
♥ This month I went under the knife again--sigh--and had a small but very fast-growing mole removed from my arm.  Thankfully it wasn't cancerous, but I am much more wary of the sun now.
♥ I'm not sure much else happened!

July

♥ Gromit Unleashed started this month!  I took Lucas to our closest Gromit, Roger, on the very first day.  He was so excited!

♥ It was our tenth wedding anniversary this month!  Ten wonderful, wonderful years with Dave...

♥ We went on holiday in Cornwall, and I had my first--but definitely not my last--hedgehog.

♥ Oh yeah...I also started this here blog.  Hurrah!

August
♥This month, Dave and I were proud as punch as Lucas learned how to ride his bike!

♥ We also helped save Somerset from a Dalek Invasion...You're welcome.

September
♥ We went to a huge family reunion picnic in The Forest of Dean.  I was relieved to learn that it wasn't just me that was confused about who was who in Dave's astonishingly huge and bewildering family tree!  Lucas gave up on names and climbed a tree instead.  Very sensible.

♥ Dave treated me to an extra-special visit to Greenway, Agatha Christie's summer house in Devon.

October
♥ Lucas turned seven this month.  Man, do I feel old!

♥ I was invited along to the Pretty Nostalgic Gathering at Kings Weston House and got to meet some lovely local bloggers.

♥ Finally, I carved my first pumpkin.

November
♥ Doctor Who turned 50 this month and we went to the celebrations in London.  Lucas and I met the utterly fantastic Sylvester McCoy!

Bonus Colin Baker (6) in background!

December
♥ Dave and I started December with a luxurious and relaxing weekend away in Yorkshire at Swinton Park, as a belated anniversary celebration.  I will blog about it properly at some point!

The Drawing Room at Swinton Park

♥ We had a magical Christmas experience at Tyntesfield--probably my favourite NT property--and we all met Father Christmas.

2013 may have started in a stressful fashion but the year has ended on a real high.  I'm hoping that 2014 will be even better for our little family  and that our house continues to be full of love and laughter.

Happy New Year to you all!  May the New Year bring you both joy and prosperity!

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