23 February 2014

My Love My Life 2/12 - Energy

I joined this new project last month called My Love My Life.  It's a new blogging cirle with some Professional photographers, who often so busy with work they never get around to capturing family photos of their own.  Probably a reason they started out in Photography in the first place.  I'm a bit like the odd one out because all I do is document Daisy's life.  They invited me in after the Letter's to my Daughter circle dried up. It's a similar thing really, just different branding.  The idea is that once a month they take time out with their family and rekindle the love that got them into Photography.

It's not often I get to spend the weekend with my daughter so when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it with both hands.  Had this unusually free weekend landed weeks earlier, I'm not sure how much fun we would've had because I haven't been feeling that great recently.  My doctor has been very concerned about my health and said I’ve taken a dramatic nosedive, which for him was just too rapid a decline for CF and he needed to get to the source of the problem and fast.  We discussed various pressing issues I’m dealing with and my voice wobbled.  I tried to hold it together, but as the questions were fired at me I cried, he knows if I cry I’m not coping.  I sighed and gave an absolute belter of an analogy that I literally just made up.  I told the Prof it’s a bit like having a dead body in the house, you can hide it in a room but the smell is still there.  They all burst out laughing, it was one of those appointments where the room was full of people, Dr, Student, Nurse all in attendance, another reason why I don’t want to cry.  I worry about scaring the students with my overly dramatic "Jeremy Kyle style" part of my life, that's outwith my control. Afterwards the nurse said “this is real life and they need to learn that”.  Anyway, the doctor said he is going to start using my analogy and after knowing him fourteen years, I believe him.    I didn’t realise how funny it all sounded.  He decided to put me on a short course of steroids, which I was a little weary of at first.  I trust him completely though and by the time the valentine holiday weekend was here, I was one week into the course and had super human mummy powers!  No wonder some athletes scoff steroids, I was absolutely buzzing with energy.

No school Friday, Monday and Tuesday, so plenty time for lots of fun activities with my favourite little person.  Our first adventure of the weekend was a trip to Stonehaven, which is a lovely coastal village fifteen miles south of where we stay in Aberdeen.  It was a fairly mild day but snow was forecast for 3pm so we needed to get out and back at a reasonable hour just in case the weather turned nasty.  Stonehaven or Stoney to locals, is picture perfect.  It's a place I used to go as a kid in the summertime, back then they had a lot more facilities for kids.  It’s a shame how they don’t preserve certain attractions.  Saying that, the old outdoor swimming pool is still going strong.  Just about everyone has been in it once and lived to tell the tale and I'm hoping to take Daisy one day as a right of passage really, but she needs to get some meat on her bones first because it will no doubt be freezing.  We were wrapped up warm and I wished I'd put some extra socks on my little friend, I forgot and felt a little guilty.  Mind you it didn't stop the enjoyment of a walk in the fresh sea air.  We collected driftwood for Nanny and some seashells.  Poppy our dog was in her element digging and collecting stones for herself; a trait she has had since she was a puppy.  We walked up to the harbour and spoke to a couple of men who were fishing, Daisy was desperate to see a fish and I told her we would go fishing one day.  I said I’m sure that’s something Granda might like to come along to.  We then had a bite to eat in a place called The Ship Inn, which is always a pleasure.  Before heading home I popped into a traditional sweet shop and picked us up some yummy sweets for in the car on the way home.  That was our Valentine’s Day.  Nothing beats spending time with the people that mean the most to you.
The next day we were up and out early because we were going Horse Riding!  Since getting her beloved Rocking Horse for Christmas Daisy has been desperate to try a real horse.  We have a local riding centre so it was really easy to organise.  It was a chilly morning so I put Daisy’s ski suit on and she looked real cosy.  I was half expecting her to be afraid when we got to the riding centre, but she wasn’t.  While we were waiting we had a look around the stables and met some of the other horses.  Stanley was very friendly and he was huge.  The stable girls arrived with a medium sized black horse and said his name was Sam.  Daisy chatted the whole time to the girls that took her out riding.  They walked though the forest, jumped over fallen trees and told her about the magic tree deep in the forest and that when her horse Sam walked though it, she had to make a wish.  All very exciting as you can imagine for a four year old.  Afterwards we saw a horse with sore legs getting off his bandages and having cream applied to his wounds.  Daisy didn’t want to go home and asked if she could go on again.  I promised that we would go back another day.  She told me she didn’t want anyone else go on her horse Sam, he’s her horse.

The following day, we woke up to a bright spring morning, not the warmest of days but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.  We threw the Radioflyer trike into the car and off we went; to the park.  I couldn’t believe how cold it was, our weather here is so tricky to call.  I quickly found myself trying to persuade Daisy to come to the cafe but almost wished I never.  I have no idea how mums out with children on their own manage to navigate their way around getting food, paying, finding tables and keeping control of the children.  It went a bit like this, I find a table, tell her to go sit at it, join the queue for food.  She starts messing about, she falls off the chair and onto the floor and suddenly you know everyone is thinking, “where is that child’s Mother”!? and I’m like, I’m here in the queue trying to get bloody food.  I feel so stressed because people are oblivious that I’m unable to coerce Daisy into staying beside me, order, pay, carry a bag and hold a tray of food while looking for somewhere to sit.  It’s physically impossible, my body can’t do it; a stark reminder of how my independence is compromised by my health.  It’s not Daisy’s fault, she’s still young and real free spirit but at times I just want to scream and say if you won’t behave we can’t go out alone.  I struggled on, if the queue wasn’t so long it would’ve certainly helped.  You live and learn.  I ordered Cola, Cake and Hot Chocolate, we waited an age for our hot food and thankfully I managed to engage Daisy with my new camera lens.  We had a blast.  She decided she was going to pull lots of different funny faces and we both giggled looking at them after each shot.

This month I am linking to Tracy of Tracy Williams Photgraphy, be sure to check out her blog.




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