photo taken Monday morning after an extremely cold night followed by warm sun. The wet soil was steaming as the sun melted the ice.
Anyway, back to Sunday. St Patrick's Day and my parents' 51st wedding anniversary. They love each other deeply, and bicker constantly. In fact, when I used to bring friends home from university and school I used to have to warn them in advance, that contrary to appearances, my Mum and Dad did love each other really, and the bickering was to be ignored.
Mid-morning we were hit by a completely un-forecast extremely heavy two hour snow storm. The snow didn't stick to start with but we ended up with about an inch which hung around for a further hour or so.
The main event of the day was the pigs being shipped off for their one month long sleepover with a boy pig. I have to say I was really sad to see them go. I generally have a great resistance to any sort of change, so the fact that when they come back and have their babies they will probably never be able to be in the same pen as each other again isn't something I feel too good about. Also, I am wondering how I am going to feel when I am waving the babies off on their way to the abattoir. A farmer I most definitely am not! A hypocrite I certainly am - bacon sandwich for breakfast..............
Loading them is probably something not best dwelled upon - it took well over an hour and an irresistible mix of chopped up apples and overripe bananas was the thing that finally lured them into the trailer.
So I waved goodbye to them as girls, and will welcome them back women.
Yesterday's bad vibe cloud having only partially passed, while Graham was out I had a couple of extremely unpleasant exchanges with son number one. I remember being pretty unpleasant to my Mum as a teenager, but the anger and cruelty he can summon up these days is really worrying me. Enough of that, I am sure these things will pass and one day he may even develop a conscience about it. (I still apologise to my own Mum for being mean as a teenager, and I am nearly 50!)
TBBTB
The bv cloud seemed also to have a bit of an effect on the local wildlife and I had to go outside to separate two female blackbirds who took it upon themselves to have an incredibly fierce fight under the bird feeder. They pinned each other down to the ground and seemed to try to peck each other's eyes out. At one point their tussling led them to end up in a small water feature just by the glass doors, but three inches of cold water had no effect and they just wrestled each other out of there and carried on. So out I went and split them up. I have had enough of that sort of thing recently with the kids seemingly trying to kill each other on a regular basis without having scrapping blackbirds to worry about too.
No sign of the kamikaze pheasant again today - fearing the worst.
LOVE the layers this shot has. As for your story, well, older mothers can relate. Two out of three are nice to me now. Seems to happen when they are old enough to move out of the family home and into their own lives.
Fav...I love the layers of this too...and the mist is great. I'm with Megan @mwbc on the kids thing...had some terrible times when the kids were teens...but they have all turned out well in spite of me! This is what my girls did for me for my birthday this year http://365project.org/lynnb/365/2013-03-16
Were you on my walk? I didn't see you. Wonderful sight - I think our photos were even taken at the same time! Love yours, you have many more layers. You dont have a yodelling dog today by any chance?
@lynnb thanks Lynn. I know, I am sure they will turn out lovely - people who know them think they are already, and I suppose it all part of their need to cut the apron strings. I saw your present, such a lot of thought and effort must have gone into it - they obviously love you very much.
Don't fret they turn out alright in fact mine are a sheer delight now, my eldest daughter hardly spoke to me for about a year when she was 14/15....only wore doc martins, black ripped tights loads of earrings, yuck, horrible!! She is so thoughtful now and loving!! Love your mist and hang on in there!!
Having just read your post again I thought I would make you feel better by telling you that my 14 year old daughter told me that all I did was float around the house feeling that my life was stressful. This was her response to me asking her to tidy her room. You cant stop the waves but you can learn how to surf - thats what I keep telling myself!!
Coming to this late, but I so like the hedgerows folding back into the distance.
On the boy issue, I read somewhere that they (scientist types) think that chemical changes or something in the brain mean that teens actually lose some of their cognitive ability to empathise, and don't regain it until their brains mature. I can't remember why, but IIRC it was quite striking - they actually can't help becoming a tad sociopathic for a bit. Sure it's no fun at all to live with (I've yet to be on the receiving end, obv) but... it too will pass.
Oh, love the mist rising off the soil. Wonderful layers too, as others have said.
Being a teenager is a very difficult time for ALL involved. Their hormones are whacked out, they're struggling for independence etc, and it all gets quite ugly for awhile. :-(
The fact that you say they are pleasant around other people leads me to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They're not rotten kids, they're just rotten to YOU right now.
I suppose it's the way teens work out the 'separation' thing.
On the boy issue, I read somewhere that they (scientist types) think that chemical changes or something in the brain mean that teens actually lose some of their cognitive ability to empathise, and don't regain it until their brains mature. I can't remember why, but IIRC it was quite striking - they actually can't help becoming a tad sociopathic for a bit. Sure it's no fun at all to live with (I've yet to be on the receiving end, obv) but... it too will pass.
Being a teenager is a very difficult time for ALL involved. Their hormones are whacked out, they're struggling for independence etc, and it all gets quite ugly for awhile. :-(
The fact that you say they are pleasant around other people leads me to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They're not rotten kids, they're just rotten to YOU right now.
I suppose it's the way teens work out the 'separation' thing.