Our Mouse

Well ...... not exactly OUR mouse.  


Greg had found some mice droppings in the garage. He was a bit concerned that a mouse could nibble the wiring and wreck his Harley (not the wiring of the garage or house you note !). So he decided to put down a mouse trap.


Now for all those who may be a tad squeemish ... I do empathise ....... but, having worked on a farm and being a bit more pragmatic, I could understand his concerns. Plus, we do live overlooking a spinney that then becomes a field that then leads to the river ..... so one mouse can become a whole field-mouse family in no time at all!


The first day he put down some cheese. He looked at the trap the next morning and the cheese had gone ..... the cheeky blighter had eaten the cheese and not got caught at all !!!


The second day he put down some chocolate. He looked at the trap the next morning and .......... the chocolate had gone ...... no mouse ...... by now I am sure the mouse was thinking "Yum Yum - what's going to be on the menu tonight"


So on day 3 Greg put down caramel chocolate, hoping that the caramel may stick and make it more difficult for the mouse to retrieve, before the trap snapped down. 


He looked at the trap this morning ........... he came into the bedroom and asked me to come with him to the garage - my first reaction was to refuse - I understand why it has to be done - but do not want to SEE a dead mouse ..... no, he said, please just come and look.


In the trap, caught by his tail, was a very much alive and very, very cute little field mouse. We prized open the trap and placed the mouse in a plastic box we had. He seemed OK apart from a battered and bloody tail and was limping a little, so perhaps his foot had also been caught.


Greg was not going to kill it, it is one thing to remove a dead mouse from a trap but it is completely different to actually, physically have to kill it yourself. 


I pleaded with him for all of about 5 minutes to let me look after it until it had fully recovered, I was concerned that with a dodgy tail and foot it would be very vulnerable out in the field. To which my husband said - "knowing the cheeky little thing it will probably work its way back into the garage in a day or two" !!!


And with that comment he let it go - out the back garden in the spinney.


It ran and bounced away, with no limp or cautiousness at all, just happy that it had got another chance at life and that he was free !!!!


I will keep you updated as to whether we have actually got rid of the mouse problem ..... or not !

My Christmas Rose

Some people think the news itself is the worst part ......... it isn't .......... it is the long, long  journey afterwards.


When you are told that someone you love has died, in whatever way or however old, you are devastated.


Everyone reacts slightly differently and whilst each person's grieving process may follow a similar path ... it is always an individual path. You generally expect ... and understand ... that the first year is going to be the hardest. You tend to know that whenever it comes to Birthdays, Anniversary's, Christmases and special family events you will go through a tough patch. What is sometimes NOT understood, is that your life actually, long term, is never going to be the same again.


Of course this can be said of many events ..... having children .... children leaving home .... long term illnesses etc., can all change a life dramatically but I personally don't think I really accepted the longevity of the impact of my husband's death.


However, I can look back 18 years on and realise that the intensity at least, has eased.


Christmas, 18 years ago was a real nightmare. Mark had died in the August and I was understandably wallowing in grief. There is a long list of issues I was having over that period and an equally long list of those friends and family who were helping me through - but one incident that stands out and, that I was reminded of this year, was getting a rose for placing at the cemetery....


I was kept very busy with the 3 children (then aged 4, 2 and 8 months) and had quite simply not realised that at Christmas, lots of people will be buying flowers for their loved ones to take to a cemetery, as well as roses for those still with us and for whom they may be visiting over the Christmas period. 


I had left it until Christmas Eve to get a single rose for Mark .................................... and I could not find one anywhere !!!!


This now seems impossible to believe - because everywhere I went this year had red roses - the petrol stations, the Supermarkets and of course the florists ..........but literally ..... NOWHERE had a spare Rose for Christmas 1993.


I had tried every florists I could think of in Kempston and  several of those I knew of in Bedford. I arrived at my Mum and Dad's at about 4pm Christmas Eve in floods of tears, an absolute wreck. At that time, to me, this was so important. I absolutely had to leave a rose at the cemetery for Mark on Christmas morning. 


Thankfully, my Mum and Dad took over. 


Mum calmed me down and sorted the children out - Dad just disappeared ....................... 


I have no idea how long he was gone and no recollection of how many shops/florists he visited ....................... but of course he turned up - Rose in hand ! 


Between Mum and Dad - Mission Impossible was achieved! 


Within a few years I had realised that placing the rose itself was not so important as remembering him, talking about him with the children and keeping his memory alive. That, in fact, if I did not get to the cemetery for a special event because I had 3 youngsters and, at different points in life, was working or just running around like a headless chicken ............. then it really wasn't going to make a difference if it was a day late. I believe that he would have seen me ......... running around like the proverbial headless chicken ................. and sympathised ............and not wanted me, or the kids, or anyone else  ... to be that stressed !


So, this year I was very happy that a rose on my rosebush in the garden flowered (the mild weather has some benefits!). A beautiful, deep red rose .... and without any stress ... I got to the cemetery .............. 


but not until the day after Boxing Day !

HELLO 2012

We are already at the 4th day of the New Year .... wow .... where does the time go ???


We had a good New Years Eve - no major damage - other than poor Jess tripping over the step and getting a badly twisted ankle for her efforts - unfortunately she still danced on it that evening so I think it made it a touch worse the next day !!


Several of the boys stayed over and I only had to go down once to get them to be quiet at 4am - I could cope till 3am but that extra hour was just a bit too much LOL!


So then ... New Years Day was lovely - it only took hubby and me a couple of hours to clear up and then we started a Harry Potter marathon -  Sunday and Monday were very lazy, getting through 6 of the films - will do the last 2 next weekend ! When I then went into work on Tuesday I felt a little jaded and not at all happy, as the same with most of us if we are honest with ourselves - we have all had a lovely break and going back to earn a living is not what I desired !!!!


Then I have today off and it has taken me all morning to get the decorations down and become a tad demotivated again into the bargain - not bemoaning the lack of time just a lack of direction I think.


SO ....... this is the bit where you would imagine I then announce my new year's resolutions BUT ..... actually ..... no - I am not making a single one this year.


I have done my list which I am working through.........


I have regularly resolved to lose weight and never do and then always feel worse for not managing it. 
I have resolved in the past to being more organised and only ever got so far.
I have resolved to de-clutter and end up not wanting to throw things away so storing even more "stuff"


NOPE - this year I am simply resolving to carry on with what I am already doing - I am reasonably healthy (a bit unfit and a stone overweight but that's not too bad for a 46 year old grandmother) - I am wealthy enough to live comfortably - we go on holidays, sometimes have a meal out and are able to enjoy indulging the kids occasionally - and I am happy - yes I moan and groan about the usual stuff - the weather, missing the girls, the dog's behaviour, my Husband's behaviour etc, but generally I am happy ............. so why change !!! 


As  a Life Coach I should be endorsing the setting of goals and life targets ..... but looking at my list ... I already have these and, as stated before, am working on them each and every day!


Some I may achieve, some I may not, but when I look at the full list of 300+ items I have actually done quite a lot from it already - even down to having a band when I was younger (well me and an old friend Esther ) having worked on a farm ticked many boxes (seeing lambs, piglets and calves born and making straw bales, riding a tractor and bringing in hay), I have run my own business, got a degree, got my house pretty much how I wanted it, raised my children, been a juror at court......


Some things I have done more by luck than action ... and others I have actually sought to do - but in fact,  I can look at these achievements with some satisfaction and realise that I have and still am, PILOTING my own direction quite nicely. 


I really recommend doing a list to any who read my blog - even down to the simple and easy stuff like having the pond in the garden or my honeysuckle covered archway - these cost a little in money and effort but are so easily achievable and enhance my living environment in their own little way that brings a smile to my face when I sit in the garden in summer. 


Yes of course there are the bigger things on that list that I doubt now I will achieve (like becoming a millionaire or a politician!!) but they are still there and do bring a sense of motivation in some manner.


The best thing I did was to get that list down and look upon it as a life plan rather than a bucket list - so I will continue working on that and welcome 2012 with open arms for all that it brings !! 


I hope you all will too !


P.S Happy Birthday to my inspiration ...... MY DAD !!!