Feathering My New Empty Nest

Did I think I'd be sat here at the age of 60 seeking solace and comfort and reassurance by working my way through a maths exam paper ? No , I didn't. But here I am doing just that. It's an odd occupation. Solitary and yet permanently in the presence of a stream of students of mixed ability . They keep me on my toes. I have to be one step ahead, anticipate their errors and ready to find a resourceful means of pointing them in the right direction without actually giving them the answer. It keeps me sharp, it keeps me keen but boy does it exhaust me. When I mention that I teach maths , people's eyes glaze over. The I feel them I also teach English they are dumbstruck. Polar opposites ? Maybe - academically but both of these disciplines involve a relentless search for answers and clever devices of interpretation so maybe they're not so very different after all. The poetry keeps me sane, the maths eases my racing mind and the writing excites my imagination. Not suc...

When Pinkfresh Studio burst onto the scrapbooking scene around 5 years ago I was smitten by their designs and contemporary take on the scrapping scene. Their colours were fresh, their designs were fresh ... well , they were called Pinkfresh after all ! Then they started producing stamps - oh my ! Not only that but they then produced a line of stamps by Lizzie MacKay - one of my favourite British designers. I was in seventh heaven. So, when I saw they were throwing down the gauntlet and challenging paper crafters to produce a project to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this year, I couldn't resist. We were asked to draw inspiration from a selection of favourite layouts chosen from the Pinkfresh Studio design team. I was inspired by Zsoka Marko's use of frames as I've always loved these as a device to cluster some photos together. Here's my finished layout and I'm tickled pink (fresh ! ) at how it turned out. I decided to create my own patterned bo...

It's official Lighter Life does not work at least not indefinitely if you love your food like I do. So, it's DAY ONE ( again ) of Slimming World and I actually feel on top of the world. After the shocking events of these past few weeks in Sri Lanka , I'm lucky to have the chance to do this . Feeling blessed and very grateful for life. Good to be back in the blogging saddle.

The word HELP is often see in ads and posts on Facebook and never more starkly thrown into cruel relief by the following 2 posts. The first one has Unicef asking for help to prevent starvation and almost certain death of thousands of children in war-torn Yemen. Following immediately after it is an American woman asking for help on how to organise her glitter bottles in her craft room. You couldn't make it up .

And so the post-Christmas meltdown arrived a little later than usual. But at least this time I know the answer is not to sob but to write. It's the thing that keeps me going. I don't know why. I have a houseful of selfish adults ( now all post 18 ) hell-bent on living life on their terms, their agenda, their whims and desires. I blame those crappy motivational posters that tell you that you CAN have everything and if you dream it you can do it - no you fucking can't. Meanwhile, I'm here keeping my shit together , facilitating, enabling, encouraging, sacrificing ( trying not to slip into martyrdom ) and all with that brave grin on my face. Then the straw gets added to the camel's back and it all comes crashing down. I've told H to give me a very wide berth today and that everyone else can go to hell in a hand cart. Christmas does this to me. No-one asks me to put on the show but I do it anyway because I think that's what's expected of me. I only hav...

Fed up with Blogger as I've had to create a new blog but hey - this is a new chapter in my life so why not re-invent my blog at the same time. The title of this blog tells it all. Both my boys have left home so I'm officially an Emptynester now. I rather like this title. It summons an image of a Mummy bird watching her chicks fly the nest after raising them to be fine young adults, then turning to see what's left - a few scrawny twigs and a mish mash of flotsam and jetsam that was once filled with love and laughter and a few tears along the way I'm not alone in this nest. I have my husband and two cats to keep me company but boy does it feel empty nonetheless. I quite like change. I embrace it. I used to be quite good at it in my younger career days. A change of this proportion though is quite a minefield or emotions. It didn't help that I turned 60 whilst it happened, nor that youngest son has struggled in his first few weeks of university . In between the te...