Back to the Black Swan

We have been married for 20 years this year and to celebrate we went back for the fourth year running to The Black Swan at Helmsley http://www.blackswan-helmsley.co.uk/

The weather was bright, sunny and warm! Just look at that blue sky!
We enjoyed  a complimentary cream tea when we arrived, a half bottle of champagne in our room.

And the food was absolutely superb as always.

On Monday we took a trip to Scarborough.

I have to say the donkeys looked pretty depressed...perhaps all donkeys are just naturally down in the dumps like Eeeyore!

The Richard the Third cafe bar...we sat outside here and enjoyed a cold drink.

We ate chips on the beach and then walked up to the castle (incidentally, despite many trips to Scarborough over the years, this was the first time I even noticed that there was a castle!)

We enjoyed another cream tea when we got back before getting ready for another yummy dinner.



We enjoyed a lovely drive over the moors before going home.

This is the panoramic view that my laptop produced!

The art of simply being...

A couple of my dearest friends and I often explore the idea of just being, living in the moment. I think I have done this successfully for much of my adult life, never planning too far ahead, seizing chances to splash in puddles, walk in the sunshine, do whatever feels right in the moment.

When the youngest of my three children started school (over ten years ago!) I decided that it was time to be more proactive and began a journey to discover who I was and what my role beyond motherhood was.

These days the journey continues, I mix planning, learning, growing and discovering with as much just being as I can manage. During my homeopathy training one of the valuable lessons that I learned was to let go of the end result and enjoy the journey.

I still have to work at letting my mind settle, there is a lot of 'monkey chatter' goes on inside my head (I often think others must be able to hear it, it's so loud sometimes!).

Life isn't a rehearsal, so I feel it's important to enjoy it as much as possible.

Spring is in the air!

At the weekend the sky was cerulean blue and there was warmth in the sun, spring was definitely in the air! (though still a sharp nip in the air too!)

Dear hubby and I went off to visit the gardens at Harlow Carr. http://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr

What do you see? (I see an old crone bent and pointing to the distance!)

The smells in this little green house brought a rush of memories flooding back, I was reminded of my grandads' potting shed right at the top of his garden.

I loved this statue of a boy sitting contemplatively by a pond.



So there it is, spring is most definitely on the way! (Tea at Bettys tea room http://www.bettys.co.uk/bettys_harlow_carr.aspx was the perfect finish to the trip, by the way!)

I am enjoying this leg of my life journey,  I am more settled than I can remember being for a long while. There are still up's and downs, but I guess that is life!
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of facilitating my first antenatal course. There was much to learn from, but it felt really good. Wednesday evenings will seem empty!

I often struggle to put into words what I am thinking, feeling or believe. This can be frustrating to say the least! I am often left feeling woefully inadequate and that I have left others with the opinion that I don't know what I am talking about/speaking rubbish/have blind faith in all sorts of quackery! None of which is usually the truth! I have spent a lifetime learning, listening and developing ideas and beliefs. I am constantly reviewing these ideas. And yet in arguments, discussions etc I usually just don't know how to express those things in  a coherent, intelligent way....I will continue to work on it! However, in the meantime I will borrow other peoples ways of expressing, that beautifully illustrate some of my thoughts! One such person, whose blog I recently discovered, is Kedi. I was going to post a link to a recent post, however, on reading through several of her posts I thought I would just add a link to her blog!! http://keditalksbirth.wordpress.com/