~across the atlantic & back again~

spooky and i at the 'top of the rock'

~well now, all is back to normal here in the new forest~

*the camper is fixed since being off the road since the new year*

*signs of the turn of the wheel are showing in our garden where mystery green shoots are showing above the earth*

*i have all of my books out for the next stage in my history degree and next week need to buy the exciting titles of...

The Long European Reformation: Religion, Political Conflict and the Search for Conformity, 1350-1750

and...

Exploring History 1400-1900: An Anthology of Primary Sources*

i have the tv on right now, i have been lucky enough to catch

*Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour* on bbc4, if you like folk then its worth catching.

i have been unwell since arriving back in the country on tuesday~not so much jet lag~the flight was not long enough for it to affect me. i think my body just gave up after me putting too many demands on it over five days~i have found over the years m.e will let you get away with it for so long and then sweep in to remind you of its existence. so yes i have been reminded good and proper. i woke at 4am with a migraine and it took ages for the tablets i took to kick in~in the end i had two monster cups of strong coffee with a heap of creamer and sugar~the caffeine must have done its work for within an hour i had hardly any pain.

~so how was new york?~

***an experience and a half***

its odd to see the skyline and buildings only ever seen in films, appearing larger and larger in the front window of a cab that's being driven in traffic akin to the wacky races

the noise and the people

those big stores~we ended up going to tiffany & co twice and each time spooky bought something, macy's we went to quite a lot and i bought myself a green bag and a new purse.

of course we went to the top of the rock and the statue of liberty (which seems much smaller up close and personal but still impressive)

and there was the world trade centre site and tribute wtc visitor centre

i did not really know what to expect, but i didn't expect to feel the utter sadness i felt as we got out of the cab.

by the time i had reached the end of the top floor of the visitors center i was in floods of tears. swampy and i had seen 9/11: Ground Zero Underworld
and had been touched by the story of Lee Ielpi, whose story was followed in the documentary, well one of the final items on display was Jonathan Ielpi's helmet and jacket and you turn around and there are walls filled with hundreds and hundreds of photos of those lost in the attack.

*such a dreadfully sad place*

~so yes, back to normal, and i am glad~

~24 hours & counting~

just to say hello!

i have been in long enough to have a bath and a cup of lemon tea and give swampy and cody their gifts...

i have been up and about for over 24 hours so shall come back tomorrow and start to tell you of my journey...

well now, i was up at 4.15 this morning and i am sitting here in my pyjamas and bedsocks, wrapped against the cold (no heating until 7.30!) in a big cardigan and scarf with a big mug of lemon tea...

...i couldn't sleep as i still had to proof read my last piece of work before submitting it so decided rather than lay there listening to the rain hammering down i might as well get up and finish it. its done and all i need to do now is submit it via my laptop. then i will put my books away until the beginning of february when my medieval history course starts. its such a feeling of satisfaction closing the file on my piles of paper, closing the books and putting them away in their cupboard.

so now i can look forward to my break away. i have had moments of horror at the thought of my journey, justifying it and the resultant carbon footprint, to the extent i updated my carbon footprint to include my flight. well, it still came out as below the national average by half. so i don't know why i am wasting my energy in worrying about it. when i think about it, the amount i recycle, the small amount we use our camper (generally about once a week, if that) and my tree planting activity (last year an oak, the latest being a rowan and more to come this year) i like to think that all of this will offset my flight.

so i am going to take my packed bag and actually enjoy my holiday and when i return home continue with keeping my carbon footprint down.

well, as i write the sky is going from black to a nice purple/blue and the first of the birds are starting their morning tunes. its going to be a busy day, doing the last of my packing and making sure i have everything and i am really excited. i have never been to new york and i understand from people who have been there that it is going to be a real experience.

i am really excited that the american folk art museum is only a short walk from our hotel so look forwards to visiting it, especially to see the textiles collection

well its 7.35 and i have to be ready to go to lymington with spooky at 9.30 so we can get any last minute essentials~i shall put the kettle back on, take a cup of tea into swampy to wake him up and watch the news for the lastest company shutting down over night. it seems every day some shop is closing down...maybe there will be some good news today?

*so to all my blogging family i say goodbye for a week*

*take care*

xoxoxo

~a day for nothing but bimbling~

...after a particularly exhausting bimble around this years new forest show

as my last bit of course work amounts to about two hours work i decided that today was a day for nothing...for 'bimbling'...this is something that cody does quite regularly, bimbling from room to room in a very aimless way.

well that's me today.

i walked into the village this morning to pick up the copy of 'Dr. Zhivago' i ordered from our little bookshop~it is a book i have promised myself to read for years and after seeing the 2002 adaption at christmas decided now was the time to read it~given i have the 8 hour or so flight on wednesday it will fill in the time nicely.

oohh but the temptation to start it now is so strong. it is sitting here on my table with a small pile of guidebooks, passport and some dollars and the urge to sit for five minutes and just read a little~a page or two~is irresistible!

i have also started some tentative packing as well~i am one of those people who always do a 'list', ticking things off as they get packed~and will spend a day getting all my clothes washed~swampy has even said he will do any ironing i need done! on top of that there is my 'to buy' list of essentials that i have to get at sweet joe pye, my nearest health foods store, in lymington~my favorite fennel toothpaste

...which reminds me, all those tv ad's for toothpaste, the warnings about enamel erosion and this that and the other~ well now i have been using this toothpaste for years and an aloe one on occaisions and i have had no dental treatment for fillings etc etc in well over 20 years~what does that say about all these new and improved toothpastes~its all guff!

sorry about that slight diversion~those adverts just bug me!

i am also transferring some albums onto my ipod...well i will when swampy shows me how, talk about techno-fear, if swampy wasnt around i would be stuck! i have even sorted out a menu for him while i am way, how good am i? or is it guilt as i am swanning off across the pond without him?!

~a time for peace~

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under the sun.

A time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill and a time to heal ...

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance ...

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to lose and a time to seek;

a time to rend and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

ecclesiastes 3:1-8

i have always loved this and at this time, before my next lot of studies start it is my time for *peace*

i have put so much into my studies i have neglected much...too much.

now it is time, for a few weeks at least to devote time to me and those around me.

*time to spend healing myself*

*time to spend laughing*

*time to seek*

~sunset~

sunset finds me at my desk for another day

this mornings horizon clouds soon vanished and we had a day of clear blue skies, the single small cloud i can see now is a gorgeous apricot pink and i can feel the temperature drop.

i spent most of today on my essay~being thankful i am not my sister who is going down with a cold and has two 2000 word essays to send to her tutor by wednesday.

i spent a little time on my family tree this morning after getting an e-mail from a thread i am following on a research site, which led me to thinking about my Irish ancestors.

i have to say i think of them a lot, more than i do of my ancestors from around her. i guess it is because they are so mysterious to me. i am in touch with a few people i am related to through my Irish line but i am so...intrigued by the ones who were no longer here long before i was born.

given the time they appeared living in wales they crossed the Irish sea because of the potato famine. they were just regular folk, the men mostly being labourers but their Gaelic names are so lyrical...

ó Súilleabháin

Ó Flaitheamháin

Ó Broin

i so wish i knew much more about them...

~oh good~

popped in to check all is well before i spend the day at my essay and glad to find everything is as it should be!

we had a mild night here in the new forest and i woke to no frost for the first time in days. we have blue skies but there is a band of cloud on the horizon as i look north...

~how odd~

i just popped in before shutting my laptop down only to find pictures missing...so of course i went into each, only to find they are still there so i imagine it must be some kind of blogger problem...i even opened up two windows and in each one it was different pictures missing!

anyone else having problems at the moment?

~the days end~

its been a day of study and draft writing today since i sat at my desk this cold and frosty day, now i have pushed my work aside for the day~i don't put it all away tidy any more, i leave my books open and papers spread around ready for the next days work, when i come back to my desk it is all there, open and ready for me~no need to go through everything to find where i left off the day before.

the sun is slowly starting to set now and things are going that pale pink of sunset. the temperature has not raised itself at all today and i find myself pulling my chair closer to the radiator to stay warm as i work~halfway feeling thankful we no longer live in a home with no heating except for one open fire and the ancient rayburn.

i am coming ever closer to the end of my two archaeology courses and part of me is glad~with only one course from february i will have a little time to myself, not much but enough. the trouble is trying to do a degree with something as problematic as m.e means i have to do double the work to get the same results. i find myself having to keep at least two steps ahead to allow for those days when i cannot do a thing. but i think of the huge sense of achievement when i graduate!

well time now to half pull the curtains to keep the warm inside, put the kettle on and put a casserole in the oven for our dinner tonight, i have a great pile of sprouts that need eating so i think i will have enough to make up bubble and squeak tomorrow~one of my favourite comfort foods!

*i hope you all saty warm and safe tonight*

~the common~

we walked over the common again this morning...

a heron that allowed swampy to only get this close

ponies with their reflective collars

cody looking rather cute

more later, my essay is beckoning...

~coldest night of the winter~

that was the prediction of the bbc weatherman earlier today about the coming night.

i am not one to really feel the cold but today i certainly have. we have closed the curtains in our living room against the cold windows and as i sit and type this the sky has passed from duck to full dark and a large, solitary cloud drifted overhead, heading west.

tonight will be a night to sit curled up with a good book in front of the fire and later, take the book to bed with a nice chamomile and honey tea.

i have been spending the past two nights going to bed early with my copy of miranda greens 'the world of the druids'~what a great read.

today i made it round to visiting all your blogs and i loved the post at boho moms blog~the year of the sock monkey

which took me here to christine

so what is my word for this year?

Release!

~oh yes~

its time to release myself of all the old baggage holding me back and clouding my mind...

its time to release myself from those odd ocd moments that held back my impulses...

its time to release myself from the niggles and doubts...

its time to release my creativity...

its time to release my soul totally upon my path, not allowing the thoughts and opinions of others to cloud what i know to be right for me...

*it feels good to write this down and have it as a focus for the coming months, and just a single word to remember moment to moment as i go through my day*

~at my desk...~

...but its not this interesting! spending most of today getting the rough draft of my final essay down...

john william waterhouse~sorceress

~so here we are~

its been a strange week and a half here in my small part of the new forest.

i am so glad it is all over, it has been so stressful and full of anger~on my mums part i have to say but of course things like that spread out to those surrounding her.

its all because she cannot accept spookys new bf.

i have just been out with spooky and discussed things and i hope it helped her somewhat.

swampy and i did not make it to the new years camp...well we actually made it to within two miles of the site and broke down! so had to come home with the help of the AA (hooray for breakdown cover!), arriving home at 10.30 on tuesday night. so poor swampy has spent the last few days taking the engine and gearbox out of pippin and he has literally just found the problem is not as serious as it sounded~we were expecting at the very least a new engine or gearbox and had discussed selling him.

he has just walked in and said he has found the problem...a nut has come loose!

something so simple!

as for me, i am sitting in the warm, blogging of course! and 'hello dolly' has just come on~i love that film!

tomorrow i am really back to normal with my studies, i have less that two weeks for this part, three weeks for my other and then when i get back from new york i start my medieval history course.

and then there is the packing and exchanging money into dollars...a busy busy time...