Bonfire Night

I don't know if you all know about the British tradition of Bonfire Night on November 5th?


Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament but he was caught in the act. His punishment was to be hung, drawn and quartered. This punishment means that you are hanged until you are almost dead, you then had your limbs tied to four horses who pulled in different directions and while you were begging for mercy, your entrails would be taken out and you would be left to die....... nice!


Anyway, I digress! Each year we celebrate with the burning of the Guy on Bonfire Night. When I was a child, children used to make their own Guy then knock on doors asking for "penny for the Guy" - sadly this traditon has been taken over by trick or treating. On 5th November, the bonfire would be built and Guy stuck on top!


Last night we had a Bonfire and burnt the Guy at my friends house. She lives on the top of the mountains so there was nobody to disturb. OK, so it was a little late but it was raining on the actual day and cold, and miserable. It was such good fun. So cold though until the bonny really kicked in and then our faces were glowing with the heat. Alvin let off some lovely fireworks, the children enjoyed their sparklers and we all came home muddy, tired and thoroughly relaxed!

Its raining but not in my soul

I am so happy to say that my hair is considerably longer than it is on this picture taken a couple of months ago! Even long enough to say I have had a "bad hair day".


The rain is pouring outside, puddles are huge, everything is soaked right through. So much for Guy Fawkes celebrations, theres no way I am going to a bonfire party when this amount of rain is falling!

However, in my heart the sun is blazing and the sky is blue because today, I lost one and a half pounds at my weight watchers weigh in. That coupled with the fact that I swam for the first time since my diagnosis yesterday and running is feeling good..... I feel as though I am taking control of my life once again and it is the most wonderful feeling in the entire world!

I had news of my big surprise the other day too and pretty soon I will have a delivery date for it! Watch this space!

Glad to Have My Blog Back

Before I get started on this blog, I just want all of my blogging friends to look at the picture above of Mike Peters and his wife Jules. They helped found the Love Hope Strength Foundation which aims to put cancer centres in every country and make cancer a curable disease. Mike himself has battled the beast twice in the last 15 years and his type of cancer is incurable but can be managed.

They have done so much, you must visit the LHS website to see what amazing things they have achieved. They have donated thousands to the cancer centre where I received part of my treatment. They have climbed Everest, Snowdon and now more recently Kilimanjaro.

As a result of this quest, Jules is now seriously ill in hospital suffering with not only DVT but a tropical disease. She is in isolation so will not even be able to see her two very young sons. I want you all to say a prayer for this amazing person. Hold her in your thoughts and pray for a fast recovery.

So.... I am back home from the caravan and now I can access my blog and everyone elses. It has been quite frustrating not being able to visit blogs or even pick up the comments left on my blog! I will be busy catching up with you all over the next week.

I am back in the pink! I only let myself have one blue day every once in a while, I think it helps to cleanse the mind and body but thank you for all of your messages of support which helped turn me from blue to pink.

The only other frustration I have at the moment is that my scan disk is not allowing me to upload my pictures so my wonderful husband has allowed me to use his from the holiday and will be working to fix my disk so that I can share the fab photos I took on holiday.

The above picture is of Joe pretending to fly a "Vampire" aeroplane at the museum.

Harry loves aeroplanes and so last Christmas we bought him an authentic pilots flight suit and Jason managed to get badges and a beret which he loves. In this picture we were on Llanbedrog Beach and he was busy enacting war scenes. This took me back years to my own child hood when I used to play the same games with my brothers!

Harry was flying a helicopter in this picture and by the look on his face, I think he must have been about to crash!

This is me and my Joe, Jason was insisting on taking photos of me which I dont like because of my weight gain, hair and general poor self image. We decided to pull extreme faces for this one!

We had a lovely week away, it is so relaxing on the Llyn. The best moments were the air museum because the look on Harrys face when we got there was just why I love being a mum, I also enjoyed the bonfire on the beach. Warm autumn night with leaves falling onto the sand, the magic of the fire, waves crashing on the beach and only us there - what a magical experience.

Sess 3/12: Keep the Home Fires Burning

My husband has taken my boys to his mothers house to give me a break but oh, how quiet the house is, even with my two noisy miniature schnauzers!!

I decided to light my chiminea and have been burning logs for a while. Everyone is out in t-shirts but me? I am wrapped up in a woolly hat and fleece blanket practiacally hugging my fire. I get so cold after chemo, does anyone else get that?

It was such a positive experience staring into my fire, breathing in the smoke and listening to the burble of the neighbourhood. I closed my eyes and took myself back 30 years when we were kids making fires in the fields and baking potatoes, happy days!

I had a cute conversation with my little 3 year old neighbour. He sits on his tractor in his garden and calls me until I stick my head over the fence, the conversation went like this;

Ollie: "what you got on your head"
Me: "a woolly hat cos I am cold"
Ollie: "I not cold, I got this" (points to his hair)
Me: "I haven't got hair now"
Ollie: "no, you got no hair, you got a round shape"

Kids are so great, what a wonderful conversation, I will be chuckling all night over this!