Wow….. it’s still as wild as yesterday. I know I harp on about it but this must be worse than the storms with names…. Yet no name given?! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣🤣

We drove down to Ayr today and back up the coast. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sea so stormy.

How beautiful though?!

What you can’t see is that it’s so windy I couldn’t keep my woolly hat on! The wind was determined to blow it off my head. Also the sand is blasting at you.

So in other news our big girl, Calaidh, turns 7 today!

It seems like no time at all that she was a puppy.

She had no idea when we moved here that she would be joined by another 2 crazy puppers! To be fair… neither did we. Oh how life has changed. 🐶🐶🐶🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 that’s exactly how many paws we have wandering round our house at any one time. No wonder it’s never clean!

I got some new flowers yesterday from my brother and sis-in-law. They are lovely.

The one’s mum and dad sent me are still going strong minus the tulips 🌷 🌷

And the tulips from the Crochet Hookers.

Beautiful! 🌷🌺🌷🌸🌷🌺🌷🌸🌷🌺🌷🌸🌷

Well that was the weekend.. seems a quick one but can’t complain after a week of lolling about from the bed to the couch. It feels so good to feel better again. Back to the Farm in the morning. Bet that’s a killer. The 5am start will certainly be…. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Ooooh I’ve have the loveliest day today. A TWO hour massage at Harmony in Beith. Thanks so much to my in-laws for my Christmas pressie.

I had a full body, legs, back, neck and shoulders followed by a facial.

I was pre-sad before it started as I knew it was going to be over soon. How ridiculous is that? i never want a massage to end!

Norma from Harmony is so good and I swear she has healing hands. Her fingers are cold and her palms are burning hot so the sensations are amazing… especially during the facial. (Stop it sniggerers 😂)

I was super chilled when I left and popped into my lovely friend Gayle’s shop next door. the little gift shop in Beith has been there 3 years now and the shop gets better every time I go in. Super proud of everything she has achieved….wait till you see the Valentines window that she had decorated today…..

Isn’t that just stunning. I watched the girl painting from the inside. She kept popping out to check it.

This was done by EmzArt. Have a look at her on FB or Insta. Wow. Her work is incredible.

Just beautiful! ♥️🌸♥️🌸

So home and did a wee bit of work but enjoyed it and then out with the puppers… straight into sideways sleety snow. Another face exfoliation!!

Then the sun came out and dried up all the rain…. (Plagiarism 🤣🤣)

So I came home and spent some time preparing for tomorrow. It would have been my Gran’s 100th birthday and we are meeting for lunch. My cousin Steven has a radio segment on SAM Radio (The Scottish Autistic Network) and he is going to do a show on Gran to celebrate her birthday.

He wants to record us all talking about our memories…. I’ve kinda cheated and written tomorrows blog and will read that. Blog writing comes very naturally to me. Sitting down to compose a piece on my Gran did not. Write it as the blog… job done!

I then went into Claire’s for a cup of Turkish Apple Tea. Haven’t seen her since pre- Norovirus so we had so much to catch up on. So lovely!

Quiet night for us tonight… might be having takeaway pizza to celebrate eating. 🍕

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Irene May Bowles was born on 5th February 1922 and she was my Gran.

She used to tell me it was the same year Howard Carter found Tutankhamen’s tomb. I was fascinated by that fact.

We were very close to Gran and Grandpa. She was mum’s mum so we spent a lot of time there.

Gran was always baking. Cheese scones were her speciality. She managed to get them to go all crispy on top. I can almost taste them even now.

She was always in the kitchen rustling up something from tray bakes to marshmallow top hats and lovely wee marzipan fruits. There was always something tasty at Grans. Her Roast Beef and Yorkshire puds were legendary.

Gran grew up in London and worked in the Cherry Blossom shoe polish factory at one point. She had been a cook in the war and met my Grandpa, Charlie, (Jock as he known at the time being from Scotland) when he was stationed down south.

She moved up to Scotland to be married. She always kept her English accent and the highlight of Christmas for her was watching the Queens speech. She used to call her the Queeg…. If s funny post voice dragging out the eeeeee’s. We still joke about that. 🤣🤣🤣

Grandpa used to own a garage in Penicuik called Lawmar Garage. I used to got here for my lunch from school and Gran would make lovely sandwiches and quite often buy us some Yumyum cakes for lunch. She was always eating salad. Celery dipped in salt on the side of her plate. She always had ripening tomatoes on the window ledge in the kitchen. Funny the memories you have.

We used to stay over at their house when we were wee and they had electric blankets on the bed. One night she forgot to switch mine off and I woke up drenched in sweat. She always cooked us the crispiest streaky bacon for breakfast so it was super exciting to stay over.

She was an amazing crocheter and the Queen of the Granny Square. She made me this lovely blanket when I was young and I’ve had it on every bed in every house I’ve owned. I will always treasure it.

She made the double crochet stitch one too. I really inspect them at times. I have favourite squares and colours and least favourite squares but most of all I imagine her working on it for me. I hope she’d be proud that I finally mastered the art.

We celebrated every birthday with her. This is the last birthday we had with her, 96. The blanket round her knees was one I gave her. She always used all the gifts I gave her but she was so easy to buy for. 💜💜💜

Mum read this for me at Gran’s funeral. She was so brave and her eulogy was amazing. I could never have done it.

It started…… Gran,

Cheers Gran, happy heavenly 100th birthday. I wish you were here to celebrate with us.

This next pic is just my favourite ever. With my nephew when he was tiny. His so on her head backwards.

I was very lucky to have my Gran for 46 years of my life. Not many people can say that. She lived until she was 96.

Today I’m meeting my family to celebrate her 100th birthday on 5th February 2022. I wish she was here to see it!

It’s been horrific weather today. Not sure this storm has a name but it was atrocious driving conditions and I had to go all the way to Edinburgh.

I took the dogs out first….. absolutely drookit!

Came home and got ready then suddenly remembered I hadn’t done my lateral flow so did that on the way out the door. The weather took its toll on the journey and I ended up being 20 minutes late.

We met in Swanston Golf Club Brasserie at the foot of the Pentland Hills in Edinburgh

Here we all are! Poor Craigie had to work.

My Auntie Marion had a board of photos with her so it was lovely to look through all the memories.

I loved this next one. Gran with my wee brother and I. Check that cheesy grin. 😬

I chickened out of doing the recording for SAM radio but my cousin Steven has this and is going to read it out on air.

We had a lovely lunch. I’ve not seen my Auntie Marion since before lockdown so it was lovely to all be together.

This little duck billed platypus used to be Grans. My brother bought it for her. Was lovely to have a cuddle of it!

So a lovely day. Lots of memories and lovely new ones.

Stay safe everyone 💜💜💜

Wow… I feel sooooo much better than yesterday. What a difference. No stomach cramps, almost awake. It’s such a relief.

I did not sleep well last night… not at all. It would appear that a bottle of Lucozade after 7pm is not the most conducive move to a good nights sleep. 🤣🤣🤣

It never even crossed my mind. I don’t drink caffeine at all now but I was so excited at the Lucozade trip down memory lane, that I knocked it back!

I was switched on for the rest of the night. Like an old tv on the white noise screen.

I got up early and was in work for 7.30! Glad I did that as I was there until 6.30pm as well…. 11 hours in my wee portacabin!

I’m not complaining. We had late customers collecting today and they were super lovely so got chatting and the time flew in. I’ve enjoyed work again today. I’ve enjoyed the sense of purpose and the getting things done.

I am very tired though. It’s half 7 and dinner is on… thanks to Craigie.

I have a strange conundrum at the moment in that I don’t know what to eat. I don’t want meat at all just now. I don’t know why. It doesn’t appeal to me, I want to be healthy and I want to eat lots of protein for the Fit Body Farm but I don’t know what else to make. I’m not ready to start following recipes so I want it to be ”off the shelf” so I don’t know what to eat.

I’m actually thinking that protein shakes from breakfast and lunch might be easy. They are full of vitamins and minerals. Not sure. Welcome to my head.

My feet are up, the fire is on, I’m wrapped in my blanket again.

And this one means a lot to me just now.

So happy weekend everyone as this is my Friday night. I have a lovely massage booked for tomorrow morning so can’t wait. Perfect timing after a very rough week. Thanks to my in laws for the vouchers for Christmas!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

It was like my first day back at school after the holidays. I had everything ready to go.

Even driving was weird. My eyes have only moved at a snails pace for over a week… I drove like Miss Daisy all the way.

There’s a dog missing around by us just now…. I heard about her before we went to bed last night and she was my first thought when I woke. I checked the back garden. She ran away from a walk with her dog boarder as she got spooked by yesterday’s strong winds. I am devastated for everyone involved. The boarder who would never ever want something like that to happen. The owners who are devastated she is losing. The poor dog, to whom I’ve now given human emotions… is terrified, scared and has no idea where to go or what to do, in the most horrific weather. My mind is whirring it about like a mad wummin…..

I searched everywhere for her while trying to drive this morning. Not the brightest idea.

I seem to be determined to drag myself down and wallow in misery anywhere I can find it. Need to slap that out myself.

So work was very good today. I really enjoyed being back and I had a lovely cheery welcome.

I enjoyed having some purpose instead of lolling about from my bed to the couch and back. It feels good to be back in control.

I didn’t reckon on feeling so bad though. My stomach was really sore all day. It feels really gripey… what does that even mean?!?

I have hiccuped and burped all day too. Classy burd huh?!

I guess whatever’s in there is still working away…. I am hungry but I don’t fancy anything to eat…. A plate of chips for dinner tonight, I’m not sure they even tasted of anything.

So I’m staying home tonight (instead of crochet!) wrapped up in a blanket and the lovely Crochet Hookers have dropped off a lovely wee care package.

I’m on the Lucozade already. What is it about Lucozade?!?

When we were kids it was our go to whenever we were sick.

We could not get better without it! the yellow crinkly wrapper…. Takes me back!

So I’m on it now and hopefully it does the trick!

Stay safe everyone 💐💐💐

I got up to go to work today. In my head I was just going to do it…. That walk to the bathroom told me I still wasn’t ready. Dizzy head, stomach cramps…. I got back into bed and slept for another few hours.

My neighbour Holly offered to walk the dogs but I suggested I could just walk with her and take Calaidh as it’s the only fresh air and exercise I’ve been getting, albeit at a snail’s pace.

It is very, very stormy up here. The good thing about walking with someone is that you don’t focus on every single step analysing how you feel. However, any chat was carried away on the wind for most of it. Calaidh had a blast running with Leo and Nacho off lead. She’s pretty much slept since! Forgot to get photos… too busy trying to stand up straight in that wind.

As we came back down the hill she said about taking Bhruic and Freya round the loop through Geilsland and Spiers school (no hills!) so we did that too. Just a leisurely walk and all cobwebs blown well and truly away.

I was back home by the back of 10 and back in bed by 11am. I was shattered.

I think it did me good though.

I had a good wee nap.

The stomach cramps are still there but they are bearable… uncomfortable but not painful. I also feel a bit like I’m waking out of a foggy slumber. My mind is clearing a bit. I’ve tried to drink lots of water in case I’m still dehydrated… well I’m sure I am. I’m having it hot and cold. 😋 nothing but the best. 😵‍💫🤣

I’ve had oat milk porridge for breakfast and a filled roll for lunch. I still don’t fancy eating anything much but I know it’s building strength back up. Everything I’m having is bland to be on the safe side.

I’m still shattered but hey… when am I not always shattered.

I’ve been out and started Abbie the Campervan. You can never be too sure where that one’s concerned. All went well 👍🏼. I didn’t drive anywhere but if she starts she’ll drive. I have that much faith in her 🥴🤣

So yeah… I am terrified to admit it but I think that I might just be feeling a wee bit more human again. Craig is too. He has decided he’s no longer keen to try Vegetarian food for a while since our last meal (chickpea & black bean curry) is still going to be forever blamed for the onslaught that ensued. 🥴🤣

So February 1st brings memories of 1992 when my then boyfriend was killed in a car accident outside Peterhead on his way to visit me. Such a defining moment in my life and that was 20 years ago tonight.

To be fair that feels like someone else’s story but it’s my first real dice with death and made me realise just how fragile and precious life is.

I’ve said “drive carefully” to Craig since I’ve met him. That’s very important to me.

I keep seeing posts like the one above. I said it last night… telling me to live life to the full. I am attracting tv shows about travel, reigniting the spark to see every inch of this amazing world that we live in. While avoiding people of course…. The new me doesn’t do lots of people. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Meanwhile back in my current world I’ve had a shower, detangled the dreadlocks, moisturised lots of super dry skin. My hands are like sandpaper in the shower. Dry from the inside.

I hope that this is the end of the sick talk. Thanks for sticking with me. Who knows what the next drama might be but for now I’m in clean jammies, my work clothes are ready for my pending return all going well tonight and I’m wrapped up on the couch watching Dirty Dancing.

“Nobody puts Baby in the corner”

And just like that… I burp and get little bit sick in my mouth. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

I am so weary….. That feels like the perfect word to describe todays mood.

So very, very tired of this. So very tired yet not enough to sleep. Too tired to read. I sit scrolling endlessly through FB seeing what other people are up to. Watching their lives go on as I sit and wallow.

We did sleep well last night though. I kept my 5am alarm set so I could assess progress before deciding what to do about work. We’d already cancelled the Farm last night as that was kinda obvious.

It was also fairly obvious that I’m still not well enough for work. We are on solids now… check us…. But life is still not rosy in the garden.

I still have bad stomach cramps after food, my stomach feels bloated and dare I say… constipated…. I mean come on….. and Mother Nature felt it timely to whap me with full on time of the month and those stomach cramps for the first time in so many months I can’t quite remember. The joys….. my cramps are fighting each other.

I have been close to tears at times this morning. It took me half an hour to compose two messages to work. Half an hour to say I’m too sick to come in. My head tells me I’m letting everyone down, I should be better by now, stop wallowing in the illness, get over it, get on with it, you’ll feel better if you force yourself. Yet I know my legs shake from the bed to the bathroom let alone any further.

The dog walk was tough today. I felt really dizzy and off balance. I had to turn back much earlier than I planned to do.

I reread all that and I realise I need to make peace with what is and forgive myself for needing this recovery time.

I made some Oat Milk porridge this morning…. Now that was a labour of love but is just what we need.

It’s a beautiful day today. No sign of the overnight Storm Corrie as far as I can see.

The sun felt so lovely on my face. My eyes squinting in the bright light.

Today I choose to stay in bed but I’m still trying to be grateful for this day rather than wishing it to be over.

I’m reading a lot just how that tells me to live for the moment, seize the day, make the most of the time that we have and a part of me worries that I’m not doing this enough.

My overthinking mind tells me I’m seeing all of this for a reason. I’m heading into my 50th year…. I’m thinking a lot about the life we have left. How dramatic do I sound?!

In other good news 😬 we finally tested and confirmed covid free today. All this time spent avoiding catching COVID-19 and we end up with Norovirus. Go figure huh?

And I called the blog Barbara…. 🤦🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣we had a good chuckle at that.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Jeez… I use that a lot these days…. It’s exhausting being this exhausted. Sunday afternoon already and we’ve move from bed to the living room and back to bed.

We didn’t sleep so well last night. We both ate a sparrows portion of food last night and within half an hour we’re ensconced in our separate bathrooms again on and off all evening. literally within minutes of each other. Never expected that at all.

It would appear that hungry, dizzy and lightheaded far outweighs the getting food inside you.

Now I want to know what the hell I’m dealing with…. I start looking up more about what this blessed thing is and how I might have caught it.

Wish I hadn’t bothered. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

Now it’s ok for Craig (is it? Really?) as he knows it’s only mine he consumed….. (yes I said those words) and yes he is one helluva lucky guy for me to share that with but WHO THE HELLS did I put in my mouth?!?!?!? (Is that even English?!?!?) We know no one else who is stuck with this just now. It could have come from anywhere. My humour is sadly weary today or I might find this a bit more funny.

I sat in front of the wood burning stove for a while watching the logs burn. It’s amazing how you spend your time when you can’t do anything else.

It was beautiful to watch. Yeah I know… 🥴

I did actually walk the dogs today which is something. The forecast is horrific again later so I went out before 11am in a bid to avoid the rain…. Of course the heavens opened the minute I set out the door but it stopped after about 10 minutes. As Storm Malik moves on apparently Storm Corrie moves in. My lovely Gran and Gramps had a dog called Corrie that we grew up with. Lovely memories. My mind is wandering 🤣🤣

The girls were so good. They didn’t pull at all. Just kept me steady. They’ve had such a rotten week. No fun at all. We know!

When I got home I settled into Gran’s chair to read while Craig lay on the couch. I took a selfie…. I am honestly smiling in this pic. I had my hat, scarf and blanket on.

I then moved through to el coucho 🛋 and watched 2 episodes of Graham Norton before coming through to bed for another sleep. They say a change of scenery from time to time does you good.

I’ve had some pasta with cheese. I wasn’t going to eat but we have to keep our strength up somehow. Can only wait and see how it goes.

I honestly never thought this could last so long. I’ve barely moved since 12.30 on Tuesday night when it all started. I expected to feel better by Thursday or Friday at the very latest.

It’s been so lovely to have these flowers to look at. Once the tulips are done the rest of them will last for ages. Can probably even be dried.

So thanks so much for all your kind messages. We’ll sit it out again this afternoon and see what it throws at us as Storm Corrie brews.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

It must only be the hardcore readers left checking in on our exciting travels from bed to bathroom and couch to bathroom and back….. today we went to….. car….. another extension of the house…. Just to have a look at Craig’s new stereo that was fitted last night.

It was a nice wee change of scenery.

Pity the poor guy that turns up here to fit a stereo, not to be invited in and to be told to stay as far away as he can as we are “sick”. to be fair, we maybe should have put him off but he was working outside.

So we slept well until Storm Malik woke me up. To be fair I thought it was the toilet flushing again so woke to check on Craig but no… it was just the raging wind outside the house this time.

I actually think I managed to capture the strength of the wind on my phone earlier.

Now I’m a bit institutionalised after the last few days but I was actually scared outside. It was the windiest I’ve felt it in a long time and that’s saying something giving our collective gurglings over the last few days. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Th pub fence is down again. A panel seems to blow down every year no matter what the menfolks (yup I really used that 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣) do to secure the posts on the ground. Those panels just can’t take a strong gust of wind.

Instead of waiting for Craig… who was in the bathroom… shocker… I decided in my wisdom to try and secure the fence myself. I was worried about the rose bush being flattened and almost got flattened myself. A gust blew me sideways with the fence. That’s musta been some gust!! Craig saved the day. With lots of “I’m too sick to be doing this” noises.

This next tree was scaring me the most!

It used to be vertical….Claire’s huge tree next door was taking a pummelling too!

So Craig took the dogs for a walk all by himself. He’s not eaten anything for two full days now. It was raining by then. he couldn’t have picked a worst time.

I went for a shower without 3 dogs staring at my every move and set to work detangling my hair. Jeezo that was a workout in itself. It’s the first time I’ve washed it since Tuesday morning… when I took my bobble my hair stayed up! It’s was bordering on dreadlocks 🤣 it felt good though.

I think we’re both just so weak now that it’s a vicious circle. Too squeamish to eat yet too weak as a result of not eating. Then dizzy and lightheaded and squeamish. We’ve decided to start slowly eating and see what happens. We don’t fancy much but we’ve both had some flapjacks and some naan bread. The random things you have lying around. I’m not taking anything for granted though.

I had to sit back down after my shower and I’ve been in Grans chair in the sunroom ever since.

Craig’s wrapped in a blanket watching the football in the living room and the sun is shining.

I hope that this is us finally over the worst of the sick bit. Just got to work on building our strength back up. I’m now down 7lbs. Hey it’s not like I didn’t need to lose it and Craig looks like he could use some smaller T-shirts.

My flowers are beautiful. It might be too hot in here for them as the tulips are wide open.

So clean hair and clean jammies… ready to take on the next nap. 💤💤💤 as the storm outside rages on. All in here seems finally a bit quieter.

Here’s to a wind free recovery. (yeah I’m proud of that…. 😬)

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Well this is an exciting run of blogs. Another day, in bed, this time with Craig too…. Stop that thought…. It’s not pleasant in the slightest. I feel way worse today than I did yesterday.

I say that and I realise I’m a lot less scared of being sick today, so I’m brighter on one hand but I’m so exhausted and weak. The stomach rumbling started last night again. I was up and down through the night again. So was Craig obviously. Praise the Lord for two bathrooms. 🚽🧻🚽🧻

Craig has self diagnosed Norovirus. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🥴

So far today I got out of bed. Had a cup of hot water and psyched myself up to walk Calaidh. She doesn’t run about the garden like the other two so really needs a good run.

I messaged Holly next door to see if she had any lemonade and she popped it in and I boiled some. Mum’s friend said it can be good for building up some energy.

I let it cool while I went out with Calaidh.

So I’ve done double the steps today already that I’ve done in the last two days. My Fitbit tells me that it was 100% below zones. No shit Sherlock. I literally put one foot in front of the other and plodded up the hill. I used her for stability to start off with but then let her off to run and just plodded more slowly.

It’s the first fresh air I’ve had since I came home on Tuesday night.

That flat, boiled lemonade was like nectar from the gods. It tasted so good. I made Craig have some too!

And then I went back to bed.

Got back up at 2pm and now on the couch. I had some “lunch”.

I got some lovely flowers from Dad and Mum!

Aren’t they beautiful. These were Bloom and Wild flowers so they needed fully arranged out of the box…. And the tulips came with bulbs attached which you cut off to be planted. Not today. The arranging was enough!

And this next bit is the best hit of news ever.

So here’s to a good weekend for you all and hope normal service might be resumed for us soon so that we can enjoy some of the weekend.

Stay safe everyone 🌻🌻🌻

For those of you just about to eat, or just eaten, you’ll be pleased to know this is a way less graphic blog than yesterday. Way less drama and way less trauma. Just a girl (or middle aged wummin) on her couch ALL day with her dogs.

I have not moved. That’s actually a blessing as it means I haven’t been running anywhere today. I’ve not been sick since 5am yesterday morning I’ve had more melon and some veggie sausages this morning. All seems calm. I don’t feel like eating anything else. But that’s ok.

I still feel rotten but nothing like yesterday. A hot water bottle all evening seemed to bring the stomach cramps to an end. I slept for 7 hours straight and Craig decided to sleep on the couch to keep away from me.

That may not have paid off for him….. he’s currently curled up in bed having hot flushes and shivers.

Maybe it wasn’t the stale water I drank. It must be a bug.

I’m still really dizzy, my head is still thumping, my stomach and back muscles are sore from all of yesterdays yawning in technicolour… I pinched that from somewhere… sounds way better than retching though eh?! 🤣🤣 but the worst that’s happened today has been a whole lotta hiccups.

There’s always been a pupper close at hand for cuddles.

She’s actually snoring.

So I don’t have much else to report from my couch. Oooh I did have a shower. I know that doesn’t sound like much but when I was off sick with my anxiety and depression, showering was a huge effort and one that I forgot to do on a regular basis. It means a lot to me that even when I feel rotten with this stomach bug, I still remember to shower. It’s the small wins. (My autocorrect typed wind there…. I smiled).

Oh the other big win is that I’ve lost 5lbs. Always look on the bright side.

This has been a very rough few days but I think the worst of it is over. It’s such a relief not to have that dreadful fear all the time. When you’re sick like that you feel so scared and alone and terrified. Terrified at being so out of control.

I must remember that if Craig is sick. 🤔😬🤭 not sure I’m quite ready for that…. As she hiccups. And again. I make myself laugh as I write this. The hiccuping stops. I’ve got this.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Jeezo man. What. A. Day. 🤢🤮🤢🤮🤢🤮

It started when I went to bed last night and thought I had a sore stomach. Craig prodded it. I said stop doing that it hurts. He said I’m not. He did it again. 😳😬 He now feels a wee bit bad for that joke.

At 12.30am I woke up and ran to the bathroom and since then I’ve been between there and the bedroom all day. I’ve got out of bed at 16.39 just to see if a change of scenery may help.

How many days have I sat at work and dreamed of a day in bed? Not this though. Never like this.

At some point I fell off the toilet and Craig found me in a crumpled heap covered in sick as I was trying to be sick in the bath.

I went back to bed and was back up to be violently sick about 3ish. I never clocked the time. I had some water then as I felt really dehydrated.

At 5am I messaged the Fit Body Farm and work…. Told them both that i wouldn’t be there but that I was finally keeping water down. At 5.02am it all came right back up. I checked the time to note the irony of it. I had sent the text to my boss at 5am on the dot.

So to be fair that was the last time I was sick. The water is staying down but not in. I’ll take that any day over being sick.

I drank some water out of a bottle last night that might have been sitting for a while. By a while… I really have no idea. Could be a week, could be more or less. I gulped it down as I was so thirsty and straight away thought I maybe shouldn’t have done that.

So it’s either the water or a bug. If it was just the water I’d have thought I’d feel better by now. I’ve been drinking all day as I have a thumping headache. I also have real shakes and shivers when I’m out of bed.

I’m a right wee sorry soul.

Craig brought watermelon in and I’ve had a wee drop so fingers crossed. The stomach cramps are really painful so I feel it may just be a matter of time. Also assume that when you need to go you need to go. Never trust that you don’t. I made that mistake today too.

So all in all I’m wallowing is huge vat of self pity feeling absolutely rotten. I’ve had to make a few work calls but felt better for doing them than ignoring them.

I’ve done a whole 1,257 steps today. My legs and arms are like jelly. Jeez I bet you’re all enjoying this eh?!? sorry I feel the need to share.

Safe to say I am never cooking last night dinner ever again either. Ever. Ever. I can’t even type the words.

I’ve tried to read but I’m too tired to concentrate but then when I try to sleep I can’t because of the pounding headache and the cramps. I’m just floating listlessly around being a pathetic patient. Me no likey.

So I’ve cancelled my poppy crocheting with the Hookers. Craig’s out at work so I’m gonna sit here and wallow some more and hope to hell this thing passes tonight.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Its Burns Day today which means millions of Scots will be having Haggis, Neeps and statues for dinner tonight.

Here is my in laws Chihuahua Cookie having hers… and they say she’s not spoiled?! Acht she deserves it!!

He died at the age of 37… I didn’t know that. They don’t really know how he died but suspect alcoholism.

And the Selkirk Grace.

Breaking with tradition we are having Chickpea and Black Bean Curry… made from scratch by she who can’t be bothered cooking anything. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

I got the recipe from the BBC Good Food website. It was a bit hotter than I thought but it was lovely.

I had the best sleep since my Fitbit began tracking, last night. 91%…. Uh-maz-in!! yet I feel really tired just now so hoping for the same tonight.

So there’s not much else to report today. I had a lovely customer in work today with the most beautiful Rough Collie called Lassie and she looked like actual Lassie! It was lovely to get some puppy cuddles at work.

She is a huge fluff ball!! I got some serious sniffs from our 3 when I got home tonight.

Also 666 days of the blog…. That’s seems pretty monumental. 1118 days no booze, 164 days no meds.

It’s all happening.

Stay safe everyone 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Ok so it’s fair to say I’m jumping on Craig’s bandwagon as I figured his would make some pretty good blog content. That and I was worried about him all by himself. Honest. 🤔😬

So here I am sitting in row 13D of EasyJet EZY74 to London Luton… row 13…. And not only that but the flight attendant has just been to tell me that I am in charge of the emergency exit door. OH MY ACTUAL GOD. In the words of Dad’s Army….. Wu’r doomed.

I made the final decsion to come with him at about 9.15am and he was leaving at 10. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤔🤣 should say here that he is going to pick up a new car. So we agreed that the worst case is the car is dreadful and isn’t for us and we have to fly back home.

We have the kids next door walking and playing with the dogs and their Auntie Claire checking in on them too. 💜 I can’t see green cheese me.

This is super exciting and gives me so much more to write about than a food shopping and sitting at home all day.

To be fair, it also seems a fairly COVID risky option…. The airport and flight have zero ventilation. There are so many people with masks around their chin or just over their mouth and under their nose. It’s not that hard really is it?!? Social distancing seems to be a thing of the past. The odd person remembers to do it but it’s easy to forget.

Breakfast in Starbucks cost is £24.50. There are obviously gold flakes inside our toasties that we just can’t see.

Maybe we should worry a bit less now as we move to endemic stage and away from pandemic. But it’s no less lethal to some people than it was yesterday I guess.

Oh the guy next to me is now listening to stuff without headphones in. Naturally. Jeez people are hard work eh?!

Craig is up front languishing long leg space class. What he doesn’t realise is that I got long leg space in my cheapy row 13.

I should say I’ve just had a whole cup of caffeine in my Strawberry and Vanilla Oat Latte. Uh oh. It’s hard to remember all my self imposed rules when I’m ordering a coffee these days especially in an airport for the first time in a whole lotta years. We actually can’t remember the last time we flew…

The flight is half empty….

Oooh got to go watch the safety spiel in case I’ve forgotten what to do.

And we’re off!! The first bit of Rambling Sloth ever written during takeoff!!! 🛫🛫🛫

There’ll be no photos as the windows are all steamed up, just like my glasses. God I hate that bit when the plane sinks in the sky…. Doing it now. 🤢 and just like that we’re up in the clouds.

I used to be absolutely petrified of flying. She who likes to be in control of everything cannot control a plane. ✈️ I never let it stop me travelling but I did try all forms of travel sickness medication from pills to wrist bands and then I decided to fly to Australia in 2004….. on my own. That kinda cured me. I did take a very mild prescribed Valium but that was more for the sheer terror of getting divorced, being made redundant, buying a flat and furniture and deciding to rent it out…. Then deciding to use the redundancy to visit family in Australia 🇦🇺. As you do. I think the caffeine is evident in that never ending sentence 👆 😬😆

Oh the man behind me is now snoring his head off. Least there are no screaming kids yet.

The sun is shining up here and the sky is very blue. Makes me hope that our destination is somewhere hot and not just London Luton. 🤣🤣

I’ll shut up for now and go and read my book… the main behind is proper snoring snorking. Maybe my book will drown him out.

As I read…. I cast a quick look around and I stand corrected… no one is snoring. The guy next to me is listening to something that sounds just like it but I think it’s an engine revving over and over again. Could he really be watching a motorbike 🏍 ride?!? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Just over Manchester now at 32,000 feet and at a speed of 400 miles an hour. The Rambling Sloth at its fastest speed yet. 🥳 just about to start the descent already. Honestly this is the way to travel. It’s cheaper than the train and has been so fast. So now he seems to be descending pretty fast as I’m sliding out the seat. My sinuses feel like they are imploding and my ears are popping like fury. It’s 5C and sunny in Luton.

And just like that a baby cries. 😆

Landing gear down. Always a joy that… that last moment when you think something might be wrong…. and landing. It’s cloudy and misty outside.

Well we lost 2 hours of our day trying to get the payment to transfer. I suppose we would be mad if the fraud team didn’t care that we were transferring a lump payment but we had phoned in advance to ensure it would go through. We’ve been standing outside in the freezing cold for about 2 hours. Could have been raining though!!

It’s 3pm and we have a 6 hour 22 minute drive ahead of us. I’m really glad I’m here though. I’d hate him to be doing this on his own.

You know you are pretty far south when you see a sign that suggests Birmingham is in the North. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Only 5 hours and 25 minutes to go!

We stopped for food at the side of the motorway and now we have 5 hours and 40 minutes. Go figure.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Wow what a difference a week makes. This weekend I have no pressure on myself to do anything at all other than to just be.

We woke at 6am. Or should I say, he who shall remain nameless woke me up at 6am.

We got up and had coffee while the stove warmed up. It was still dark.

Even the dogs were still tired. I’ve been shattered all day as a result. My legs are agony from yesterday’s fitness test at the Farm. I’m like an auld wummin getting up and down. 😆

I took the dogs out early to try and get the old legs moving.

It did not help much. 😱🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

I only took Bhruic and Freya for the first walk. I was spreading my dog walks through the day… 🤣🤣

So sad that this is going to ruin but it must cost a fortune to maintain.

Then I took Calaidh out. She gets a better run off less. I much prefer that.

So the rest of today (so far, it’s only 3pm and I feel like the day must be over by now!) has been spent selling Craig’s car and looking for a new one. Now it’s him doing the selling and looking but I seemed unable to do anything while all this so going on! 🤣🤣

I’ve not really done anything other than wander around from room to room offering my wisdom on car selling and buying and there’s precious little wisdom to impart. 🤷🏻‍♀️😬🤫🤣

How many people get a chance to do hee haw all day and there are no consequences?!? The old me would never have allowed it…

So the VW Touareg is away and the next one looks likely to be a VW Amarok. Which is… of course… in Southend-on-sea 🤫😆

So he’ll be flying down tomorrow to see if and pick it up if it ticks all the boxes. The guy’s been great sending wee clips of various parts of it so it seems worth the flight.

I soooooooo want to go for some blog content. But we have 3 dogs that need looking after. Hey ho.

In other news I ruined our Fit Body Farm Team Courage T-shirts.. by washing them with my work hoody. 😱😱😱

We also booked a week in Tiree for the start of June. I’ve already booked a boat trip out to Staffa to visit Fingals Cave as this has been a bucket list trip of mine since my parents took us on a day cruise when we were kids.

Don’t know if it’s just me but that’s too wee to read?! You can zoom in though. I can’t wait to be there and if weather permits we’ll be allowed out onto the island for an hour. Wow!

We only got to view it from the deck when we were kids. It was so magical!

Not much else for us today. Back watching The Handmaid’s Tale tonight.

From a fire in the morning to a fire at night. Just how winter should be.

Stay safe everyone 🔥🔥🔥

First of all these socks make me giggle every time I put them on…..

I put them on twice this morning with DEEP DIG 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 it’s nice to have a giggle at 5am.

The Fit Body Farm was amazing today. It was a Hyrox Fitness Test.

• 1000m run
• 50 burpee broad jumps
• 100 forward lunges
• 30 hand release press ups
• 1000m row
• 100 wall ball target throws

So I paired up with Suzy and we only had to do half of it as one rests when the other one takes over. Craig did all of this all by himself! Sounds patronising to say I couldn’t believe it but I was so proud of him!! 🥇🏆

It’s already been said that we seem too lovey dovey these days and some husbands’ feel they should be upping the ante…. Should say that he still gets nagged at… pulled him up for not making the bed when he got out of it yesterday and he said “eh… I’ve enough brownie points right now I reckon” 😳😆

Anyway, I digress…. The fact that you’re paired during the workout means you keep going as you are spurred on by the other, at least I am anyway.

Suzy and I did it in 22 mins and 55 seconds! Was really chuffed with that time but not gonna lie, she is really good at this stuff so she definitely improved our times. 😬🤫🥳

So yeah Bhruic turns 6 today! 🐶🎉🥳🎂🎁🎈🎊 Craig got her a toy badger…..

Life in our house. Spend money. Chew it to death, bin it… same day.

We went a big walk this morning but it was smirry rain.

You know it’s funny… I always used to see myself as the black sheep of the family and that was a bad thing. I had such a low opinion of myself. No one ever suggested that I was but I felt like I was never good enough. My first marriage ended after 6 years and rather than work at it we went our separate ways. It was the only option but I felt like I was letting everyone down. I smile now when I see a black sheep as it think it’s lovely to be that wee bit different. Anyway there’s a thousand more dog pics to get through….

Ok I’m done talking dog. 😆

I feel very different this weekend thankfully. Kinesiology has worked its magic this week again. No stress here just gym, dog walk and housework and rest.

Now sitting in Gran’s chair with Calaidh contemplating crocheting poppies… the windows are very dirty but I can ignore that rather than worry about it. Winter sun is very unforgiving on a window isn’t it?!?

My Auntie Jac sent this next one…. Wow. It brought a tear to my eye.

Strangely a part of me still grieves for the person I once was…. But she was so false. Putting on appearances….thriving on busyness…. Expecting a badge of honour for being stressed…. I am so much happier in jeans or comfies and just generally lounging around writing and taking photos. I’ve had to work hard to get to this stage.

So that’s me for today, it’s an early one, only 3pm but I’ve got a whole lot of resting to get done.

Happy weekend!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

I never saw the forecast so had no idea when I walked out of a toasty, cosy house today that it was FREEZING outside!! I had to scrape the windscreen as I didn’t have my screen cover on. I can only reach the bottom corners 🤣🤣🤣

If you look closely at the photo you can see the tiny bits I scraped on the windscreen. Pointless!!

As I drove to work I stopped in a lay-by to take some photos before sunrise. it was too beautiful to miss.

Then sunrise at Tartan HQ.

Really quick but busy day at work today. Time flew in.

I met our friend Jen for coffee tonight after work at Eden Garden Centre in Dundonald. Had a lovely cheesecake and coffee. Was great to catch up as it’s been far too long and she lives 5 minutes from my work!

So no exciting relations today. Just a calm but busy day, back in control of my emotions and getting on with things that need doing.

You know you’ve arrived in life when the milkman counts to the door and says wow, no jammies tonight?!? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 I was dressed…. Let’s get that straight!!

Just back from a couple of 0% Menabrea in the pub with the man of the hour. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

If there is a best husband award then he is going for it… I swear. Now this is not me boasting about having the best husband ever…. We’ve had our challenges like everyone else, being married is not easy at all. Being married through your wife having a breakdown can’t be heaps of fun… it certainly wasn’t from my perspective.

I shared a post on FB last night from the singer Sara Bareilles.

I posted on her page… something I never do but I wanted to say how amazing it was for her to admit that and get the word out that there is no stigma to taking medication for mental health issues. Her words about anxiety and depression really hit home for me. So well worded and perfectly described.

Then Craig said he wanted to say something too…. And did I mind? Not at all.

His words made me cry when I read them this morning.

Wow…….. 😯

I feel very humbled and so proud that despite our difficult journey we have got to the stage where he can say all of that. It’s very lovely to hear. ♥️

Now….. I also think he should write a blog!! I’d read it!!

I have felt so much better today than I have done for a few days. I am very tired but I am calm. The terrible anxiety, drama and fear have passed. I am in awe of the effect that Health Kinesiology has on me. It’s such a powerful tool. It’s always lovely to catch up with Shelagh!

FBF was really hard this morning. I struggled but I did it. It turns out my period has started for the first time in ooooooh….. months and months! So that maybe helps explain the low mood of the last few days. Yup still sharing as it happens to half of us and the other half could do with knowing how crazy it makes us… if they don’t already know 🤣🤣

So I ate lots of biscuits at work today. A whole lot. A customer brought in about £15 worth of chocolates and biscuits. I couldn’t stop. i felt I deserved them though 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

When I finally dragged myself away from them, I got home to find out that Craig had pressure washed the whole garden.

The slabs, the decking and the grass!!! We have artificial grass because of the dogs and it needs a good clean from time to time. It looks so lovely out there I want to go and sit in it. But I won’t…. It’s freezing!!!

The sunset was looking tropical!

I’m loving the extra hour of daylight these days.

The Crochet Hookers get together tonight for the first time in 2022. We’re going to start making poppies for Remembrance this year.

Looking forward to hooking up. 🧶 see what I did there?!?

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️