Holiday over, bring on Christmas!

Well that was over far to quickly! It was nice to get away and be just the three of us for a while. We spent some time with one of my best friends who lives near to where we stay. It's one of the reasons for going there. We were at college together, nearly twenty years ago now. I lover her to bits and I wish we lived closer. But her life took her to East Sussex and ours took us to Cornwall. But we try to catch up at least once a year. So far she had been pregnant almost every time we see her! She is twenty weeks with her forth. Her first baby was a lovely little girl who died within seconds of being born. Jamie was only a few months old at the time. She then went on to have two healthy boys within 18months of each other. And now, with the youngest only just turned 18 months, she's five months gone with baby number four. But when I visit them there are two beautifully framed poems dedicated to little Libby, and it makes me realise how grateful I am to have Jamie. With all his problems he is here.

So then. On my last blog I made a thing of saying how I was going to increase my word count on novel number two. Well, um.. how shall I put this? I didn't write anything all week. I took the lap top and notebooks, and lots of good intentions. Then everything else got in the way. So now I need to start again. Hopefully having a week off will be a good thing. I did think through a few things and decided a couple of scenes need reworking. So I shall set to work. Well I'll do as much as I can with Christmas and all that.

Can well all please take a moment to mourn the passing of Charlie. My parents were left in charge of the cats and fish while we were away. And under there care Charlie died. To be far I shouldn't think there would have been much they could have done. As Bonnie said about her own poor Gilbert, there aren't many fish doctors about. But that was not all. We had a call mid week to say they had to take Twinkle to the vets because she was limping. Twinkle is the prettiest little black cat you can imagine. She seems to be getting better now though. On the up side however out black and white Mollies have had babies! So we mush be doing something right. There are three tiny little fish swimming around, so cute!

Jamie loved his holiday, although he didn't sleep much. And he had started playing with 'proper' toys. Before we went he had taken an interest in his leap pad. But while we were away he started playing with a postman pat van belonging to Elizabeth's boys, and a singing IgglePiggle that we bought him in Brighton. He has taken IgglePiggle to bed, which I think might prove a mistake. I can foresee a night spent listening to him sing.

Look! We DID have a summer!

I was looking through some photos on 'my pictures' and found this one of Jamie at Rosemoore in June. I think that day was summer. Maybe it's the way your memory plays games with you but I'm sure I can remember when we had proper summers, followed by proper winters. I can remember as a child the schools closing in the winter because the boiler had frozen! Mind you that was in Northampton where I was born. Saying that we have had snow down here, although not on the scale we got further north.

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the wind. We're 666 (yes I know) feet above sea level here so we should expect it. I think Cornwall is just a windy place full stop. Our main weather feature is what we call the Woolley mists. They are a strange phenomenon that start of at the end of the lane and slowly roll in off the sea. If you happen to be out for a walk it feels like you've been caught on the set of a horror film. There's this white swirling, almost living thing relentlessly pursuing you. Once it catches you you feel like you've been swallowed by a giant marshmallow.

But would we live anywhere else? Not in a million years. When we 'escaped' fifteen years ago we thought we had landed in heaven, and still do. We have neighbours who just walk in and start chatting. We have three street light and a post box in the way of facilities and a beautiful stillness that rarely exists these days. We only got broadband last summer and still have the old overhead cables that sway in the breeze, get caught up in tractors and cause regular power cuts. We don't have central heating, but have walls two foot thick so we don't need it.

When the depression hits, or when Jamie has had us up all night (he woke at 1.15am and decided it was time to get up) it's easy to forget how lucky we are to have the life we have. Then we get a call from one of the family still in the rat race and peace is restored.