Up The Farway Tree

Sorry!!

Just got a row from mum for not updating my blog, so apologies all round.  It is usually a good sign that I have been super busy :-)

I will start with the most recent and work backwards haha.  We are just back from a lovely weekend with my cousin Kelly Ann and her husband Andrew.  It was their wee girl Alana's Christening on Saturday so we travelled down with mum and dad on Friday.   Alana is such a cutey and although there was a few tears before the Baptism, she then started giggling when the Holy water was poured over her head.  I don't think I have seen that reaction before :-)  Jake, who is 2 and 4 months, was great fun.  I guess we were a novelty for a couple of days and he most enjoyed getting out his doctors kit so he could 'check you out'.  His vocabulary is amazing for a 2 year old and he chatters non stop.  Very cute for us visiting but probably not so cute when Kelly Ann wants a rest.  It was lovely to see everyone and I do wish we were able to see them all more often.

Last Thursday I started a pilates class with my friend Lucie.  I really enjoyed it, although couldn't do quite a few moves because of my dodgy shoulder.  I went for a steroid injection into my shoulder joint today so am hoping this will ease things a little.  At the moment it is affecting my sleep and I think one of the reasons I might be feeling so tired at times.  I wasn't too sore after the pilates class but Andrew said this just means I wasn't doing the exercises properly!!

Last week I was speaking at George Heriot school again.  I was asked to do this last year and they invited me back, so it must have gone quite well haha.  I spoke to two different 4th year classes for 40 minutes each - they are learning about organ donation so I was to give some background on the patient experience.  I usually just stand and talk but I decided to make a slide show with some photographs from various stages in my life to have running as I spoke.  I think this helped people visualise my story and also gave me a good framework for keeping to time.  I do find it exhausting though and I took a migraine later that day - might have been the drive to Edinburgh in rush hour traffic though, so next time I think I will get a train! 

Last weekend we made the most of the fantastic weather and spent the entire weekend in the garden (another reason for lack of blogging).  I spent one day rubbing down and repainting all the patio furniture and the next day weeding the rockery.  Andrew did the heavy work of moving slabs, cutting up the old shed etc.  The end result is the garden looks less like a nature reserve/demolition site and more like a garden again.  Once the weather is more settled we are hoping to get the rest of the rockery planted up (where the tree originally was) which is a much bigger area than I realised.  I think we will be able to split some of the plants from the other side, which are massive and in need of some trimming.  Roll on the real nice weather (now that we are back to forecast snow tomorrow!!!)

The ball plans are coming together.  It is hard going trying to sell tickets as people just don't have a lot of money to spare, and also don't really like to commit too far in advance.  We need to pay a good chunk of money to the venue in May, so do need as many people as possible to pay their tickets in full before then, if possible.  The link to ticket site is at top of my blog, or you can contact me to arrange payment.  If you are thinking of coming please feel free to spread the word and invite some friends along - makes my life a bit easier ;-) 

I will leave you with some photos of Seb - I post them on facebook then forget to share them here!

Seb has been spotted trying to jump the hedge 2 seconds earlier...

Who, me?!

Feed me!

Spot the Seb