Another Return...

Hello if there is still any poor soul there who is waiting for me to blog again! I've now had our baby and am in slightly better shape than I was when I last posted. I still don't have buckets of energy to write witty things (again, probably not a new thing), so I thought I might start by showing you the "Haiku" I entered in a competition earlie. (A Haiku being a poem of three lines with 5 syllables in the first and third lines and 7 syllables in the second). I entered the competition because the poem required was so short!

Mother of Six

My mum made pizza
But she had run out of cheese
She grated carrot...

Back at last...

Hello to anyone who might pop by to the site after such a long absence...

The reason I stopped blogging for so long is ... that I'm pregnant. And at the time of stopping I was in the So Tired I Just Lie on Fluff on the Carpet, hurling at any mention of coffee or bogies or anything to do with fish stage. I decided that for the time being, I didn't have enough energy to spare as I could hardly put my shoes on, let alone think of anything witty or interesting to blog about (some may say that that has been a perenial problem...).

So, now I am about 7 months pregnant - still thinking, "where are we going to put it?" but have got a little energy back and am now only sick when scraping cold baked beans into the bin or having to reach into the back of the fridge. So, having had the County Times saying to look at my great blog, I decided that if anyone were to look at it, the least I could do would be to give people something up to date to look at! So, hopefully I will now try and put a post up each week again.

Starting with, of course, the snow - how exciting, -16 degrees, frozen pipes, wet gloves, kids sliding off down the hill and me being unable to run after them despite the pleading look in their eyes. Not a great deal has happened aside from bringing in logs, so I will leave this week's blog at this and spend the next week trying to get back into the swing of things..

Cheers me 'ansomes,
Lorraine.

PS - we went to Co-op yesterday for a little stockpiling and amongst all the cars lined up in the car park as their owners were frantically buying tins of pineapple chunks, there was a tractor - how cool was that!

I can't live without...

Hi folks !
A few weeks ago, I got to hear about the "I can't live without..." list in the Western Mail - five things that you can't manage without. I thought about them, applied to them and they accepted, saying that they would send a photographer around. I assumed that someone would point a quality camera-phone at my pile of muddy things and take a photo and then head off back to the Western Mail, saying "hers weren't very exciting were they..."

The guy had rung to say he would be at the house at half nine to ten, probably more like ten. Instead, I was looking out of the window at nine a.m in my baggyist pyjamas, debating as to whether I should bother having shower or not, when his car pulled up... Oh dear. I scrambled into a few clothes that were nearest to the top of the pile and ran downstairs.

I now know why my photos always look rubbish and professional ones don't as he took care in making my paltry essentials (nappies, spare wipes, socks etc for the children, a paper and pen, a ring that Huw gave me, a photo of when I looked fit and tanned and my wellies for when it all gets too much) look nice, propping one against another etc.

I watched on with interest and then realised that he was going to do the same with me. Wishing that I had actually washed my hair after all, I was taken into the garden and told to look funky. I have been called many things, but funky has never been one of them and I could hear the giggling from inside the double-glazed windows as I stood as coolly as one can look with a pole up their backside.

After many days of checking the Western Mail, I finally spotted it and all my things looked really good, so it obviously wasn't the photographer that was at fault. I now have Attend Funky Classes on my todo list next to the point saying Shower More Often...

Not swine, but boring flu

Hello there, here is a small blog that I just about have the strength to type, having spent most of the weekend on the phone to NHS Direct to ascertain that I have normal flu, not swine flu, but common everyday flu. The good news is that the wonderful Huw has done everything with the girls, whisked them off for fun days out and then come home to cook mah tea! I just wish I felt well enough to enjoy the peace - I could surely have dug the garden over in the time I've had to myself!

However, having the flu usually means that very little else has happened and that is the case with me - the only excitement on the horizon is that I've managed to wangle myself a spot on Walesonline's "I can't live without..." Having looked over a few past ones, they tend to be Jimmy choos, complicated cocktails and weekly facials - mine are going to be a little more agricultural...

The exciting side is that I'm going to be featured - the worrying part is that some poor soul is coming to our house on Thursday to photograph me and my favourite things! Therefore, amongst my five favourites, unless I feel better enough soon to muck out the house, there is also going to be fluff, lego, odd shoes and carpet stains. My legacy - great ...

A Busy Week...

Hello! It's been a busy old week, starting with my efforts to get to the Royal Welsh Show. It was chucking it with rain, so I abandoned all plans of walking, cycling or going in a hot air balloon and instead took the car to the Park and Ride. Now, usually Park and Rides are nice tarmacced areas that have a bus arriving near by: this was a forty-five degree field knee-deep in mud. I managed to get there early and slipped and slid my way down the field and came to a halt near the bottom track - perfect. Only a hack across two muddy fields to the bus and all was fine.

Firstly, I am sure that I sat next to Harry Enfield in one of his characters on the bus...

I arrived at the Show with plenty of time to spare and wondered around in the rain for a while, checking where the Radio Wales tent was, going to the toilet fifteen times with nerves and generally trying to keep my socks dry so that I could last the day...

Jamie Owen and Louise Elliot were already live on Radio Wales and I was sat down and told to chew my nails for a while whilst they interviewed their earlier guest. I could see lots of wires to trip over, a microphone to drop in a puddle and a large security guy to throw me out if I said Arse by mistake. Finally it was my turn and actually - it was OK. I managed to mention my book, my other book, and I managed not to mention that I had actually come to look at the bulls' parts, as had been in my dream the night before.

I was able to give them a free copy each and one for Derek the Weatherman on Huw's behalf, as he still thinks that Derek says, "Hello, S'mae" to him alone...

Finally it was over and I felt really pleased that it had gone well. I then got lots of texts from people saying, "so, when are you coming on then?" but never mind eh.

After that it was on for my Book Launch at the Welsh Books Council tent - with some poor bloke shouting out into the rain "come and see Lorraine Jenkin and her new book!" to people scurrying and sliding by in the mud. I did have some wine and some nibbles to give away, but in hindsight, I would have had a better reaction if I'd given away bin liners for people to put over themselves or wrap their kids in after they'd fallen headlong into the mud.

EventuallyI was free to go and after the world's largest pasty, I headed back to my car and then slid sideways down the field onto the track. All had been well.

PS - the experience gave me confidence to take the girls to the show on the thursday. The little one got "barked at" by a massive bull who stuck his head through the railings into her pushchair and so after that, every single animal was terrifying - not good at an agricultural show. Our return to the car also wasn't as easy as by that time, it had rained for another whole day and we, of course, got stuck. Seeing that everyone else was also stuck I thought "Oh my God, we're going to die here" but a couple of nice young men pushed me out of my rut and I was able to skid and slide my way down the hill eventually crashing down onto another track. I still haven't had the energy to take the pushchair out of the boot of the car, as the wheels had doubled in size due to the mud stuck round them and I don't think squirting a little WD40 over the bearings will work this time...