it's cold and wet in glasgow - and seems to have been this way for weeks. the joy is that in just over 24 hours we are departing for australia. a long journey for a small girl but i'm sure we will be fine. it is for views like this that i am longing, for heat to drive the damp from my bones, for the light that dazzles and shimmers off hot sand, for water that laps its salty goodness around my ears.
bring it on.
P
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Friday, 15 February 2008
An old post - December 2005
A fine line between reflection and nostalgia. here's one a wrote a few years back (2005). Thanks to random Stu for the photo.
"there's no doubt that the winter is here, the puddles were already frozen on my cycle home from work and there's snow on the hills and it's here to stay. i guess that can mean only one thing for me; the end of another year and the roll down to christmas. and this year, a northern hemisphere christmas complete will turkey, snow, mulled wine and holly and complete also with a new family in a small village called hillsborough twenty miles from belfast on the road to dublin in the rural heart of county down. there is something about christmas in the far north, i now understand christmas lights, hot dinners and the sense of expectation not just of all the joys of the season but also of the end of the dark, the lengthening days and the promise of spring on the other side of a frozen january and february.
i also now understand the exhilaration of hill walking in the snow and ice, the function of crampons strapped to winter boots and the fact that an ice axe is not just a prop from a b-grade horror movie but a life saver if you are unfortunate enough to lose your footing. the end of the year is the end of a cycle of seasons here too, in queen's park across the road, the trees have returned to their nakedness having shed the almost unbelievable lush greenness of summer and the multicolour display of autumn.
the news is full of the horrors of the middle-east, the impending ice age as the gulf stream peters out and the local news reporting that a major housing development had to be shifted because of the faeries allegedly dwelling under a large rock in the middle of a field. it was shifted, the faeries won. and then there's elton's wedding.......
On my frozen cycle to work this morning, the winter sun clear and dazzling low on the horizon, i was halted at my crossing of the mighty clyde river by the foot bridge swinging open to allow a huge, bridge building crane to slide past atop a german barge. it was a forced pause on the rush to work, a chance to stand with my fellow walkers and cyclist breathing smoke, helpless to do anything but wait. shame it doesn't happen more often.
i have been offered a new job, working with an NHS board that deals with educational issues for staff. unsurprisingly, i'll be working with the allied health professions- a disparate group really covering podiatrists, radiographers as well as physios and dieticians. they are paying me more money and i'll get to do some more travel in the west of scotland. as to what exactly i'll be doing- i'll let you know once i get there. after a blissful 6 months that has seen my parents visit, me take up the mandolin and the small issue of a marriage proposal and all that it entails- i am back to studying next semester, back to the purgatory that is research methods. a prospect that could be sweetened if i can convince my new employer to pay my fees. watch this space.
then there's what i'm missing. this is dangerous territory during the long dark night of winter in scotland but tonight it feels ok. babies- there are babies everywhere and i'm missing seeing all of them do those great things that babies do; mainly learn how cool it all is and make parents look at each other with fluttery tummies. my nieces and nephew race from toddlers into school or kindy goers and unfortunately uncle paulie is still a voice on the phone. i miss dinner parties, kitchen's full of old friends, smells of food and the hum of conversation. i miss space and solitude, warm sand between my toes and gum trees in the hot sun. i miss drinking in my friends bars and being there when the doors are locked and the party starts."
"there's no doubt that the winter is here, the puddles were already frozen on my cycle home from work and there's snow on the hills and it's here to stay. i guess that can mean only one thing for me; the end of another year and the roll down to christmas. and this year, a northern hemisphere christmas complete will turkey, snow, mulled wine and holly and complete also with a new family in a small village called hillsborough twenty miles from belfast on the road to dublin in the rural heart of county down. there is something about christmas in the far north, i now understand christmas lights, hot dinners and the sense of expectation not just of all the joys of the season but also of the end of the dark, the lengthening days and the promise of spring on the other side of a frozen january and february.
i also now understand the exhilaration of hill walking in the snow and ice, the function of crampons strapped to winter boots and the fact that an ice axe is not just a prop from a b-grade horror movie but a life saver if you are unfortunate enough to lose your footing. the end of the year is the end of a cycle of seasons here too, in queen's park across the road, the trees have returned to their nakedness having shed the almost unbelievable lush greenness of summer and the multicolour display of autumn.
the news is full of the horrors of the middle-east, the impending ice age as the gulf stream peters out and the local news reporting that a major housing development had to be shifted because of the faeries allegedly dwelling under a large rock in the middle of a field. it was shifted, the faeries won. and then there's elton's wedding.......
On my frozen cycle to work this morning, the winter sun clear and dazzling low on the horizon, i was halted at my crossing of the mighty clyde river by the foot bridge swinging open to allow a huge, bridge building crane to slide past atop a german barge. it was a forced pause on the rush to work, a chance to stand with my fellow walkers and cyclist breathing smoke, helpless to do anything but wait. shame it doesn't happen more often.
i have been offered a new job, working with an NHS board that deals with educational issues for staff. unsurprisingly, i'll be working with the allied health professions- a disparate group really covering podiatrists, radiographers as well as physios and dieticians. they are paying me more money and i'll get to do some more travel in the west of scotland. as to what exactly i'll be doing- i'll let you know once i get there. after a blissful 6 months that has seen my parents visit, me take up the mandolin and the small issue of a marriage proposal and all that it entails- i am back to studying next semester, back to the purgatory that is research methods. a prospect that could be sweetened if i can convince my new employer to pay my fees. watch this space.
then there's what i'm missing. this is dangerous territory during the long dark night of winter in scotland but tonight it feels ok. babies- there are babies everywhere and i'm missing seeing all of them do those great things that babies do; mainly learn how cool it all is and make parents look at each other with fluttery tummies. my nieces and nephew race from toddlers into school or kindy goers and unfortunately uncle paulie is still a voice on the phone. i miss dinner parties, kitchen's full of old friends, smells of food and the hum of conversation. i miss space and solitude, warm sand between my toes and gum trees in the hot sun. i miss drinking in my friends bars and being there when the doors are locked and the party starts."
rope work
i found this photo going through big Marcel's flickr site and it reminded me of a great weekend with friends in 2006 not long before mel and i were married. i had organised a stag/bucks do down in Stratford upon Avon and following a large, long and boozy lunch we retired to the park for a bit of running about. the star of the show (briefly) was the Aerobee disc (other brands of flying disc are also available) scything through the air end to end in a long thin park by the river.
all was going well until said disc lodged on top of the band stand leading to several hours of problem solving, doing deals with long-boat owners and generally dicking around until the disc was retrieved.
all good fun.
P
all was going well until said disc lodged on top of the band stand leading to several hours of problem solving, doing deals with long-boat owners and generally dicking around until the disc was retrieved.
all good fun.
P
Sunday, 3 February 2008
paul's first feed
having breast-fed grace exclusively for the first 7 weeks or so, this was the first attempt at formula. it when pretty well, she spewed a fair bit bit most of it stayed down. it was good to feel that i could take away her hunger and satisfy her in a way i hadn't been able to before.
Time marches on
as if there was any doubt, here's a shot of my little neice and neph starting school. they kind of look like they always did, just kind of stretched out. a lot.
P
P
routine and all that jazz
It seems a while since either of us wrote anything here so the time has come on a SUnday night after a quiet day hanging out with each other and Grace. It has to be said Grace hasn't been the most sparkling company sonce she smiled and goo-ed at us early this morning. Life has settled into something vaguely approaching a routine after the visitors and festivities of Christmas and New Year. Paul is back at work and Grace and I hang out - do housey things, go for walks, meet up with people, et jags (this week's treat) and do fambily admin stuff, like chasing up builders & double glazing bods to finish things that should work but don't. In the last few days she's started to get bored if she doesn't have something to watch or to entertain her through the day when she's awake, but isn't old enough to entertain herself... methinks maternity leave just got more demanding.
m
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