Sunny days, fires and nearly hot chocolate!

I'm full of cold still, have been for a few days, tricky when you already have fibromyalgia to deal with as well. I suppose that's why it takes so long to shift these fairly normal occurrences. Anyway no time to sit and mope about today, Oli was off playing at a friend's house so I took Theo to a different friend and was expecting to sit quietly while they played on the trampoline and made dens. No such luck...'please can we make a fire?' Training to be a Forest School Leader is great but it also comes with the aspect that whenever a child is around they want to be lighting fires with my fire lighter (which luckily I now keep in my handbag so I have it for just these occasions). So we built a small fire which soon went out when the boys got distracted with other things. Built a second one and then christened their brand new, shiny Kelly Kettle. We ended the afternoon with warm hot chocolate but like I tell them in Forest School it's a treat and we've made that happen by keeping the fire going. I love days like today, getting the children out and about in the fresh air, playing with sticks and finding things that would make good fires. The dead leaves around the laurel bush went off like firecrackers...they liked those lots!

Makes me sad

Day 3 of the Easter holidays and it's tinged with sadness. I had a blood test this morning to check my thyroid levels as I'm subclinically hypothyroid. Have symptoms but not being treated or something like that anyway. 

Mark came home so he was collected from Exeter train station this afternoon. We've had a day at home today in between jobs. I was going to go swimming but found out the pool would have closed by the time I got up there after eating so that's a shame.

Anyway today Peaches Geldof has been found dead at her home, she was 25 years old. It has really made me feel sad. I was a fan of her Mum's Paula Yates and followed her with interest, used to watch her on the TV on the various shows she was involved in. Then followed the news when she died and the battle to keep Heavenly with her sisters and Bob Geldof as he dad had died too. So it was a shock to read today that she has died. There are no details as to how she died, a mother of two very young boys we can only presume that perhaps the stress has got to her somehow. What she must have been going through having lost her own Mum we can only begin to imagine for someone so young. Becoming a Mum herself it must have hit her pretty hard that her own Mum was never going to see those boys, never going to share in them growing up. It's hard enough for me knowing that my Mum isn't going to be here to see them developing into the lovely young men I know they will become but I would hope that life never seems so unbearable that I would feel the need to turn to drugs or alcohol to help myself feel better. 

I have my low days, low weeks even but never would I dream of taking my own life. So for someone, if indeed that is what has happened, to do that things must have been pretty bleak. 

I feel for her Dad, Bob Geldof, who has lived through so much heartache already and now has to go through it all again...and worse....thoughts are with you and your family Sir Bob, thoughts are with those two boys.

RIP Peaches, may you find some peace wherever you may be. 

Day Two of the Easter holidays saw us taking a dip at Finlake after renewing my membership. Shame Mark couldn't be there to join in the fun too. It was the first time i'd been swimming with the boys where they were getting changed on their own without me in the room with them but I need not have worried they were beautifully behaved and managed it all without any fuss or nonsense. I must admit to being a tad grateful that I could just concentrate on getting myself changed. After the swim we stayed for a yummy carvery.

We drove home in the drizzle and picked up the dogs and headed out again to Stover for a walk in the woods. Oli took his ball with him and played dodge the poo! He did a pretty good job of it too.
Then it was home for some ironing (oh the joys) and trying to get my tummy to feel less full. I feel happy to have had some exercise though and can't wait till tomorrow when we can go swimming again hopefully! Just like we are on holiday! Oh yes forgot we are..... :)

 

Here are the boys with the 'yellow tufted birdy thing' and showing off the football skills at Stover.

Day One - Easter Holidays

Day One - Easter Holidays
After a busy start to the day with swimming lessons and Dance lessons the day slowed with a film and a cuddle on the sofa whilst eating lunch. Some science fiction/action type film, the name eludes me. Then it was off to Stover for a walk and kickabout with the boys and dogs. Mark is away in Croydon at the moment so had a chat to him on the phone before his marathon shift. Home and discovered what we think is a robin's egg in the garden, it was cold and when Oli tried to sit on it he cracked it and discovered 'an egg'. They were quite amazed to see that it was just like a normal egg but on a tinier scale. Then after managing to get a couple of jobs done it was tea time and time for another film. National Treasure which we realised once we'd started it that we'd seen it before but it was a good film so the boys carried on watching it whilst I washed up. Late into bed tonight after speaking to Mark on the phone and reading our story. The boys watched videos of themselves that they'd been making. I'm hoping for a restful evening now before I head up to bed.