My Birthday

Well today it's my Birthday.  Will there be balloons, flowing wine and celebrations?  Now that's a nice thought but the reality is 'I don't think so'!

Gone are the days when you wake up to presents copious amounts of cards and Birthday wishes.  I remember my work days in the UK when it was your responsibility to buy cakes for everyone in the firm when it was your Birthday.  They had to be cream cakes and very calorific.  You would get in to work and your desk would be covered in cards and presents and your working day would be lightened as a reward.

I remember the excitement of wondering what my dear Mum had bought me.  She knew me so well that I always got given something wonderful. She would cook me one of her magnificent meals, she was just a divine cook and her roast potatoes were like clouds, fluffy and light.

My Birthdays when I was married were grim.  I never got a present from my husband, I was lucky if he remembered.  I remember once he wrapped up a load of old jewellery and there was I thinking he had actually bothered.  On my 40th Birthday he thew all my presents and broke them in jealousy and hated me getting more cards than him, someone you had to feel sorry for and hope one day he will be happy with himself inside and out.

This year my Birthday will go like this, the toilet needs to be unblocked, the dogs need walking, the cats need feeding, the eggs need collecting, vet appointment, recycling needs doing, rubbish bags taken to the bins, washing and I need to get on with my latest portrait.

Am I happy, yes very, I had a kiss and hug from my two lovely children, my dog was happy to see to me today with waggy tail and a kiss, I am having a coffee with a friend later today, it isn't raining and the sun is trying to come out. The fact that I come out of my front door and smell fresh air and not car exhaust, I see green fields and trees, animals playing, cockerels crowing, geese hissing, tractors working, deer's jumping and playing around in the fields and life is alright.

So I'm sending out Birthday waves to everyone today, keep smiling and make the most of the little things in life xxx

 

In my Head

In my head I get up early, I whirl around doing de-cluttering, housework, washing, cleaning and various other domestic things.  In my head I make lists and I am very organised.  In my head I create wonderful new businesses and market my own business impeccably .  I make wonderful dinners and bake cakes with pretty flowers on the top, iron and fold up clothes placing them in flower perfumed draws.  I steam clean everything once a week.  I spend time everyday writing my book, painting and drawing.  Beds are straightened smart and flat.  This is my life in my head.

My reality is something slightly different.  I stagger out of bed after 3 alarms chime, scream and shout at me.  I rush to make breakfast for the children.  Porridge in the microwave with no glass turning table as this has broken, so I have to balance the dish on the plastic forks that turns.  If uneven the dish tips and you end up with porridge all over the place.  My second job is to unblock the toilet.  This has to be done everyday as we have the most inefficient toilet in France.  I have got the plunge time down to half a minute with a technique that forces everything down the minuscule hole into the foss.  Next job is letting dogs out, cats in, feeding cleaning cat toilets and doing the outside poo run, making sure the bucket doesn't touch you and you don't tread in anything. I find that managing to get socks that match is a once a month miracle.  Wearing a bra is a rare occurrence as anything more than a nipple and you have to buy maternity!  It is now 11.30am so no beds made, no washing on, no pretty cakes made, no ironing done (not that I can find my iron at the moment), no vacuuming done, dishwasher not cleared and re-filled and no steaming done.

You see these wonderful mothers who fit so much into their days, being domestic goddesses. Could it be that difficult to be a domestic goddess or are some of us just not made to be like that! I am not and never will be a domestic goddess, life is chaos and the animals take up most of my time.  I am lucky if I get one job done in a day and then I feel I have achieved something!