Happy birthday Ryan!!!

My little bundle of joy 14.5 years ago that I held in my arms is no longer little.

My 15 year old son Ryan is now taller than me (6 feet to be accurate), what can I do to make this thing called time to slow down?!        I have learnt that we have just got to live in the present. Every moment looking back to the past, is a moment wasted.    So ''focus on the now'' is my new general motto.

On June 20th It was Fathers day in the UK so my sister Eve had decided to invite all the fathers of our family for a wee meal to celebrate, that day also happened to be Ryan's 15th.  So, we had ordered a cake, I was thinking of medium size, then Eve goes ''there are 12 of us so order a large one''. I should have checked the measurements, because the cake ended up being a whopping 25 inches in diameter!

The cake is really delicious, its made by a Chinese baker and consists of multiple layers of light sponge sandwiched with fresh cream topped with fresh fruit pieces as you can see! A typical Chinese style cake!

Actually it didn't last long (2 days at most), we joked we would be having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 2 weeks!  That's after we distributed the rest to colleagues and in laws, friends etc....

At £65 it was well worth the money I would say .  Worth seeing the look on Ryan's face when it came out!

HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY RYAN!!

Where has the time gone?!!?

I have just realized I haven't updated in 4 years!  Oh my. I  am guessing this has something to do with the recent explosion in popularity of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter that people have maybe become somewhat less interested in blogging, perhaps I am wrong?   I am a frequent Facebook user I must admit but nothing more satisfying than being able to read through a good blog /blog post in detail, especially the travel ones. 

I really do miss hopping on a plane and going somewhere. We are now in the middle of a pandemic. In the UK the death figure has sadly surpassed the 100,000 mark. The pandemic - who would've guessed, would find us in lockdown not once or twice but for the third time?   Covid-19 is presumed to have come from bats in China and others may believe it came from a laboratory in Wuhan (the town where this deadly virus first originated).   No matter what it is regrettable that so many lives have been lost.

My father passed away in May of last year 2020 due to Covid pneunomia.    May he rest in peace.

He was admitted to a care home at the age of 55 after a heart attack and stroke which has left him mostly paralyzed from the chest down. God bless him he stayed in that home for 20 years until he caught Covid.

I gain comfort in the knowledge he is no longer suffering and that he is walking in heaven.   It used to pain me and be very upsetting whenever I visited him in the home...the tears would not stop. I know he is at peace now.

March 2017 - St Paddy's Day, my mummy passed away in the end of life care ward at Antrim hospital.

She was given 18 months to live from her lung cancer diagnosis in August 2016.   We hoped maybe it would be longer, but sadly she only lived another 6 months.   It still hasn't sunk in that she is not here.  I still replay all the scenes of the past in my head, like I am still processing it, especially during the last 2 weeks of her life, when she struggled.     She's gone 4 years almost now.

I miss my mother so much, her voice on the phone, her calling my name, her laughter and smile. Her generosity and selflessness. She was the best mum, she did what she could to raise us 3.

I miss and love you every day, til wee meet again mum xxx