Our day was so much better than we had thought last night when we looked at the weather forecast. It said there would be rain at lunchtime. However we have had had no rain. We had a lovely picnic near Savill overlooking the lake - perfect. We had coronation chicken, cous-cous, potato salad, green salad with leaves and flowers from our garden, carrots, fruit and home made brownies. So yummy! We then walked around Savill - it was their weekend of celebrating the rose. And the rose garden was looking (and smelling) splendid.  The day finished with a brass band on the lawns of Savill. 

 It might not have been Henley Regatta but we had a lovely day. Good food, good company, good location and a brass band - what more do you need? 
Tomorrow - church followed by a drive to take Chloe back to Guildford. I have only done very local driving for the last 3 years so it will be a challenge to drive further a field - but good for me! I have a map - all will be well! Paul is off to London. 
Chloe and I are hoping to visit the cathedral while I am there and I am looking forward to seeing her room and the hospital. . 

On Monday Paul has his first visit to Aldershot where they explain why they are making him redundant - all part of the legal procedure.  On Tuesday he goes to a - how to get a new job meeting! 


I am enjoying all the sport on the television at the moment - not good for those of you who don't like sport and will only get worse when the Olympics arrive! 

 I hope you have all had lovely Saturdays in the sunshine. Life is so precious don't waste it! Or take it forgranted! 

Despite disappointment life is full of blessings and joy. I had a lovely day yesterday. I went shopping for bits and pieces and saw that there was a book stall on the market. I have been reading a series of books on my kindle which I have really enjoyed - there are 2 more books in the series left and I had thought that I wouldn't be able to read those on our new budgeted life style. But there they were sitting waiting for me on the stall. I had a lovely chat with the book seller because he had seen my delighted face! I know it is nothing in the big scheme of things but it felt like a special blessing that those 2 books were there. I also went out for a meal with my lovely dialysis friend D. She reminded me of a year ago when we were spending our time together at dialysis. How much nicer to be spending it in a restaurant! When I had my hair trimmed yesterday the hairdresser said that she thinks that the colour my hair is now is the my own colour - yippee! I am still a red head. It is 3 1/2 months since it was dyed and the dye would have now washed out. Again - nothing big in the scheme but lovely news for me. I wasn't ready to be grey quite yet and quite so suddenly. All this adds up to a lot of small things but that reminder to look for the joys in each day - however insignificant they seem. 


This weekend we had been hoping to go to the Henley Regatta as a friend had some spare tickets but it turned out they were for week days. Ho hum! So we have decided to go to Savill for a picnic and to celebrations of the rose. Chloe is coming with us - so that will be lovely - apart from the weather! 

 Some before and after photos. On the left my new border just beginning to grow , on the right filling out. 


Below the alium in full flower and now as a seed head .

Thank you so much for your texts and emails over the last few days. We so appreciate your love and care for us. When I write here it feels like I am writing into space so it so good to know that you are still out there! I am feeling much better and have got my head around this new adventure. We are beginning to write lists of what Paul will do when he stops work. So many things which have been left over the last 3 years of me being poorly. Now he will have the time to do some of them. We have sat down and worked out what we can and can't do and have decided to keep any booked tickets to events but not to book any more. It would have been so hard to give up all our plans. We will just have to budget for the train tickets to the various events. Mmmmmmm budget - that has not been a word in my vocabulary! I know for many of you money has been an issues for ages but we have been comfortable. We don't live extravagantly but we have taken a lot forgranted. It is good for me to learn new words!!!! 

Today I am flower shopping, having my hair cut and going out for a meal with a friend (I have a voucher!!!!!). This is my second haircut in over 2 years - wow! Apart from my head shaving when my hair started to fall out both times! I will only have a little cut just to make it neater and so I can see out of my fringe! We are leaving the colour now to see how much is my colour and how much is dye. It is lovely to have hair! I haven't shaved my legs as I am so glad to have hairy legs!!! Sorry if that is too much detail for you over your breakfast! Thankfully I am quite fair otherwise it might be a different story! 

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight and understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (Amplified Bible)

Ok so I am back trusting - all in His hands. I think I am learning that when difficulties arise I need 24 hours to  strop and say no - no more - stamp my feet - and then get on with it. I need that time to get my mind around what it means. To shout those questions that scream in my ears. And then I hear God whisper in my ear - I am here. I have it under control. I know what I am doing. This is the next adventure. 


This morning I read the following blog entry on http://www.incourage.me . Before reading you should know that this writer Heather 's daughter was born needing a heart transplant and with Autism. She died when she was 9. Heather herself has had a brain tumour. 


We all have had hard “things” in our lives. My “thing” is no greater or less than your “thing”. My hurts are no greater or less than your hurts. Yet, what we do with those “things” and those “hurts” can define us here on earth.

When Mark and I were told about Emma before she was born, our decisions determined the path her life would take. When Mark and I found out that I had brain cancer, our decisions determined the path our families lives would take. When our family was told that Emma would not come home, our decision determined the path her body would take.

Yet the Lord’s will never changed. He was not alarmed nor was He shaken by the paths that He already had planned for our little lives down here.

I had a really hard time with this after the decision was made to turn off the machines. I doubted myself. I doubted my love for Emma. But then a friend asked me one simple question: “Heather, when you turned them off, did she live?” It wasn’t up to me whether she lived or died, God had numbered her days even before she was born. If it wasn’t her time, she would have still been breathing after the machines stopped. It took me a long time to come to that realization and accept the fact that I did the best thing for my daughter.

God never lost control. He never lost his breath. He never shook his head and said “what now”.

“We have been called according to His purpose.” -Romans 8:28

Not our purpose. Not our wants or desires. Not our selfish plans.

His.

We are never outside of His plan for our lives. So when those hard questions come, and trust me they will come, remember that we are never given over to “random chance” by our Creator. He is conforming and molding us into His likeness. He is refining our hearts, and with refining there comes pain and suffering.

We see the back of the tapestry with all of the knots and strings… He is in the front making His masterpiece out of our lives. In Romans, Peter says “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us“. God is going to reveal glory in His children. He is going to turn our mourning into gladness. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

When the storms come, and questions run rampant in your hearts, where will you hide? Will you hide in fear and hopelessness, doubting that that the one who holds the entire universe in the palm of his hand does not care about you; or will you take refuge in His sovereign plan for your life, hiding in His loving arms until the storm passes and you are able to stand up again.

You will have questions, you will have doubt, you will be angry.

It is what you do with those things that will determine your future stability and well being.

Where will you hide? Heather 

This is the reason I can trust him. I am never outside of His plan even if I am outside my own! Here again is the reminder of the tapestry with its knots and strings. (When God wants to tell you something he often finds lots of ways to say the same thing - until you listen!!!!!!) So here I stand - right where he wants me - trusting that he knows the plan! 

I had a little unplanned visit to the GP yesterday. I have been having pain in my chest for a couple of days. So I went to have an ECG. This showed that my heart remains enlarged (Left ventricular hypertrophy) due to the anaemia, high blood pressure  or the dialysis or maybe all three  but no other changes. We were thankful for  such quick assessment and very thankful for the outcome. I have such a lovely GP. 

Chloe popped home yesterday (because she can). It was really lovely to see her and hear about her day. She is working in paediatrics this week.  

Josh had his wallet stolen on Sunday but thankfully had it returned to the police - intact apart from his train ticket - which was later also handed into the police . He and Debs have found a flat in London, in Golders Green and will be moving end of July. It will be lovely to have them a bit nearer but sad for them to leave all their lovely friends in Brighton. 

Today I am helping a friend sort. 

p.s. I have no idea why some of this is in white! 

And so our roller-coaster of a life continues. Just when life was going so swimmingly! Yesterday Paul found out he is to be made redundant - in 30 days! I feel like someone has just stolen my life. I know that sounds dramatic - and it is. We shall be fine - Paul has made a spread sheet - and all will be well. But I am allowing myself one day to feel sorry for myself and my lovely life. I have been having such a lovely time. As anyone who knows us well will know that we tackle most things with humour so we have been laughing a lot - in amidst the tears. We are going to be eating lentils and coley ( the fish we give to the cat). Sorry to anyone who does  eat lentils and coley! And Paul is going to be working in a variety of jobs..... some of which he is inventing.
On a serious note it is another opportunity to learn to trust. Our God is in control - He knows the future - and He goes ahead of us to prepare the way. Just enough light for this step I'm on. As ever I want a plan and for a while I am not going to be able to see the plan and that makes the ride a bit more scary. But as I place my hand into his I know He guides us, protects us and knows what's best. The most important thing is - He has a plan. And in time we will see that plan. On Saturday the speaker reminded us that our lives are like an embroidery - we just see the little bit that we are working on and we see it from the back with all the tangled threads and the knots but God sees it from the front as a finished piece - so very beautiful. I will trust that this knotty, tangled bit will eventually look very beautiful from the front.

This afternoon we found out that Paul is to be made redundant. I will write more when we have got our minds around it. More trusting needed. You would think by now I had learnt to trust!

Well my blood test was ...............very good! So despite some kidney pain over the last 2 months it seems all is well. When I stopped dialysis my kidneys were working at 15% they are now working at nearly 24 %. It is a slow but steady improvement. Also my potassium and phosphates were both in the normal level for kidney patients which is great as I am not so strict with my diet now. I still restrict lots of things but I don't avoid them altogether. This is obviously working. I occasionally have chocolate, tomatoes, cheese, nuts, raisins, bananas, granary bread, orange juice, melon, potatoes,  etc.... I was struggling to cut them all out altogether. It seems a little is ok. (I obviously don't have them all on the same day).

Today - flowers at church and ladies who lunch and bible study. Chloe is home so I am hoping to spend some time with her. Tomorrow - an early start with Women's Breakfast.

On Monday Paul will hear if he will be made redundant. His company  has to make 600 people redundant and Paul is in a group where 1 in 3 will go. We are praying it won't be him. He has been waiting to hear for about a month and they keep changing the day when they will tell them - ho hum!

I hope you all have lovely - wet - weekend plans !

After the sun comes the rain. Isn't it always the same? We just get settled with t-shirts and sandles and then along comes the rain and with it the coats and shoes. Ho Hum! I am working at being thankful for the rain but really haven't we had enough now? Can't we have a few weeks of more reliable sunshine? Today I am going to coffee with a friend who has the most beautiful garden and I was so looking forward to sitting outside with her - oh dear.

Yesterday we decided to make the most of the sun and went to Savill Gardens to see the roses. They were stunning and the smell was wonderful. It was so peaceful there. However as we were driving over Paul remembered that it was Royal Ascot week! We drove through Ascot at about 4.15 but realised that coming home at 6 ish was not going to be a good plan! So we went out of tea. It was a lovely surprise - both to be at Savill and to go out to eat. It is one of the joys of not working and Paul having flexible working hours. I was a very happy but tired bunny by the time we got home.

Chloe comes home this evening for a day before returning to the business of A&E. Hopefully she will find home a peaceful place in the midst of her business.

Today I am having a blood test to check my kidneys. MMmmm not so good after last nights food - we shall see! Then coffee with a friend and flower buying this afternoon for Saturdays breakfast and Church flowers.

Pain is frustrating and scary! I have been having some pain on my surgery side for a few days. I am sure it is just a pulled muscle or something but still it creeps into my thinking often. It is the reminder that cancer never leaves you. I am working hard on capturing every thought and reminding myself that God is in charge - 'all things in His hands'. But ...... always that but!

Today I am helping a friend with her study. It is a long job and each time I go she finds more stuff to sort! However she is doing well at sorting her life. It reminds me to try and sort as I go rather than hoard everything - just in case! It is so easy to keep stuff in case you need it. I need to remind myself and her to only keep 'what is useful or beautiful' The problem is there is a lot of stuff in life that might be useful and a great lot of stuff that is beautiful!!!!!!

It was good to have a catch up day at home yesterday - I have managed to sort  all of Chloe's stuff and it all has it's new home for the year. This means we only have 2 big boxes and a few smaller ones in the hall way - not too bad. Her bed room - although full - is liveable in.

She has been thrown in at the deep end and is working in A&E this week. On Saturday she will work her first Saturday in hospital. She saw her first patients yesterday - mainly heart patients which is definitely very scary! Last night she was revising ECGs have you ever looked at an ECG they are SO complicated - she has a huge text book all about them.

Today I am off to remove the red white and blue flowers and see if we can save any for next week. Then a bit of shopping, some cooking, tidying and tutoring. Hopefully another slower day. Then football tonight! That is very stressful! I watched the England match with Kitty on Friday - we are both very noisy when we watch football. Poor Ben! It's amazing how we all become experts - even when we know nothing! 

I am feeling a bit all over the place today - 2 of my children start new adventures and I feel nervous for them.

Josh starts his new job in London with a nearly 2 hour commute - mmmm. That's a lot of sitting on a train every week. They are hoping to move over the summer but until then he will be doing lots of travelling. I remember that first day feeling when you don't know anyone and you don't quite know how everything will work out. I am sure he will settle in quickly though. He loves new adventures.

Chloe has started her new placement in Guildford. She says it is like starting uni again and living in halls! She is living in a flat with 5 other girls and downstairs is a flat of 6 boys. She knew some of them slightly before - she will be with this group for 6 weeks and then some will move on and new people will come for the next 6 weeks and then Chloe moves to Winchester. We spent yesterday sorting her stuff making sure she had all that she needed but also some bits so that it felt homely as she will be there for 3 months. She is really looking forward to getting back into hospital life and seeing patients etc... For us its strange as she is sort of home and yet not home. She is near enough to come home in the week if she wants to and she will come home at weekends.

My job today is to find places for the rest of her stuff that she hasn't taken and isn't in boxes! She has a tiny bedroom so we will have to see how much she can put in there. The rest will sit in boxes in our hallway upstairs! For a year!

Life is full of change!

This week - I am having coffee with friends, tidying my house, helping a friend sort her study, tutoring, house-group, bible study, flowers, blood test, cooking, helping at women's breakfast, more tidying!

My lovely Phoebe and her mummy running yesterday. Thank you Phoebe and mummy! I am very proud of you. 


We had a really lovely day yesterday. Lovely lunch at the theatre and the show was great. Definitely the best of the Strictly linked shows I have seen. I am biased though as I love the Argentine Tango and it was all based around that. It was wonderful to spend the day with my sisters and with Chloe and some of the day with Talia - she came later after a night out ! She looked slightly less well than usual!! I am so lucky to have such a great family. 


Today - a quiet day to recover and some time spent finding places to put all of the rest of Chloe's stuff which she arrived home with last night. I am not sure where it is all going to go for the next year! She is excited and slightly anxious about starting year 5. She feels like she has forgotten all her medicine after spending many months on research - I am sure it will all come flooding back when she needs it to. 


It is lovely to see the sunshine again - I hope it manages to last for a while. 

Yesterday I felt that I had nearly reached my old normal busy life. Thought you might like a list of my day!

• Stripped and made my bed
• had breakfast 
• did bible study prep
• cleaned bathroom and toilet
• hovered all downstairs carpets
• put away shopping from Ocado
• went to church to sort and water flowers
• went to Tescos to get bits I forgot in order! 
• cooked chicken for tea
• had lunch 
• packed Chloe's food box for next week
• had bible study 
• ironed Chloe's clothes for next weeks placement and packed her suitcase
• made tea for Kitty, Paul, Ben and I
• made up  Kitty's room
• had tea
• watched England match with Kitty and Ben (most exhausting part of the day!!!!!) 

I can't believe I can now manage all this in one day! A year ago I could just do the first thing - make my bed and then I had to rest for the rest of the day! You may well ask why I am packing for Chloe but she is down in Southampton having just come back from France and is packing up her room. We are meeting her in Southampton today and she is coming back with her stuff tomorrow before then going to Guildford tomorrow to start her placement. Tomorrow she begins year 5 - when that is finished hopefully she will be a Dr - wow! Ed got his results yesterday - we are very proud of him - he got a first. He now has the summer off before beginning a job in London. 

Well I had better be off to start my day. I am really looking forward to spending the day with Kit, Joy, Talia and Chloe. 

Thank you so much to those of you who have sponsored Phoebe. It is still not too late - see post below for details. Phoebe runs on Saturday. I so hope it is sunny for them.

It was good to catch up with my friend yesterday and to do some shopping. Also to visit D's lovely flat which is so cosy and made me want to live in a little flat!

Today Chloe returns from France, I am having coffee at school, going to a saxophone concert at lunchtime and possibly going to Savill to see the roses this afternoon. It's all go! 

As Christians we still have many questions - just becoming a Christian doesn't answer them. The biggest question for me is WHY? And there is sometimes no answer that we can give this side of Heaven. I believe that God is in charge and that He knows what is best and that He sees the bigger picture but sometimes that is SO very hard for us to understand and we cry WHY? Today my friend will wait to hear that her daughter is OK after giving birth to her  baby who has died. My heart aches for them all. There are no words, no answers except to echo with Job - 'The Lord gives and the Lord takes away' Please pray for them. 

On a lighter note I did manage to sort out my thinking yesterday. I prioritised my day and tidied my bedroom, cleaned the bathroom, knitted a sleeve of a jumper and made shortbread! I also managed to tick off quite a few little jobs from my to do list; I sorted 3 piles, phoned the Drs, ordered serviettes and caught up on emails. Not too bad for  a Tuesday! 

Today I am meeting up with an 'old' school friend. She is coming a couple of hours on a train to meet me in Reading. It will be fun to catch up on news. I am also going to visit Debz H who lived with us last year to see her new flat. A lovely day. 

Today is a day of swirling thoughts - you know those days when there is so much in your head but you can't quite get hold of your thoughts. Maybe I will just write a list of my swirling thoughts and you will see what a muddle they are!

• my bedroom is such a mess - it needs organising
• which lot of knitting shall I get on with
• how can I have a quiet day when I have so much mess around me 
• shall I make shortbread biscuits or cake today
• should I increase my BP tablets again even though I know that they make me feel sad - until I can get to see the Dr
• wishing it was sunny and I could sit in my garden not debate whether we need the heating on
• how do I hold living here and now and eternity in balance 
• thankful that I don't need to have dialysis 
• I need to put the tent away which is drying out in the front room before my friend comes for coffee this afternoon
• wishing I could sleep for a whole night and not have to wake 3 times for 'comfort breaks'
• looking forward to spending the day with Joy, Kit, Chloe and Talia on Saturday 
• shall I make a hair appointment for next week and shall i have my hair dyed or wait a bit longer 
• shall I start today with a shower or a bath 

So you see what a muddle I am in - I  need an organiser just for my thoughts! Any offers? 

Please do go and sponsor my lovely Phoebe to run in the Race for Life on Saturday. It would be lovely if she could reach her target before Saturday.http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/phoebeturner 
I know you will have been thinking - I will get round to doing it sometime!!!! Breast Cancer can touch anyones life and Cancer Research are making so many more drugs available and giving women and men so many more options even if it returns. Recently one of my blogging friends died of breast cancer - leaving her young 5 year old son - so sad. 


The rain looks steady and set in for the day - yuck! Haven't we had enough rain now - surely our water supplies are now topped up enough. It's June! 


Yesterday in Church we were reminded of Eric Liddell - the Christian Olympian. We were encouraged to remember that we are running a Christian race 

²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20 v24. 


How hard it is to say this. My life is very precious to me but the goal of eternity is more precious. I would love for you all to know how loved you are by the creator of the universe and that his grace can save you. 


Today icing cakes, tea at Arborfield church for Cameo, tutoring, football and a bit of tidying thrown in. 

My red, white and blue arrangement 

The altar arrangement 

We enjoyed arranging the flowers for church this week - based on a red, white and blue theme. I am still very much in a learning phase but at least I don't panic quite as much as I did. It is a bit like learning to paint but your early attempts are all on show! I can see what it should look like but is much harder to achieve that with flowers that have their own thoughts on the matter! The alter arrangement was done by a much more experienced arranger. I am enjoying the challenge of learning a new skill though.

Today - cake making  for the Jubilee Fete at Barkham where I am helping with refreshments. Thankfully it looks like it will be dry which will make for a much more pleasant afternoon.

Chloe has left for France - where the weather is going to be .... you guessed - raining! She arrived home on Thursday and got out the sewing machine and made her own luggage! She has made a large bag to take on holiday that is the right size for hand luggage. It is beautiful and I am very impressed! Then on Friday morning she decided to make a passport holder. She has the sewing bug!!!!

Ben is off camping today - which will be lovely until 10.00 tomorrow morning when rain is forecast.

Next week is Josh's last week at work. They have begun to look at areas to live in London. Very exciting!

Next week is full of business - helping with tea for the elderly, coffee with friends, lunch with a school friend, afternoon tea with another friend in her new flat, house group, helping a friend sort her study, tutoring, bible study, flowers, Kitty coming to stay and Vincent and Flavia from Strictly in Southampton on Saturday, with a bit of football watching thrown in and maybe coffee at school. Wow! Written down like that makes me realise how busy my life has become and how much better I must be to be able to do it all. I am really looking forward to Saturday as we are having a girlie day in Southampton - Kit, Joy, Chloe, Talia and myself. Lunch at the theatre followed by Vincent and Flavia from Strictly dancing in Midnight Tango.

11 years today my mum died and 9 months before that my dad died. It was a very tough time and yet I was so aware of heaven being just a breath away. This poem helped me to see that although we said goodbye to mum here, she was just a breathe away being greeted by my dad and more amazingly by Jesus.
I am so thankful for many happy memories of a childhood filled with love.

What is dying?

A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, "She's gone". Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all; she is just as large as when I saw her...

The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her, and just at that moment when someone at my side says "she is gone", there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout, "there she comes!" ... and that is dying.

Bishop Brent.

Yesterday I went to the most wonderful place - a flower shop to buy cut flowers for our church flowers this weekend. It was great fun choosing the flowers from so many, wishing we had a very different budget!!!! How lovely it must be to do flowers for a cathedral. I wish I had taken photos - next time!

This is a photo of me taken by Ben - my hair is looking like real hair now! It seems to have a style of its own. Yes Ben's wall is covered with train tickets - left over from an art project. The gaps are where they have fallen off!

Today I am flower arranging and spending some time with Chloe before she leaves for her holiday in France. Life is back to its new business after a weekend of Jubilee watching. I am SO thankful for a more normal new life. I still look for and find joy in each day. (I hope I never lose this). My life is full of good things and wonderful people to share it with. I do have moments when fear creeps in and taps me on the shoulder whispering that it will be over soon. But I have learnt to pack those thoughts away knowing that all things are in His hands - the creator of the universe. He is trustworthy and dependable - whatever the future holds.

My lovely son and beautiful daughter-in-law

Covent Garden ready for the Jubilee weekend. 

A quiet moment before the ballet begins

The best view Paul got of the Queen - a saluting officer! 

Returning to barracks 

God of time and eternity,
whose Son reigns as servant, not master;
we give you thanks and praise
that you have blessed this Nation, the Realms and Territories
with ELIZABETH,
our beloved and glorious Queen.
In this year of Jubilee,
grant her your gifts of love and joy and peace
as she continues in faithful obedience to you, her Lord and God,
and in devoted service to her lands and peoples,
and those of the Commonwealth,
now and all the days of her life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen

What a great 4 days of celebration. I have loved seeing all the different aspects of the diamond jubilee ending today with the wonderful service from St Pauls and the carriage procession and fly past of the planes. I feel very proud to be British. We do pomp and circumstance well - even in the rain. Paul is in London today and although he didn't see her he did see her carriage, marching bands and the planes fly past. A little bit of history in the making. I have enjoyed it all from the comfort of my warm and dry house! We watched the concert last night with Joy, Matt and Talia - along with strawberry, cream,Victoria sandwich and Pimms. I must say that is a great combination!
My thoughts are with all those people who now have to struggle home in the pouring rain.

My lovely red nails for the Jubilee weekend 

I loved the Jubilee pageant yesterday. We watched from the cosy place that is my bedroom! I was exhausted after Saturday. It was a great British day - including the rain! We had nibbles and Pimms - perfect.

My Jubilee display - cosy place to watch the pageant 

Today I had planned house work and ironing plus a bit of sewing but Chloe had other plans! She has lost her passport and goes to France on Saturday. In the meantime she is cycling with Ed along the south coast. So I will be having an unplanned tidy of her bedroom to look for the passport. I do hope its there. Otherwise she will be having a rushed trip to London at the end of the week.

Enjoy your bank holiday!

Beautiful Butterfly 

Butterfly dies while her puppet son Sorrow stands by - very sad 

Madam Butterfly was so very beautiful. The costumes, lighting, puppets and setting make it very beautiful. The music is stunning but just misses something - I am not sure what it is. The sung dialogue and the songs seem to merge into each other. The amazing puppetry of the little boy Sorrow is so clever but maybe not as shocking as using a real child. However it was a lovely performance and my favourite opera so far. I will look forward to seeing it sung in Italian next time - maybe that is the answer.

It was really lovely to be in London for the Jubilee weekend. We saw some of the little boats making their way to moorings ready for today's pageant. London looks beautiful - decked out in union jacks and sparkling clean. What a shame it is raining today. Although in true British spirit I am sure no one will let it spoil the day.

We also went to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. I loved it. Such a diverse mix of art - 1,200 pieces of art. Some were wonderful and some were - mmmmmmm. I certainly wouldn't have quite a lot of the pieces in my home. But I did love some of them and I fell in love with Feather Child by Lucy Glendinning. It made me want to cry  and pick it up to cuddle it and protect it.

We also had a lovely lunch in a French Bistro!

All in all another perfect day. The last of my London days for a while.

I also bought bunting which I now have festooned in my bedroom where I will watch the 1,000 boats going down the river today. Perfect!

This is my lovely friend Phoebe who is going to run in the Race for Life for me on 16th June. Please will you sponsor her  
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/phoebeturner

She is raising money for cancer research which is making such a difference to the treatment of many types of cancer. It is wonderful to hear regularly of new treatments that are becoming available to either treat or to prolong the lives of cancer patients.

1 year ago today I had my last chemo treatment. Looking back now I can remember how poorly I felt then and can see how much better I am now. I am SO grateful for the quality of life I have now - even if it isn't like my old self it is at least a good new normal!

Today I have ladies bible study and a celebration tea - Ben finishes his exams today. Yippee! Tomorrow Paul and I are off to London to see Madame Butterfly and the Summer Art Exhibition at the Royal Academy.  It will be lovely to be in London over the Jubilee weekend. We did consider going up on Sunday to watch the boats but decided that after Saturday it would be too much so we will watch it on the television. Chloe is going back to Southampton today to celebrate the end of Eds exams. They are then going on a little cycling holiday followed by a week in Anecy.

I hope you all have lovely Jubilee plans. Enjoy whatever you are up to - remember to make forever memories.