Bracelets from New Mexico

The new bracelets are the two at the top and the older one which Jo brought back from a previous trip is at the left . I couldnt resist photographing them .

Toby , our big seal point Birman boy , has appointed himself Guardian of the Newspapers . Settled between us on the bed this morning as we have breakfast in bed , he hears the arrival of the papers ( a loud bang , followed by a squeak then a shuffle as they all push through onto the floor. Toby starts awake and then dives out of the door and downstairs . When I go down to collect them about ten minutes later , he sits beside them , bolt upright , self important . We have noticed him doing this most mornings this week . When we come down and get on with things , the papers arrive and he flies out to sit and watch them .

THis my last blog before the laptop goes off to be fixed . the lid is hanging off, there is nothing visible on the screen , so touch typing it is . Hopefully I can use D's pc to keep myself going , though it wont be the same .

I feel bereft . but have the walk to the waterfall and a picnic to urge me on . I can live without my laptop . I know I can .

Albequerque

Three years ago this Sept I went to a conference in New Mexico , thanks to the Day Job , which does have many positive spin offs though few of them would be apparent to a reader of this blog . At the time Jo ( my colleague ) and I worked out that being at the bottom of the pecking order , the real reason we were offered the trip was that no one else really fancied Albequerque . Little did they know . We had a great conference , but we had an ever better holiday before and after hours , enjoying the October sunshine , swimming on the hotel roof ( the pool was up there ) , and breathing in the wonderful mountain air . Our final day enabled a coach trip to Sante Fe and we sampled downtown clubbing and a plethora of amazing restaurants all week. Everywhere we went people spoke to us and asked us about our business , many of them assuming we were there for the soap powder conference which was in fact in a neighbouring hotel . I had hardly known Jo before but we got on like a house on fire on the trip , sharing a love of shopping , swimming , food . And was there shoppping ?? Jo adores jewellry and we explored all the jewellry outlets there , or at least it felt like it , and I even I came back laden with native american stuff . During our stay we both fell in love with the place and it was no surprise to me when Jo gave up her job here and took off back to the States , initially for a job in Texas but finally being offered a job not far from Sante Fe .

She returned to Uk this week to sort out her visa and I met her this morning for coffee , catch up , and for her to bring me a bracelet she had chosen for me . She has done this twice before for me . I describe roughly what Im looking for , colours , style etc and each time she has chosen me a fabulous piece .

Today as we sat down with tea and breakfast in Cafe Royal , she brought out two bracelets , very different , both beautiful , and after trying them both several times and looking at the prices ( wow , what a bargain , they were each half price , blah blah ) , she finally asked if I wanted them both . Of course I did and realised I just about had enough cash ..... so , that was a wonderful way to spend the morning . I sit and drink tea and the jewellery stores come to me . I then drove her up the coast to her house there which is now up for sale , as shes planning to re locate completely to New Mexico . And the even better news , flights there are cheaper than they used to be so it may be possible for us to plan a visit at some point in the next couple of years .

And now I'm planning for the picnic at my sister's tomorrow .I'm baking a poppy seed cake , and a cheesecake is formulating in my head , and all the while Im thinking of New Mexico . The heat, the desert , the food , the atmosphere ... I can't wait ! But just thinking about it will keep me going for a long time .

Yesterday

Im cross and grumpy with today's Times Codeword ( and a few other things besides ) . It features a word Orc which Ive never heard of , and the whole thing defeated me . And now Im irritated beyond words with that and the fact that my laptop is dropping to pieces but I cant hand it in to be repaired as I need it every day , and it shouldnt , in my book , have failed after just after one year's use . I'm in a bad mood .

Hopefully tomorrow will be better .

And , finally , I desparately want to speculate about what happened with Madeleine McCann but I wont because how does the endless speculation help anyone . It annoys me there is so rubbish printed masquarading as Truth .....as you may have guessed Im very grumpy indeed .

Normal service tomorrow hopefully .

The Birds

Stressful day today for D and as there was little I could do to help , I did the next best thing and went to town , booking myself a facial and massage on the spur of the moment . If in doubt , do something special ! And special it was , wrapped up in towels and under a blanket covered in oils and trying not to engage with the therapist about my satisfaction with my current " cleansing products " . All I wanted to do was lie there and doze but she wanted to investigate my cosmetic habits .

What do you like and dislike about your current products ?

Theyre fine . I say in a very definite " no one home " voice . Silence as she presses with her thumbs and she starts to breathe heavily . Later I discover she has some kind of problem with breathing and the session takes place with a heavy breathing in the background motif . It doesnt take long before she gets the message and realises I'm there for the massage and the hard sell is likely wasted on someone like me . Bliss.

Later I go for tea ( I have temporarily given up coffee , argh , in an attempt to cut out anything which might contribute to the migraine problem ) in John lewis , and a woman is feeding a baby sitting up in a high chair . the baby is still quite tiny , and very pink , but old enough to eat solids and indeed I notice how well she is tucking into a pot of something white . After the white pot , she eats a pink pot . I get my ginger tea and a piece of cake and sit down . Baby demolishes a pot of something greenish now . I watch in amazement . Nat was never a big eater and a quarter of a pot was her best effort even when a year old . This baby was nowhere near that age .

Green pot scraped out . There now ! says Mother happily and wipes her hand . Her friend looks on with interest . Baby looks round , as it turns out , looking for the next pot . No more ! says Mother and Baby s mouth opens in disbelief . No More ! the mouth opens and she starts to scream . I'm sorry, says Mother , looking slightly panicked . Youve had three ..... I didnt bring any more . Baby is not impressed .

I am fascinated with all this , remembering how thrilled I used to be when Nat ate anything very much . I can't recall any occasion when she asked for more than we had for her .

This afternoon , we take off to St Mary's island again . Stress cant survive long against the bashing of the waves and the seabirds , and the proppect of spotting a seal in the waves ( we didnt , this time ). A coach trip of German people arrive and it is wonderful to see them all hurrying back across the causeway and noting that the tide is threatening to cut them off . they assume we are part of their crowd and include us in the merry chatter .

L suggests we visit them for sunday tea so I buy poppy seeds and plan a cake which N has been asking for . A picnic is on the cards though the forecast is bad ... oh well a picnic in the house will have to do .

so hard to write

Its so hard to write on the days Im at the Day Job . Not that there isnt anything , in fact my fingers itch as I notice things , interactions between people , stuff I find funny that other people seem to take for granted as part and parcel of how people treat each other . Blah blah . I'm in danger of getting into it all . But Ive learned from the blogging giants who have gone before us and trying to write about what wont get me into trouble .....

So I 'll be back later todaywhen its all over , or for real tomorrrow , when I have my life back ....

weekend ....

..trying to hang onto the weekend .

A picture of the causeway , swallows on the sail ropes , and D searching for crinoids , or St Cuthberts Beads . We found a total of around twenty , now displayed in the bathroom

the excitement ....

... the perfect end to an amazing weekend , for the first time in ages , but ages , we booked a holiday ....a proper holiday with flights , sunshine , a beach and all that ... all organised for six weeks time so plenty of time to get even more excited .
And my sister will come and take care of everything here .

All of which made up for the fun of my car packing up this morning and an exciting hour parked up near a garage waiting for the AA to arrive and watching what was going on in the garage which had a sign up saying Sorry we are temporarily closed and bollards preventing cars getting onto the forecourt. ( There is a point to all this detail ) . It was truly fascinating to watch the responses of the cars arriving to drive in for petrol and realising they couldn't get beyond me . I was effectively blocking an entrance which was already blocked . The majority of people pulled up , glanced around , tried to work out what I was doing there , scratched their heads , glanced at their fuel guage then drove off , obviosly realising the smartest move was to find an alternative station . But the odd driver screamed up , shrieked to a halt then worked themselves ( himsef , really , in the main they were men who were cross ) into a silent frenzy , furious that things were not going their way . One woman was amazing . Very stylish , perhaps about seventy odd , small car . She was wearing one of those wonderful turban jobs on her head . Anyway after grinning at me , via several big gestures she indicated that she was bang out of petrol , that she had not a clue where the next garage would be , that she had to be somewhere quite necessary , but , and her smile said it all , What the Hell , life was for enjoying and laughing at and if she ran out of petrol , she'd cope and she trusted there would be people out there in the big world who would be happy to help her .
Sitting reflecting in my car about all this , how differently people react , I noticed a woman striding purposefully towards me . One of the women who worked in the garage to ask if everything was ok , if I needed help , or a lift anywhere , or a cup of tea whilst I waited for the AA ( after I explained my plight ) . This kind of thing makes my day .... unexpected kindness contrasted as it often is with " the workaday world " where we none of us have time to take care of stuff like that .
And now I have to sign off as my laptop is giving out and typing with one finger whilst holding the lid on with the other .....though of course I still have masses to say