just because

i love me some celtic woman!
why not?

celtic woman

when you least expect ...

i wasn't looking for it.

it was one of those grey scottish days when the wind slices
like a knife.
an ... omg, it's too cold to breath kind of day, a day when
sensible people stay home and dream of spain and sunshine.
leaving the daft few to fight their way along the sea front,
buffeted from every direction by angry, ice cold air.

i had grabbed my old jacket from the cupboard at the bottom of
the stairs.
as i rounded the corner from the main street into shore road, i
thrust my cold hands deep into my pockets in search of
protection from the wandering tendrils of the icy blast.

and there it was.

right at the bottom of a deep pocket, in with the fluff and
beach sand and a forgotten piece of gum. rattling around with
a couple of loose pennies and a once, beautiful when wet, pebble.
what can i say ... i was surprised.
after all, it would not have been the first place i expected
to find such a treasure.

never a dull moment

thursday evening ...
i heard it on the grapevine or in more modern day speak ...
facebook!
"you left a light on!" ...
old news, i am a south african, i always leave a light on."

"you have a leak, the water is dripping
through the ceiling downstairs."
ok, that one got my attention.
phoned my landlady...
in her usual efficient manner she had the situation under
control, burst pipe in bathroom, no damage to my place,
slight damage to ceiling downstairs. water mains turned off,
plumber on order.

i was due to return home on saturday but due to an overactive
imagination, i decided to push that forward by a day. it is
kind of difficult to relax whilst imagining unknown plumbers
trundling through my home.

i arrived home to find my front door open, signs of work ...
strange pieces of pipe lying around in the bathroom.
a distinct lack of water in the cistern, but, no plumber.

everybody relax! this is ayrshire not africa! open front doors
are okay, strange plumbers alone in your home are okay.
i phoned my efficient landlady to report in. no problems,
repair work in progress, plumber just off to stranraer for spare
parts.

friday evening, plumbing problem resolved, the weekend ahead,
a glass of ice with other additions ...
cheers!

midwives and measurements

funny thing, the older i grow the more i love to hold
a new born baby.
so new, there is still a touch of heaven about them.
eyes not quite ready to see the physical world, ears
that will hear a whisper. tiny, tiny hands already
more than capable of finding the rose bud mouth.

since monday i have been staying with the kids and
baby daniel. would you argue if i told you he was the
most beautiful child in the world. that at four days old
his genius is already obvious!

thursday - 24th
today was heel prick day ... please note - heel prick,
not friggin' heel pricks! our poor baby, the indignity of it,
ouch, ouch, ouch. it was also weigh daniel day and m has
done a stirling job with the breast feeding, our young prince
has gained weight, an increase from 2.64kg to 2.67kg after only
five days since birth...
yay, for super mom!

i must add that i am totally impressed with the nhs scotland.
wow, a midwife visits every other day to help and encourage
the new mom and check that baby is doing well. and... all
without charge,such a civilised country

tomorrow i am off to saltcoats for the day, joshua, my
eldest grandchild turns thirteen. i can't believe
how time flies, it feels like only yesterday i would lift and
grasp him under my arm and carry him off whilst he kicked and
screamed in a raging tantrum. now he is in high school,
looking sharp in his blazer and tie and learning to play the sax!
josh is autistic, these days he is classified as a high functioning autistic,
back in the day, well....
that is another whole blog!

Daniel

daniel on his birthday.

baby talk

Definitely a capital letter day ...

Welcome to our world Daniel Adam Oellermann!

First born son of Adam and Michelle.

My sixth grandchild!

Born at 12.06, weighing in at 5lb 13oz. Small but fighting fit!

lacking inspiration or ... just plain lazy

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

woke up this morning determined to take an early morning walk as we
have sunshine. the dark will be upon us soon enough and as we know
the dark is mostly accompanied by the wet. i come from good
south african stock, we don't do wet very well!

having dragged my arse out of bed i decided that i may as well have
a cup of coffee before my walk. the house filled with the good
morning aroma of my favourite tipple, i decided to check my email
whilst i waited.
naughty, naughty!
emails, facebook, blogs ...
what can i say. times passes.
so then i decided ... best shower and have my brekkie before my
walk.

ten o'clock, saturday morning, i'm washed, well fed and on my
second cuppa.
why am i writing when i should be walking?

i guess i am not ...

laconic http://www.answers.com

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
See synonyms at silent.

[Latin Lacōnicus, Spartan, from Greek Lakōnikos, from Lakōn,
a Spartan (from the reputation of the Spartans for brevity of
speech).]
laconically la·con'i·cal·ly adv.

WORD HISTORY The study of the classics allows one to
understand the history of the term laconic, which comes to us
via Latin from Greek Lakōnikos. The English word is first
recorded in 1583 with the sense “of or relating to Laconia or
its inhabitants.” Lakōnikos is derived from Lakōn, “a Laconian,
a person from Lacedaemon,” the name for the region of Greece
of which Sparta was the capital. The Spartans, noted for being
warlike and disciplined, were also known for the brevity of
their speech, and it is this quality that English writers still
denote by the use of the adjective laconic, which is first
found in this sense in 1589.