Dusk at 9 AM!

As the sky resembled dusk at 9am, the sight of my beautiful daffodils quivering in the bitter wind managed to bring some vibrant colour to the grey world which greeted me as I stepped out this morning.

I know we have no right to moan, tucked in our little suburban bubble whilst vast areas of the country are struggling with enormous snow drifts and surviving yet another day without power, but this weather is really getting everyone down.

Last year around this time were we enjoying a lunch on the beach to celebrate The Chief's birthday and finally had to find a bit of shade to shelter from the 28 degree sunshine.  The garden was powder dry, we'd already had endless bbqs and the hose ban was about to come into force. Now, day after day, the greyness just becomes greyer, the bitter wind is bone chilling and there is a general feeling of inertia due to lack of sunlight in our monochrome world.  

The brilliant pink camellia bush should have been in full bloom for at least a month by now.  Not one bud has managed to brave the wind.  I can only be grateful for the bravery of our sturdy daffodils which add the only brightness to the day. However, if the spring buds do finally manage to flower, they won't be in bloom for long as the sun will be too sharp for their tender petals and they will be withered in a flash

The British have a reputation of being a resilient, adaptable nation partly due to our unpredictable climate, but I think these prolonged conditions have pushed us to the limit this year . We deserve a jolly good summer to erase the chill of this winter.

The 7.03 is cancelled!

The 7.03 has been cancelled!  This announcement from across the landing sends our early morning household into a frenzy. 

I take up command and control position with ipad linked up to the live train information, whilst quickly giving my soaking hair a fierce blast with hairdryer before jumping into last night’s clothes.  Mornings like these normally result in the need for Mum’s taxi to fill the gap and run an emergency mission to a nearby station to pick up a more direct train.

As expected, last night’s Baltic weather conditions which resulted in people stranded on a main road outside Brighton for up to 10 hours overnight,  have now caused train delays and disruption.

My overwhelming good nature and kind heart  led me to drop the Chief and Major Darling at a station further up the line, then on my way back a frantic call from Mini Darling left me no alternative than to agree to drive her all the way to her meeting after she had waited on the platform for 25 minutes for a train which suddenly disappeared off the departures board.

A quick view of Google maps gave me a vague idea of where I was going and fortunately the signposts were fairly consistent, so we reached out destination without too much of a flap!

Mid morning, I arrived home to a cold cup of coffee and soggy Weetabix sitting on the kitchen table, two frantic cats thinking I had left for the day without providing breakfast.  Worse still, I had made the journey without having cleaned my teeth!

Now I am fed, with teeth brushed and clean clothes I can face the day and ponder on this crazy climate we have.  Bitterly cold gale force winds have been howling for the last two days bringing in bullets of snow.  It was only a week ago when we sat outside for a quick coffee, the chubby little bees were busy around the brilliant crocus flowers and found I had a V of sunburn on my chest!

'I want my Mummy...'

I want my Mummy are not words that a fiftysomething woman should be thinking.  But a trip to the shops has left me feeling with an empty ache for the anchor lady in my life who died nearly 20 years ago. 

With shelves and aisles brimming with Mother's day ideas, flowers  and chocolates being hurriedly packed onto the shelves by staff  who are oblivious to other customers waiting for service, the loneliness of being without a mother is re-enforced. 

Of course I would not have expected her to be with us still, but there are times when I have an overwhelming surge of need to smell her aroma, hear her voice and feel her delicate arms clasp my body.  A  knot tightens in my throat and tears are ready to cascade, before I pull myself together and remember this emotion has to be directed into the love for our two Darlings.  Making sure they feel they are at the centre of our world, gives them that inner confidence only a parent can bring.