::inspiring Mondays::

Little Mister Joey arrived on Saturday! He's finally here and I couldn't quite believe it for a while, but seeing him in the hat and scarf I've knitted makes it all real. Every. Single. Day! 

We've walked around Oxford, we've had hot chocolate and lattes and good food and, most of all, we've been enjoying each other's company. He finally knows what cold is and believes me when I say gloves are a must! We sit around chatting and not doing much and it feels amazing! He looks darker than most people here and I love it! 

:: LMrJ is here! He's finally here! ♥

:: writing this post with LMrJ ♥

:: foot massages. the best!

:: I now have two very old Nikon film cameras... love it when Christmas comes late!

:: the Natural History Museum and the effect it had on LMrJ. Can we stay longer, please?

:: cycling together around Oxford :)

:: being in love ♥

This will be a quiet week from the Joeys. Hope you all have a good one and enjoy the simple lovely things in life!

a morning in the snow

Last Friday, we had a special snowy day here in Oxfordshire. This was my morning!

Waking up to snow has it's its magic...

 

LMJ takes to the snow :D

Looking up meant seeing this

Looking into a mirror meant seeing us... smile and wave!

  

White was all around us

Covering trees

 

and making things look pretty

 really pretty!

After so much beauty and cold... we needed a hot chocolate. Really! A velvety one! Yummy!

::inspiring Mondays::

This is the last Monday the Joey has to wait for Little Mister Joey. In less that 5 days, all this wait and knitting will be fulfilled and life will be even better. The scarf and hat are done (photographs when he's here, trying to keep it a surprise of sorts!) and all there is left to do is... wait!, that thing we're all incredibly good at. 

As exciting as these news are, the week, and this Monday, have more pressing issues to be dealt with. Dad is recovering slowly but Mum is now ill too. I've cried tears of frustration and distance. I've calmed down and spoke to them on the phone several times a day (thank you Mr Alexander Graham Bell et al) always sounding very grown up and on the case. Which I am. A grown up, I mean. I'm 31 years old, I have a job and pay my own bills, I can be responsible for other living things (especially cats, not so much plants) and have a few wrinkles to vouch for some gained wisdom, but... I still feel little when speaking to them. Ok, a little bit little, like "Filhota*, I'm making your favourite dish for when you arrive" little. Instead, I'm asking them if they've eaten the soup and to follow all procedures by the book, please, pretty please, and call me before they go to bed. And they answer me with an enormous dose of patience!

This weekend I watched About a Boy, maybe for the 324th time."Suddenly I realised - two people isn't enough. You need backup. If you're only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you're on your own. Two isn't a large enough number. You need three at least. You need backup". So very true!And this is when the importance of our extended family hits me; my aunts are looking after them, they are not alone nor helpless and none of us would be in the family. And I feel a little better again. 

:: my family. all of them. the aunts and uncles and cousins. we're never alone. we'll always have someone. 

:: Little Mister Joey is almost here and I can't begin to explain how happy that makes me.

:: imagining Mister Joey in LMJ's knitwear. cute!

:: Paris on the horizon.

:: Nicky's post on our blog anniversary :) (head over there if you want to see an adorable out-of-focus version of us!)

:: central heating. pure bliss.

:: sleeping. a good restful sleep.

:: egyptian cotton bedlinen.

:: my friends. it's never enough to say it, they are the best.

:: last, but not least this Monday, LMJ's readers. Thank you so much for coming over and taking the time to say hello and other sweet things!

Enjoy your Monday everyone... Spring awaits just on the other side of winter...!

*Filhota = affectionate form of daughter, close to little daughter. I love it when Mum and Dad call me this :D

notes on a Thursday

Thank you everyone for your lovely lovely messages about Dad. He's at home now, bored and not happy, but getting better, we hope. Reading the post below, I realise how much I've said that goes beyond LMJ the cute character straight into moi même, her taxi. Then reading your messages, I see how wonderful that was and how good it felt to let it all out. Thank you!

***

River Thames at Port Meadow by The Erratic Photographer

If it's snowing where you are and you're strolling the internet for some eye candy, LMJ can help you. Go over to Nicky's blog and be amazed by his images (like the one above) and witty (yet informative!) writing. If you're more of a  Flickr person, he's there too.

Yes, it is snowing here. No, I'm not bothered... yet! 

::inspiring Mondays::

Dad is the best Bisca player ever :D

This is a Monday of emotions and searching deep for the good things, only to find they are right on the surface of my life.

Dad is in hospital. He has been in hospital since Saturday night. Today we learned it is pneumonia and is not so widespread. Today we learned his heart is ok, which is always our main concern as he has had a heart attack before and a few minor procedures to ensure the overall good function of his heart. Today he stopped pretending he was fine and let me hear his croaky voice while making jokes about hospital food. Dad likes to talk about food. That and the weather in the UK.

Whilst I sit here writing a post meant to be inspiring, I think about Dad. I could tell you we have this perfect relationship and how all is wonderful and how my heart sinks when I hear he's remotely unwell; yet only that last bit is true. We argue a lot and have what most people would consider a difficult relationship, but it's ours. All ours. I am a Daddy's girl through and through and I don't even blush nor look apologetic while saying it. If I have half a problem, Dad is who comes to mind as the solver of all things. Mostly because he is the solver of all things. Partly because he is our rock. Partly because it comforts me to know he's there for me.

Dad has a big heart. An enormous heart. A heart a bit bigger than his temper, but we've learned to live with it. And this man with an enormous heart and a small pneumonia, did not want me to know he was ill, let alone in hospital. When I called, he mastered all his strength to produce a steady voice and told me he was buying the paper. From an intensive care unit filled with people. Because that's Dad all over, it doesn't matter what others think, only you matter. Like when I let the car die on my first day of driving and the car behind beeped at us and he calmly said to me "it doesn't matter, take your time, he won't go anywhere until you do" and smiled at me and the world was right again. He didn't want me to know because I am a Daddy's girl and my heart sinks when I hear he's remotely unwell and I'm far away and he didn't want me stressed. But of course I was told... and after crying and feeling that feeling of I could be so lost (do you know the one?), I called him up and asked how he was and he told me about hospital food and how well he'd be doing in no time. And that is what love is.

:: my parents. because my Mother is taking it all in the chin and they come as a package, my parents.

:: hospital food. this one is for you, Dad!

I know this is a short list. But for once, it isn't about the little things, it's about the big ones, as Mum and Dad and that served-far-too-early-and-lacking-in-any-flavour hospital food.

Have a happy Monday everyone!