Delicate

We're in Cornwall - on a holiday originally booked and paid for in 2019.

Postponed twice, for obvious worldwide germ-fuelled reasons, but now finally here.

And it's lovely.

This trip has come with extra appreciation this year of how easily things can change. 

How fine the balance is between a yes and a no, between a can and a can't, between one day and another.

The pandemic has had such an impact on all our lives, that to be teetering out the other side seems almost surreal.

But in the place we've returned to, there are obvious differences and evidence of the toll the past two years have taken.

Some empty shops, a few higher prices, a lot more stories and the poster reminders of masks and high rates.

One place that appears to have weathered the storm is our favourite holiday activity shop where we've been painting pots.

It's lovely to sit as a family and daub paint, in varying degrees of success, on a variety of ceramics.

There are rows of plates, mugs and bowls to choose from, along with piggy banks, fairies and dragons.

So we pick our preferred items, either by usefulness or silliness or potential beauty, pick up our paintbrushes and concentrate.

We sit in the stillness and appreciate the moment for what it is. That in this moment we are content and things seem okay and we should really, really be grateful for that.

Because if the last two years have taught us anything, it's that little can be taken for granted.

And we're all at risk of a bull in a china shop.

:: Delicate by Sananda Maitreya ft Des'ree

Good vibrations

Oh my word.

I have some time off work. I haven't had a week without work (not complaining) since Christmas and I am shattered.

I'm honestly massively, massively grateful to be in work - due to a) Covid and b) MS, but I am very, very tired and I need to rest.

Obviously am now panicking about relapsing but am trying very hard to THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS and embrace calming vibrations.

So I will be staring at the happy balloons, drinking a cup of nice tea and trying to bat away any panicky sensations of doom which may be thinking of heading my way.

:: Good vibrations by the Beach Boys

The way it is

We were meant to be in Menorca this week.

It was going to be the first time we'd taken our daughter abroad; but thanks to Covid-19, we are here and not there.

So, what to do?

a) be grateful we're well
b) accept the circumstances
c) check the weather...
d) ...and confirm the temperature here is EXACTLY THE SAME AS IT IS THERE
e) blow up the paddling pool
f) pull on the swimsuits
g) use our imaginations because
h) is for holiday

:: The way it is by Bruce Hornsby and The Range

Sovereign light cafe

It's the first week of the Easter holidays and we were due to be in Cornwall.

But due to the current situation, we are understandably not.

Instead, we are working (from home) and trying very hard to keep out daughter entertained and our spirits uplifted.

We've been thinking about how we might be able to bring a bit of Cornwall to us, and we've come up with the following ideas:

• spending time in our garden which, due to its overgrown nature and lack of care, is a little like the Lost Gardens of Heligan (before they were found)
• chalking a seaside scene on the patio
• enjoying the very welcome sunshine we are having this week
• grabbing as much family time together as possible
• attempting to make pasties - traditional and veggie
• filling the paddling pool (if the weather stays nice) to pretend it's the caravan site swimming pool

One of our favourite places to eat in Cornwall is a little spot in Looe called Daisy's Cafe which we have visited almost every year since our daughter was born.

She first paid a visit as a six-month-old, has since chomped her way through endless beans on toast lunches and coke floats.

So to recreate this experience, we've decided to pick our favourite meals from Daisy's menu and recreate them in our own cafe.

We haven't suddenly opened one. A couple of years ago we painted the tiny carport attached to our house (no where near big enough for a car) and made it into something approaching a cafe.

So here we sit, scoffing our Cornish favourites and making the best of where we currently are.
We're also hoping very much that Daisy's Cafe survives this horrible time; it's a very special place.

:: Sovereign light cafe by Keane
Nb this week's song is not based on Daisy's Cafe, but refers to a real cafe in Bexhill-on-Sea. If it's as lovely as the song then I'd definitely like to go.

Paradise

In Cornwall! With my family!
Enjoying Eden, pasties and sunshine in the caravan.

:: Paradise by George Ezra

Your love alone is not enough

We're on holiday in Pembrokeshire this week.
To celebrate, I'm sharing one of my favourite songs from Wales' finest.

:: Your love alone is not enough by Manic Street Preachers

We are the village green preservation society

We're enjoying the Easter break and have just eaten our entire body weight in scones, cream and jam in a quintessentially English tea-room.
It made me feel I was living in this gem of a song.

Back to the MS-ey stuff next week.


:: We are the village green preservation society by Kate Rusby.
(I do love The Kinks, who wrote this one, but Kate's pronunciation of Donald Duck can't be beaten.)