Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 27 Comments

Sunbathing

Sunbathing weather, Yorkshire style…..

Midday and it was fleece time.

It was definitely a day to dream. Dream of warmer lands, big adventures.

Hawklad clearly realised I was struggling. He said

“Dad treat yourself. What’s something you have always wanted to buy yourself…”

All I could think of was the Death Star Lego set.

“We’ll see how much it is on Amazon. You never know…..”

Well we did check. £750 for Lego. £750 smackers. Wow….

“Well Dad that’s silly money. Tell you what, buy me Ace Venturer on Prime Video and save yourself £745…it’s a bargain.”

I have just been hustled.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 30 Comments

Chuck

Definitely a moody day. Moody means ‘it’s about to CHUCK it down again…’

It’s now 6 weeks to the schools return. In 6 weeks the classrooms will be full and the Government has removed all social distancing. So in September no masks, no screens, no class bubbles, no additional sanitary facilities, no additional distancing. Schools are perfectly safe. Currently with some protection there are just under 1000 COVID child hospital admissions with an average of 52 new admissions per day. 64 have tragically died from COVID.

It’s within this backdrop that Hawklad is struggling with a potential return to the classroom. He is already talking about the social pressure to stop using his mask if the rest of his classmates and teachers aren’t. It’s just a mess. Some families are desperate to ‘return to normal’, some families are unsure and some are still trying to shield.

It’s just such a mess.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 33 Comments

Big

A quiet corner of the village church. There has been a church here since at least 1079AD. Over time it’s become one of those places where man and nature have merged together. Yes we can work together.

The UK’s so called Government believes that it’s not up to them to tackle climate change. Big Government is bad. It’s all about individual decisions. Micro steps. So they have helpfully suggested people should stop rinsing plates and freeze more left over bread. It’s up to others to sort out the environment.

In unrelated news the so called UK Government is set to announce approval for a new massive climate unfriendly oil field off the coast Shetland. Burning oil and nature clearly go hand in hand. Big Government is clearly good when it comes to making money. If only Government could think big when it comes to future generations. Problem is there is no money to be made now with the future.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 31 Comments

Water

It’s a weather kind of day. Lots of it…..

The irony. For a few hours the village had no water due to a burst water pipe.

I don’t know why but I’ve just thought of a bit more water irony. Back to when I played football at university. We played a game across in France. Both trips across the sea were a nightmare. Really stormy. Huge waves. I was the only one in the party who could not swim. They team would take great delight in pointing this out. One of the nicknames my team lovingly gave me was the ‘Drowning Flounder’…. Yet out of the 13 footballers on that ferry who was the only one who didn’t get sea sickness. I was happily in the restaurant indulging in the all day breakfast while my teammates were leaning over the side of the ferry for some reason. The Drowning Flounder mastered the waters that day…..

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 33 Comments

Don’t forget but

If I wander around a graveyard I notice the old headstones. The stones that have been weathered for centuries. The etched names now gone forever. .

My mum told me once “Just put me in a cardboard box and bury me. Then get on with your life. “

Bereavement and loss is an individual thing. Each grief journey is different. It took me a few years to figure mine out. I probably spent too much time living in the past and not enough time getting on with my life.

But now the balance feels better. Much more time focused on today. But each day I don’t let those names fade. Those that I have lost and yes I include pets. I find a quiet place, maybe the garden at night. Then I spend 5 or 10 minutes and recall great memories. I say those names out loud.

This way I don’t forget to live but I also don’t forget.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 22 Comments

Maybe

There comes a time when bread has to be baked. No gluten, no yeast, no dairy bread. Whisper it but it went without disaster. No need for nuclear decontamination. I didn’t creat Frankenstein’s monster. It kinda looks like bread. It kinda tasted like bread. It actually tasted ok.

Maybe I’m getting there.

Maybe I might be a approaching something like parenting competency.

Maybe next I might even figure out how the steam iron works 😂😂😂😂

M

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 28 Comments

It’s Yorkshire time again

It was only a matter of time. Somethings are set in stone. They just must happen.

So the Olympics is on. It just needs a major international sporting event to take place and the inevitable happens. Anyone with Yorkshire DNA immediately can only utter the following words for at least to weeks…

“See what would happen if Yorkshire was a country. We would show them….”

So here is the current Olympic Medals Table !!!!! The ‘reet properrr’ one.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 49 Comments

Got to dig

I was digging around the blueberry bush to clear weeds and I discovered 2 socks…. I wonder how they got there.

So Hawklad had school tour. He ventured in with a teacher after all the other pupils had left for the day. He wandered around for 10 minutes. The first time he has been in the school in 16 months. He was fully masked up. The teacher was as well. He didn’t touch any surfaces. Kept looking down at the floor. Back from school he showered fir nearly 40 minutes. But he made it. That is such a huge step. He still has so many hurdles to clear before a return to the classroom is a realistic possibility, but it’s a start.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 43 Comments

Bath

You know what boys are like. Any excuse to get dirty. Spraying food and drink everywhere. None stop partying. Any excuse for a game of football.

Well there comes a time when even a boy needs a bath, even worse a hair wash.

Well this one just did and he looks like a rather grand drowned rat….. And nothing better than drinking from your own bath. Boys will be boys.

Then there is only one way to get dry….

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 16 Comments

Nature

I don’t mind gardening. Yes it can be hard work but it’s mostly enjoyable and relaxing. Problem is that I’m not very good at it. My gardening attempts to make things worse. Over time I’ve figured out that the garden will always look better if nature takes control. With patience it brings you gifts. It always does. So amongst the weeds the gifts keep on coming.

Sadly the ‘leave it to Nature’ strategy doesn’t stretch to the lawn. Nature won’t cut the grass. It just keeps on growing. It becomes a meadow. A meadow without wild flowers, just prickly, stingy things. Balls get lost. Pets go missing. Mine and the dogs hay fever goes into meltdown. Yes the dog had allergies. He takes exactly the same antihistamines as I do. It’s such an odd feeling swallowing my tablet while trying to get the mad dog to take his. So the lawn needs cutting. That’s down to me. But I do leave Nature a few areas of grass to do it’s thing with. You never know what it will do. What wonders it might bring. And it does give the mad dog a great place to hide socks, my socks.