I'm not a good blogger

Hello world,

I'm not a very good blogger, I have all the intentions but not the spare time or motivation.

I have my operation on Monday to remove my Gall Bladder, I am so pleased at the thought of being pain free but anxious at the same time. I don't think I've got a good handle on my thoughts or emotions at the moment. I'm acting a little bizarrely too. My moods and emotions run pretty much on an even keel, if I was a Seismograph there wouldn't be very much movement, at the moment there are little currents and undulations going on. I'm worried in case anything goes wrong, have I done a good enough job for my son to be a happy, successful adult, will Ashley be able to cope without me. All these silly little worries, when I was younger I used to think about longevity a lot as my family tend to have such short lives, now i have an illness which I consider to be an older person's it bothers me. I want to live a long life and to do this I need to take much better care of myself.

I am on a downer about my creative life too, I rarely stick my neck out of my shell to create opportunities for myself and when I do I get knocked back. I used to think that I was talented but now I think I need to start again from scratch. I feel that I want success with my art but then are too afraid or nervous to reach out and make it happen. I worry about security, having a safe home environment has always been paramount and I feel that creating that for the kids is more important than my own ambition. The kids will leave home and become adults soon so will that be my time then. I dont want to live and work so all I've got to look forward to is the next holiday. That's not a life for me.

I used to feel that I was meant to be here, that I had a purpose, that I was going to achieve something remarkable. I have done that as a mother but not in other area's of my life. That makes me feel sad, as I'm middle aged, full time mum, housewife, worker, pet owner. Am I whiling away the days, months, years.

On a lighter note I've just read a marvellous book, 'Her Fearful Symmetry' by Audrey Niffenegger. It is a brilliant, witty ghost story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm reading Iain Banks, 'Transition' now. Today is a quiet day, its cold and grey. I'm planning my low fat diet for after my op, and maybe that event will be the start of another new phase of my life, being pain free will be wonderful.

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Le France Sud

We are on the south coast of France now, heading towards Narbonne. Listening to Steophonics in the hot sun, nice!!

We are all fed, watered and toiletted. Nearly at the end of our destination.

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Another Journey

We are on the road again, setting off for Bugarach now. Stopped in Lapalud last night had yummy Mergeze Sausage on bread with onions, very scrumptious. Florence entertained us with her ballet dancing.

Amelia and William are with us now, squabbling already. Amelia has hit William around the head because he touched the jar of Nutella, all bribes for good behaviour will be centred around Nutella on this journey. Nat is reading the Frankie Boyle autobiography.

3 hours to Bugarach.

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Bloody Blooders

We just saw 2 Gendarme's on motorbikes shaking their fists at a motorist who wouldn't move out of their way. Anyone who has heard the story of Ashley shaking his fist at drivers on ring road at Elephant & Castle. Ashley says that they are also 1950esque dad drivers and he feels at home and in tune.

As always we have passed Lyon and the sun is out, its 6pm and 28 degrees. We've seen the Rhone and it is as beautiful as ever.

Only another hour and we will be at Lapalud.

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Nearly at Lyon

We're nearly at Lyon, lots of pics coming up

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Stressy Hotels Online Nonbookings

We are doing really well for time, so we decided to cancel the hotel in Dijon for tonight. It has taken 2 hours nearly to do this, I thought I was going mad.

Accor Hotels have a mobile internet app that you are directly put on from your mobile, this app neither recognized the hotel we were booked in or our booking reference. We telephoned the hotel and were greeted with an automated voice messege saying my mobile service was not accepted on their telephone service. So I tried ringing Accor Hotels Helpdesk, I was asked to call the hotel back but press 00 when the recorded voice was playing which I did, no change. Telephoned Accor again and spoke to Denise who was very sweet but was suggesting everything we had already done and wanted to get rid of us like we were a hot potato. Ashley says their network application was a notwork application. PIGDOG !

Pigdog or Couchonchien is our insult and term of endearment for our holiday.

I have to say a big THANK YOU to my sister Francine / Angie who cancelled the hotel on her computer at home, you are our saviour xxxxxxxxx

We are near Dijon now, we have seen lots of windmills, wind energy, the rotors are slightly curved here, probably to do with the strong winds that blow through the country.

It is a lovely day, le soliel est brille. We have spoken to Penny who owns the house in Bugarach and we can go a day earlier. So off to Lapalud tonight, pick up Mimi and Wills, then off to our holiday yeah!!!

Putting some pics on of lovely countryside.

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Aire de Zutkerque

We spent our first night sleeping in the car at Zutkerque, we arrived just after midnight and slept until 7am which is pretty good going. Nat slept in the front passenger seat, he managed to get his body in the smallest space. Me and Ashley slept in the back of the car with the seats down. Ashley is the hogger of quilt, he was so warm he was drenched in sweat while poor ree face had to snuggle up to him so hard that he was squashed in a corner. We have had our breakfast, cleaned our teeth, put deoderant on, on the road in search of coffee and tea. The photo is of the Aire.

BFN Internetees

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Dover

We are in Dover waiting for the ferry, there are children on a coach singing 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot'. There are lots of drivers sticking the plastic front car light thingies on their cars. People speaking on mobiles, different languages and accents everywhere. We didn't get our passports checked again. The vehicles are getting off the ferry so we will be on soon. We are sailing with Sea France. We will be in Calais soon.

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Queen Elizabeth Bridge

We have just gone over The QE Bridge, over The Thames, it is a beautiful structure. The traffic has been really busy on the M25 up to the bridge, it took 30mins to do 10 miles. Just rang Nance to say hi as we were to her although very briefly. Its 7pm, we have 2 hrs 20 before our ferry departs. We all need to go to the loo. 65 miles to go. We have been listening to Faithless and Jamiroquai now Zero 7. We are on the M20 now, we will see the white cliffs of dover soon. Nat is reading Unseen Academicals, he is totally engrossed, I think I'll read it when he's finished.

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M1

its very busy and full of cars/lorries. The weather is awful too, its so grey. we have driven through 2 clouds.

on another note i am now blogging on blogger-droid for android. i'm trying to find ways that i can post pictures from my phone.

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setting off to france

We are currently on the m6 on our way to Dover, we are going to stop on the M6 toll road services for a brew soon. Now we are in the car. We are having a good laugh now at our learning french cd's; monsier wickham et ton valisse. Ou est la valisse, la valisse est dans la voiture etc...

The sun is shining, yeh right, just when we're setting off to france.

Ashley is driving, Nat is reading his gaming magazines in the back.

It was sad to leave Daisy, I really felt very sad at leaving her. We will be able to take her next year.

I have pain in my gall bladder at the moment, I have not been eating healthily recently. I think healthy mediterrean food will sort me out.

Addison Lee the london taxi firm have their own coach co now, just seen one now, saw a van from Fagan and Whalley with a huge Wham sign on the back, starting to sing wham, bam, you are a van. Ashley said that was almost as good as zats and zogs.

I will blog more of our long journey later

Bye For Now

Start of Holiday Week

Hi Internet,

We go on holiday this week and only 3 days left to work. We have had another busy week, I don't know how we do it sometimes. I managed to get a couple of days resting in the evening last week after work, although I was knitting my landscape art picture which looks really ace.

Nancy came over on Saturday from London, she too is running around manically trying to work, look after her daughter, keep a home. We picked her up from Preston then went straight to Blackburn (this was the 1st of our wierd connection) we talked about Nancy's mother's holiday in Poland where she visited Auschwitz and had her world turned upside down. In Blackburn we visited Tibor, as usual he was the perfect and generous host. We did Tozo (chanting) and after this he told us his grandfather had been a prisoner in Auschwitz and survived. Tibor has invited us to the Czech Republic next year, I think I will be asking lots of questions. His grandfather sounds like a very interesting character, he walked from Poland to the Czech Republic as he was a Communist Partisan. I find all this time so interesting. I have so many stories about this period in time from my own family and their experiences. My grandfather was a prisoner of war in Italy and was locked up a small wooden box with a tiny hole for day light as punishment for escaping. He lived on a farm for a time in Italy working as a labourer on one of his escapes. There is a story that when the farm owner (who was a soldier at the time) returned to the farm and saw that his mother was hiding an escaped POW he shot her in front of my grandfather and took him back to the camp. My grandfather had what they called Shell Shock which is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He never recovered from this.

Anyway we had 2 experiences of people telling us about Auschwitz in one day. I am still a little freaked by this and will have to chant about it.

After chanting we went to Oakhill park to join in with the Mela, we did some drumming, I had wanted to make a little clay model for Caroline and David's film but we didn't have time and they were very busy, which is great to see. After went to see Nancy's mum and have a brew then home to maker a fantastic Lasagne for my mother in law's birthday. We had a great evening eating good food and drinking Gin, but the best thing was talking into Ashley's new dragon speech recognition app on his iphone. I haven't laughed so much, we were talking gobledidook and seeing what it was translated as, I was growling, barking and mieowing into it, we were playing say a word one letter at a time ie. l, li, lio, lion, lionk, lionki, lionkin, lionking. Apparently in the Dragon Speak App this makes perfect sense and a very random but sensible arrangement of sentences will appear on the iphone. I may not have been able to convey the absolute fever of fun we were having, but it was very good.

Sunday, Nancy had to go back to London at luchtime, so we took her back to Preston, then dropped Nat of at his girlfriend's in Read, then went shopping. Tried to cut the grass, then Gareth, Justina and Magnus came round for tea. Maya made really good biscuits with Saskia next door and had a dip in the hottub. Got to know Justina a lot better and she is a really lovely lady. We had a good chinwag and played again with the iphone doing Zombie me, ashley turned me into a zombie, but that happens everyday when I wake up in the morning.

I received a fantastic pressie on Friday, Arabic nesting dolls, they live in my conservatory now with my other dolls. I love nesting dolls, I dont know why but I love the fact theat they have so many layers and what you see on the outside is only the facade, there are many layers underneath.

Yesterday when I was cutting the grass, I felt a huge appreciation and gratitude for the place where I live and my neighbours. 3 lots of neighbours came over to speak and it felt lovely. Olivia and Saskia took Daisy to play with her new doggie freind Finlay, who is the cutest dog.

Anyway got to go to work now.

Forgetting to blog

I have not been a very good blogger for over a week now, I was reminded last night when my hubby started to write his. So here goes.

I managed to cut Daisy's hair, it took several sessions and lots of wriggling and squirming (Daisy not me); she looks so thin and scrawny. Ashley says she doesn't look cute any more, but I think she does regardless. She's staying with our parents soon while we go away and its not fair for them to have to spend hours going through all her knots.

I managed to finish 1 painting and knitting my cardigan. I shall buy the buttons for the cardigan today then it needs a good wash. I can then start on my new paintings (portraits of Nat and another of Ashley) and finish the large one in the garage. I've put some of my artwork on Etsy, I haven't had any sales yet but who know, maybe I will. http://www.etsy.com/shop/CherieDeakin

Our artcentre/studio idea is taking shape, not the way we had envisioned but we are all committed and hard working. Saying that, I haven't been this past weekend and I need to pull my socks up. I'm waiting for the decision as to whether the One Planet shop is going to be set up on Abbey Street, if not we will have to sell our work on market stalls in the north west, get a business going that way.

I'm on my way to work right now, on the commute between Oswaldtwistle and Darwen. Don't know why I included you all into this information but I did so it must be relevant.

I did lots on chanting over the weekend, tozo on Saturday and kozen rufu on Sunday. I really like Kelli's Gohonzen, I've heard people talk before about having experiences with their own Gohonzen or those belonging to others. While I was chanting on Sunday my vision started to go out of focus like I was looking at one of those 3D images, I then started to see really happy smiles and I got a sense of real happiness. So Kelli if you're reading this that was my experience at your house.

Nat has been silly with his mobile phone recently and built up a huge bill. We told him he would have to repay this money to us and what a powerhouse he has been. I wanted him to know how it would feel to earn that amount of money then he could get an idea of the actual value of it, rather than it being an abstract notion that 'Bank of Mum' provides. He's been doing lots of jobs for us, his Gran, taking dogs for walks, digging and work on his Gran's allottment. He's going to work as an electricians mate for a couple of days this week and next with mu Uncle Len. So far he's made £120 in a week, I am so proud of him for having the strength to stand up to the challenge and succeed. This is a lesson in life for him, and he will remember this and hopefully take away the notion that whatever challenges he has to face there will be solutions that only require his effort and determination to succeed.

I've had to take my bike back to Halfords and get my money back, the pedal fell off again in Rishton on the towpath, I then had to push it all the way home. I was not a happy bunny!!! It had only just had new parts fitted and had been in the shop for 2 weeks. Ashley phoned them yesterday, and arranged for the bike to be returned. When we went to the shop a young lad started trying to diagnose what the problem and solution was, I could feel my blood start to boil as why he couldn't have done this when the bike was in his possession for 2 weeks I don't know. He said he had never seen the problem before, well mate it was in your shop for the last 2 weeks, surely you would have seen it then. He even said that the part that had fallen off was well worn, cheeky thing, that was the new piece that they had fitted. He asked if we minded if he had a look at fixing it again and taking it for a ride, I told him I didn't mind at all as long as we got a full refund immediately. Which we did then got on our way. That kind of service should have been provided 3 weeks ago, not when the problem had occured 3 times.

I played a funny prank on Ashley yesterday, he was upstairs about to start working on the laptop. I telephoned him pretending to be a cold caller from MSU Home Direct, I put on the worst accent ever. He put the phone down on me, so I called him again pretending to be the same person, he thought it was a real call, until I told him that the service I was providing was to inform him that his wife was sat downstairs waiting to watch a film with him. It was very funny, cos my accent was terrible.

Anyways we only have 9 days until our hols, I am looking forward to it, and it can't start soon enough. Adriana, my freinds daughter is in Italy at the moment, I saw some holiday pics on facebook and made me hanker for the sun.

I heard some news about someone I knew on Sunday that made me think that they must have some real saddness deep inside themselves. I wish I could reach out to this person and bring a ray of sunshine to them but I don't think they would appreciate it. So I shall offer this quote instead and hope that it flows through the ether and lands in their heart and in their head and plants a seed.

"Relative happiness is also based on comparison with others. We may feel this kind of happiness at having a newer or bigger home than the neighbors. But that feeling turns to misery the moment they start making new additions to theirs! Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials and where just being alive is a source of great joy. This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something which can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces. It is eternal and inexhaustible."

"It is natural for trees to bear fruit in the harvest season, and in the same way, "old age" is a period of ripening. It can be the most valuable time in human life, when we have rich experience, deeply polished character, and a pure and gentle heart. The loss of certain capacities with age is nothing to be ashamed of. Rather, I feel the various infirmities of age should even be seen as badges of honor and worn with pride. There is a saying that goes, "To a fool, old age is a bitter winter; to a wise man it is a golden time." Everything depends on your own attitude, how you approach life. Do you view old age as a period of decline ending in death, or as a time in which one has the opportunity to attain one's goals and bring one's life to a rewarding and satisfying completion? The same period of old age will be dramatically different depending upon your own outlook."

"For me a woman's true beauty lies not in her appearance, but deep within her heart. A woman who makes all-out efforts and who exerts herself wholeheartedly in her field is beautiful; she really shines. She looks sharp and focused and full of confidence. This kind of radiance will always outshine for me any external beauty related to what a woman is wearing. In fact those who are aware of their inner beauty do not need to seek borrowed beauty from outside. And, sadly, those who care only for their physical appearance are often spiritually impoverished and trying to conceal that lack with exterior trappings."


Daisaka Ikeda

Bye bye earthlings, I will blog soon

Friday Yeah !!!!!

I've got that Friday feeling, I've had a few glasses of vino. I've finished my book; its amazing, that writer is so talented. I'd like to see that made into a film.

My bike is still in the shop, it will be next wednesday before its ready, that's so annoying as I want to be on it now.

Had a good debate in work today about statesmen/ politicians versus ideology with James and Johanne. I am really lucky that I work with some great people.

Ashley has had to be very patient with me tonight, he downloaded a manga film but I wanted to finish my book. We watched The IT Crowd, I love moss, he's such a great character.

Bought Maya's birthday present today, can't tell you what it is as then it wouldn't be a surprise.

Our twirly black leather chair has broken (NAT)!!!! It's a shame as it cant be repaired. Daisy has been tetchy tonight, she's been jumping off the hottub lid into our Neighbours garden and barking furiously at the cats and neighbours. She is due a bath and a haircut this weekend.

I'm sooooooo looking forward to the weekend, relaxing, spending time with my family, painting. Heaven

Nearly Weekend

My mind is thrashed today, I feel like my brain is being turned inside out at the moment trying to think clearly. I've done a full day's work with clients and at the same time tried to look at how we can get £6000 together before the end of the month. It's a very hard task. What I am finding out is that there are some lovely warm people in this world who are interested, interesting and want the best to happen for everyone.

This afternoon has been odd in my office at work, there has been a tense atmosphere which hasn't been pleasant at all. We have a big meeting in the morning, all the management committee are coming along with all volunteers and paid staff. Maybe we will get some cake!!?

We are going to the cinema tonight to see Inception, should be good.

Good News Wednesday

Its been a good news today as we have heard that our funding has been successful, I have a job and for that I am trully happy. I'm drinking Champagne right now with my hubby to celebrate.

My bike is still at the shop being mended. I think I shall ring them tomorrow to check in in case they have forgotten all about it.

I have been looking into setting up a Co-operative today so that we can see about how we can get £6000 together. Not an easy prospect in such a small amount of time.

I want to paint. I have 2 uncompleted paintings that need my attention. I need to dedicate some time to them and get them finished. I put a painting on Etsy today, I dont know whether it will sell but nothing ventured nothing gained. I am itching to create and must do so soon before I start to feel complacancy  creep in
Had a Buddhist discussion meeting at my home tonight, 11 people came from Manchester, Colne, Nelson, Clitheroe, Grindleton, Burnley, Blackburn and Accrington. We had a great chant together, the acoustics in my conservatory are great for chanting. We then discussed how is it possible to persevere with joy. There were many different perspectives discussed and people's experiences. There was a wonderful quality of light tonight causing the conservatory to be cast in a golden light, it was a really great meeting with lovely company.

2 more days until the weekend. I'm going to ring round a few agencies tomorrow for advice on the funds available to us. A busy day lies ahead. I will enjoy my champers then settle down to sleep ready for another day.

Tuesday Tuesday

It's Tuesday today did you guess. Today has been a day of strange experiences. We still havn't had any word about funding which is causing a strange kind of frenzied tension in the office. This frension as I shall now call it swallows up one's ability to concentrate and causes one's nerves to be on edge so the slightest movement makes you jump.

I got talking in Tesco after work with an upset and agitated lady for 50mins which meant I was very late home. I then a rush to make tea and get out to the meeting about our Art Co-op thingy. I had another pint of liquid strawberry ice cream tasting beer, Fruli which is so gorgeous it should be banned. We have had another good chat and now we need to get our skates on as we need to know how we are going to finance £6000 in the year to come. A lot of work needs to be done me thinks.

Ashley is still off colour, he has had to work late again and is probably in bed right now working when he should be resting. Nat has been writing letters today to try and get a summer job. All good things.

The next H P Lovecraft

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I sensed the days were passing because there were times when I awoke and thought I could see sunlight coming through the slats in the shutters. Once or twice I was sure I heard someone knocking  on the door and voices calling my name, but after a while they stopped. Hours or days later I got up and put my hands on my face and found blood on my lips. I don't know whether I went outside or whether I dreamed that I did, but without knowing how I had got there I found myself making my way up Paseo del Borne, towards the cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar. The streets were deserted beneath a mercury moon. I looked up and thought  I saw the ghost of a huge black storm spreading its wings over the city. A gust of white light split the skies and a mantle woven with raindrops cascaded down like a shower of glass daggers. A moment before the first drop touched the ground, time came to a standstill and hundreds of thousands of tears of light were suspended in the air like specks of dust. I knew that someone or something was walking behind me and I could feel its breath on the nape of my neck, cold and filled with the stench of rotting flesh and fire. I could feel its fingers, long and pointed, hovering over my skin, and at that moment the young girl who only lived in the picture I held against my chest seemed to approach through the curtain of rain. She took me by the hand and pulled me, leading me back to the tower house, away from the icy presence that had crept along behind me. When I recovered consciousness, the seven days had passed.

My new book is amazing, it has made the last 2 books seem worthwhile as they have led me inadvertently towards this one.

Tonight has been interesting. My mum has spoken to an old neighbour who was a good friend of my grandma's in the late 1940's in Devon. She still remembers my grandma as the little lady, she was only 4ft 7. The old lady had said that all the women had it really tough back in those days, we can't imagine what life would have been like pre welfare benefits, NHS and young children to care for. My mum is really pleased to speak to this lady and I am really happy for her.

I met my estranged uncle again today which is still a little unusual. Ashley is feeling unwell which I am not happy about, he will pick up and bounce back to perfect health. We've been sat at the dining room table for most of the evening, him working, me reading and the pair of us cuddling up. The house was so peaceful which is lovely but I still prefer to hear the sound of children and people.

I want to paint a portrait of Nat as he is now, to capture this part of his adolescence. It wont be long before he leaves home and becomes his own person but for the shortest time he remains my boy. I want an image that I can look at in years to come and see as a time capsule. Nat has always looked outwards, which is not a criticm, he's always looked further than me. He wont be a homebody wanting to stay living close to me, he will want to forge his own way. I can see this and I'm happy that I've brought up this strong independant person. I still remember and cherish the time when he was younger when I couldn't see where I began and Nathaniel ended.

My lovely neice Maya has been in a performance tonight at the Blue Elephant Theatre in London. She will have been brilliant and will have lots of treasured memories of tonight. I need to get some photo's printed of Maya and us, she has a family album and there are no pictures of me in there which I am not happy about and which I mean to rectify asap.

My kitty cats are in trouble, they are getting fed roast chicken by one of my mum's neighbour's. Apparently Nemo ate 3 bowl fulls the other day, and Emo goes for the food occasionally. At lease Farni is faithfull to me and does not stray from the back garden and Daisy of course but that's because she annoys the neighbours by constant barking at flies, leaves and swirls of air.

Going now, nighty night peeps

Catch Up

Hello fellow cyberspacers,

Don't worry I haven't had blogger's block, I've just been too darn busy to blog. My entire day has been filled with things being done or planned.

Our meetings about the arts co-op are gaining momentum, we've had another look at a venue which looks just right for what we need. We had another meeting last week and we are now getting ready to have prints done of our work to sell immediately.

I have registered to become a matron which means I look after children during performances or other such activities.

I've been cycling to work and back which has been lovely. Each morning I see little rabbits, domestic and wild animals. The views are lovely; I am becoming more and more entranced with it. I seem to have damaged a nerve in my hand through holding the handlebars incorrectly. My ring and little finger are numb and my right hand doesn't have a lot of strength. I've had to take the bike back to the shop AGAIN!!! The left peddle has fallen off again, so they are now replacing both pedals and the accoutrements. Hopefully that will be the last time I have to go back with this problem.

I've read 2 books in a week, they were both rubbish, The Lucifer Code and Mistress of Rome. I don't know what I was thinking in getting these. I bought a book that I wanted in Sense, Elephant and Castle, The Angel Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I really think this writer is very good and will be seen as a great writer in years to come.

Went to London on Thursday, stayed with the lovely Nancy and Maya. Got on the wrong train in Preston, there were 2 trains to London both setting off within 6 minutes of each other. The conductor was very rude but was probably very frustrated as so many others had caught the wrong train too, including another girl who had wanted to get off in Wigan; the train had no scheduled stops so she had to travel to London, then back to Wigan.

Friday was spent being a tourist. I don't usually do the tourist things but I decided to today. Went to the National Portrait Gallery, to see the BP award paintings. There was a portrait approx 10 foot high of a little boy. The blurb by the artist stated that his son wanted to be painted as being big, it made me cry as the expression of wonder on the boy's face reminded me so much of Nat when he was a little boy.

Le Grand Natan by Daniel Enkaoua

After the gallery I went down the mall to see what all the fuss is about with tourists and royalty bla, bla, bla. Whilst walking down the mall I was struck by the enormous buildings looking very grand and imposing. The sculptures all down the sides give the image of strength and power. I had the realisation then that all these people from all around the world are drawn to this place because of the strength and power that it represents. The royalty are there to caretake this image which I think is a huge responsibility that I wouldn't like to have. I saw the changing of the guards which was all pomp and ceremony which pleased all the tourists clambering with their digital cameras to film the spectacle. I then walked all around the circumference of Buckingham Palace, at the back where the barracks are the net curtains were torn, the windows were dirty with used bowls of cereal in front of the windows. I wonder if the Chateau of Versailles looks like that around the back.

On Friday evening We went to the South London SGI centre for Chapter Study, my second this month. It was interesting to hear the same study from another perspective. Saturday daytime was spent waiting for Maya to finish her dance classes. We then went to a fun day at Livity School. Went to an Affordable Art Show which was a great place and great weather. I will have to see if they have the same idea for shows in Manchester. We went then to Lambeth Country Show, bands playing, girls dancing wearing not very many clothes, people relaxing. Kids wearing colours joined in a tribe tearing through the crowds of people wide eyed and up to no good. Saw some lovely jewelry which was well out of my price range. Got a Chinese then watched 3 episodes of Battlestar Gallactica. Sunday we visited the Oxo Tower Gallery and shops, saw prints of album covers by Storm Thorgerson. There were some iconic images there! Met a very friendly lady in a jewelry shop. It had the most amazing filigree leaf pendants, they were so pretty and I know I would wear them lots.

We then had another wander into temple and went to the Crypt of St Clement Danes Church. Then it was time to come home. My train journey was bizarre as I was sat around so many American accents. I sat opposite two very beautiful and haughty sisters who spoke in a mixture of English with American accent and Hebrew, they had spent the weekend having a spend in London and every bag they had was blazoned with a designer logo. Me being me was not fazed at all and got one of the girls to go to the cafeteria for me and get me a free plastic cup, she didn't appear to be in the habit of fetching and carrying for someone and didn't appear very happy but she did it anyway. Later she was very sweet with me and was interested in the book I was reading. I really cannot abide arrogance or haughtiness. No-one is better than anyone else, no matter where you think you are or aspire to be in the hierarchy of wealth and social status you will only ever be at eye level with me!!!!!!!!!!

That said I shall go to work.

Bye bye earthlings

How much to do in small pockets of time

Its Monday evening at 11.30pm and I now have time to do my blog. Busy evening, busy days.

I cycled to work Thursday and Friday, I loved it, the weather was great, I had a dragonfly flying at the same speed as myself along the canal at one point, we were having a race but she (brown) gave up and turned into a field. I was even in a bike convoy at one point and another time the pedal fell off my back which was not fun and I was massively annoyed. Cath and Vicky came round on Thursday with my mum. I love them so much and so proud they are my family.

It was the birthday party for my mother and Tibor on Friday night, another BBQ and good company.

Saturday was mostly spent looking for a holiday and painting. My sister in law and neice came round for a brew and a catch up, its been months since we have seen each other. Did a water colour of a site at Heys  Allottments, I think we were the talk of the gardeners. Cycled to Foxhill Bank, I had a lovely spot in mind to do another painting but a family came with a mountain of bread to feed the birds so I didn't get chance. I felt like I wanted to ask them to move but didn't have the heart to ask the little girl who looked like she was having a great time. I did some great bug paintings later, I ended up staying up till 3 am in a friendzy, ie looking for old friends on facebook. It was very silly and I should have known better.

Had Kozen Rufu at home on Sunday morning, the lovely Kerry and Sam came, John came with his angry head on.  Did some more paintings, the weather was not great so stayed in even though I wanted to go out on my bike again. Mimi came round in the morning and spent the day with us. Emma, Nat's squeeze came round after Dinner. Emma, Mimi and I formed the sisterhood and ganged up on Nat which he pretended to hate but secretly loved. I really couldn't be bothered to cook so we had chinese takeout, chicken and sweetcorn soup for me.

We booked our jollidays, 2 weeks in Bugarach, near Carcasonne. Its very remote and near the Pyrenees. My mum and Charlotte are coming to so the kids will have a great time. As its so remote they can go and have an explore. We get there at the time of their Fete, looking forward to dancing in the streets. Going to take my paints and do lots of lovely scenes of the hills.

Went to see a lady called Ellie today who works for prospects to discuss setting up artist studio's/ a gallery with a venture they are currently looking to set up. It means that the artists will be able to be seen and there will be more shoppers around who would be able to afford to pay for the work. Went for a lovely lunch at The Sanctuary in Lango after.

Very freaky incident occured in the afternoon, a client with a disctinctive surname turned out to be my uncle. How bizarre!! This also means that my father knows where I am and may pop in and see me. This is a bridge I may have to cross.

Mum came round tonight, a) to do a passport form and b) to book flights for the jollidays. Nat was in a foul mood tonight, he walked around with his very own thundercloud hovering above his head with lightening bolts firing into his head. I don't know what possesses me when he is in this mood, I feel the strongest urge to poke him and tease him, I find this hilarious but he doesn't share the joke and looks at me in a very patronising way telling me to shut up.

Amelia has been testing my psychological profile tonight, apparently I'm 50% drama queen and 70% mediator, and 65% human ......

Tomorrow is the meeting for the Civic Arts Centre and Wednesday is a discussion meeting at Sam's. Thursday I may be able to sit still and rest. I am going to cycle for the rest of the week. I may need waterproofs.

Midweek

What a week, we're only half way through and I've already done so much. Went to Katsuko's house on Monday for Women's Meeting. She is a lovely lady, she has a new Butsudan sent by her mother from Japan. We chanted and studied the life of Nichirin Daishonin, which was interesting.

Tuesday was busy again, went to the meeting for the Artist Co-op/ Studios in Accrington. It's great to see so many people passionate about the arts and feeling the need to get involved.

There was a fantastic storm on Monday night about 2.30 am, the sky was flashing with light every few seconds. Farni and Nemo had climbed through the bedroom window and Daisy was crying downstairs. Brought her up to our bedroom and she slept under the bed again.

I have amazing news this week, I've been contacting famous Accringtonians asking if they can offer support for the Art Projects starting  in Hyndburn. One of the people I contacted was Jon Anderson from Yes. He replied straight away but I didn't recognise the email so didn't open it. My friend Kerry told me she had also thought of contacting him independantly and he replied again saying that another person had already contacted him but didn't reply to his email. Cherie felt like a Plinky Plonker big time!! I checked my emails and hey presto, it was there. I have now replied and he has suggested that he help by tutoring kids over the web with music type things. How fantastic is that. I am amazed and really feel that these 2 projects are going to turn into something really wonderful and valuable. I'm hoping that they can instil a lot of pride and respect back into the area and that I will fulfil my ambition which is to make a living from my creativity. Ashley spoke to his parents about Jon Anderson and it turns out that Shirley, my mother in law is good friends with his brother and sister in law. We just don't realise all the connections that are out there in the world.

I met up with another friend Sam for lunch today, it was lovely to sit in the sun with a friend and soak in the rays.

We may be going on our jollidays in France this summer, a very nice person called Dr Euan has sent us some weblinks to check out after finding out that his place is not available for the weeks we want. We are looking at Var, Ste Croix. I love France and really hope we can go. One day I will live near Aix-en-Provence, I love that place, it energises me every time I go and it has my favourite clothes shop there.

Ashley has bought me a new bike as the one I was using is goosed. So I'm going for a practice cycle tonight and tomorrow the big day comes when I start to cycle to work. I will be cycling 18 miles a day which is unheard of with me. I'm going to be bleeding exhausted, as well as smelly all through the day at work. Ashley is going to give me a tour of the trip back from Blackburn, ie Goose Corner, Dead Sheep Alley and Concrete Block.

Hope this weather continues, its my mother's birthday tomorrow, my sister Cathy is coming over. Hopefully I will see her before she has to get off. So almost Happy Birthday Mum.

The Beginning of Another Week

We went for our cycle ride yesterday on the Fylde Coast with Daisy. I was a bit anxious as I've never carried a dog in a Pannier before. She kept still for most of the time but when I cycled fast she stood up with her feet on the front of the basket with her ears blowing backwards. She did jump out on a couple of occasions but that was when I had stopped or was moving very slowly. We managed to do a 9 mile ride and are all still in one piece. Ashley, Amelia and William had a great time. We saw the Red Arrows flying low just skimming the coast and flying at the same level as the flood barrier, then zooming up into the air and doing 360 turns. It was an impressive sight to see. Amelia reminded me of the character Emily Lloyd plays in 'Wish You Were Here', bombing along the coast doing daredevil tricks on her bike, shouting and whooping.

We got home at 10.30pm last night which is a bit late for the kids, we were all exhausted. Ashley and I had a beer in the Hot Tub. Omg, that thing is so worth the money when you are physically tired and need to relax.

Well I've slept through most of the morning rush this morning. Ashley has got all things ready for kids except for finding Williams PE shorts and Nat's school tie. The shorts were in the back garden????? and after Nat had scoured the whole house he found his tie in a pocket in his school blazer!!! So thank you my lovely hubby as I have had a lovely lie in today.

Well its nearly time to go to work. Appointments all morning and my penultimate outreach session today. It will be a busy day with hardly any time for admin which I will have to squeeze in somewhere. I want the watch Hermione uses in Harry Potter stories to rewind time, so I can get more done. Its the womens meeting at Katsuko's house tonight, so I will be going there chanting and sqeezing in all the other things I need to do as well.

Sunday Mornings

Its a relaxing Sunday Morning here in Cherie's World. Everyone is awake except for Nat, I've heard movement and his voice so he is now awake. We had a night of Nemo the cat doing Mission Impossible like feats both inside and outside of the house. On summer nights all the windows are wide open, the cats jump on top of the car then on to the roof of the garage. From there they can crawl into the small window, they were in and out all night. Ashley closed this window so Nemo jumped about 5ft in an upwards diagonal about 15 ft of the ground on to the slim window ledge, then through another window. Then he plucked all the carpet near the door waking Ashley up again. then plucked the carpet on the other side of the door.

The moon was amazing last night, burning red in the sky. It was a 'Wolf Moon', it should have had its own soundtrack while it was blazing in the sky.

I didn't get all my jobs done yesterday, immediately after blogging I fell asleep for a couple of hours, did some housework and read a trashy novel in the back garden in the sunshine. Don't worry Nat and Wills took Daisy for a walk. Nat's friend Sam came to visit yesterday, Nat and Wills played football with an orange which exploded resulting in pulp getting caught in Daisy's fur, then they rubbed the pulp into each other's faces. I will be finding bits of orange pulp for ages. Amelia had a great time with her friend Emma, it appears that on their shopping trip in Clitheroe they bought the entire contents of Boots and Bodycare. Amelia was relieved to find out that my panic on Friday had only involved her brother and not one of the pets.

Ashley came back from Liverpool with lots of anecdotes and funny stories of his night out, without the Pink Stetson and Skeletor underpants. Surprisingly he could walk, talk and string a sentence together so he hadn't consumed huge amounts of alcohol. 'We watched Where the Wild Things Are', I love that film. I think anyone studying Psychology could do a dissertation on psycho-dynamic relationships with that film alone. I've decided after watching that film that I want to sleep with my family and pets in a pile, but I dont want to be the one who gets squashed at the bottom.

We are going for a bike ride today, Nat has been invited to his girlfriend's house for a BBQ, whereas, Ashley, kids and me will be cycling on the Fylde Coast with Daisy. We are getting the train there and back. I don't know how the cycling will work with Daisy, I don't trust her to not run in front of wheels so she will have to stay on a leash. We will be missing the football match so don't anyone tell us the result. We will watch it when we get back.

Anyways I will try to avoid breaking either of our necks, the sun is out, the weather is warm so it should be lovely.

My first steps

Hello Cyberspace,

This is my first step into talking to nothing and everything all at the same time.

Well as this is going to be me rambling I may as well start here. I am sat in the best room in the house, my bedroom with Daisy Dawg, she is not lying on the bed with me honest (Ashley!!). I woke up insanely early for a Saturday morning. Daisy needed to relieve herself and I had forgotten to reset the alarm clock. She slept under the bed all night with no mad barking at stupid o'clock. I think she should sleep under our bed every night, hint hint Ashley.

My hubby went out clubbing in Liverpool last night with Adrian, I expect him home this afternoon with a Sparkly Pink Stetson and Skeletor Underpants.

William is playing on the Xbox downstairs and I dont expect to see Nat in the next few hours as its a weekend morning, this is growing sleep time.

I have just spoken to my lovely best friend Nancy, catching up on the events of the last few days, I'm going down to London soon for a long weekend.

What are my plans for today, or rather what should I do today:

Things I have to do are;

Do some washing and put clothes in wardrobes
Clean the floors and bathroom, dust and tidy up
Write out a schedule for the creativity course
Finish painting the wave canvas in the garage
Finish knitting cardigan
Walk Daisy
Chant
Motivate Nat to revise
Shopping
Photograph local nature beauty spots for sketches
Do life drawings of people doing work in allottments

Will I manage to do all this????????