Perspective in sad times

This time last week, almost exactly to the hour, we received a call from Colchester General Hospital to say that Andrew's Mother, Janet, was about to pass away and that Andrew and his father should head up to the hospital.
She had only been admitted the day before and during his visits to her over those two days Andrew felt she wasn't really there.
She was sleeping a lot and not very lucid.
He went to the hospital with his father to say goodbye and then returned home, sad but not devastated.
Janet had been ill and her quality of life has deteriorated a great deal over the past few months.
She was 81 years old.

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The following morning Andrew was online and read the news about Ryan Schumacher, the husband of our dear friend Meri in California.
And there it was: a huge amount of perspective on our own situation.
Meri was one of the first people whose blogs I read when Frank was first diagnosed and her stories offered a great deal of support to me, all at sea with the business of managing the beast that it Type 1 Diabetes.
She helped me to be a proud D-Mama and to let nothing stop me from doing my best every day.
She is never anything but positive and supportive.
Meri is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT people in my life as the parent of a child with Diabetes.
For anyone new to the wonder that is Meri (and I am aware that most people reading my blog know her already!) let me say a few things:

Meri and Ryan have four great sons.
Three of their boys have Type 1 Diabetes.
Three, not one, three.
All the fear and hard work and finger pricks and hypos and hypers that Andrew and I deal with are dealt with by Meri and Ryan three times over.
How the woman has the energy to blog used to amaze me but I do now understand the need for it; the release that comes from putting those words down on the page and the joy and peace when comments roll in and people respond telling you they feel the same way.
Meri is always there for every other parent in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC).
She gives support constantly and asks for it when she needs it too.

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So, here it is:
last Tuesday, Ryan Schumacher, Meri's husband of 19 years, was diagnosed with six cancerous brain tumours as well as other tumours in his abdomen and legs.
He is 40 years old.
Talk about perspective.
Big time.

And as we plan Janet's funeral I am also thinking constantly about Meri and Ryan and the long and scary fight that lies ahead for them and their boys.
My Mum and Dad gave me some money for The Diabetes Society last week (they meant JDRF but can never get it right!).
I have sent it to the Schumachers.
It was the only thing to do.
I am telling this story here not to point out how great I am ( I am really not as what I want to do is jump on a plane to California and help somehow!!) but to ask any of you that might be reading to check out the Schumacher's story for themselves and if moved to do so, to contribute in any way you can.
It is very possibly the only thing to do.
Love to all.
It is a sad week but may we all find peace in our hearts.

cyclamen :: snow :: our hearts

At the front of the house we have two pots of pretty cyclamen.
They do well in the cold weather, but last week week we had a night of temperatures of -12 here in Colchester!
They are holding onto their petals but I dare not touch them in case they all tumble to the ground.

And our snowman was such fun to make!
Frank and I had a great time making him and burrowing through the coal in the shed to find pieces small enough to decorate him.
He is all but melted today as we now have warm temperatures and are all out and about and mobile again.


And we made each other little Valentine's cards yesterday.
Toast was cut into heart shapes for breakfast and we made a yummy dinner to mark our love for our little family.
Sounds sappy, but we take any reason we can to have a special meal!
We love our food.
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Whilst on the subject of hearts and love, I have to admit that Andrew and I are rather heart sore this week, having delivered his Mum to her nursing home last Friday.
Seeing her leave her home of more than forty years and worse, her husband of nearly sixty years was tough on all of us.
In a kind twist of nature, and indeed fate, she has very little short-term memory left, I think, and we hope this might help her feel less stressed as the days go by.
The home is lovely and she is cared for by people who know how to help her.
Andrew's father did as much as could be expected of anyone, let alone someone of 84 who is not that mobile themselves, and is now resting after what must have been a tough six months before defeat was admitted and help sought.
He is the hero of all this.
We are visiting her daily at present, hence another week having gone by without writing.
We are spending quiet days reflecting on the nature of family and old age, and in taking in this new phase in which we find ourselves.

pancakes :: snow :: a quilt

In an attempt to record and share more of our days (because they are so immensely fascinating, you understand!) I am going to try to post often in the same way as Heather, whose daily posts have been a wonderful source of beauty and out-breaths recently.
We have taken to having pancakes for breakfast every Sunday and that little routine sees me jumping out of bed before the boys to pad downstairs and mix the batter, so it can sit for a while before we start cooking.
We each have our favourite topping.
Frank goes for agave syrup (although having read about it recently I will be removing it from the pantry soon) and Andrew and I go for lemon juice and maple syrup.
We get two pancakes each (big, thin ones like crepes) from a mix of 4floz oat milk, 1 egg, 4oz spelt flour, pinch salt and 1 tbsp oil.
It leaves us rather wanting a little more but that's no bad thing.

And the table always groans under the weight of Lego. Every meal!

We had snow last night.
About five inches and it drifted so in parts of the garden it was quite high.
Straight after pancakes we headed out, all layered up, to throw snowballs at each other and get thoroughly cold.
Today was the day when I realised I have a hole in my wellies and my feet were very cold very quickly.
My lovely blokes longjohns worked a treat though!

And in the late morning I managed to complete my first ever quilt. Here you can see it on the big bed, although it is for Frank and his little bed next to ours.
The fabric was from the V&A stall at a Knit & Stitch Show two years ago and is all based on fabrics from the V&A archives.
They are beautiful and I am so glad to have been able to keep them together.
You can see in this picture how we sleep.
Frank sleeps directly next to me in a little bed (Andrew cannily took a saw to a regular single bed and made a kind of Frankenstein's monster of a bed!).
Frank didn't used to sleep here, except when he was tiny, but I never rested well with him away from me.
This way we all sleep better and I can check on him frequently because, let's face it, the deep sleep we all used to enjoy pre-kids and especially pre-diabetic kids is AWOL for a while.
It works for us, for now.
He learnt to make snowballs today.
And throw them.
His little snow suit is one brought back from a Finnish flea market by a friend.
We rarely get this much snow but this suit is fabulous when we do.

Tomorrow the Wholefood Kitchen starts for Andrew and I.
Will post more on that in the morning.

Instead of stories ...

Sometimes, of an evening, Frank and I discuss what stories he might like to hear.

I love reading and being read to. Thus talking books are great for me, especially as I can cook and potter whilst following a story.
I have very fond memories of being in my mid-twenties and sharing a house with two other young female teachers, one of whom is still one of my best friends, Alex.
Alex is from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland and after a few years teaching here in Essex, followed her heart home and works now in Belfast.
On special occasions Alex would read out loud to me as we both lay on sofas in the lounge of the house we shared. He gorgeous northern Irish accent made every story extra special to me.
Well, Frank loves stories too, but is in that in-betweeeny phase at the moment of not really enjoying longer stories and wanting the same very young children's stories over and over.
I have no problem with this unless it has been a long day and I am in need of something a little more peppy!
This was the case the other evening and so I suggested we took paper, books and pencils and his bedtime snack upstairs with us and planned our Chinese New Year celebrations on the big double bed INSTEAD of stories.

We had a couple of books for ideas of dragons to draw and Frank erected a pillow barrier to prevent me from seeing the dragon he was drawing.

Here you can see his snack (apples slices and an oat biscuit) and in the background his little monster design book. This is just a small Moleskine book that he has by the side of his bed and in which he draws any good ideas for monsters when he's allowed ten minutes reading or designing alone before lights go out.
Monsters don't frighten him and he loves to design weird and wonderful ones.

We came up with this version of a dragon for our Chinese New Year celebration and Frank had a ball using his new chalk pastels to colour it in as they were so bright.

My point with this post is that we spent a long time drawing and reading and talking about our ideas and I think both of us felt energised by this new activity.

I firmly believe in routine and the support it provides for all of us but on the occasion that I have stepped outside the routine and done something creative I have felt amazed by the energy I have tapped into.
Rather than feeling more tired by our slightly later night we felt great and had shared some creative time and most definitely strengthened our connection to each other as two people that like to create, albeit he monsters and gross creatures and me slightly less gross things!
Instead of stories, create ...
Any other ideas for great bedtimes?

Mellow Sweetness

I have really been enjoying mellow days with my boys over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Some days have been filled with such gentle sweetness that I have felt a surge of joy at my luck to have these two men in my life.
After our Solstice celebration it was heads down and into Christmas.
We went to a lovely party hosted by a friend on Christmas Eve and I was able to catch up with my friend Tanya and her hubby Rob. He was sporting the biggest smile ever having finally landed a job after eighteen very long and tricky months and many, many interviews. I just didn't want to talk to anyone else having seen them go through such a hard time and just loved feeling the energy pulsing out of them that evening. They are good people and like many in this economic climate have been through a lot.
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Christmas Day saw us eating croissants as we opened our gifts and then heading off to celebrate Christmas with Sue (Andrew's ex-wife), Sarah and Tom (his children from this first marriage, they are 29 and 25 respectively).
Sue made a fantastic lunch of turkey, roast potatoes, sausages, veggies, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy.
Frank was in his element!
At around 4pm we all tucked into the mince pies I made along with a cup of tea.

I used a pastry recipe from Sarah Raven's Complete Christmas book (which I love!! Highly recommended) and filled the pies with sugar free mincemeat made by my friend Fiona.
The little bird lids on the lids were a last minute decision as a full lid can be heavy and I love a bit of whimsy at any time.

Boxing Day saw us three in the woods getting some much needed fresh air and gathering some sticks for the fire.
And for New Year we drove down to Reading to stay with Severine and had such a lovely time, full of mellow sweetness again.
Severine knows us well and was happy to have a quiet, reflective evening with good food and some games and chat about our plans for the coming year.
We played a music quiz, drank champagne, ate smoked salmon and made a list of what we want to achieve in 2012.
Actually, Andrew let Sev and I drink the champagne as he toasted the new year with (hold onto your knickers) CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!

I have no idea what Sev actually thought but I could hazard a guess!

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And my plans for 2012?
They include posting here more often.
So on that note, I will be back soon with more on my plans for 2012.
Blessings to you all for a healthy, happy and joyful 2012 full of mellow sweetness.

Winter Solstice

We celebrated the Winter Solstice yesterday evening with lots of candles, good food and gifts.
Frank was allowed to stay up late to play his new game and then we all went to bed at the same time, chatting quietly until we fell asleep, Frank first followed by myself and then Andrew.
These dark winter days are special to me as I love this season of introspection after such busy times outside all summer and autumn.

More knitting, reading and planning! Hooray!
In the next few days we will visit people and have people to us, exchange gifts and watch Frank's pantomime that he has been planning for a few days now.

Then it's head down and into the full-on festivities with family and friends.
I enjoy the Winter Solstice more than Christmas for its quiet sense of wonder at nature and peaceful family celebration.
I will be enjoying some screen free days this Yuletide and will be back in the middle of next week.
Peace and blessings to you all, and may the D-fairy behave itself this festive season!

In these days of long shadows

We are busy busy, busy preparing for a season of gift giving: making cards, writing gift tags, making Christmas treasure hunts, knitting, reading recipes and making choices, baking and general elving.
A few days ago Frank and I went to Frinton for fresh air and a race on the beach (he always wins, but only because I cry less at losing!) followed by fish & chips and a great score of a Scooby Doo puzzle in a charity shop.
It was blissful.
Blue, blue sky and just me and my boy on that beach.

It makes me happy, this stretch of coast. Always.

And then we stay home a lot too; making things, crafting, elving and baking.

I took this picture as a way of telling the tale of how I reached without looking for my coffee and nearly took a swig of a bowl of beads today!
They actually had to touch my lips before I realised it wasn't my drink.
Must use my eyes next time.

And more elving, preceded by a fun afternoon decorating the ginger biscuits we made in the morning.
Oh yes, we had fun with that one!

Hope you are enjoying your winter too!

And take note: these biscuits are NOT BURNT.
Neither are they strangely blue!

Making & Hiding Out (d'you see what I did there?)

tea cosy for my sister for Christmas

Frank making golden bicycle wheels at our little class "Art Makers" at the new gallery in town : firstsite.

my tiny stash of very special material made into a little clutch bag, which I am using for small knitting projects. Note the reality of my crafting and do not for a moment imagine I have a "studio" or anything! Nope I craft right alongside the Lego and the puzzles.

updating the nature table with gnomes and gingham hearts from the Christmas decoration stash

Budd making a fabulous shed in the garden, he has worked really hard all week on this, whilst I have worked hard to keep Frank out of his way

Me, making a golden bicycle wheel, taken by Frank

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It has been busy around here with us making, building, creating ...
I finished the tea cosy for my sister for Christmas and am now making very few things for gifts. I made loads last year and it stressed me too much. Crafting and creating is something I do a fair amount of but I want it to kind of unfold naturally. I don't want to be handing over a gift that is only going to receive a lukewarm reception (it happens A LOT!) after I have sat up late trying to complete it. So this winter it's just a tie for Budd, a cowl for Frank and a couple of other gifts before I just knit for pleasure alone.
And next year I have already declared the year of knitting for ME!
That is going to be fun.
This week Frank and I enjoyed our second art class at the fantastic new gallery in Colchester: firstsite.
And Andrew has been spending the week building a shed in the garden; leaping out of bed once it is light and beavering away until it's dark.
He has done an amazing job.
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And onto the hiding out.
I have kind of been ignoring Diabetes Awareness month and not blogging about diabetes.
I think I have reached one of those phases of burnout and am just going with the flow.
In planing what to say here today I wondered if I should admit this.
A great deal of awe is felt here by me when I read other blogs, especially this month.
My stamina seems to have gone AWOL for November!
And, guess what, I wish it hadn't but I feel absolutely no guilt about it.
If I have learnt anything from this carousel of parenting a child with Type 1 Diabetes it is to trust my feelings and emotions and gut reactions to life and my moods.
I appear to have needed a quiet blogging month.
It certainly isn't all tea cosies and soup over here.
We have too many hypos and some ratios that have needed tweaking.
But the nights have been comfortingly predictable (for the first time in about nine months, I realised the other day! Jinkies! No wonder I look 93!).
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And this much I know:
Even when I lapse in regularity in my blogging.
Even when I am a bit lightweight with my post contents.
Even when I can barely function of an evening.
I feel the energy of all the other D-parents and D-friends out there.
Not in a weird way, just in a supportive way.
And I know that should I need to reach out, even after an absence, everyone is still there.
Just as I am.
Still here. Still there. Still reading.
Still Frank's Mama.

The blanket I knitted to relieve D-stress!

May I introduce you to this lovely little number?
It is a small blanket, perfect for having over your knees on a cold winter's evening or at the open air theatre in summer.
Or even for carrying around with you, Linus style, when your D-kid is ill!
The pattern is Hap Blanket by Ysolde Teague and is my first real attempt at lace knitting - Ravelry notes here.
I knitted the whole blanket on our holiday in Holland (and even made a baby hat for Frieda too!) which gives you some indication of how relaxing a holiday it was and how much I needed to keep myself quietly occupied.
Basically the centre block is garter stitch and then you pick up around the edges and knit the lace.
This is my sister's Christmas present (along with a tea cosy, which I will show you once it's finished) and these colours are very much her thing. Heather doesn't read my blog so I think I am safe in showing it off here (if you are popping by Heather, um, Happy Christmas!).

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This knitting was just what I needed after the week before the holiday when Frank was ill.
I am aware that I am not writing about the D much at present.
Believe me it's always there and has been challenging recently.
I was completely wrung out before the trip to Holland as Frank had had a fever for three days and then diahorrea for four days and continued to be low on energy and not really eating when we packed the van and headed off to the ferry port.
I had been in two minds about whether to go or not but we had discussed it and felt that he was on the mend and they have hospitals and doctors and medicine in Holland after all!
So, we went and after a couple of days he perked up, started eating like mad and was fine.
Again, it comes back to the idea of getting out and just going for it and yet this is such uneven ground.
We were not taking a regular healthy child away, we were taking a child WITH DIABETES away and it was scary.
We are three years in to this bloody game (anniversary if diagnosis next Monday, in fact) and it does not get easier to make decisions like this one.
In all honesty though, I did make this decision knowing, absolutely knowing, that I would be able to make better calls regarding Frank's health than pretty much any other health professional and that I wasn't afraid to tell people what to do, should it come to it!
I am D-Mum, hear me roar!

The Sky and River in Constable Country

Early this summer we made a family list of all the things we would like to do before summer drew to a close.

Well, today is 28th August and we finally got around to taking Frank out on the River Stour in a rowing boat.

We are all huge fans of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and love the stretch of water between Dedham and Flatford.

One can walk along the river from the pretty village of Dedham to Flatford along the Stour Valley.

One side of the river is in Essex and the other in Suffolk.

It is our go-to family walk for any occasion.

Once in Flatford there is the water mill and a fab tea room and cafe (always a winner!). The mill was famously painted by John Constable (and by this I mean he painted a picture of it not that he whitewashed it!!).

And if you have a look at his paintings he took such care over and put such detail into his skies. Big billowing clouds, shades of grey, blue and purple.

Wonderful stuff.

These pastoral scenes have become a little over-exposed as they have been used for placemats and tea towels and ties, much like Vincent's sunflowers.

I don't think it is fashionable to love Constable but as he painted the beauty of my home county I feel a great fondness for his work.

So, as you have a look at my two men in a boat, look also behind them to the trees, the willows dangling into the water and that big Constable sky.



They loved it.

Frank, of course, wanted to row and those huge oars weigh a ton for him so he resorted to sitting at the front and either shouting "Ahoy" to other people heading up the river or calling out "Fire the cannons" at them instead.

I sat smiling and hid behind my shades ...

We docked the boat back at the launch jetty and about three seconds later (with no exaggeration) the sky opened and it rained like mad for as long as it took us to run to the van!

We picnicked and steamed the van up as we dried and then drove home via McLaughlan's for sweetcorn fresh from the fields.

A lovely kind of day.

Eight and Fifty-six

What is going on?

August is speeding by and I can barely keep up!

Living with a lively five year old keeps me on my toes and we have been enjoying long days out and two big celebrations this past week, with more to come soon (my Mum turns 80 next weekend).







In no particular order we have celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary and Andrew's (56th) birthday.

He looks good on it, hey??

Our wedding anniversary was spent enjoying (vegan) pancakes for breakfast and a lazy family day just hanging out together.

For Andrew's special day we spent time at our friend's beach hut on Mersea Island. The photo above shows his (vegan) chocolate cake, which went down a storm and tasted so good with the sea air. But then doesn't everything taste better with sea air in it?

Frank decorated the top and took great care with the berries and candles.

I went to my first Knitting under the Willow at the Natural Dye Studio in Hollesley, Suffolk and bought some amazing yarn. My friend Jan and I both cast on an Ishbel shawl on the day but I am not convinced I am up to lace knitting yet.

I'll give it a go though.

And the 30 Day Vegan continues.

For a couple of days I had withdrawal symptoms for my strong English tea with milk and then my head cleared and I feel fine.

The course is one I would very highly recommend as it is very supportive and I have to say I have been blown away by how easy I have found the transition.

Heather is very generous with her information and I have learnt to "crowd out" my diet with all the good stuff.

So, rather than focus on what I am not eating I fill my tummy with loads of wholefood goodness!



The blueberry breakfast loaf has been a staple here and I love it with almond butter.

The quinoa tabbouleh is yummy too.

And I have even managed to complete Andrew's Christmas jumper (yes, last Christmas before anyone asks).

I don't think I will go back to tea with milk. I feel so well not eating dairy products that I might just have a little Greek yoghurt (we have a brand here called Total and it's just too yummy to not eat!) and a little cheese here and there. Fish I miss but not as much as I expected.

It is proving a really eye-opening experience and is definitely helping me with my mid-afternoon energy slumps.

The D is mostly behaving itself but it never lets up, does it? The nights are long but I have made my peace with that. It was, however, a bit of a shock to spend time on our wedding anniversary looking at the wedding photos. We each had years and years of good nights' sleep like regular folks and we looked great! Na ja ...

Tomorrow sees the fantabulous return of the Colchester Free Festival so we will be cycling into town to enjoy some kiddo crafts and stories and then some live music from local bands.

Love to you all for a happy and peaceful, and safe if you are on the East coast of the USA, weekend.

Taking a Break

We are having such a lovely summer (yes, not enough sleep, blood sugar mostly behaving but with the usual curve balls lobbed at me every day or so) and I am finding it hard to get to the computer.
Add to this, Frank managing to break my beloved camera by dropping it on the garden path! It now makes a sad kind of squeak when it gets used and takes very fuzzy photos indeed. He has decided that is fine for him and so, in his quest to be a wildlife cameraman, he spends a while each day taking lots of pictures of his orcas and shark toys and then showing them to me at high speed.
I need to get organised and get a new camera. It has surprised me how much I miss taking pictures of our days. And the weather over here is just so lovely, the sky so blue some days that the photos would be fabulous!
It's actually a bit too hot for us and we spend part of each days shade hopping and drinking iced water.
Life is good and I am going to sign out for August to enjoy every moment of it.
I am still reading all my beloved bloggy friend's words and will comment as much as I find time for.
Have a fantabulous August and I will be back at this space on 1st September with a summary of our month.
Love to all!
xxxx


P.S. I am sorry for freaking you all out over my previous post! Perhaps I won't tell you all the story of my Dad playing Hide and Seek with Frank and then just getting distracted by the washing or some such domestic thing and just leaving Frank hiding and not mentioning it to me for far too flipping long ...

Look Out, Look Out, There's a Dragon about

One of the reasons for my absence from this space over the past couple of weeks is that I have been beavering away on a dragon costume for Frank for the Colchester Carnival that took place this weekend.
I try hard not to use the computer during the day when I am with Frank so I tend to write in the evening.
Well, over the past two weeks all my evenings have been spent getting ready for Frank's birthday last weekend and for the dragon this weekend.
I am ready for a rest and for a couple of weeks of no deadlines like these!

But it was so very worth it.
Frank had a ball roaring at his friends, most of whom were dressed as knights, and chasing them at speed around the Abbey Fields before the procession set off and he joined his Daddy on the trailer bike.
Andrew had kitted the bike out with a little castle for the dragon to live in complete with windows for him to peep through.
It rained cats and dogs all day.
Downpour after downpour and yet it stopped just for about an hour and a half, and that just happened to be the hour and a half that we were walking through town in the procession. Serendipity indeed.

We have been really struggling to bring his blood sugars down over the past month. We are rarely seeing anything under ten and I am not a happy bunny with this trend.
But, last week we had pump clinic in Cambridge and his HbA1c came back as 7.6.
Holding steady.
Not as high as we thought it might be. We were relieved.
Numbers were crunched at the clinic and we adjusted some ratios and now we try to bring those numbers down.
It is relentless (but I don't have to tell most of you that) and I don't like winning often enough, but hey ho, it is what it is.
I hope to be here more often very soon.
I miss ruminating on life to my small (but, surely adoring) public ... ahem.

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Loving all your posts, will find time to comment as soon as I can.
Love to all.

this week

This week

• I am admiring the third Milo vest I have completed, this one is for baby Ruben's first birthday. He is one in October and I can't quite grasp that I have this ready in June! Andrew's Christmas jumper is still languishing in the knitting basket. He might get it for his birthday in August. Or next Christmas ...
  

(this is an owl cable, can you see why?)

• I am working hard to get on top of the spread of toys and laundry around the house, hoping to get things cleared enough to think straight when Andrew goes away for eight days very soon.
• I am loving the Frank's-eye-view I get whenever he borrows my camera and pads around the house capturing his world.

in our bathroom, which is the Sea Room, part of Frank's "My Museum" that takes up the whole house (complete with whale sharks and "sea dinosaurs")

• I am pleased to have found time to watch "The King's Speech" and loved it. The only strange moment that had Andrew and I laughing out loud was seeing Tim Spall being Winston Churchill. I am a big Tim Spall fan and his face was almost too well known to be Churchill. I felt that by then I had already accepted far too many well known faces as other people to take anymore. Mr Darcy is Bertie, Duke of York? Bellatrix Lestrange is the Duchess of York? Elizabeth Bennett is now married to Jeffrey Rush, the ghost pirate? And now Peter Pettigrew is Winston Churchill! My brain was melting with all the cross-referencing!
• I am finding joy at rediscovering an old habit; that of knitting whilst watching flickr slide shows of my favourite creative bloggers or photographers whose work inspires/relaxes me.
• I am loving the full-on rain we have had. Our crops and gardens SO need this. Farmers around the country, I am sure, are breathing sighs of relief.
• I am battling BG numbers in their teens and a boy who scarcely eats a whole meal but wants to graze. Grazing is good but hard on the D-parent sometimes,
  
• I am still shocked at visiting my parents and going with them to their local supermarket to witness my nearly 80-year old mother take a small and very sharp serrated knife out of her handbag. She then proceeded to chop the stalks off the broccoli she was intending to buy. My gasp of horror led only to her explaining what she was doing and saying that as she didn't eat the stalk she didn't want to pay for it! I now await the knock on the door as the police arrive to tell me she has been taken into custody for WALKING AROUND WITH A WEAPON IN HER OLD LADY HANDBAG.
• I am really pleased with myself for chatting to the manager of Starbucks in town and securing the Community wall for a little exhibition of photos I want to put up called "The Face of Diabetes". The idea is to counteract the ongoing struggle we seem to have to make people recognise that Type 1 diabetes is not the same as Type 2. That wall is mine in November! Just have to get myself organised, it could creep up on me. Thanks to Jen for motivating me to do this. I'd had the idea for a while but just hadn't done anything about it. Then the day after I did this we had a new TV ad here in the UK about going to local pharmacies to get yourself tested for Diabetes. Not Type 2 Diabetes. Just Diabetes. Well, the Type 1 D-parents and D-adults swung into enraged action and the ad was altered with a message along the bottom of the screen saying something along the lines of "Type 2 diabetes only. Not for you if you are under 16 or have already been diagnosed with diabetes". The D-Community was absolutely right to swing into this action not just because of the lazy labelling and consequent emotional pain and possible medical confusion caused but also to raise awareness of diabetes and its complications there has been a sculpture of LIMBS in Trafalgar Square as a shock tactic. What four year old Type 1 diabetic doesn't need to see a pile of limbs as a warm-hearted message about his condition, eh? (That was a sarcastic, rhetorical question by the way!)
  
• I am mostly wearing cardigans and my clogs. And channelling Jesse from The Fast Show. (Just look for The Fast Show on You Tube for it. It's all good! I loved this show.)

Happy Weekend to you all!

Camping it up

A picture heavy post giving you a glimpse into our long weekend away camping in the Cotswolds.The new bell tent stood up well to some major gusts of wind and we were a bit chilly at night, but this was northern Europe in April!

Frank loved sleeping in his grobag again; something he hasn't done since he was three.Breakfast was taken outside most days with us enjoying homemade granola, marmalade on toast, pains au chocolat and lashings of tea!

Frank took some photos of the camp too.

The tree next to the tent made great shadows inside and my boy was rosy-cheeked and wind-swept most of the time ( a haircut is booked for tomorrow so enjoy that long, lop-sided hair for now!).

Budd wore his cap and struck a great pose without even realising it here.

He is getting a beard trim this week too.

This trip also saw our first site failure.

Of course it would happen in a tent rather than in the comfort of our own home!

But it was sorted quickly and all was well.

Interestingly the trigger felt really different on the insertion thingy (the techinical term!) than with any of the others I have done and the canula came out all bent and covered in blood.

Frank was non-plussed by this and so we just put a new one in.

I am constantly amazed at how he takes all this in his stride.

However, we have had tears and deals needing to be struck just to get his hair cut booked tomorrow, so he chooses his battles!

Off to catch up on all your news now.

Toodle -oo!