Secret Post and Muleberry Show

I am lucky to be a member of Heathers Secret Post Club www.notesfromlapland.blogspto.com. Once a month I am sent the details of the person I need to send a package too and my details are given to someone else. The idea is that you receive a package but its a surprise. My package arrived on Saturday from mamacrow and I was thrilled to bits because of the thought and care put into my package. Mamacrow had obviously read my blog because she has gifted me the most appropriate things: a nail buffer and nail strengthener for my brittle and splitting nails, a gorgeous book mark, a poetry book on horses and a packet of polo mints for our pony Cola - how kind! Thank you mamacrow from the bottom of my heart!

There was an Old Man of Nepaul

From his horse had a terrible fall;

But,

Though they split quite in two,

By some very strong glue

They mended that Man of Nepaul

by Edward Lear (1812-1888)

Harry and Jason

Today we went to Muleberry show about half an hours drive from us in North Wales. Our friend was competing with two of her Shetland ponies and we decided to tag along for the experience. The only bad thing that went wrong was the fact that Harry lost his wobbly tooth and did actually lose it on the show ground. This is him crying with his dad. We have told him to write a letter to the tooth fairy and she will still visit him tonight!

Llinos with Mari-Ann and Eleri (her daughter) with Ernie

Llinos and Eleri did so well today bringing home over 10 rosettes with quite a few firsts. This photo was taken during the last class of the day for them and it was the championships. Mari-Ann is only 2 years old and up until last Thursday had never been led in a head collar before. There are alot of things that filly hasn't experienced but thankfully, she has landed on her hooves and has found herself a wonderful and caring home - under the careful handling and love of Llinos, this filly is going to shine.

The views from the show ground were stunning as it was located at the base of Rhuallt hill.

The sun was shining and although it was still chilly, it was a glorious day, a perfect day for showing! When we get our trailer fixed up, Cola will be competing at this show, lets hope he wins lots and lots of rosettes!

Back Again!

Back again after another break but I can't tell you how busy I am these days! The children are into their second week back at school and I am able to do all the things I am not able to when they are around.

The good news is that at my Weight Watchers weigh in last week, I lost 4lbs! I had to get on and off the scales 4 times before I would accept the reading and then I jumped up and down for joy, the other members must have thought I was bonkers. I am keeping on track with my diet and exercising alot. Rather than use my car I am walking or cycling and its amazing what an impact that has had on my weight loss.

Cola is wonderful! We took his rugs off last week. We still put his stable rug on at night because it tends to be chilly but during the day he is comando! You can tell the spring grass is coming through because he is totally fixated and is chomping at the bit to go out to grass rather than have his bucket feed which he normally enjoys.

The boys and I spent the weekend at my friends house on the top of a mountain. We camped in their back garden but oooh it was cold at night. Luckily I had quite a few glasses of red wine so the cold didn't get to me too much!

I have left my camara at my friends though so my blog will be pictureless for a while until I get it back unless I can find any appropriate pictures in my archives.

More herceptin on Wednesday; dose 10 out of 18 so I am over half way there.

I am part of the Secret Post club and I received my parcel last week which was so touching! However, I want to share the pictures with you before I tell you more and the picture is on my camara so you will have to bear with me for the next few days.

Raining - oh no!

First day of spring and its raining!


aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhh!


I have organised a 40th birthday bash for my husband at home and I dont want it to rain, well, not tomorrow anyway. I bought a gazebo, we are going to light the chiminea and I have a chilli simmering away! His birthday cake has a picture of Y Ddraig Coch (the red dragon) our welsh flag! I have the beers stashed in the childrens playden so shhhhhhhhhhhh dont say a word.


Just pray and pray and pray that it doesnt rain!

Aches, Pains and Tiredness

The last few weeks have been quite difficult for me really because I am fighting fatigue together with an all over stiffening and aching of my joints made worse by the fact that my shoulder which was injured before Christmas is really hurting because I am using it more for mucking out, changing rugs on Cola etc etc.

Now before you feel too sorry for me, I must hasten to add that my shoulder was injured when I tripped over my dog Wilbur in a quest for crisps. I had had rather a few glasses of wine at the time so needless to say, the injury was of my own doing! It doesn't make it any the less painful though!

So I saw my GP today, Dr Happs; very nice doctor he is too! He checked my movements and they are all fine and suspects soft tissue damage. The fatigue he suspects is down to the herceptin so he has prescribed some strong painkillers, voltorol gel, refered me for physio and sent me off for some blood tests!

I have at last found a bra that doesn't hurt me, but it is a mastectomy bra. I know that I had a lumpectomy but out of desperation I thought I would give it a go and it has worked. It is padded and shaped in such a way that it gives support and I don't get hurt. I am a 32G these days and my shoulder has been better after a day of wearing that so it makes me wonder if my lack of support has been aggrivating the shoulder injury! I was fine up until I had radiotherapy and since then I have had a huge problem with bras.

I also find that I am still retaining fluid. I still can't get my wedding ring past the first part of my finger and my bra size has gone up from 30FF to 32G even though I weigh less so I feel as though I am slowly starting to explode.

On the plus side, we did have the first spring day today and it was wonderful being able to go out without a coat!

I have been busy preparing a small party for Jason's 40th at the weekend. Here's the plan but shhhhhhhh its a secret! I am going to try and get him to take the children to the pictures on Sunday afternoon and while he is gone I am going to get my friends over to fix up a gazebo, decorate the place, put a big pot of chilli on the hob, jacket spuds in the oven then when he gets home he will have a big surprise!

I will blog about the party after it has been and gone. I have ordered the food and drink online with Tesco so they will deliver on Saturday while he is at work. I have ordered a birthday cake with the Welsh flag on it - tidy!!!!

I Am Back!

Sorry I haven't been around much but I have been so busy arranging things for Cola and to be honest with you I had the worst case ever of chemo brain. By Friday my head was completely fuzzed, I wanted to cry but couldn't, I couldn't organise my thoughts, I was forgetting words mid sentence........ all of you who have had chemo know the score, I don't need to explain! Yesterday I spent the day scanning old photos so I have decided to share them because they are special. The above photo is of me aged 15 about to go away on a school trip.Going through the photos made me think alot really. First I thought "how old am I?" because I have had so many body shapes, hair do's and parties! I also felt really sad at the people and pets I have lost and that was quite difficult to deal with but I had some good memories too. The above photo is of me and my neice Emma Louise taken in 1991 - hard to believe that she is a full grown woman now about to have a baby of her own.

This is me aged a couple of weeks old. I remember that chair too. Mum had me at home and apparently I was an easy baby from day one. Wish I had had one of them!

This was taken in my back garden, I am the one with the long hair and the other girl is my best friend Karen Scott. We had such laughs together. This is the only photo I have of her and I really treasure it. Karen was killed in a car crash when she was 17. The first time ever her dad had not picked her up from the disco, she begged him to let her come home with her friends. Then the friends got into a car race on the industrial estate and the outcome was the death of a vibrant, kind, fun loving and beautiful girl.

I have had many parties in my life and this was a fun one, very well planned indeed! Yes we had party rules and we covered the carpets with plastic and stored the furniture - it was a fun party.

Taken in 1992 in Liverpool City my friend Julie and I having fun. My Swiss Italian friends came over for a week so we did alot of sight seeing and alot of silly things.

A Good Weekend

I was just looking through some of my video clips and I found this one of Harry which made me giggle! He is running and running but its the look on his face that makes me smile!

We have had a good weekend so far with few melt downs. Jasons mum came yesterday and we had a nice chat, she took the boys out around the village. They went to Christ Church, Rossett where Harry went into the pulpit and recited the Lords Prayer. They then said a little prayer of thanks for my good health - thats nice. I don't know if you have seen a picture of my crosses but the boys got me one each last year on one of their Nana expeditions. I have framed them and they are above my bed. They are hand carved and proceeds went to help others.

We had our pizza night but I made the mistake of changing the "make" of pizza which didn't go down well with Harry. I tried to tell him it was the same as usual but there's no fooling him!

Today the boys have been horse riding. Joe rode Cracker and Harry rode Red Robin. They had a good lesson, the sun was shining and it was a lovely day to ride. We stopped off at Farm & Pet to buy some rabbit food and now we are home, doing our own things!

Life after cancer. I think you open up your mind once you have faced your own mortality, you free your spirit and see only the good life has to offer. I am blessed with good friends who keep me flying high!

On that note...................... wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Friday Shoot Out - BIRDS

I thought I was going to really struggle with this weeks assignment - BIRDS but I am quite pleased with the pictures I got. We went up the mountain to our friends house yesterday and I was hoping to get some pictures of pheasants but they were deep undercover because of the cold.

My friend has got these geese and they are always milling around the yard looking for food, at one point they even ventured into the utility and tried to steal the dog food! They can be quite nasty and are considered by some to be better guard dogs than dogs themselves!

The brown ones are the nastiest so my friends said so I kept well away from them!

They make quite a noise, gaggling along in their little "goose" line.

I did get a picture of pheasants but they weren't live. Some may not like this but this is countryside living. The birds roam wild and free and live a lovely life until they are shot. Not killed in an abetoir en masse. These pheasants are being "hung" to improve the flavour of the meat.

I collect teddy bears and this one is a limited edition Steiff called "Romance". I bought this bear because of the little robin he is holding. I always connect Robins with my late brother Peter so I just had to have this bear for my collection and as you will have guessed, the bears name is Peter.

This is a close of shot of the Robin singing his song to Peter.

The MINI badge has wings so it could be a bird of sorts.

A great assignment, really got me thinking!

War Horse

Image courtesy of Amazon UK

I have just finished reading the book called War Horse by Michael Morpugo. It is a childrens book but I found it to be a captivating read.

I bought it for my eldest son as he enjoyed "Born to Run" by the same author which was bought for him as a Christmas gift from his nana. I enjoyed the book as well so being a lover of horses, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one.

The story is told through the eyes of a horse called Joey. A bitter sweet tale of suffering, love, loss and friendship during the first world war.

I knew that horses were used during the first world war but hadn't realised to what extent and how valuable they were.

This is a book that will be treasured along with Black Beauty, Son of Black Beauty, Greyfriars Bobby, Copper and My Dog Skip to name but a few.

I am grateful for not getting up late this morning, for being able to read because books bring such joy and knowledge, for having a warm home during this hard and cold winter, for my animals who bring me comfort and companionship and for my family whom I love dearly.

The Blessing of Children

I had a real "bee in my bonnet" today about getting the house tidy so after I had been to the supermarket for a few provisions, I set about my task. It was inspired really by my dog Wilbur who had thrown up all over my sofa! Luckily, it is a leather sofa so I was able to clean it and treat it with leather cream and it looks all shiny and new! The cushions didn't fair so well, I put them in the washing machine, 2 of them were fine but the other is all out of shape, however, the rabbits can have that one to snuggle up to in the cold.

So I have scrubbed and cleaned all day long.

Harry is quite tired today and he is like me in that when we get tired we just need to rest. He told me that he had been sleeping on his bedroom floor and he still felt really tired. I gave him some food thinking that he may have had an energy dip but he then requested that I have a warm bath with him.

"What a nuisance" I thought to myself, just when I was getting the house sorted out. I then pulled myself up and gave myself a good talking too! Housework will always be there even when I am dead and gone but my little boy won't. Very soon, he will be too old to have baths with me, what was I thinking of, putting housework before my boy?

As we relaxed in the bath, Harry at one end, me at the other, we chatted about things quietly. It then dawned on me that had it not been for Harry wanting me to spend time with him relaxing, I would have carried on working until I was exhausted myself. Probably naggy and not much use to anyone! He made me take time out to relax and that is the BLESSING OF CHILDREN!

I am now off upstairs to lie on my bed with him and watch a DVD. It will probably be something boring but I don't think Mr H minds if I read and watch at the same time.

I once cross stitched a poem, I must find it because it gave us parents a very important message.... children don't keep forever. Some of the passage goes like this "...so hush now cobwebs, dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep..."

Pantomine Fun

- REVIEW: Llandudno panto is Strictly stunning This is one of the reviews about the pantomine we went to see yesterday!

For those followers of Strictly Come Dancing, you will appreciate Craig Revel Horwood and some of the jokes in the show!

Thank you to my mother in law, Margaret who arranged this Boxing Day treat for us. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had good seats, Margaret made sure of that and the show was spectacular. The costumes were a joy, the jokes were so funny, the dancing and singing was great....... The only thing that spoilt it a bit for me was having a Harry with me who doesn't have a great attention span. He kept asking "when do we go home" and yet, whenever thunder struck or the wicked witch came on stage..... he was mesmorised! Panto experiences with a child with autism require patience.......

Christmas Day 2009

This Christmas Day I want to wish everyone Christmas Blessings. It doesn't matter what your religeon is, it doesn't matter if you don't believe, all that matters is that we are here and we are sharing love and joy. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are less fortunate than me, those who are mourning the loss of loved ones, those who are ill, or trapped in conflict.

We have just had our Christmas dinner and I am so stuffed full of food! I am sitting here wearing my paper crown and watching the traditional Christmas edition of Top of the Pops, waiting for the Queens speech at 3pm. I have Wilbur curled up next to me, he stole a party popper and it exploded in his mouth. He was very scared and dejected and immediately came to me for reassurance, he is such a silly dog. I love Wilbur because there is not a nasty bone in his body, even if he has just met you he will look at you with such complete adoration, I think thats why when things go wrong or upset him he gets very hurt!

Pickles loves her new toys especially the dog beer! The dogs have had their Christmas dinner too and loved every morsal! Oh no! Pickles has started........ she is grumbling....... mumbling......... woofing....... she wants my coffee!

Just look at all the the gifts Santa brought my boys. The best part about it was that neither boys asked for much because I have taught them about the cost of things and both were over the moon with everything they had. Even though there were gifts I was unable to get for them, not a complaint was made, I am so proud of them.

Joe enjoys playing chess and all he wanted this Christmas was a proper chess set. The one we got him is hand carved and is beautiful, something I hope he will keep and treasure for years to come.

My boys got me this Steiff pony! She is a welcome addition to my collection of bears. I love Steiff creatures so much because of the attention to detail. I didn't know of this pony but its lovely and I will treasure it forever.

I have been so lucky this Christmas but the best of all is just being alive and well this Christmas, being with my family, enjoying them, relishing in their youth. They still believe in Father Christmas and its such a special time. This is probably the last year that Joe believes because he is off to high school in September.... bitter sweet.

So on this special and Holy day, I wish you all health and happiness this Christmas and for the coming new year.

Snow!

We went to our friends house today in Llanarmon DC, it was snowing when we got there and the wind was blowing a bit of a blizzard. We did really well until we headed up the lane towards there home and then we got stuck on the road. We tried to get the car up but in the end we had to abandon it. Luckily we were able to park it at a holiday cottage which was not being used and we walked up the hill. On the way we walked along the stream and it was so wonderful to see the icicles in the stream, you can see them in the picture above.

The stream was quite fast flowing with all the snow.

This is a picture of me and Joe on the walk up the hill to our friends house. The walk was steep and by the end of it I was boiling hot!

Oliver is my friends youngest son. He is 2 and a bit years old and a complete joy. He is sooooo funny and entertaining. He was ready to go sledging here but only lasted a short while in the cold!

My friend Llinos, my son Harry and her daugher Eleri having some sledging fun. You can see how thick and fast the snow was falling.

I had to take this picture of the view from the hill, it was so beautiful. At this point, Jason, Llinos and the children were higher up having sledging fun. The snow was being whipped up so much I decided to stay put where I was.

Alvin, Oliver and Jason getting ready for some sledging action. Didn't manage to stay out long because it was so cold and the horses had to be brought into their stables.

It was so cold up there but the children had so much fun. I wished I didn't feel the cold so much otherwise I would have had alot more fun myself. Mental note to self...... must get myself some insulated trousers and then I can participate!

Christmas Plays are Great!

We have just returned from the first showing of St. Peters School Christmas play, Scrooge! It was a really good show and children from all years were involved. I thought it was so funny that my Joe being the smallest in his class was Tiny Tim! Sad to think that this is the last ever production that these children will perform together. These kids have been through mother and toddlers, nursery, reception through to final year 6 and come September they will move on to high school. Some will be going to the feeder school of Darland which is where Joe will be going, others will move further afield to Castell Alan and Bishops Heber.

The only child in the audience who looked thoroughly miserable was our Harry. I was lucky that tonight he didn't misbehave he just looked grumpy. I was waiting him to wave a fist at me but he managed to keep himself in check!

I was in Chester today and passed Mother Care, a shop I used to frequent when the boys were babies. I saw lots of babies. I remembered my boys as toddlers and I am sorry that those years were so fraught that I wasn't able to treasure them. I remembered what it was like to cuddle them, nurse them and now they are so grown up and sufficient, putting on plays and singing their hearts out!

Round 4 of Herceptin tomorrow and I actually remembered to phone the unit this morning to let them know I would be coming in!

A Fab Night Out!

Last night it was the "mums" Christmas night out at Bollicinis in chester www.bollicinis.co.uk and what a fab, fab night we had. Yes, we did dance around our handbags, and yes we did hound the dj for some Black Eyed Peas because we got fed up with his lame selection of music.

I had parma ham and melon to start followed by tagliatelli and tiramisu (not together!) and it was lovely. There was a bit of a disaster with the proffiteroles because they were still frozen but by that time we had enjoyed far too much wine and it didnt detract from the enjoyment of the night.

Such good fun! Good company! Nice Food! Lots of fun!

My Birthday Yesterday!

I have been so lucky this birthday with all of the wonderful gifts and cards I have received! Last year I was in Rome for my birthday but this year I was at home which is truly where my heart is! The only sad part of it was that my youngest son was away from home on a school trip. My mother-in-law bought me this gorgeous PANDORA bead. I hadn't seen this one before but it is so pretty.

This horse PANDORA bead was one of my gifts off youngest son Harry. He also bought me a glass paperweight shaped like a diamond which he chose himself. He gave me his gift just before he left for Nant BH. Harry loves sparkly things.

This card is just gorgeous! My friends daughter, Chloe made it for me! I have a special "keep sake" box and this card is definately going in it!

These are a gift in themselves! 12 years ago I was almost at the point of giving up on the possibility of having children and now I have two gorgeous sons! Having two birthday cards sporting the word "MUM" means more than words can explain!

My Auntie Heather and Uncle Phil gave me this card. They know how significant the blue butterfly has been for me during my fight with breast cancer. The blue butterfly is means "healing, sent with love".

My husband always gets me the nicest cards with a really slushy message inside!

Just look at all of my gifts!!!!! I have been so lucky! I happened to spot the Carvella boots in Chester a week or so ago and I was lusting after them secretly and just look........ Jason got them for me! The NOA perfume is from my eldest son Joe, we sipped the sparkling wine, the Clinique body stuff is devine!

I love my new boots!

Not sure if everyone is familiar with GOK but in this country, he is a fashion and style guru. He has brought out his own range of body pampering products and just look at the size of the box I have been given!

My dad bought me this dirt devil for my car! What a thoughtful gift this is! I was struggling with my big hoover but this will make the job so much easier.

I had lots and lots of lovely things including a schnauzer glass keyring, a wolf t-shirt, a wii fit, a red scarf and a puzzle photo of my cousins children in Australia! I have decided to put the puzzle together then have it glued and framed!

I am so grateful for all of my birthday cards, gifts and good wishes.

An Eclectic 24 Hours!

What a varied 24 hours!!!!!

Last night, I was in the Golden Lion Pub, Rossett celebrating the Breast Cancer Support Groups Christmas Party. Pictured above are the founders of the group, Pauline and Barbara who started it around 18 months ago. Its a fabulous group of ladies of all ages, really down to earth, nice people who are fun to be with. Our meals were very nice but the only gripe really was the fact that the "Christmas Mess" had too much cream and not enough meringue!!!!

This morning saw the departure of my youngest son, Harry on his school trip to Nant BH in the Snowdonia ranges. He is eight years old and autistic so you can imagine how anxious letting him go there has been for me. However, his favourite teacher is going, Mr Lloyd along with his classroom support assistant, Mrs Pattingdon. Mrs P has given up her own time in order to accompany Harry, and if she hadn't have gone, I doubt whether I would have let Harry go either. He was off with a wave and blew a kiss. Once in school, he is in school so I knew that from then on he would be happy.

I went out for my run which was excellant, I am getting fitter and stronger by the day and after that we drove to Cheshire to collect a parcel for a friend then on to Beeston Horse Market....

When I first walked into the thick of the auction, I was overwhelmed. Choked with tears, I just had to get out of the building. I couldn't be a part of that scene, those poor horses and ponies; scared, worried being pushed around, prodded..... It felt like a scene from Anna Sewells Black Beauty.

My husband talked me into going back in, asking me to make some ponies day a little brighter by stopping to fuss them. I did that but I can tell you, it broke my heart. I lost count of the thin and undernourished animals there, probably over run with worms and other things! Some destined for slaughter, others possibly to be transported in inhumane conditions across Europe in order to be served up on plates in resteraunts.

I will not go back there again.

I was quiet going home. Feeling quite emotional because of Harry and what I had just witnessed.

We decided to stop at the Grosvenor Garden Centre for a good cup of coffee. They serve up a lovely Americano!

On display are the "home baked" mince pies and to the right are the flapjacks. All of the food is hand made on the premises and its open cooking so you can actually watch the chef prepare it all. It is delicious!

I was happy with my lovely coffee but Jason decided to have the caramel shortcake (his favourite).

We purchased some "Grumpy Mule" filtered coffee from the shop which was quite apt given our day!

This afternoon I clipped and bathed Wilbur and took all of his "feathers" off his legs. I do like him looking like a proper schnauzer; being a dog groomer, I like them to be clipped to breed standard but Wilbur..... He is a full on "action pup". He is the original "Million Hours a Day" dog. He lives life in the fast lane..... All things considered, he runs or sleeps and I am fed up with him bringing half of the woodlands home in his fur. He is nice and neat now and must feel so much better. At least he won't have to suffer me pulling bits out of his hair all night.

All in all, its been quite a different 24 hours!