Welcome to Club 4-0

This month saw 2 of my closest friends reach the dizzy heights of the big 4-0. At the beginning of the month celebrations were happening on the other side of the planet where Kate and her family said goodbye to her thirties in a sunny and tropical style on the most fabulous of places Lord Howe Island. Obviously we had planned to quickly nip over for a glass of bubbly or two but found that viewing her photos of the lavish place was a much better idea and considerably cheaper.

Last weekend we celebrated Jane's birthday with a friendly bash of drinks and dinner in a good food pub in the country. A lovely evening with plenty of wine saw Jane enter into the world of the responsible adults......

A Tribute to Ruby

Yesterday, Mike and I attended the annual memorial service organised by the Hospital Chaplains. Over 100 people were there who had lost their babies. The Rev Paul Kirby who did Charlies baptism, had asked me several weeks ago if I would speak at the service and recount our story about Ruby. I agreed but was nervous about talking so publicly about what happened in an environment that was so highly charged with emotion and wondered if I would be able to hold myself together. However, I did speak without breaking down in tears although i did have a little wobble when I spoke about how amazing Mike had been. I was so glad I did it and felt that if I had brought some comfort to some of the people there it had been worth all the nervousness and heart pounding. Afterwards we spent time talking to many of the couples who were there, hearing their stories and offering them the hope that life does get better and that they will get through the dark times. It was a very emotional day and one that gave us special time to think about Ruby and share her special life with others.

At last the sun!

At long last we finally made it out of our house, feeling like we have been trapped indoors for months and got out in the garden and down to the beach hut with yes no socks on. The flip flops were on and sunscreen applied and we had a fantastic few days over the bank holiday weekend doing outdoors things. It was so satisfyingly good to do weeding and mow the lawn with the sun beating down on us. Charlie was embracing his new environment and toddling up and down the grass with his newly acquired spade and rake. He also found, in true boy style, that putting his hand over the top of the spout of the water feature a great way to pass the time. Wine and beer was flowing well and like a broken record we repeatedly said, 'how nice is this' We are now reaping the rewards of all our hard work last year in our fabulous Mediterranean garden. More wine please...