Welcoming in 2014 A New Year

I've been having a giggle looking through Facebook today, at all the parties and goodwill messages sent! Is it me, or is anyone else sick of festivities? I have cooked for just about everyone this Christmas, had far too many late nights and early starts (I have to get up at 6am regardless to inject my dog) so this morning after a 3am bedtime, I got up at 6 reluctantly, fed and injected the dog and went back to bed... Rarely done, but something I needed this morning. I am well and truly knackered!
We spent a lovely Christmas entertaining family and friends, but today im finding myself saying 'No Thanks' to any invites coming.. I just want a quiet night in like a hermit, with a 2 hour bath to sort myself out, as I've had no time, and no visitors! So am cooking something completely un-turkey based and making a Spanish omelette..lol
My sons g/friend has become a second daughter so I've shipped them out round a mates for the night, rather than having the mates here.. simply bliss. The other kids spend half their time in their rooms anyway so the night looks promising and quiet.
This year has I feel been the most hardest yet! My fellas broke his hand, theres been endless challenges and changes and to top off the lot my little sisters hubby has been in a coma for 5 weeks fighting for his life.  The strain of worrying about everyone has grown so deep. I spent Xmas praying Jason would come out of his coma 'whole' as the Dr's felt he could be paralysed or brain damaged, that prayer was answered. He's awake and now off the ventilator, although we still don't know what caused him to have a 3 week seizure? she was in pieces and the worry and stress was spread throughout the sisters. They have certainly had an emotional start to their relationship! she nearly died, then he did. But its cemented the fact these guys really do want to be together.. My hopes are not for me or resolutions filled with things I want to do, but my sister and her little family, that this year things are better and easier for them... I know we can deal with most things here, as we have got pretty good at climbing mountains and braving storms. I would just love for her, not to have to go through any more grief...
My fella is starting 2014 with a very sexy beard and 2 stone lighter than he was in the summer. So we are going back to dancing again this year. I miss my music and it will be nice to meet up with our friends again. Its our 21st year together and I love the man more than ever. So its time we had a flirt with each other on the dance floor and went back to salsa.
He really has the naughtiest eyes when dancing and im looking forward to seeing, just how wide I can open them..lol
As for what 2014 brings? I will turn each page over, day by day and see what stories it holds..
Im healthy, happy and loved and that's the best gift I could ever wish for....

Happy New year to everyone! I hope 2014 brings you all Health, Love and Happiness.

Power Cut - They Will be Blown Away

The weekend went far too quickly! My fella had to leave Sunday night due to the storm, so it didn't feel like id seen him this week. We were both knackered Friday from the week and by the time shopping and house stuff was done on Saturday it was gone..
I'm not keen on sitting on my laptop at night as I like spending time with my tribe here, but Skype allows me to talk to Steve and catch up with the days events, its exciting stuff his end and I can tell he's really enjoying this challenge. The mans never happy unless he's full pelt at something, I honestly don't know anyone who has so much passion and drive, its relentless! I still have to wake him up every morning though, some things never change...
Last nights call didn't come, so I decided to watch a movie with the kids, Barry's been brilliant and gets me all the best movies to watch, he knows once Steve's home at weekends I don't get the remote, its a mans thing apparently. I waited until 10 then decided to have a bath, sending a couple of snidey messages before I went :) like " Enjoy your pints etc. as im going to bed now" you get the meaning,  when Ryan gets a text from him panicking as he's gone back to the digs to a power cut and no water! they got the worst of the storm, hence the no Skype call! Talk about dropping yourself in the cart Jo.. His words made me laugh (wicked aren't I) " Please tell mum im sitting in the middle of a bloody field of sheep freezing cold,trying to get enough signal to send this. I'm cold, theres no power, no water and It feels like I may as well be living on mars!"
I cant take back the messages of course which he will get once the powers comes on but he knows what im like by now, and I know what he's usually like - hence the messages I left in the 1st place!.

Today im moving all my stock across. I was hoping the triple trio would get up and help but there's no sign of movement up there yet, it must be time for mums singing in the bath! I have a new way of getting them up by simply singing a power ballad all in the same note!! its bloody awful and hard to do but it usually results in Lauren shouting insults and the boys coming downstairs to avoid it. Perhaps ill sing a Whitesnake track today as im feeling energetic ;)

Changing of the Seasons

Things have changed here, yet again! Its all good, but taking some getting used to.
My fella got offered a proper job! yes, honestly. This is a position he's wanted to have a go at since he was in the industrial game. He's now a contracts manager! and i'm back to where I was 10 years ago and running this place single handed again..lol I actually feel energised! Its all a bit different to computer work for him but he's loving the challenge. Computer work is all ok but what they don't tell you is you get stuck sitting on your arse all day and it drains the life out of you. He wanted a new challenge and to get fit again, so to work higher up the chain in an environment he knows like the back of his hand was too good to turn down. He just met someone who needed someone like him at the right time and place and its all gone from there.
The kids are older (still mad as hatters) but lovely and with Ryan now in a full time electrical apprentice placement, its all working out well for him.
We have decided to change sleeping arrangements now (as he has a steady girlfriend) so instead of him staying out every weekend at hers, we are creating enough space for her to stay here. It doesn't seem right he's 18 now, but with the triplets nearly 16 now i'm wise enough to know Kaytee wont get any peace with Brandon hovering around, so i'm changing rooms and moving Ryan into my old stock room so he has some privacy, the boys then get their own bedrooms so it will cut out the arguments at bedtimes hopefully too and stop my pictures from falling off the walls when Callum kicks his bed!
My fellas working away at the moment Mon-Fri. So i'm trying to catch up on all the little jobs i've neglected here. There's a list as long as my arm to get through and i've ended up on Skype all morning talking to my uncle (giving him a shopping list for Asda) so I need to get on with it.
Im on a mission this week to move all my stock over to another place, so at least it will help get me fit. I've just got to move out my fellas winery first and put that in his new shed.
I've been engrossed in books this month. I started by reading a book called 'Outlander' by Diana Gabaldon and im hooked.. 6 books in and i'm loving the characters. I now wish I lived in the 1740s and there was such a thing as travelling stones! Places like Stonehenge that magically transported you back into times where there was no internet and oversold crap, where they lived with the land and not just took from it like society does now.
Did I mention my daughter wants to be a farmer! yes really, I wonder where she gets that from....lol
Anyway onwards and upwards today.. I've been up since 3am (making hubbies packed lunch and breakfast) so I better get up before I doze off.. Kids will be home soon!

Feeling Peaceful

It was a really good weekend, sunshine, the forest, followed by the beach. How lovely is this weather?
We both took the weekend off and spent some quality time as a family at Sherringham Park and then the beach. We walked aprox 10 miles this week, which felt great, the kids were great company and really enjoyed the day. We ended up getting lost (which I actually enjoyed) as we took and old steam train back, which didn't actually go to where we thought, so ended up in the middle of another forest cracking up laughing as it was, by that point dark.

My fellas been in a romantic mood all week which has made me smile.. It must be the heat!
Unfortunately his work has gone mad so he's juggling as usual, but as long as he takes time off we wont miss the summer. It's partly why I did the garden differently, at least when its all lit up at night, its too pretty to ignore, so we spend hours out there talking. Its a lovely way to end a day.
We have lots of plans and things on the go, its exciting to wake up again and wonder what's going to happen today.
This weekend we are throwing a BBQ. We have a night out on Friday with my family, which i'm looking forward to, but Saturday its Aylsham car boot followed by sangria and good food. Now I have a garden we can actually sit down and enjoy it in. I love Saturdays!
The plants are maturing and its starting to look really colourful now. I didn't mention the lights id got, so no one knew the place would glow at night, until it did. I cant wait to show my granddad! He's like me and loves lights.
I'm still not sure whether I want fish in the pond yet, ive planted wild watercress hanging from a bucket, that the water runs through and have some amazing plants to put inside for wildlife growing strong and to be honest, its enough...  I just wanted peaceful.. and sitting there watching the butterflies and birds, listening to the water, brings me that.  I'm a flip flop girl at heart and always will be.
I finally got to pick some of the cherries off my tree, which was brilliant. I only take half, so the birds enjoy them too, but so far its given me 6lbs and its still going strong. I'm going to soak them in brandy then half coat them in chocolate. I tried them once at chant and never forgot them...
This year feels all about family.. My family are coming together strong and even my fellas is now too, we have both his sisters close now and it feels lovely to see them so often. Things change and so do people, and sometimes time changes people for the best.
This afternoon i'm going to Anglia square as usual with my grim reaper uncle! He's really not, that's just what my mum calls him. He has me in hysterics when he starts teasing my mum, he times her, to see how long we are there, before she starts moaning... so far the record is 6 mins... lol
I realise how chilled out my house is and appreciate that although we have 6 adults living here, we are a really peaceful house regardless. I couldn't see it before! but I can now. I always wondered why people came here? and thought they were just nuts! but after talking to them and asking why, you start to see through others eyes and realise just how special this place is...
Every day is: Just what you make it. And we are rich in a way, that money could never buy.
I think at last we have found our balance...

Sex saved a life

Things always come together, don't they say? Well this week they have!
My little sister was rushed to hospital Saturday night by ambulance, she had terrible pain in her stomach and couldn't stand. She blamed herself, as she has now found a lovely fella and their relationship moved up a level to a sexual nature, this she thought was what caused the pain, that she shouldn't have had sex.
 After endless blood tests and drips they discovered she had contracted a super bug at the hospital when she had her hysterectomy done 6 months ago, she had cancer cells that were spreading badly so they took it all away, the infection has been living in her wound since and growing and when she then had sex for the first time since the op, showed up what was happening inside.
The superbug had spread to her organs, the Drs said that if she hadn't had sex she would have died of blood poisoning, as it was everywhere inside her and no one knew!  because this chap was 'forgive my pun' built like a king dong! he may have actually saved her life.
Its been a close call, she's now been in hospital over a week with my mum trying to look after her 3 kids and endless animals, we are all taking it in turns to help, but are so relieved to see her looking so much better in herself last night, they have found the right antibiotic to kill the infection finally, so hopefully now she will make a full recovery.
Her poor fella doesn't know where to look! he's getting endless jibes about sleeping with his girlfriend for the first time and putting her in hospital from his brother! but he's there everyday with her and supporting her through this which shows how keen he is.
What basically happened was because she was so poorly inside, having sex perforated a layer of skin that had been holding it all inside her body. I'm glad she decided to have a 'fifty shades' night of rampant lust or I wouldn't have my sister with me anymore.
On the amusing side I cant wait for her to get well, so I can invite the poor chap round for a BBQ! I have some giant hot dog sausages all ready with some tiny little rolls to stuff them into...lol

Proud

Where did Monday go? I missed it!
Things are finally getting sorted out for my fellas sister, the kids start school today, which I'm sure will help them get some normality in their lives. The smallest is adamant he's not going to school, so I expect there may be a few tantrums this morning.. Bless, He wants to come back here as he likes our cooking better than mums.
Next week is my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary! I thought id done well at 20 years with Steve but when I see my grandparents together it really does bring a tear to the eye, they are just made for each other and still very much in love. Granddad was telling me last week when we invited them up for a meal about his erection problems ;) yes literally. He says he gets tremendous cramps in his big toes so sits there all night with what looks like 2 great erections! I nearly choked on my potatoes and couldn't stop giggling all afternoon. My eldest sister went on holiday last year with them and says one night when she took granddad back to his hotel room (rather worse for wear) that he hadn't got into the door when he started. "You are in for a good night tonight Gladys" my sister couldn't shut the door fast enough... lol
Nanny has just gotten over skin cancer at 90 and had an operation on her face last week. She wasn't worried about the operation, just concerned she couldn't have her hair done so its nice for granddad.
I forgot to mention in my last blog about one of my dogs 'Frankie' its a little scruffy thing I named after my best friend when he was alive. She was on a diet with her brother dog 'Dexter' here but got very ill. She lost over half her body weight in 2 weeks and then stopped eating completely! The vets didn't know what to do as she couldn't stand up so suggested I put her to sleep. She is 10 years old.
I took her home that weekend as they couldn't just keep her on a drip to feed her and said that if she hadn't eaten by Monday I would do what was best for her, I couldn't see her suffering like that.
On the Saturday night my tough old fella- who apparently doesn't like kids or dogs, sat feeding her creamed rice on a teaspoon! and she ate it! we then spent £1,500 trying to find out why she was so ill and discovered she had diabetes. 3 weeks after being diagnosed she lost her sight completely, within a week!  We took her out for her usual run in the woods, for her to crash head long into a huge tree!She simply couldn't see it, we both just stood there horrified.
The vets showed us other dogs that coped just fine being blind so we have just adjusted things here to help her. You wouldn't believe its the same dog, she is brilliant! I get up at 6am every morning to feed her and give her insulin and then again every evening, but for a dog that was on deaths door she is inspiring and also very happy. She still goes into the woods every day, just stays on a long length lead that I try and steer for her. Her sense of smell seems to have heightened and she simply smells her way around the house and garden now. I'm glad we didn't give up on her, she is harder work than our other dog, but is definitely worth it.
Sunday was a really good day, my eldest son Ryan was presented with a huge honour 'The Queens badge'
They held a big service and unfortunately we had to sing! with me in hysterics laughing at my fella trying to hit high notes! he's as bad as me! but overall I came out feeling the proudest mum in Britain as all us mums feel with our children. He's 18 now and has spent 12 years working in the community and helping others to get this award, he spent a month down my nanny and granddads community area, along with so many other places, serving up dinners in his spare time and taking 30 elderly people shopping every week! he's one of the most caring, calm and happy people I know, I'm really fortunate to have such lovely kids.
The other boys are 2 years behind him and are now working towards theirs. We will be the 1st family ever to have all the brothers get this award so its something good for the other 2 to aim at now. It also does them good to help others and help their planet and not sit on street corners smoking like most do around here.

Weekends

Well we got through the week somehow! To say it was manic is an understatement.
Things didn't go according to plan as my fella came back with the kids and his sister, he said he felt it was better for her to cut all ties back there. So we have spent the week sleeping on the sofa so they could have our bed. Some things have alarmed me, but we're doing everything we can to help the kids.
They have now all been placed into temporary housing together, its clean and just up the road from us so we can help. Hopefully then after a period of time they will find them permanent housing.
The week was pretty stressful and I was knackered by the lack of sleep and his sisters constant loud voice..lol We don't live like that here, we may have a busy house, but its also calm, she needs to learn a thing or two from her brother. Even my kids hid up!
We didn't get any work done all week, so this week we have lots to catch up on. As well as sort out a school for the kids and doctors etc.

Guests Coming to Stay

Its been a very long night. I've been tossing and turning most of the night worrying.
My fella got a call yesterday from his sister, who lives away. We haven't heard from her for a while so hoped everything was ok, the last we did hear was she was getting married at Xmas out of the blue, she never even mentioned she had a fella!
What has taken place was a spiral of hitting rock bottom, the new husband was a heavy drinker, abusive and lazy, instead of him raising to her standards and cleaning himself up, she sunk to his level and started what now uncovers to end up drinking daily with him and neglecting everything else.
Her two elder kids are old enough to go their own way, but the two little ones (6 and 10) is what's been concerning me, they are really sweet little kids and deserve some stability and security, its not their fault. As from last week they have been homeless, her landlord evicted them so its been garages and friends sofas for a week. Yesterday she woke up and phoned for help, the social services want to take the kids into care until she can get another place to live. She's stayed in the same job for 11 years so has a good job there, what she doesn't have is enough for a deposit and a months rent up front.
We have offered to take the 2 small ones here until she can sort herself out housing wise and get a home ready for these kids, they must have had such a shit time of things recently. I can get them into a local school while they are staying and although we are already squashed with 4 teenagers we are going to make room somehow... It looks like me and Steve will be getting the couch.
My family are all saying I cant take them as I have enough on my plate now, but as long as my lot all help me here with them we will manage just fine. Its better they are with family who love them even if it is a big one, than be taken into care in my eyes.
The kids are really excited they are 'going on holiday to aunties' and arrive today! meanwhile I need to buy some sleeping bags for me and Steve..
You really do have to be mad to live here...lol

Where do i start?

Its June 1st. So I thought it was time I started to write again.
Life has gone on regardless and I'm still kicking, although still non the wiser to what kept stopping my heart. My dongle is still in my chest and no plans to take it out yet. People stare of course, but its just part of me now and it doesn't bother me anymore. I think the most changes that took place was the confidence we both lost. It creeps in slowly that you stop doing things, without realising, but its time now to restart our journey of life again and not let the bumps and bruises win. One things clear in our life and that is 'we are both fighters' Summers coming and so we are preparing for one that we can take time to enjoy this year...
The house has seen so many changes, the kids are growing up fast, and whoever said girls are harder to raise than boys was being honest. My daughter is so much like I was at her age - god help us.
My eldest lad is now 18 and makes me so proud, he's turning out to be a lovely man with what seems the best of us both here.. He has my patience and happy attitude to life and my partners work ethic. The other 3 are at that hard age where you have to try and guide them into a mind set of mum and dad cannot do it all for you forever, so get off your butts and prepare!. Brandon although he has learning difficulties is always up at 6 with me and is the least laziest of the 3..

Things you want in life seem to change as you get older. My fella used to want money and a nice big house and all the trimmings, but doesn't anymore. He just wants time now.. time to walk, explore and just have time to do the things we want to do. My philosophy was always " be happy with what you have, anything else that comes along then is a bonus". He can see where I come from now :)

He has after 20 years agreed that I can have a pond! silly I know, but I find fish and running water peaceful, so I'm turning my once overgrown bamboo garden (which has now been recycled into canes for the allotment growers to share) into somewhere I can potter about in and plant, thanks to 30 old sleepers that have travelled from Norway and lots of hard work. These were sleepers that weren't any good anymore as they are all warped and bent! its amazing to think: one mans rubbish will be one girls dream garden. Nothings not any good, its called imagination and thankfully I still have that!

Its not going to be an ordinary pond, I don't like things that look like everyone else has, this is being created so me and my fella can sit out there with a glass of wine and just relax. The bases are all in so today i'm going to Aylsham car boot sale to pick up some old bits to help add some character.