Drama, Train Sets and Recovering from Surgery #LittleLoves

Regular readers will have noticed that I blogged on both Sunday and Monday this week, which is unusual. Sundays I always write about photography. On Monday I simply could not wait any longer to publish my Boozy Valentine’s Gift Guide and Drinks Review as the day is nearly upon us! So after two days with two blogs I felt it would be nice to keep the blogging rhythm going and join in again with Morgana’s blogging linky. #LittleLoves is a linkup which opens each Friday, and the five headings are the same each time: Read, Watched, Heard, Made, Wore, and Lastly.

Here’s what I’ve been up to in recent weeks.

Read

Since my recent surgery I’ve been resting and read a few things. I’ve especially enjoyed discovering some new blogs. A newborn photo shoot is something I’ve never done so these photography tips from Lilypad and Bow make interesting reading. Another blog with lots of lovely photography is Waffle Mama – I particularly like her great timing and decisive moment images. On The Mini Mes and Me I was interested to read about getting girls interested in careers in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Maths). Emma has a daughter in year 9 – just a year ahead of Belle – and choosing her GCSEs now. Travel is another of my favourite topics and Helerina Blogs has had the same idea as me; she’s dreaming of visiting the Scottish Highlands. She also went to a Blog on the Beach conference that I had to miss because of my surgery, so it’s been nice to catch up on news about that. Lastly I’ve found a recipe for Welsh Cakes on The Rare Welsh Bit blog. My mum used to make these and I love them . These are heart shaped for Valentine’s Day – perfect! If you’re looking for more great bloggers to read, try this list from Website Promoter.

Watched

Belle was in a Drama club showcase at school one evening this week. I haven’t seen her act since primary school so it was lovely to see how much she has progressed. It was a short comedy of errors which suited her perfectly. I particularly enjoyed watching her tip-toe in an exaggerated way across the back of the stage holding a bag of “swag” in each hand. I think she will miss her calling as a bank-robber in later life, however! These phone pics are fairly poor but you get the idea (and you can’t make out the childrens’ faces, which is deliberate).

Heard

No new discoveries here but I’m still enjoying BBC Radio 6. We still have Radio 1 on the alarm clock as they always sound so very awake, but Radio 6 is on everywhere else. I find Radio 2 sounds too much like local radio for my liking, and I like new music, not golden oldies.

Made

Not my creation, but my husband has made a super miniature railway in N-gauge. It has taken over a year to get this far and it’s looking amazing. This small board fits under the coffee table but he wants to make another two this size. We do not have space! The girls love it and they are heavily involved in the design.

Wore

This is really about what I am NOT wearing: A post-surgery boot! It’s five weeks since I had surgery on my arthritic toe. The pain started years ago so I am really hopeful that this will be a cure. I recovered much quicker than predicted at first, but progress has slowed down now. I was expecting to be on crutches for two months. However after just two weeks I abandoned them and just use one light stick when I go out. The boot came off when my stitches came out.

Lastly – Post-Surgery Thoughts

My recent foot surgery has given me some pain and tiredness as you can imagine. Walking is hard, so I don’t get out much. I haven’t been to the supermarket, slimming world, I’ve missed some church things, I’ve had to stop my volunteering, I haven’t been clothes shopping, I’ve seen less of my friends. I didn’t think that these little things would affect me so deeply but they’ve added up to have a strong effect on my state of mind. It feels quite dangerous and it’s hard to find the personal strength to save myself. I hope that after half term I will get out more.