January 20th 2021

It’s raining, it’s pouring, Daddy Daftie is snoring!

Our day started oddly. Poor Wee Daftie woke up with a nosebleed at about midnight. She wandered through, asked to get cleaned up and then climbed into our bed. I went to put her sheets into the wash and returned to find her almost asleep, taking up my full side of the bed. Minor inconvenience. It’s okay, she’s cute.

What wasn’t so cute is how she kept me awake for pretty much the rest of the night. Now, most of the time, she sleeps really well in our bed. Other times, like last night, is how I imagine an octopus in a washing machine to be.

With a later start, after we both finally fell properly asleep, we headed for a walk in the rain. We took a well walked route to spot “unusual and interesting” things. Her nursery have been sending suggested activities to do and one of today’s was to take photos of interesting things. It was cool to look at our usual route through new eyes and spot what might be interesting to someone else. We used trying to see things we’d want to show Nana and Papa(p) as our inspiration.

The first thing she thought was interesting was a crack in the pavement. Well. It’s something.

We also took photos of a statue, a wooden reindeer, a cool spiderweb and some trees. We also saw a water rat beside the duck pond but didn’t get a proper photo, just a memory one. We sometimes take imaginary photos which I call memory pictures. Pretty sure I stole the idea from Jim and Pam’s wedding in the American version of the Office. But it’s fun to use our imaginations instead of technology sometimes.

Despite our efforts this morning, I still had some steps to do after bedtime. In the sleet. But it was actually really nice, even if I was slightly soggy by the time I made it home.

Target hit, sneaking ever closer to £500, which is wonderful! Another damp day ahead of us tomorrow but we’re hardy, stubborn and determined to do the very best we can for Refuge so what’s a bit of rain between Dafties?

#TeamRefuge

https://stepup.refuge.org.uk/fundraising/step-up-by-stepping-out-a-lot

Bonus! Speaking about imagery photos, I wrote this a while ago. Enjoy!

My favourite things
My favourite photos are the ones I don’t take.
Like first thing in the morning when you’re barely awake
Calling for Mammy in your bed, upside down,
With hair like Wurzel or Bobo the Clown.
Or when you run through the house before bath
Little legs pumping, curls bouncing, heart bursting laugh
Searching out the mirror, not needing to go far,
To stretch your arms wide and holler a gleeful, “Ta DAH!”
Or sitting on the living room floor, surrounded,
By trains and Duplo, dinos and books, drums to be pounded,
Making up stories, adventures and games
Taking care the engines, giving them names.
Or sitting on the sofa, curled up with a book
Thumb wedged in your mouth, giving me a look
At my silly voices and strange sound effects
Finishing one story and quickly on to the next.

My favourite films aren’t shown on TV
They tend to be seen when it’s just you and me
Spinning in circles, throwing our shapes on the floor,
Dancing to our favourite music, asking for more.
Or the times on the bus when you just want to chatter
To all passengers and commuters, it doesn’t matter,
As long as they listen and join in, to talk,
Before we get off the bus and go for a walk.
Or the days when it’s dark, gloomy, slick with the damp
And head out for an adventure, braving the elements like a champ
Wellies on our feet, raincoats on, soaked to the skin
Jumping through the puddles with the world’s biggest grin.

My favourite memories are the ones I forget
It will be the same for you, I bet.
In every day that passes, as time slides on
Precious minutes pop up and then, simply, they’re gone.
The times when we do nothing, just take in the day
Lying in the grass, with nothing to say
Doing the mundane, the dishes, the washing
Chopping veggies, making brekkie, on the school run we’re dashing –
These moments are my favourites but they don’t stand out or last.
They seem pointless, boring, unexceptional and they quickly fly past.
But they are my favourite, getting lost in daily clatter;
The small moments, the lost moments, the inconsequential matter.
We need the small things to appreciate the big, the monumental,
And it’s these small fragments of life that make me sentimental.