Signs of spring!

Blogpost No2 February 2023

Ola sweet Blogpost reader. It is always a pleasure to share what’s occurring in my tiny Island life with you each month. There have been several momentous events these past few weeks but let me just start with the signs of spring that are now everywhere. Snowdrops, daffodils, crocus, catkins; trees ready to burst with buds I even saw blossom this morning! Signs that life is very much stirring from its winter sleep. Much like us.

I continue to dip in the Irish Sea, sometimes daily but at least 3 or 4 times a week. I really love it. The cold is a great way to start the day or boost an afternoon. I have delightful mermaid friends who also appreciate the fresh, cold, splash of the sea to wake themselves up, so that if any of us is feeling less than excited about the embrace of the waves … we have each other to take the edge off our uncertainty. No bullying though … sometimes not getting in is just the ticket. Lighter mornings have made our 7.30 dips idyllic … rosy pink and golden skies and a full moon to light our tingling skin. Each to their own? Works for me!

One of my big events was submitting an application to the IOM Arts Council for funding to create the book/artwork etc for Children Of The Sea. Your kind and positive thoughts will help the application enormously! Thanks :-) x Decisions are made around March 5th. Not too long to wait. I’m not the world’s most enthusiastic form filler so for me the whole process is traumatic. But I did all I could to persuade those lovely board members the value of such an artistic endeavour. Like I said … your kind thoughts are very welcome!

February is the month of love and I had grand plans to record a special song and share it here to celebrate, along with the fact that Bob and I tied the knot 13 years ago February 13th :-) x we’ll ignore Valentine’s Day, I mean … we got married at Gretna Green 2010 … the day before Valentines :-) x it’s become a tradition to share our infectiously giggle fuelled vows with the world, so here they are:

The reason for my not recording a special song for this month’s Blogpost, which was planned to be done this week, is that last Saturday whilst out with mum and Sweep … mum fell and broke a bone in her right shoulder … yes the not-so-funny humerus. We were by a busy road making our way to a gate entrance to one of our nearest glens, Bishopscourt. Mum didn’t want to be on the side of the on coming traffic so opted to squeeze past a parked car … I went round the other way and was hoping to meet her on her side of the car …

Apart from that one car, there was not a single soul around. I couldn’t get mum up off the ground and she was obviously in pain. I had to put Sweep back in our car as he was frantic, upset by mum’s distress and likely to run into the fast moving cars whizzing by. That was an awful 30 seconds. I called my brother Colin to ask him to drive over to help get mum back into our car. He was in Douglas 13 miles away! No point calling Bob at that moment as I had the car and he couldn’t do anything to help from home. I was about to call for an ambulance when 2 lovely young women pulled up to help, followed by a separate young man who saw what was going on and turned round to also offer help. Angels if ever I needed evidence!

With their kind and gentle support we got mum to her feet and back in the car. One of the women was a nurse and suggested going to Ramsey Cottage Hospital as they had X-ray facilities and knew it would be quieter than Nobles in Douglas. We arrived at the Minor Injuries Unit at Ramsey and there was no one else there! We were seen by a lovely man by the name of Malcolm who swiftly cleaned and dressed a nasty gash down mum’s right shin and after careful examination thought mum had dislocated her shoulder. However, while they do in fact have X-ray facilities there’s no Radiologist available in Ramsey at the weekends. We needed to go to Nobles A&E. He phoned ahead and requested an X-ray hoping that would speed up the process. Bless him! Didn’t seem to make any difference. We arrived at 1pm and left 7.37pm. In between that time we met and were assisted by a plethora of lovely nurses, doctors, radiologists (took 2 visits to the X-ray department to get a full picture of what was actually going on). Throughout that time mum was amazing! Never complained once. Even sang “My Old Man’s a Dustman” several times, which no doubt was annoying to those poor souls in the other Bays in various states of discomfort, confusion and pain.

In the end the expert advice was that mum has a clean fracture to the top part of her right humerus (stop with the jokes!) and that the best thing to do is let it mend with gravity’s help. There was so much more to this story which no doubt at some point will form part the in-between song patter at live shows (whenever that’s possible again!). But for now this much might already be tmi? Halfway through the process at Nobles and an hour after having received a small amount of intravenous morphine, mum looked at me and smiled saying: “It’s been a lovely day.”

After getting mum to bed last night (Saturday Feb 18th a week since "the incident") I speedily recorded this old chestnut for those of us who love love. It’s for Bob who rocks my world and keeps me smiling when nothing and no one else could.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect of the next 4 weeks … prayers and meditations firmly focussed on the Arts Council grant aside … more signs of spring expected for sure … slightly warmer dips? Soon it will be time for seeds to be sown and veg beds prepared. Yes!

Should I do a FB Live soon? Not sure it matters to people anymore. I shall contemplate some more. Feel free to answer me though ... all suggestions carefully considered ... within reason! I’m hoping to resume recording songs for another Collister&Fix album … maybe we’ll write a few? Mmm now I think about it … that would be great. Must chat to Michael soon …

Before I go I thought I'd share an old YT video I edited together 7 years ago when the world was different and Bob and I innocently travelled to far flung places to be with family and friends and experience the joys our beautiful planet has in abundance. Dolphins will forever be a place of joy!

Thanks as always for stopping by to catch up on our tiny island adventures. I really appreciate it! Till next time stay well and keep rising above the turbulence!

Much love

Christine xx

PS case you missed it last month ... there are copies of Daphne's Flight "Live" now available from the shop