how do you spell????

I have noticed since I came back to the United States from the United Kingdom, that my spelling has made a major change.  Well really, this all came about from living there for three years and practicing a new language. Like that word I just used! PRACTICE, in the UK is it spelled practise. And I did spell it the way they do in the UK the first time, but I changed it after my laptop recognized it as misspelled. Yes, everyone in England speaks English. In Scotland, a few speak Scottish Gaelic, but really they speak English as well, Wales, some Welsh, but mainly, English. But the spelling is different in many cases and the terms for things is quite different. I will get into that another time. So if you catch me writing colour or visualise, please know that is just a oversight. I guess I got used to writing as they do there. I will try to spell as I originally learned to do from now on, and look out for the misspellings on the computer. It indicates that I have 3 right now. I have attached a link to this lovely photograph of Derbyshire.  It will explain better than I can about these differences. 

what you wish for

the boys visiting the city by the bay where they were born safely

Here are our little men that burst into the world together on the same day and changed our family dynamic forever. We had been a family that was already considered generous with three lovely girls. Our house was filled with dolls, and flowery headbands, pink sheets and pillows and wardrobes overflowing with dresses and skirts and purses. And QUIET! All my sweet girls were so well behaved. They all managed to play quietly, stay clean, and we could take them any where which we did! And, by the way all in one car. But, always in the back of my mind, I saw boys in my life. In my dreams, there were these characters that would show up from time to time, and they were male. They say be careful what you wish for,,, or is it, visualize what you hope to see in your life and it will come true,,, well it can work either way. I have to believe that my visions were placed out there into the universe and then the stork once again arrived at my door. While I do maintain that we have been blessed abundantly with the safe arrival of these 2, their health struggles that we all lived through, I also share with you that I am almost at all times a bit overwhelmed. Just a tad. These guys have an abundance of curiosity, very large personalities, kind and loving hearts. combined with a huge amount of energy. All this and in the form of two people, completely separate individuals. I know that they challenge all of us as a family to do better and be better. There is a lovely little irony that I have noticed that goes with parenting these guys. Their behavior heads way south, horrible, nasty even, when we as a family our not doing a good job collectively. I will be honest, they are high maintenance and a lot of work. But they are like a garden, you only see the fruits of your labour from your good efforts. They are absolutely amazing. Miracles! I try to remember all the time when I am at my wits end, I wished for them so so very much, and here they are. 

something to ponder

a cuppa made with a french press

Start with good ingredients.

Whole beans a good bet. A decent coffee bean grinder is essential

Measure 2 spoonfuls of fresh ground rich chocolatey dark coffee per desired cup

pour in hot bubbling fresh filtered water

allow a minute or two for the flavours to mash and for the richness of the coffee to brew

press down on the pump slowly and deliberately

pour into a favorite cup or mug as that adds to the experience

add some milk of desired,  1% or 2% seems to work the best

And the there you have it! A beautiful  and delicious cup of rich coffee.

celebrating a wedding past

our day 16 years ago

It is simply lovely and profound how a wedding can bring you back to reflecting on your promises made to each other. Here we are on a boat at the lake district in England for the wedding of Ashley and Helen Peden a year ago last spring. The guests were taken to the location of the ceremony across the lake. I love my hat here. Women in the UK wear hats or fascinators to all their special occasions. I have a favorite milliner in London which I have linked to this photo.

everyone was served pink champagne

Ashley and Helen shown here signing the wedding register, which takes place just after the vows and in the presence of the wedding guests and witnesses, something that we  had not seen before in America.  Magical

a lovely fragrance for summer

This fragrance, "orange blossom" by Jo Malone of London is pure sweet summer! No perfume headache here. On the contrary, more like aroma therapeutic. It sends you straight away to the lovely flowers of the citrus tree and then takes you inside an juicy ripe sweet orange that you can virtually taste with all it's vitamin c goodness. It lingers a fresh clean scent until it slowly dissipates as you go on with your day, where I find myself wanting to spritz more! This is not inexpensive, but is a nice treat for oneself or can make a very thoughtful gift. Mine will be gone by fall for sure.

the kids at Flamborough

In the spring of 2010, when we lived in England, Tim and I took 5 of our kids, to a magical place called Flamborough Head. It is in East Yorkshire along the coast of the North Sea. The water was so crystal clear. The cliffs and the rocks are made of chalk and are breathtakingly gorgeous! The chalk erodes faster than in any other coastal place in UK. We stopped in at the restaurant below the lighthouse and had fish and chips served in paper and Tim and I had a few pints, no doubt. The kids were chuffed, thrilled, to find they served ice cream. Ice cream is a rare find in the cooler climate of England. All smiles all around. It was a lovely day. By the way,  I have a nice little piece of the chalk that I collected that day on my back deck that I still treasure and hope it will not disintegrate anytime soon.

Lahinch, Ireland. painted in the UK 2010 at my studio 1.8

This is a painting I did of Tim and 5 of our children on the west coast of Ireland, a place near and dear to our hearts. It hangs in our bedroom as it was a gift for Tim from me of course, to thank him for taking me to such a wonderful part of the world. Lahinch not only has a special name, but is also a very special place.

my mid morning breakfast

a wholewheat mini bagel toasted with cream cheese, red onion, tomato, baby arugula, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper corns and smokey chipotle tabasco sauce. YUMM

blue is favourite colour

The colour blue has been my favourite colour since it helped save the lives of my twin boys. I love all colours really, but blue was emphasized with legitimacy when the blue dye that was inserted into my belly, via a very long and scary needle for what was supposed to be a routine amnio. For twins, they will use dye to separate one fluid from the other. This was when I was about 14 weeks pregnant. It was determined that day, that my babies had twin to twin transfusion syndrome. This is when there is one placenta,  and in my case, 2 amniotic sacs,  and the fluid is traveling along to blood vessels on top of the placenta. One embryo in then in a environment that has too much fluid, and one does not have enough and is in a "shrink wrapped" place. Not good. The Mother is at risk as well, my belly was huge! In a whirlwind, we traveled to San Francisco to begin treatment, and to enter a study at UCSF for this condition. The "blue dye", put forth an issue of delaying an invasive operation, a laser surgery that may or may not have saved my guys. It was determined by the team of Doctors that he operation could not go forth knowing that it was blue inside and to cut off the blood vessels would be hard to see.  After several weeks, and several what is called, amnio reductions, (needles drawing out the litre size amount of fluid, blue, in my case), the balance of the boys environments began to equalize. This was called a "miracle" by the Docs. They then decided after the blue dye subsided that the laser surgery was not needed, as long as the fluids kept getting better and more balanced. We were monitored for weeks and weeks with nearly daily ultrasounds, a few MRIs, even echo cardiograms of the babies. Everything was getting better. I managed to stay pregnant with the boys until full term. My wonderful Dr., even said that I had superhuman cervix! WOW, what a complement. TMI? sorry. Aidan Timothy and Brendan Robert were born at 34 weeks gestation through a induction. Though the boys struggled a bit, they were in the Intensive care nursery for a week, they were born healthy and well. They even weighed 6 pounds plus each, remarkable for TTTS. That was over 6 years ago now. These boys are fine and drive me silly crazy everyday. Blue is still an outstanding colour, it means something to me. It reminds me to have hope.