A meadow proposal

Engagement marks the end of a whirlwind romance and beginning of an eternal love story.

In the midst of the heatwave, something wonderful happened! Almost a week ago we ventured to the meadow in the early morning (because it was the best time to beat the heatwave!) with our coffees in hand, and Maisy, and sat watching the view.

In the quiet, in the very place where we had our first ‘date’ almost six years ago to the day, William proposed and I, absolutely of course, said YES!

This will be a story we will always tell because even today somewhere on that meadow is a tiny little diamond (I mean little, it was one of the side diamonds and you’ll never find it!) Seconds after putting the ring on my finger we both looked down and realised that one of the small diamonds on the side of the ring had vanished… We both looked at each other in shock, then down at the dog (no she wasn’t interested, she faced the opposite way the whole time) and then we contemplated the tiny sugar crystals on the bench that we had shaken into our coffee. No way… short of dissolving each one until we were sure, it was impossible! Alls well that ends well, another ring is on order and I am not parted from this one just yet – but what a story we have for the next heatwave!

In true organised form (me), we launched ourselves into searching, planning, hunting down venues and in general, just thinking of ideas and celebrating with family and friends – and it’s all very exciting. standby for more news on that pesky heatwave, but I couldn’t get away without blogging for so long and then NOT coming back with the big news first… !

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A time for blogging

“He who plants kindness, grows love…”

How do you start a blog entry when it’s been so long….it feels odd to just be writing words as they come out of my head. Instead of writing for an essay, an assessment at work, a Christmas card…something planned. 2016 has been a busy year with its ups and downs, trials and tribulations, times for sadness and times for celebration.

It seemed fitting to spend the first free hours that we’d had in a long time, on the meadow. So that’s where we found ourselves on Boxing Day, surveying the many trees that my Dad had spent the Autumn and Winter planting.

The meadow is a place where you can renew. Your energy, yourself, your memories. It’s a place that never changes in many ways, and yet advances and matures in many others. It’s a place that you can rely on. It is by far one of my most favourite places. This year I stored up memories and moments to recapture and recall when I felt that I may need them most.

One of those memories and moments was when we were speeding across the Gulf of Mexico in a boat with dolphins chasing us. I thought, ‘When life gets tough, remember this moment when everything was okay, and the bad bits were forgotten.’ The meadow is full of scenes prepared and stored, ready for conjuring up when most needed. Boxing Day’s time down there was no exception.

This is what happens when you ask two dogs to smile….

So the tree planting is almost complete. Only another few hundred to go…the meadow is looking full already and some of the photos show the contrast between the trees that were first planted when my parents got the meadow, to the ones that are just being put in now. A lot has changed in the years since the meadow was acquired…

The next project is nesting boxes – owls, bats, birds…all the best creatures! I can’t wait to ‘borrow’ my Dad’s extra awesome telephoto lens and sit and wait for the Kingfisher to come by again. He/She makes a regular appearance already but with some patience, fantastic shots can be caught. Just ask my Mum who snapped away with her point and shoot camera a few weeks ago and put me to shame!

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