Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post; I was so touched by the kind things you said. I don't really know where all that came from...I'd written a very ordinary sort of post and suddenly all that angst came pouring out! I have said before I don't always know how much of my feelings I should reveal in my blog but sometimes maybe these things are better "out than in"...


The Keswick Launch stopping at Ashness

The girls and I just got back from our first ever solo trip: we went up to Keswick for one night as Phil is busy being a professional photographer! Yesterday we wandered around the shops in Keswick, walked to Friar's Crag and visited our friends D & J who run an animal rescue charity and from whom we have adopted all our cats. We finished our day with chips from the Kingfisher Chippy in Keswick, and spent the night in the Penrith Travelodge. I bought the girls a small silver pendant each to commemorate our first " all-girls" holiday together!

Kate...

We started the day with breakfast at the Little Chef next door to the Travelodge; Sian was in heaven with her Olympic Breakfast roll! After that we parked by the lake in Keswick, took the Launch to High Brandlehowe and walked back to Keswick along the shore. The weather was perfect and we had such a good time; missing Phil however - it was strange being in his favourite place without him!
Sian...

After buying sandwiches for a very late lunch, we revisited the shops - Friar's Chocolate Shop was a "must" and then we bought "kebabs" of strawberries and marshmallows dipped in chocolate from the Chocolate Fountain shop :) It was hard to leave but it had been a wonderful short break.

I am missing Phil loads. He struggles to get a signal on his mobile where he is, so it's very rare we can have a conversation. I can't wait to see him again on Friday. I did have a really memorable time with my two beautiful daughters and I am so grateful to them for their company!

These little fellas are amongst my top five zoo animals! They are endlessly entertaining and very photogenic. They seemed to positively revel in having lots of long lens pointed at them on Sunday. Sadly Phil had our long lens on his D80 so this is the best I was able to do with my limited resources!

Yesterday I was very busy clearing out and rearranging kitchen cupboards. I find this type of task curiously satisfying especially when I'm listening to a talking book.

Two books I ordered from Amazon on knitting cushions and afghans arrived today. They look a little beyond me but I'll give them a try....

In the evening, Phil, the Wildcat and I all went to the local photographic society to hear the WC's dad give a really fascinating talk on his favourite photos. However there was a power cut at home and as we were in the WC's car, she took Phil home before returning to the talk. I felt really awkward and shy at the club. Just lately I seem to have lost a lot of confidence in social situations. I'm ashamed of myself and angry with myself for feeling this way; you'd think at my age I'd have got over these stupid childish feelings. I feel I let Phil and the WC down by being so quiet and I'm wishing so much I could do things differently...but I can't :( All I can do is try to behave better next time.

Kate has been writing a story for school; she showed it to me and I was stunned by its quality. Her vocabulary is superb and she shows a really powerful style. I'm very proud of her!

Good news today, my lovely mum in law had a very important test on her heart function and nothing terrible was discovered...she has angina but the doctors are hoping to manage it medically. I'm praying they will be able to get her feeling better soon and relieved the test wasn't as awful as she had feared.