Dipping my toes in again

Milky coffee and a good autumnal day by the fire

Hello my friends, it's been a while, hasn't it?  I dare not even think how long.  How have you been? Well, I hope and sorry for not being around to check in on you, read your blogs or pop in to say hello.  I've been hibernating, taking stock, trying to rest my short stumpy legs from all the running around that this crazy wonderful world we live in demands and try to walk at a slower pace.

Grab a coffee or maybe something stronger, I confess to sitting here with a milky coffee today and a slab of chocolate to keep me company.  I've been crying on and off for the past hour pondering, wondering if I dare dip my toes back into blogging.  I've missed you and all that you bring but am not sure how ready I am to be back.

However, we are fast approaching one of my favourite times of year and the reason that this blog began (Why I blog) and so I have this uncontrollable urge to come back but I am not sure that as in previous years I would be able to do the blog justice and blog every day in December.  I do not promise but if I can and it feels right then I will.  Can you forgive me my indecisiveness?

Taking a selfie is really not natural, is it?

2017 has been a mixture of just being, observing, happiness and successes, sadness, illness and even several funerals have taken place.

An odd year; one that saw my daughter turn into an adult and revisit Kenya, having raised yet another astonishing amount of money with her peers and tried to give back to those that are not as fortunate as she. (Ella's Kenyan thank you)  Only days later, on returning home, she left home, albeit in a gentle controlled manner, to that of university.  I am so immensely proud of her but grateful that I do not suffer the feeling of empty nest syndrome; my mother always taught me, that we only 'borrow' our children and if we have been lucky they will return of their own accord.  So I wait and see, but I think we'll be ok.

This year too saw the passing of close friends and family and made me take stock of how we live our lives.  The celebration of life and memories are so very important.

This year too saw me stop crafting for several months, something that I do not think has ever happened and I am still not back to being the avid photographer and record keeper of images.  Again though, all these things are creeping slowly back into my life like a breath of fresh air and I think I will be the better and stronger designer for it, or so I hope!

And lastly this year has seen a reoccurring knock to my health which now in reflection has had a detrimental effect on my feeling of self-worth and self-esteem, but being able to commit this now to paper, or should I say the world wide web, I feel as if I am coming out of this forced break and better for it.  I do believe I have always been a glass half full gal and these past months I think I could have slipped into the depths of something deep, but I did not, I just needed good old fashioned rest from the demands, albeit self-inflicted of
the social media world we now live in.

Christmas cookies are a
huge tradition in Norway

Phew... are you still here... if you are then take a big sip of something and congratulate yourself on making it here.  Let's be more cheery, shall we?


I have begun to dip my toes back into crafting and I hope to share with you some of my successes in the coming days and now that I am finally sitting here at the keyboard, I'm excited to share with you my passion for the Christmas season, will you pop along and join me?  there will be recipes for sure, what Norwegian home would not have freshly made cookies to share, so I promise you that if nothing else, images from past years may give you an idea of what to expect...

The most popular cookie at Christmas in Norway are 'pepperkake'

Pepperkake are the Scandinavian's version of ginger cookies

Melt in the mouth cookies are a big hit at Christmas

Some cookies work well with a smear of butter too!

Revisiting these photographs has definitely spurred me on!  Bring on December 1st, I say, not that I am wishing my life away you understand...

Until next time my friends, I have an inkling it may only

be a day or two away, yes, I think I am BACK!       ♥

A Proud Mamma

October 10th

At home before the race, just a tad nervous

Today Ella, my 17 year old daughter is a tad stiff and is hobbling around, but later on she will sit down and write some thank you letters.   I am a proud mamma on so many different levels I could burst.

Yesterday in beautiful autumnal sunshine she and her band of support runners ran the Oxford half marathon in the name of a local charity The Nasio Trust.  This is the second time in just over two years that Ella has raised as much money as she could for the Nasio trust, having visited Kenya with them she was determined to return and help with life changing projects again.  All money raised will go directly to the projects and nothing else.

At the 11th hour, three of her support runners had to pull out for various reasons and so from a band of 8 runners they were reduced to five.  The others were sorely missed but it did not dampen the spirits or the money raising efforts.

Ella had hand written some flyers and had them printed and between the runners they handed these out along the route, thus adding to their overall running time as well as waiting 8 minutes for queuing at a toilet stop!  Two of the runners, Ella and Phil from The Twisted Yarn had not run a half marathon before and looked to me (a non runner) to breeze the race.  The day for spectators and runners alike was fantastic, the atmosphere was supportive and it was so busy, 10,000 runners in Oxford plus all of us watching too.  Heaving but fun.  Ella said it was great handing out the flyers and everyone was so receptive and friendly.

So to those of you who wished her well, donated to her page, it's still not too late: Ella's fund raising page , (she will update this in due course with photos from the race and from Kenya over the coming weeks and months, so do pop back) and helped her in any way shape or form, I thank you from the bottom of my very proud heart.

THANK YOU 

Near the start of the race and already handing out flyers

Mile 9

A lot of bananas were consumed
at the end of the race

Oxford in the October sunshine

Ella and her support team of runners having completed the half marathon

The total she has raised including off and online money is a tad over £1660, 

but she is still trying to push that up a notch.  What a wonderful result, 

again to those of you who helped or may yet help, I say:   THANK YOU.

A snippet on life...

October 7th

Life is for living they say... well blimey I seem to be going it at like there is no tomorrow and consequently  blogging has suffered.  I'm not complaining that life has thrown me many adventures and social times, but could they be more spread out over the year and not crammed into a space of 6 weeks.  Yeah, you're right it sounds like I'm complaining;  I best be quiet and let you have a glimpse of what has kept me so occupied...

There was Russia...

The Church of the Spilled blood

The Winter Palace

For more photos and a snippet of how wonderful the city of St Petersburg is pop over to see From Russia with love, for those of you kindly waiting for Russia part 2 I hope to post it next week.



There was our yearly friends and family boating regatta on the river Thames...

This was our 15th year of hosting, it's hard work but super fun, here's a glimpse of one of the days...

There was my father's 80th birthday celebrations...

As a young man!

Spot the Where is pappa photo!

It was a real hoot having masks made up of pappa

There is boat moving around the coast before the weather turns too much...

The boat has been away from home for 4 years and we have experienced so many wonderful memories, now she is back in UK shores we need to move her around the coast to be refurbished and looked after, a boat spa if you like.  We still have a couple of hundred miles to go before the weather turns, wish us well...

Below are the last photos taken when she was moved from Southampton to Eastbourne, so very British don't you think.

...and finally, Ella and her half marathon run for charity...


 I broke my heart completely on this trip and yet I don't feel broken, I feel determined.

These were some of the words Ella uttered on her return from Kenya just over a year ago.  It changed her and she is determined to go back and to continue to help.  In raising money she has decided to run a half marathon, THIS SUNDAY in Oxford, she had not run more than 3 miles before this, running is not her natural form of exercise and I think she is there.  Do pop over and read about what she did in Kenya last time and her very touching thank you letter she sent to everyone who helped her achieve her goals last time.  

Should you wish to donate any money, a cup of coffee worth, then she would be grateful, as would I and she would then personally keep you informed of exactly how the money was spent on life changing projects for orphaned children in Kenya.  Her page is  
Can you spare a penny or two please

Ella and the girl she personally sponsors, Naomi

Ella's thank you post from her last trip to Kenya:  Thank you
Before she left for Kenya:  Before Kenya
What did Ella do in Kenya? Kenya

Joining in with Amy sharing my five with you today, pop over and see what others are sharing

♥  I am ever so thankful for my life  ♥

Sunlit Sunday 2

January 24th

Fundraising again

Those that follow the blog may remember that my 15 year old daughter travelled to Kenya last year to help in an orphanage for 10 days. Kenya experience at 15 Along with 11 others they had to raise the money for the 12 months leading up to their visit to fund their travel, accommodation AND any charitable projects they wanted to help out with.  Every week for a year there was some form of fundraising and they managed to raise over twenty thousand pounds.  It was hard work and the youngsters learnt much about themselves, each other, working alone and in teams.  They began to realise the value of money and once they travelled to Africa, began to realise how privileged they are.  This is of course just scratching at the surface about what they learnt, did and experienced and how it changed, I think all of them, from youngsters to young people.  The next generation. 

Why mention it again?  This group of exceptional characters, I am of course biased, are the first group that this ten year old charity have led, have decided collectively as a group to return to Africa. To continue fundraising and to help as much as they can.  I am immensely proud and tearful about it all. Many who have been return as individuals, but not one group has returned in it's entirety.  These young people are now not led by a teacher or mentor.  They are now not reminded about deadlines for fundraising or helped to think of ideas, but as a group of now 16 year olds they are organising everything from flights, dates and money raising.  They have worked out how much each individual has to raise a month and how much as a group on top of that they need to raise a month to reach the dead line of returning in the summer of 2017.  Fundraising has begun again in earnest and they are in conversation with the charity about which projects they will undertake this time. 



My daughter as her monthly individual fundraising is offering to paint people's nail with gel polish and needs to make sure that every  month she has a minimum of five 'clients'.  So far she is on track having also painted several teachers nails, friends and family.  One lovely teacher posted a picture of her nails on Instagram recommending her and from this she has a few more orders.  All the money will go directly into the fundraising pot.  This may not be the 'norm' for a sunlit post, but it warms my heart that there are so many more 'good' people in the world than not and I just need reminding of that sometimes. 

Elsewhere in life it's the small things that cheer me.  We've had a mixed bag of weather this past week from crisp clear blue skies to -8 degrees and deep frost, that's not so usual for us.  Each brings it's own beauty.  It's looking out for these small things that help my well being, are you the same?  They are so easy to miss, but Sunlit Sunday posts really focus me in.  Below I share with you my photos from out and about and at home that have warmed my soul for one reason or another.  I hope they do the same for you...

Saved some of the daffodils from
 the garden before the heavy frost

Tulips are now in the shops, I love these flowers

The sun streaming in through the windows

Crisp cold clear blue winter skies

The snowdrops are out in abundance and Snowdrop
walks with afternoon tea are advertised everywhere around
here, a great Sunday afternoon treat

 

Amazing colours in the sunset and the days
 are slowly becoming noticeably longer!

This week at school we gathered all the children into the hall and watched the 'live' space walk. It brought back memories of my childhood being marched into the hall in anticipation of big world events to watch on the screen.  Memory making moments.   It's so magical and frightening at the same time to think that someone is up there on that beautiful moon.  It generated much talk amongst the children all week. 

 

  

This week saw the first UK space walk by Tim Peake, but
let's not forget Helen Sharman the first UK
person in space in 1991 though

 

And then the cold came in and we lit the fire... although I may just have

put on a log slightly too big for the study fire place, oops!

 

 

 

 

 

...and just yesterday I noticed the first buds of blossoming opening up.  I have mixed feelings about this though, on the one hand it means Spring really isn't far away but on the other it is far too early and nature really has been confused by the mainly mild winter we are having...

The blossom is bursting out

Joining in with Karen for another sunlit post. Pop over and see what everyone is sharing to brighten up the winter months:  Karen
 

♥   Until next Sunday, have a very 'sunny' week   ♥