Just checkin' in!

I've been moping about the place now for the better part of a week and it's really not much fun! I am pushing myself to do even the bare minimum. What is it about depression that sneaks back in and bites you in the backside? It sure isn't a welcome guest in these here parts I can tell you.

I'm back to either bouts of wanting to sleep the day away or spending the nights in my lazyboy chair alternating between fits of sleep and being wide awake. What is all that about? The old enemy of anxiety has returned with a vengeance and if I had somewhere in mind to run to, I'd be off! That's about the size of it folks.

Even my Activity for Life classes are becoming a chore...I've narrowed it down to two classes that I do still enjoy (tai-chi and aquasize). I really don't find the machines to be much fun and yet speaking to others in the classes, most seem to like the machines best! I'm at this very moment arguing with myself whether to even bother going to the class this morning (it's the machines today!).

I'm also at my therapy appointment this afternoon and finding these aren't too agreeable with me either. I wonder if I'll have the guts to tell the therapist that this afternoon? Ugh! Sometimes I think the therapy is more of a hindrance than a help...anybody reading this ever felt like that if they've been in therapy?

The healthy eating has taken a trip up the Swanee too. Guess you can just say things are a bit crap at the moment. Nothing like tuning in to a blog and coming away from it thinking "that lady's got troubles"......hopefully all this will lift soon and I'll be feeling much better!

I have a saying that I can mostly believe "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade"....trouble is, at the moment, the recipe seems to be eluding me. Til next time....

MOVING PICTURE!

Oh Nana, this moving lark is sure hard on the ol' fella!

This photo was taken last week at Brenda's when Nathanial was just plumb tuckered out from all that packing. One minute he was chattering away to nana and then all went silent and this was the end product! Awwwww!

Poor Nathaniel was shattered...and as the days have gone on (today is MOVING DAY for the Jones' family) things have got a heck of a lot busier.

Now if this darn rain would just cease the day would be a lot easier to face. It's 6.35am here at our home as I write this blog entry and I'll soon be dressed and on my way over to Brenda's to help in whatever way I can. The movers are due at 9.30am and the day will be interspersed with leaving ceremony for Iona (moves up from nursery...and they call it "Graduation") and the two eldest boys finishing school at 2pm today...then school is out for the summer holidays. This will be their last day in Prescot County Primary and they'll move on in September to their new school in Cheadle, Manchester.

So...here's to a good move and assembled beds at the other end so everyone can rest their weary bones after the move.

HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY
to our much-loved daughter & hubby

Brenda & Bryn

14th July

from Mom, Dad and Dave xxoo

Alec & Jacquie

This photo comes courtesy of my good friend Ann who has featured on my blog several times and who recently spent two weeks with us here in the UK. She snapped a rare shot of Alec and I in the living room as she frantically took photos of us all ( to remember us by...awww!).

We do not have many photos together and it was so nice to find this one taken in May of this year....and again, what a fabulous holiday we shared Ann. Great memories! (and thanks to Ann who gave me instructions of how to actually save it from her Facebook photo album too!....even more surprising, I could follow the instructions and successfully publish the photo too!! lol)

The scenic picture is one of my favourite memories of the visit with Ann in May. We drank in this view from the B&B we stayed in not far from Aberystwyth in Wales. Fabulous drink-in scene I think you'll agree! This photo rather compensates for the miserable rainy Sunday picture I posted in my previous blog entry. Just to prove it can be nice in the UK too!

The second photo is the lady herself! (lol) I had to have a photo for my Activity for Life ID and Bryn was kind enough to do this portrait one for me...so thought I'd share it with my readers.

The facial features are a slimmed-down version that appears on my blog and I just felt like a little brag!

That's all for today folks.

ALMOST FORGOT TO POST PICCIES OF MY COOKIE BAKE!

As the grandkids didn't seem to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies (think it was the walnuts in the recipe along with the chocolate chips!) I thought I'd at least share a picture with my blog readers.

I saved a few for home consumption and packed the rest up in a container to be placed in the staff kitchen in the grandkids' school. I'm pretty sure the teachers will appreciate them! (lol)

So it's "virtual" choccie chip cookies for my readers today :)

This was what it looked like last Sunday here in "summery" old northwest England! It was almost flash flood full alert! Thankfully it didn't come to flash floods but it sure was threatening to be another episode like we experienced a few years ago when it rained so hard the drains were literally lifting off the ground and the rainfall was so heavy it washed right into our shop causing some damage. Not this time though...phew! Today though it's a totally different story. It's wonderfully sunny...not hot I hasten to add but nevertheless a very enjoyable day. Been a lovely day too. Made a quick trip to the supermarket and then on to my friend Dorothy's for a nice cup of iced tea and a chinwag. Home again just in time to receive Brenny and family for a visit. The 3 eldest grandchildren stayed with nana while Brenda, Bryn and Nathaniel went to Ikea to scout around for some much needed furniture (a bed for Nathaniel especially) thinking they might find it in the sales...no such luck! They'll go back after their move this week as they've selected what they would like to purchase but may as well wait until after the move this Friday.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake at nana's...

I also had a fun time with Joshua and Iona as they "helped" nana make and bake some chocolate chip cookies. They loved licking the beaters and the bowls but when it came to the finished product....they didn't like them !! :(

This was my second attempt at making cookies for the grandkids in the last month. I had a go at peanut butter cookies and they weren't a hit either. My goodness....I ask myself...do my grandkids have any Canadian blood in their veins?? (lol) I wonder if I should try plain sugar cookies?? or maybe...just maybe, forget plying the grandchildren with homemade cookies and succumb to store-bought!

Oh well....it's on to a busy week with Brenda & Bryn's move so I'll help where I can. I'll be back again soon. Happy Sunday readers.

Not a lot has been happening in our neck of the woods. I've been battling with a bout of depression in the last week but thankfully today I can feel it lifting somewhat...that is a good sign!

I have the most lovely friend (Dorothy) who spared no effort yesterday to prepare me the most lovely lunch in her home. It was all arranged quickly in the morning as she soon realized during our msn chat that I wasn't on top form. Bless her! She provided me with fresh produce from her garden for a tasty salad plate, topped off with salmon and prawns....and the most YUMMY home-grown raspberries for dessert. I felt really blessed...thank you hon.

Then I travelled to our daughter's home to lend a hand with the sorting and packing (an ongoing project as their moving day is fast approaching). I'm relieved they've secured a moving company so the hard graft of shifting all their possessions will be in the hands of professionals. It will be worth the expense. We got quite a lot of sorting done and their current home looks like a box factory with the rooms fast filling up with packed-up belongings.

I had the added pleasure of comforting Nathaniel (youngest grandson) as he was so overtired late on in the afternoon. He was chattering away to me and then went all silent...I looked and his eyes were shut and he was fast asleep. Awww It was one of those awake one minute, asleep the next kind of times. Nana thrives on those kind of moments with the little ones. :)

I have my tai-chi class this afternoon but not much else planned. Looks overcast outside but it could still be a sunny day...we shall see!

That's about it folks! Blessings to you.

Don't they say the best things in life are worth waiting for....get a load of those hairdo's eh? and what about those hemlines too!

This is me on the left (the bride) and my best friend Ann (my bridesmaid/witness).

We had a few oversights on the day...forgot completely about having music for the service...and...also forgot flowers for my one bridesmaid, Ann.

My stepmom Leah came to the rescue though and made a pretty bouquet picked fresh from her garden! A bit of ribbon added and "Bob's your uncle."

Ann and I have remained friends all these years and it is Ann who I recently shared a great visit with here in the UK when she came to visit us (there are photos elsewhere on my blog of her visit). And thanks to Ann I was able to put these photos up on my blog (I've mentioned elsewhere I have misplaced our small wedding album but she had a few photos in her possession so all was not lost). Thank you Ann....what a friend!

Well....this seems to be the best I can get at the moment! Why do I have so many silly problems that frustrate me when I attempt to do anything more complicated on the puter than chat to friends on msn?

Anyhow....the first photo is a repeat (I know.....I know.....just laugh with me!!) and the second photo is hubby signing his life away and I'm standing at the side of him making sure he does it right! (lol)

Maybe I'll get third time lucky! I've got one more photo to publish if I can locate it! Give me strength...and keep laughing along with silly ol' me.

This is a photo taken in our living room on Bowen Island. L to R is my stepmom (Leah), myself and my dad (Jack).

I have more photos sent to me by my friend Ann (she was my matron of honour/witness) and I'll have to work out how to download the other two photos.

I'm such a non-techi person I'm not even sure how I managed to locate this photo and get it to publish!! Is there any hope for me, I ask you? (lol)

Our Wedding Day (hubby's not in this photo...I'm still working on publishing that one)!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY HONEY
37 yrs. married today!

and

Happy Canada Day to all my friends & family in Canada.

If I manage to locate it (!!) I'll post a photo of our wedding day. It was a warm, sunny day, much like it is today and my memories of the day are still fairly fresh in my mind and heart. It was a small affair, I wore a short peach dress with a lace bodice and carried a posy of red and white flowers.

Our witnesses were our good friends Ann & Tom and invited guests numbered a small crowd of about 10 or 12. I do remember my married cousin turning up with his wife and children (on their way to the beach complete with pails and shovels, sun hats and shorts and clanged their way through the service...lol).

My boss, an ordained minister, conducted our ceremony at the childhood church I attended on Bowen Island. Oh and we totally forgot to arrange any music for the ceremony and as there was only a pump organ in the little country church we had to make do without.

My dad and stepmom arranged a small reception at our Bowen Island home with bbq'd salmon (yum, yum) and I remember my stepmom and I made the fruit wedding cake and iced it. We didn't realize you had to coat the cake with marzipan before icing it so the dark colouring from the cake showed through...no mistaking it for a homemade cake. Being in the 70's our cake topper was a garland of flowers with the peace symbol hanging from a circle. Peace was a hot topic then with the Vietnam war in full swing.

Well 37 yrs. down the line, 2 lovely kids and 4 grandkids later, we're now so laid back about all the anniversary celebrations that we almost forgot the exchange of cards! (lol) But we've not completely lost the plot...we did remember to wish each other a happy day and have a little smooch.

We have a very small wedding album of snapshots and I know it is in the house somewhere (one day I will get organized!!) but today, of all days, it seems to have gone AWOL...and it's less than a month since I last was looking at it. If it's found soon....then I'll post a piccie.

So....37 years....here's to 38!