Sunny Seaside, Cold Seaside, maybe not quite Ice Cream weather but why not……
First of the year…..
First of the year
Bluebells
A particularly muddy walk through the local wood, but in the end worth it. Bluebells are always wonderful to see. Perfect timing for Hawklad, we had the wood to ourselves. And unbelievably, it wasn’t raining.
Yellow
One of the neighbouring villages puts on a most splendid daffodil display every year. Yesterday the display was not too bad at all.
If the daffs could talk they would scream.
THIS IS FREEZING, it’s supposed to be SPRING.
The flowers are very wise because it is still really cold, definitely two sweater weather. A few years back I would stand in this field frequently during this time of year. Hawklad’s mum and her mum would love to come here most weekends. Life inevitably changes and now visits to this lovely place are sadly way less frequent. Some changes are not always for the better but some changes don’t have to be permanent. So guess what, let’s try to head back there again this weekend.
Brain Freeze
Another one of those warm Yorkshire Spring days….
Trying to do mindful yoga outside works ‘so well’ when your fingers are blue and you can’t feel your toes. Actually can’t feel any part of your body. Not so much mindful as Mind Numbing. Brain Freeze.
A bit later Hawklad wanted a slush puppy. Really…. Well I guess it is the warmer months. So the slush was made and taken outside.
“Dad it’s not melting in fact it’s refreezing….”
So yes it cold but here’s the thing. It’s been just what I needed today. Not enough sleep last night. Not enough for a while now. So I woke feeling like a zombie. As I’m trying to be healthy, caffeine is not an option to get me going. The next best thing is a shock to the system. An ice cold bath or in this case a Yorkshire Spring day…
Daffodil
Look at this. The first daffodil. It’s always such a lift when they appear. The return of a bit of warm colour. Much needed. Can we now officially call it SPRING. For what it’s worth a quick and very unscientific check of the photos is telling me that they have arrived one day earlier than last year.
If only WP was that reliable. Scheduled posts not working. Finding it harder to post comments that actually appear. Random unfollows. Likes not working. Photos refusing to publish. Messed up editing. Yep I think the WP IOS app has beaten me. Need to get myself a better laptop and switch to the web based option. See if it works better with Windows.
But until then we will soldier on. Do what I can. Don’t get too worked up if it refuses to work properly. There a great quote from The Book of Joy. A quote which has Buddhist traditions but was also told to me bizarrely by a cricket coach who was talking about getting out of a bad run of batting form. Basically it says….. Pointless worrying about what you can’t control and why are you worrying about stuff you can control.
Ok let’s try to remember that. Forget WP and my troubles. Think about the things in my life that lift me up and that I love. That will help push the negative thoughts away for some precious moments.
We can do this.
Shrinkage
The snow has gone. The temporary lake is starting to shrink. Signs that Spring is on its way.
Another work call confirming that the work plans involving me are as empty as the tyres on my bike which hasn’t been used since 2019. Thats completely airless. Not going to loose any sleep over that. No point. Maybe next year. A quick scan of the new job situation indicates a job market that is as fiat as my last loaf of bread which actually reduced in size when it should have risen. It really is just a case of battening down the hatches until things pick up again.
In our case that is not a band thing.
Hawklads fears are still there. If anything a bit worse. Absolutely zero chance of him being able to cope in the outside world any time soon. Getting through the front door is too much at present for him. Even me venturing out into the front garden really spooked him. So that’s stopped. The Front Door has not been unlocked in days. Once a day I sneak out the back gate and feed the birds, check on the rust bucket car, put the rubbish into the bin and pick up any deliveries that are sat on the front step.
Our world has shrunk further. The house and the back garden now is all that’s left. So no work allows me the time to focus on Hawklad. Try to give him the support he needs. Try to give him a reasonable quality of life and as much fun as can be found.
Hopefully Spring will arrive and the garden will become more enticing. It will be nice to sit outside with a coffee without 25 layers on. But I will miss our lake…. miss the world.
Spring
Spring must have arrived as the Rowan Tree has sprung into life.
My partner loved these plants. She thought every garden should have at least one in a prime location. We had a beautiful one next to the front door. Poignantly it died the winter just before our partner left us. It’s taken a few years to grow a replacement but now she would be pleased again.
These days the replacement is in a large pot in the back garden. Now that’s my running is restricted to endless circuits of our little garden the tree forms a helpful obstacle to run round. On my last epic run I rather sadly counted how many times I passed the little tree. 213 times….. Yes I can count that far.
So according to the Rowan Tree and the daffodils it is Spring. Can someone tell the weather. It’s freezing. Even the bird bath is frozen every morning. This means the path is icy. That explains my latest fashion statement. My son looked at me with one of those Paddington Bear stares, shock his head and sighed.
“Dad in most cases the human species has been evolving for millions of years. Clearly there are one or two exceptions to that.”
I had just finished my early morning workout and has decided to feed the birds. On my way to the bird table I slipped on the icy pavement. When I say slipped I mean a full ‘arse over tit’ moment. Most of the bird seed, bread crumbs, surplus rice and water landed on my very large head. It was a fetching look especially when it was merged with a white T-shirt and pink compression leggings.
Don’t you bloody love Spring.
While on the subject of Spring let’s seamlessly transition into our weekly fix of terrible poetry in the form of Chelsea Owens weekly challenge. This week Chelsea has set the following task
- The Topic is Springtime -or Autumntime if you’re South. You can haiku, limerick, free verse, acrostic, tanka, cinquain, sonnet…
- Length is wholly dependent on the type of poem you write. If you go with an epic ballad, please cut things off before page 54.
- Rhyming also depends on your creation.
- The goal is to make it terrible. Mother Earth must rise from her seasonal slumber to smack you with an olive branch of peace.
- Keep the Rating at PG or cleaner.
You have till 8:00 a.m. MST next Friday (April 3) to submit a poem to Chelsea.
–
It’s Springtime in Yorkshire
The Sun is still on vacation
Still waiting for it to be a scorcher
Oh the pigging frustration
–
The path is covered in ice
And I’ve just landed on my bum
Now I’m wearing last nights rice
And I feel a right dumb dumb
–
The washing on the line is frozen rock solid
The gale force wind screams over the barren field
The weeds and broken branches makes it look so squalid
The poor garden birds hide in the bushes seeking any decent shield
–
So Springtime is here which means dust down the garden chair
Now I’m off inside to find my extra thick thermal underwear
Daffodils and that pesky problem.
It might be cold. It might be windy. It might feel nothing like Spring. But at least the daffodils are out in force.
I couldn’t sleep last night. On a hill the wind tends to howl. And wow did it howl. It’s been like that for days. A number of the local tourist sites are closed on safety grounds.
So today my brain has been running a bit in neutral. Processing a barrage of questions.
“Dad why does Gordon Ramsey swear so much?”
“How is May still Prime Minister?”
“Has the Champions League draw taken place?”
“When can we go to see Captain Marvel?”
“Why do Daffodils have such a short flowering season and why is it in a time period which is notorious for poor weather?”
“Why haven’t they made a new series of Gravity Falls?”
“Why do we focus so much attention on the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror. Yet we never talk about the years proceeding the battle. They are just as important.”
“What’s a Gravity wave?”
“How old is Alice Cooper?”
and on and on.
And yet I managed to hold my own. It was that sort of day. Maybe not on top form but ticking off jobs.
- Cleaned the Gerbil Cage without accidentally releasing the little darlings to cause havoc around the house,
- Managed to negotiate a cheaper broadband deal,
- Get the old laptop working again,
- Completed this weeks work requirements,
- Change a wiper blade on the car,
- Repair some knee holes in jeans,
- Sort out some problems with son’s school iPad,
- Prepare meals for tonight,
- Replace a hose in the hoover,
- Finish the ironing,
- Clean the bathroom,
- Get all the outstanding bills pad,
- Convince the Council to give us a free replacement wheely bin as our old one is held together with 2 rolls of tape.
But then the success came to a grinding halt. Failure in the face of an insurmountable problem. Defeated by a super complex Riemman Hypothesis. My version of Star Treks Kobayashi Maru.
Changing our son’s Duvet Cover.
How difficult can it be. The cover comes off so easy. But when you try to put it back on. Suddenly it’s like trying to play a game of Twister with Ninja Octopus. Gets twisted, Rides up. Goes in the wrong way. Decides to turn inside out. Suddenly the duvet appears to be covered in the worlds stickiest Velcro. It’s just a nightmare. SIXTY PESKY MINUTES later and the only thing I had achieved was to go into full Hulk Rage.
Come on Spring. Please arrive soon. Bring in the warmer weather so I can ditch the duvets and those demonic covers – for a wonderful couple of months. Daffodils remind you that those happy days are coming.
Is spring coming
Four small delicate reminders that spring is coming
***************
Another sign that spring is coming – the annual water bill arrives
Another sign that spring is coming – the annual council tax bill arrives
Another sign that spring is coming – the house insurance needs to be paid
Another sign that spring is coming – the car insurance needs to be paid
Another sign that spring is coming – the car tax needs paying
Another sign that spring is coming – my accounting subscription is due
Another sign that spring is coming – the telephone, broadband, train and electricity companies have raised prices
Another sign that spring is coming – the boiler service is due
Another sign that spring is coming – new sports kit is required for school
Another sign that spring is coming – the weeds have started growing
Another sign that spring is coming – the trampoline is almost hidden by grass
Another sign that spring is coming – the lawn mower has died over winter
Another sign that spring is coming – Son has had another growing spurt and needs new clothes
Another sign that spring is coming – the birds have started pooping on the car again
Yes I think we can officially confirm spring is coming…..
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 