Gingerbread Travel - October 2020 🍂🍁🍂

Autumn Strolls

I have enjoyed having a week to myself, doing what I want when I want gas been relaxing.  I have tried to make the most of any time when it isn’t raining. Amongst all of the dishes, laundry, Hallmark movies and good food I have tried to get done much needed fresh air.  I decided to visit Gawthorpe Hall, I haven’t been there since I read The Familiars last year and wanted to reacquaint myself with our Jacobean neighbours.  It was a lovely morning stroll, I had the place to myself, almost.  As I strolled more and more people arrived, you can’t blame them during g the showers it was a perfect autumn day. 

Gingerbread Life - October 2020 🧡💏❤️

Happy Meetaversary

Yes, a Meetaversary is a thing.  It is the anniversary of the first time that two people meet.  It is a time to either celebrate or commiserate, I am obviously celebrating.  Thirteen years ago.......   Yes, we all know the story, drunken people, flight from Germany, Facebook, Peter Kay.  Well it all leads to here and now.  

We’ve had our ups (thankfully, lots) and downs (there has to be a few) but we are still here, still going strong, still getting to know each other and loving spending time together.  Although we both admit that this year we’ve more than made up for anytime we haven’t spent together, call it a lockdown perk. 

I feel like should do a where we were and where we are thing but I’m not sure I have the energy, to be honest.

Gingerbread Haus - October 2020 👻🎃💀

👻 Halloween Is Coming 🎃 

It’s the spookiest time of the year, I love all festivals and celebrations.  I don’t need an excuse to (as our assessor says) make a fuss.  I love decorating the house and making it feel special and inviting at different times of the year. 

Halloween Movie Marathon 

Gingerbread Haus - September 2020 🐿🦔🍁

It’s Time To Herbstify

“And all at once summer collapsed into fall.” Oscar Wilde

Well I thought it was time to “Herbstify” the living room, I love layering up the sofa with cushions and throws,  the  and watching a Hallmark movie or two.  Although Ginger One always calls them “girlie flicks” which sounds wrong.  It’s nice to be snuggling up after spending so much time outside and in the garden. 

Gingerbread Travel - September 2020

Finding Balance

While it is important to stay safe in these weird and worrisome times, we also want to continue to live our lives as best we can.  We realised that We had been hibernating and hadn’t actually done anything fun or nice in quite a while.  Even a short walk to the local Park was a thing of the past.  

Gingerbread Familia - September 2020

Home Styling - Fostering Edit

We were asked to send photos of ourselves and the house to the FA so they can put them into our profile.  It was quite a specific list, I wanted to take styled, Instaworthy pictures but GO said “just use the real estate photos.”  This got me thinking about how much some parts of the house has changed, would the old residents approve?  Has it actually changed that much? 

One photo requested, probably the most important was the photo of the child’s bedroom (is this real?). We sent the photo above, I had taken it to share on social media but never had.  We were asked to take another with all of the personal bits in.  It makes sense now, what traumatised child wants to walk into a room with a SMILE cushion on the bed?  Between this photo being taken and the one we sent GO had sold both of the singles beds (we got them for free on Facebook) as there was a strange, musty smell coming from them, and had bought a more solid white bed.  He had also decided to paint the drawers as he said they were too yellow. The new picture show a neutral room, a blank space to add to a place a child can make their own, for how ever long they need it.

Gingerbread Life - August 2020

Well the global pandemic has brought many changes to lives around the world one are the many birthdays that have been celebrated in lockdown.  I had faith that my family’s batch of August birthdays wouldn’t be affected but they have.  

As much as I’d like to celebrate Mamilein’s birthday in person we have, as many have, had to make do with Skype chats and FaceTime calls. It’s not the same but it is birthdays in 2020.  The beginning of August is Mamilein’s birthday but she also squeezes in her Namenstag (who doesn’t celebrate their name?) a couple of days later.  Always wanting to be the centre of attention she has struggled with having a birthday in lockdown.  When asked what they planned to do for her birthday “nothing!”  Was the response and that is just what they did.  We all called and played music.  We sent her some birds for her Christmas tree (although I now realise that the tree is in my garage) and made a virtual fuss of her.

Happy Birthday Mamilein

Another morning, another birthday.  From across the miles I wished my biglilbro a happy birthday he is now officially in his forties.  I have known him all his life (hee hee) and watched him develop from a snotty teenager to a grumpy old man.  He has always been spoiled rotten on his birthday, he got the brand name shoes, I got the key ring.  He got the roller blades, I got the knee pads.  Not that I am bitter because now I am officially the favourite child. This year, due to the enormous custom charges from the US postal services he received no gifts from us.  £20 gift £90 in taxes, not worth it.  Hopefully soon we’ll be able to celebrate together.  Our next round of birthdays is November, let’s see what Covid brings then.

Happy Birthday Biglilbro 

Gingerbread Haus - Juli 2020

Garden Living 

I like to joke that up North when the sun shines you have to make the most of it as that will be the quickest hour ever.  So with that in mind when we heard that July was ending with a mini heatwave (how can it be a heatwave, isn’t it just summer?) we decided to make the most of it. 

We didn’t want to go anywhere as we knew the beaches, parks and any public space would be heaving.  No chance to socially distance and as we were placed into a local lockdown the thought of crowded places gave me the heebie geebies.  

Our/my plan was to spend the day in the Costa Del Burnley, we have put a lot of work into tidying up the garden, we wanted to enjoy it while we could and, also, I had acquired a paddling pool, so it made sense to enjoy it all.  The gin was in the fridge, we had snacks and lots of sunscreen.

Gingerbread Familia - Juli 2020

Time Together

Yes, it has been a weird year.  Yes, we are in the middle of a pandemic. Yes, I am on holiday and want to make the most of it. No, we aren’t allowed to go anywhere.  The government has opened “air bridges” but as people are relaxing on the beaches or in tavernas they are closing the bridges with hours of notice.  To avoid this we have decided to stay home and make the most of the amazing destinations on our doorsteps. First things first we decided to have a picnic, we chose to visit Roughlee, it has a lovely little picnic area by a babbling brook which leads to waterfall.  It’s a village we have visited before, which is steeped in history and has a monument to Alice Nutter one of the Pendle Witches.  For us it was somewhere close by for us to visit so we could have a well deserved (on my part at least) lie in.  It was nice to relax and spend time together chatting, laughing and making memories. Here’s to more trips together and more memories to make.

Fostering

We have been assigned a social worker and have had our first ever Zoom meeting.  The benefits of Covid19 are that we will be having our weekly sessions via Zoom and so they can take place whenever and whereever we want them to.  The sessions will cover our individual life stories, why we want to foster rather than adopt,