Happiness is......

When your best friend sends you a surprise present in the post!

 Ooooohhhhhh (jumps up and down with excitement!!)

I was too impatient to take a photo when it arrived so you can’t see the wrapping. It is a shame you’ve missed it actually.  Best Friend has a quirky way of wrapping presents with newspaper and string!

 

I laughed out loud when I opened it! -

Surprise Present from Best Friend

Did I tell you I am going to be a granny?

Yes - our grandchild is due in March and we are all so very excited! 

This book, 'Not all Grannies Knit' (But this one does!!) by  Joan Pritchett  http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Not_All_Grannies_Knit.html?id=1IjW3xBBj7wC   is hilarious and I can identify with nearly every page!

This page is useful –

Nicknames stay with us forever!

A reminder that any silly names we allow grandchild to call us will stay with us for the rest of our lives and beyond....  Granny Gard has a certain charm - however the thought of a child shortening this to the initials 'GG' and yelling full volume in the supermarket 'GEE GEE' has made me think again.  I think I will be safer as Gran.

And, I do recognise myself here…

Goodbye to a 'lie-in'

It takes me 2 hours and 3 cups of coffee to pull myself around on a morning!

Thank you Best Friend for the lovely book and making me laugh.  I love you x

 I have got my emergency bag packed.  Just in case I am needed......!!

It’s been a long time since we’ve had babies in our house - and how things have changed! The choices are overwhelming – the most dilemma I ever had was whether to buy pink, blue, white or lemon!

The ‘baby list’ has amused me! For example – Bath thermometer – What??? We used our elbows for testing the baby’s bath water (and the back of our hands or wrist for testing milk temperature!)  Hooded towel? (surely, a towel is a towel?!). 

I’ve been amazed to see such things as a bouncing chair (which I used to rock with my foot) is now replaced with an all singing dancing, vibrating contraption! I dare not tell the shop assistants that in the absence of the bouncy chair my late mother in law used to put my children in her washing basket.

I’ve learnt all about Baby pods and Bugaboos.  I see that storing the toys in ‘swing bins (with stickers)’ has been replaced with a huge range of toy boxes!

Among the ‘necessities’ for mother-to-be to take into hospital are, mobile phone and MP3 player.  When I had my two daughters the hospital would not release the cage unless you had some help at home so that new mum could have an afternoon nap and put your feet up – now the hospital will not let you leave unless you have a car seat, which is a shame if you are going home on the bus......

We’ve parted with an obscene amount of money for a changing mat – what’s that all about? I remember watching mother and aunties change babies on their knees!

Anyhow - we all want the best for our new babies and as grandparents we can indulge even when we know we are being ridiculously frivolous.

I took this photo to show you –

One of my cross-stitch pictures

I’ve always loved the Ecclesiastes verse: A Time and Season for Everything. 

I completed this cross stitch back in 2005.  It took me a year from start to finish. It is a Moira Blackburn sampler http://www.moirablackburn.com/ and the kit comes with very clear instructions. I enjoyed sewing it as there is a lot of interest in it and I like the muted colours.  It hangs in a prominant place in our dining room and I am very proud to tell you that it won me first prize in our Village Cottage Show!

In my little corner – I am pondering back to this time last year when we were so very sad because our dear Uncle Arnie was coming to the end of his life.  I am so pleased that I was able to spend time with him before he died and that we were able to say our goodbyes.  The days and weeks that followed were quite horrendous but during all that grief, little did I know that the same month the following year I would be awaiting the birth of my first grandchild. 

And, although this Easter will be tinged with sadness as we remember my uncle we will also be rejoicing the birth of our grandchild.  There really is comfort in this verse on my Cross-Stitch – a time to be born and a time to die for all of us.

Ecclesiastes 3:1  A Time for Everything

1. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2. a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
3. a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 
4. a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
5. a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 
6. a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 
7. a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 
8. a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Now then - just look at this lovely red Amaryllis – just waiting to burst into flower!! I potted it up in December and day by day we have watched it grow - and grow......and grow....

Amaryllis

 ........ And burst into flower!! WONDERFUL!

Amaryllis in flower

Wishing you a Happy Springtime everyone – and remember – ‘Isn’t it nice to be nice?’

Love C xx