Hi everyone!
I'm sitting with my parents watching a drama about midwives in the Fifties. There's a bit too much heaving and sweating going on for my liking, so I thought I'd catch up with PS!
Now that it's all over, how was Christmas for you? Better or worse than expected? Or bittersweet? Mine's been a journey, literally and figuratively. AND, I have bought three pieces of gorgeous bling!
I was dreading this trip, because I knew if would be very intense and expensive, with the 4000-mile trip home meaning plane, bus and taxi fares, presents for the whole extended family, going away to stay with in-laws in London and hosting in-laws at my parents' house over Christmas - and seeing my mother's condition up close, of course. Frankly, part of me just wanted to pull the covers over my head in Boston and stay there for the duration!
The trip home took TWENTY hours because I left in a snowstorm, and I spent eleven hours on the plane instead of five and a half. But it was all OK in the end - at least the flight wasn't cancelled!
When I got home, my mother was in more pain than expected, and my dad made some rather grim predictions. However, based on the last five trips last year, I had prepared myself. I felt happier because I feel I have just started to accept the situation, after a year. You just cannot go on feeling constantly dreadful forever, about a situation you cannot control. And then, as the trip has gone on, it seemed that the extra pain was the result of her doing too much, rather than it necessarily being a deterioration. She will have a scan in January and am prepared if it's bad news. Acceptance can be a wonderful thing, which is a lesson for me because I'm not much of an accepter by nature. More of a rant-and-railer!
Distraction is a also a great thing. My aunt-in-law took me to an art gallery in London, the Courtauld Institute, and I have decided to educate myself about art. I know absolutely nothing about it. I can recognise the more obvious Monets and the famous Van Goghs like the sunflowers, and I know that he cut his ear off. That's IT. That is the sum total of my art knowledge. So! This will never do! I am going to take up art, and teach myself all about it. Not to draw - can't even do stick figures. But I am going to become knowledgeable about art and artists. I bought some books in the gallery's bookshop - they were only six pounds and are very colourful. One is about someone called Gauguin. Anyone know how to pronounce that?
And, despite all the expense, I have been shopping in the Lanes - the jewellery quarter of my hometown. It staves off homesickness to possess and wear jewellery from the town of my birth. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
I bought:
- An opal pendant with three oval-shaped opal drops, to match the drop earrings I bought in that shop earlier this year. Here are the earrings. The pendant is the same but with three drops. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/double-opal-drops.189701/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/double-opal-drops.189701/[/URL]
- A pair of gorgeous pearl drop earrings, smallish pearls but high-lustre akoyas with rose overtone and a small, delicate drop. Yummy.
- And, the pea-esse de resistonce....opal pear-shaped drop earrings on French wire, surrounded by halos of round opals. Very vintage-looking. I wasn't sure about them, but when I tried them on, they were so damn pretty I snapped them up. I have never seen opal centre stones surrounded by an opal halo. They are unique, I think. They look Victorian, although they are a new piece.
For some reason, the jewellery quarter of my hometown is a really excellent place to get opals. They are really good opals with strong colours and unusual designs. And, opal is my birthstone. Another justification!
So, tell everyone about your Christmas. How was it for YOU?
I'm sitting with my parents watching a drama about midwives in the Fifties. There's a bit too much heaving and sweating going on for my liking, so I thought I'd catch up with PS!
Now that it's all over, how was Christmas for you? Better or worse than expected? Or bittersweet? Mine's been a journey, literally and figuratively. AND, I have bought three pieces of gorgeous bling!
I was dreading this trip, because I knew if would be very intense and expensive, with the 4000-mile trip home meaning plane, bus and taxi fares, presents for the whole extended family, going away to stay with in-laws in London and hosting in-laws at my parents' house over Christmas - and seeing my mother's condition up close, of course. Frankly, part of me just wanted to pull the covers over my head in Boston and stay there for the duration!
The trip home took TWENTY hours because I left in a snowstorm, and I spent eleven hours on the plane instead of five and a half. But it was all OK in the end - at least the flight wasn't cancelled!
When I got home, my mother was in more pain than expected, and my dad made some rather grim predictions. However, based on the last five trips last year, I had prepared myself. I felt happier because I feel I have just started to accept the situation, after a year. You just cannot go on feeling constantly dreadful forever, about a situation you cannot control. And then, as the trip has gone on, it seemed that the extra pain was the result of her doing too much, rather than it necessarily being a deterioration. She will have a scan in January and am prepared if it's bad news. Acceptance can be a wonderful thing, which is a lesson for me because I'm not much of an accepter by nature. More of a rant-and-railer!
Distraction is a also a great thing. My aunt-in-law took me to an art gallery in London, the Courtauld Institute, and I have decided to educate myself about art. I know absolutely nothing about it. I can recognise the more obvious Monets and the famous Van Goghs like the sunflowers, and I know that he cut his ear off. That's IT. That is the sum total of my art knowledge. So! This will never do! I am going to take up art, and teach myself all about it. Not to draw - can't even do stick figures. But I am going to become knowledgeable about art and artists. I bought some books in the gallery's bookshop - they were only six pounds and are very colourful. One is about someone called Gauguin. Anyone know how to pronounce that?
And, despite all the expense, I have been shopping in the Lanes - the jewellery quarter of my hometown. It staves off homesickness to possess and wear jewellery from the town of my birth. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
I bought:
- An opal pendant with three oval-shaped opal drops, to match the drop earrings I bought in that shop earlier this year. Here are the earrings. The pendant is the same but with three drops. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/double-opal-drops.189701/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/double-opal-drops.189701/[/URL]
- A pair of gorgeous pearl drop earrings, smallish pearls but high-lustre akoyas with rose overtone and a small, delicate drop. Yummy.
- And, the pea-esse de resistonce....opal pear-shaped drop earrings on French wire, surrounded by halos of round opals. Very vintage-looking. I wasn't sure about them, but when I tried them on, they were so damn pretty I snapped them up. I have never seen opal centre stones surrounded by an opal halo. They are unique, I think. They look Victorian, although they are a new piece.
For some reason, the jewellery quarter of my hometown is a really excellent place to get opals. They are really good opals with strong colours and unusual designs. And, opal is my birthstone. Another justification!
So, tell everyone about your Christmas. How was it for YOU?