Garden etc

Well the garden is looking well...Lots of green shoots peeping up which is very exciting!!. I have to keep taking my book out as when I am weeding I am not sure if I am pulling up a weed or a veg...its all new to me!
Its May Bank holiday so a 3 day weekend. Yesterday we went to Mum and Dads for a BBQ. My sister and family were there as was my grand dad so it was a lovely family day.Amber and Chris get so excited when they are playing together
Today the three of us walked to the shops and then me and Gordon have been working in the garden again. Chris is out playing somewhere with a group of friends...he pops back when he gets hungry!!. Its nice that its so safe around here that he can do that.
Its been a sad time this past week. A friend of mine from the forums died this week. Kate was a wonderful friend...i was following her blog which is linked to mine. Kate defied the odds over and over again but in the end lost her stuggle against cancer.
We had a lot in common...she had a son the same age as Chris so we often compared notes. Kate I miss your advice, humour and support so much. I will be thinking of you and your family on Thursday. Hoping to get to the funeral but if not I will be remembering.
Chris is doing ok...the beginnning of the week was awful though. In the end we sat him down and talked about how horrible he was being to us..mostly me.We have also restricted his priviledges to certain stuff Since then he hasn't been perfect BUT a lot nicer to be around...He is trying very hard as are we. He wants to try and take up a martial art which I think will be good for him so am looking into that. Anything that can absorb his excess energy and help him work off his frustrations and anger would be a good thing

Planting a garden

I am a bit sad as its the end of the Easter Holidays. I shall miss Chris when he goes back to school. This Easter holidays have gone so quickly.
Today we planted up our vegetable garden and it looks wonderful. We planted the following:
Potatoes (Rooster)
Mixed Salad
Swede
Spinach Beet
Turnip
little gem lettuce
Onions (normal and spring)
Spinach
Carrots
Tom thumb lettuce
Garlic
Strawberries
Pea
Rhubarb
Broad Beans
Purple sprouting broccolli
Runner beans
Tomatoes
Butternut squash
Courgettes
Pumpkin

I have also got pots of herbs (rosemary /chives / parsley / coriander / thyme / mint growing wonderfully well. Still in the consevatory I have peppers, chillis and two lemon trees
Some where grown from seed in our conservatory and some we have sown from seed. We edged all the beds with straw which should mulch down eventually
Once again I am so greatful to Gordon -he did most of the planting as I couldn't do much bending. He also did the majority of the heavy digging
I am very proud of our veg plot and am hoping we get a bumper harvest!!

Update -Isle of Wight and more...

I am so sorry that I haven't posted recently.What with dealing with not having our lovely little chloe around and being away on holiday, I have not had the heart to post much
We got Chloes ashes back from the crematorium and have buried her in the garden with a rhododendrum on top called 'black magic'. Chloe was black and always magic so it seemed appropriate.
We have had wonderful easter holidays. We went to the Isle of Wight with my mum, dad, sister, brother in law and neice. We rented a wonderful house in Bembridge which is near Ryde. The house was great..totally brand new. Chris enjoyed sharing a bedroom with Amber and I could hear lots of giggles when they were supposed to be asleep. So here is a potted history of what we did
Good Friday: Arrived at the house..unpacked
Easter Saturday..went food shopping and then spent the rest of the day on Bembridge beach. Finished the day by going to a local restaurant.
Easter Sunday... Started with an Easter egg hunt in the garden and then Chris cooked scrambled egg. We then spent the day at Amazon world looking at lots of animals. Came back and had a lovely roast dinner with meat from the Bembridge Butcher
Monday We went to Sandown for the day. First we went into the dinosaur museum which Christopher loved. We then spent time on Sandown beach. We also went on the pier and walked around the town. Dinner was fish and chips back in Bembridge
Tuesday. Today we went to Black gang Chine. Fantastic theme park with something for everyone. Wonderful day out
wednesday We went swimming in Ryde. After that we spent the day on Ryde beach. We had a cream tea. For dinner we came back to Bembridge and went to the local chinese restaurant. Everything was freshly cooked..delicious
Thursday - last day. We had breakfast in a local cafe and then walked to Bembridge beach. Once packing was finished we went to Shanklin. We wandered round the shops and then we went to an italian restaurant and had a wonderful meal.
Friday - we had breakfast out in Bembridge and then took the ferry home
The weather was really good all week so we spent most of the time on the beach which the children loved.
Now back to a moutain of laundry!! I am hoping also to get the garden planted with all my vegetable plants which have thrived whilst i was away (Thanks Keith for watering)
It seems that it took me being diagnosed with cancer to get us to start having these family holidays together..this is our third one now. I have enjoyed this week more than I can say and hope that there will be many more to come in the future
xxxx

Some sad news

I am very sad to say that today we have had to put our lovely dog Chloe to sleep. She was 17 yrs old and had been with her since she was 4. She had gone downhill quite fast recently and was obviously suffering. The vet said she also had the start of liver failure so we decided very sadly that the kindest thing to do was to put her to sleep
Have shed lots of tears with Gordon and Chris...Chloe was part of our family and we shall miss her so much.

Things are not so good...Still having problems with Chris and I am also very low and depressed as well. I am so looking forward to the Easter Holidays.

Will post more when my spirits are higher

Christopher

Sorry for not posting recently but things went down hill with Christopher after my last post. I went to school on the thursday to collect him to find him crying in the corridor. Saw the teacher and found out that Christopher had kicked him. Felt awful and that we were failing him as parents. I went in the next day and saw his class teacher who told me that his behaviour in class had also got worse. He's been bursting into tears and getting stressed over simple things. Me and Gordon didn't know what to think or say
He has never had counselling or emotional support at school. Every time something changes with me I go in and update them but they have never ever bothered to talk to him. But surprise surprise..this week after he had kicked the music teacher he was called out of lessons to talk about his ''problems''. We are not happy about this as calling it this seems to us that he is being labelled as a troublemaker.
I have managed to talk to Chris on a one to one basis to find out why he was behaving like this. The reason behind it all was that he had seen the house being adapted with rails etc and thought I had got worse and I had not told him. He had been worrying so much that i had deteriorated. I couldn't believe it...such a simple thing but so important to him. He said 'mum are you going to die?'..well everyone dies one day. We talked about my condition and I said that I was doing all the right things by taking medicine and that the Dr was pleased with me. Poor lad, he was worrying so much about me. Talking has helped as this week he has been behaving so much better so fingers crossed. I have asked him to talk to me when things are bothering him and not to bottle it up inside..I hope he does.
Had a wonderful mothers day. We went to a hotel for lunch with Mum and Dad,my grandad, my sister, brother in law and my neice. Food was lovely and I had a bottle of prosecco all to myself. There was a childrens entertainer which the kids loved and it ment the sdults could enjoy their food and relax. I got flowers from my parents, flowers from Chris and a lovely mirror for my dressing table. ALso two cards hand made by Chris filled with lots of love. Its been a lovely day.

Falling asleep/Always check who is behind you!!

Can't believe how tired I am today. Fell asleep when I got back from the school run, and then again at the hospice and then AGAIN when I got back from school. The third time I think that I would have slept all evening if it had not been for Christopher shaking me and telling me he was hungry.
Had to have words with one of his teachers today as the teacher was really picking on Chris and calling him names. Note to teacher -do NOT bad mouth my son! And always check behind you before you insult someone. The look of shock on his face as he turned round and saw me after he insulted Chris was priceless. I am surprised that Chris wanted to continue with the school club but he was prepared to give it another go. He tries really hard at running -its not his fault that he is not as fast as the boys. Very proud of him.
Managed to get some gardening done between the rain. Got to spread compost etc over the vegetable plot and then it will be ready for planting seeds. Gordon built a fence around it so Chloe wouldn't walk over it -shes driving me mad walking mud into the house. Just got to also move the compost heap and get an outside bin. Am really enjoying doing this with Gordon as its something we can both do together

Veg Plot

Gordon and Keith painted my bedroom which looks wonderful. I also managed to get down to Ikea to buy some lovely accessories. The room is now a true sanctuary to me and I feel really chilled out when I am in it. I also bought an armchair to put in it so that visitors have somewhere to sit when they come to see me.
Usual busy week -I went into the infant school twice to get some idea of what the work will be like and I start officially on Wednesday. Looking forward to it.
Friday I went out to dinner with some friends from BAOS (Operatic society). We went out to remember our friend Carol who died suddenly last month. A few tears were shed as well as lots of alchohol!. On Saturday I went to Sing a Long a Hairspray with my neighbour Judith. We had a great time. We dressed up -I wore a full circle net petticoat, a navy skirt, navy checked blouse, pink cardy, pink scarf and headband. We laughed at Judith's daughter and her friend who had used toilet rolls to make their hair go into a bee hive. It was a great night -we were singing and dancing all evening. I was disappointed though that not many people dressed up -where were their sense of fun?
Have had a busy weekend in the garden. Last year we had a small vegetable plot and had quite a successful harvest. So this year we have decided to make a bigger plot -its now about 8 times the size of our original plot.Unfortunately the bad weather stopped us today from doing much so hoping for some nice days in the week so that I can get some more work done on the plot ready for planting. I am so grateful to Gordon who did most of the hard work doing the digging. He takes my dreams and makes them into reality