A Noemi adventure to Sandbanks Ferry

It was a gloriously sunny December morning and Saturday, which is life skills day. Charlie and Noemi were chosen to take Allen and Joe out for lunch.

'What shall we do, where shall we go? ' they thought?

Now anyone who knows these four well enough knows Noemi is always up for a Saturday adventure and Charlie is not one to miss out on a spontaneous outing. Joe, furthermore, is a passionate Sandbanks Ferry fan and Allen on this particular day was very content in joining the fun and taking in the scenery.

So into the little white car they hopped and excitedly typed the words Sandbanks Ferry into Google maps. Joe's face was beaming, perhaps competing with Mr Sun in the sky! Allen was joyfully flicking through his chosen magazine for the day, open to whatever this journey might bring.

There was one little problem. There was barely any petrol in the little white car. So as excited as everyone was to glide across the water to Studland, they had to stop at the petrol station. Would Pete's credit card work? Phew! Thankfully it did, so there was no stopping this eager bunch. Off they rolled, with the sparkling sea and the glorious ferry as their next stop.

Up they chugged slowly and steady onto the vehicle that would transport them to the other side. The sea breeze was refreshing, the sun warming their faces. The water lapping at the side of the boat, guided them safely to the Studland shore. Down they rolled to see where this road would lead them, deliberately not choosing a destination but leaving it up to this beautiful life, to show them where they would stop for lunch. 

Following the windy roads and enjoying the gorse bushes and sea views, they decided to turn left and see if there was a place there to stop for lunch. They arrived at a beautiful cottage looking place with a sign outside saying 'The Pig'

Charlie said, how about this one? Noemi had a vague recollection that this was a very very posh place with potentially very posh prices, but in the name of adventure they decided to investigate. There was no harm in taking a glance at the menu. The hotel/ restaurant offered the most breathtaking views onto the Purbeck and a roaring fire surrounded by cosy armchairs. The menu on the other hand offered steak for £95!!!! Or a handful of kale for £15? Nope, they thought and the search for a pit stop continued.

Not far down the road from The Pig stood the Bankes Armes, not quite as exquisite looking, but still with a sense of charm and character. Perhaps the little white Barn car agreed as it stopped literally in front of the building and the gear stick would not budge. Not forwards not backwards. Oh yikes, are we going to end our adventure here, so teasingly close to our destination?

With a bit of hope and prayer and fiddling with the gear stick and keys the little white car came to its senses and was soon safely parked in the South Beach car park, allowing the hungry four to recharge their batteries. Fish and chips, sausages and mash, chicken pie and wild mushroom risotto were on the menu here and all of that for the price of one steak at the previous joint! So enjoying the blue of the water in the background and each other's company they munched until it was time to return to the car park as receiving a parking ticket was not on the itinerary that day!

The journey back involved no satnav, just following road signs, just allowing the road to lead the way, through beautiful Swanage and even allowing us a glimpse of Corfe Castle standing proudly on the hill, inviting us on perhaps another adventure at another time. 

And would you believe it, we ended up back at the Ferry! Joe had no complaints whatsoever about going across a second time, while Allen grinned away still inspecting his magazine carefully.

By this time sundown had almost arrived and the sky above the water was a warm and cosy orange, wishing us farewell and thanking us for visiting this way and having had such a joyful time while doing so. At the end of the day, Joe asked if we could do this again another day? My answer was 'I wholeheartedly hope so!' 

Angels, fairies and ouchy knees

Dear Christopher, 

You have been having a bit of a rough time with your little knees lately. 

First you bumped into a boy at school and grazed it quite badly. Then as it had just healed, and you were so proud of how beautifully it had, you slipped and opened up the wound. After that event you were struggling to sleep at night as it was hurting and you were worried about it healing over, so the following story came to me. 

There once was a 5 year old little boy Christopher, who loved running as fast as the wind. Everywhere he went, he flew. One day at school as he was enjoying his speed, another little boy came racing towards him and they knocked each other over. Christopher's knee was so badly grazed that even his trousers ripped open. His little friends Maddie and Lorcan held his hands and walked him inside gently and lovingly to be taken care of by a kind teacher. 

The days passed and his knee was healing beautifully. Christopher kept checking it and saying how well the scab was recovering. However, not long after the skin had grown over the ouchy, Christopher came home again having slipped on the playground and reopened the wound. 

This boy was so brave to have gone through all these falls and to be patient enough to wait for the scar to heal not once, but twice! But what he didn't know was that when he wasn't looking at his scab or picking at it to see if the scab would come off sooner, or when he was peacefully asleep in his bed, tiny fairies were busy at work mending his precious little knees. 

Christopher had to be very still though, because if he took one look at the knee or started touching it, that would frighten these healing little beings away. 

The story went something like this and before I got halfway through it you were fast asleep, and woke up bright and cheerful in the morning saying you had seen the light of the little fairies. 

That night we were chatting about the fairies again and you brought up angels and we said a prayer of protection to Archangel Michael when you said you could see their light around our bedroom window. The moment you said that, the photo frame on that window sill toppled over. We felt like it must have been a reassurance from them to let us know they were watching over us as we slept. 

Thank you 🌷

Thank you Christopher for your smile that lights up the room and your endless curiosity and creativity and joy you bring to our lives. Thank you for your adorable and insightful chattering that I want to bottle up and remember forever. 

Thank you Daniel for your quiet and peaceful presence, for being a sturdy rock of unconditional love for my wild and untethered soul and for our beautiful boys, four legged and 2! Thank you for your ability to capture life's special moments on camera like no other, for your courage to play, whether it be the guitar, lego, rough and tumble, basketball, you're a special Dad and a beautiful friend. 

Bluey and all our other furry friends we've loved over the years, there are no words for the kind of love you give. The thought of even the smelliest surprises you occasionally leave on the lounge floor melt away when I see Christopher cuddling you and calling you his little furry brother. 

Thank you Mum for your loving presence in our lives. You're always there looking for ways to make our lives easier and always ready to be of help. Thank you for nourishing us with your incredible food and for being my favourite help at the allotment. I love the time we spend there taking in the view, digging and weeding, nattering about all things big and small and of course the well earned cappuccinos on the bench after! 

Thank you Linda for the joy and warmth you bring to our lives and for the special bond you have with Christopher. Thank you for raising Daniel to be the man he is, the father and husband he is. He has so much of your warmth and humour and you both bring so much lightheartedness to even the most mundane moments. 

Thank you Bazska for being the best brother I ever could have wished for. I just utter a problem and you've already solved it. Christopher adores your craziness and so do we. I'll even keep putting up with you embarrassing me in public because of the charming ways in which you go about it! I also appreciate you not throwing matchbox cars at me anymore or sinking your teeth into my knees! :) 

Thank you for our beautiful big family of adopted Dads, sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces. We are so blessed to have all of your loving presence. 

Last but not least my heart is filled with gratitude for all the crazy, gentle, nourishing, unbelievable friendships I have been gifted with over the years. I hope wholeheartedly that you all recognise yourselves when you read this. You are part of my family and I love you all in so many different ways. Thank you for hearing me, seeing me, accepting my weird and wonderful quirks and for giving a lifetime of sacred moments to cherish. 

N💝

U❤️

A beautiful little discovery from my morning walk with Bluey... 

Whether it be my neuro speciality or just one of my quirks, I can get quite particular about how I'd like to do my spiritual practices. In my ideal world I wake up and open A Course in Miracles, or any other book I'm drawn to at that moment and read a quote that will guide me on that particular day. I would then meditate briefly on it, breathe mindfully and then move mindfully with yoga or qigong and THEN start the day. 

Does this ever happen? Those of you with a child and pet, or anyone or anything to look after will probably understand, that this kind of undertaking is pretty near impossible. 

So I cut corners. 

Today is St Nicholas's day in Hungary, so job #1 this morning on waking was wrapping tiny bits to go in Christopher's and Daniel's boots. 

Meditation had to be merged with my Bluey walk (Bluey our dog, not the world famous one, although our dog is making his way up there with his tail wagging social skills) So I listened to my Course meditation for the day while juggling admiring autumn leaves and the light of the sun peeping over Hambledon Hill, with the odd not so graceful extracting of Bluey made substances from wet blades of grass! 

Today's meditation was centered around expressing gratitude for the gifts you've received from God throughout the day. I was lit up by the task and started listing all the wonderful people and circumstances in my life, perhaps a poem to follow from that later... 

I carried on my daily circuit around the winding streets of our village, thinking of more and more things to give thanks for, when I arrived at Daniel's car. Not technically his car, it's a hire car he's using while his van is being fixed. 

 I felt an unstoppable urge to trace I love you on his front window and reverse it so he could read it from inside. 

My fingers glided through the morning mist revealing a backwards U and a heart and as I looked at it to see if it was visible, my heart skipped a beat. Literally underneath it was a mirror image of what I had written. I tried to capture an image of it, I could not believe my eyes. A tiny message from above to say the love you send out returns to you. Or 'giving and receiving are one in truth' as the Course puts it. 

This was undoubtedly the best present anyone has snuck into my boots on St Nicholas's day. 

U❤️

Dear Christopher 01.12. 25

My darling Christopher, 

I wanted both of us to remember this start of advent, which was my favourite of all time. 

We woke up together and you asked for your usual back scratch! 'Harder mummy' you say and I do it until my arms drop off.

The we read a beautiful Hungarian Christmas poem that was a gift from your Godmummy Erika. You liked the picture of the cosy tree decorated with warm colours. 

We then found our wooden nativity set and you asked if you could put it up on your desk in your room. So there it is with everyone snuggled up inside, hiding from the rain, as it's a very wet day out today!

You lit the candle in the robin candle holder that you chose from the Range the other day and we munched on our breakfast together, you on your peanut butter and honey toast with frozen cherries, yes frozen cherries! And I on my carrot and cherry porridge and we chatted about Christmas memories. 

I told you about one I had as a child in Ulladulla in Australia, as it has stayed as one of my favourite Christmases from my childhood.

We also read a few pages of my favourite book, The Boy the Mole the Fox and the Horse and you said the boy doesn't know very much as he's asking a lot of questions. We then established that it's quite brave to ask questions and perhaps it shows that you actually know a lot, but you're curious. It's wonderful to be able to stay curious isn't it?

I asked you what you thought Jesus was like? I said I thought he was kind and funny and forgiving. You added 'loving'

Mummy: I often talk to Jesus when I have a sad or angry heart and when I need to be forgiven for something.

Christopher: Does he forgive you?

Mummy : Always.

Christopher : How do you know?

Mummy : Because I always have a peaceful heart after I talk to Him.

With all my love my precious boy, 

Mummy x

A miracle a day... Day 2

1 God's will for me is perfect happiness.

2 I share God's will for perfect happiness for me.

A miracle a day... 

According to a Course in Miracles forgiveness gives me everything I want. We are also reminded that we do not do the the forgiving, we just need to show the tiniest bit of willingness and the Holy Spirit takes care of the rest. There is also apparently no order in the importance of miracles. No miracles bigger or smaller. Yet in this form my miracle today was seemingly minute.

I had to return a small parcel of socks that Christopher didn't like. Now there's a miracle that wouldn't be so minute, finding a pair of socks he likes! But about that perhaps another time. The link by the return code was telling me to go to a post office just up the road in a small village near us.

 'Oh no!' I thought to myself. 'The lady who served me there last time was so grumpy!' And with that thought I was already looking for other post offices offering return services. But the lousy Internet signal and more importantly my small inner voice was whispering 'forgiveness opportunity' as is everything in this life from the smallest nuisance to the biggest of tragedies.

So i decided I was willing to forgive her and myself. When we need to forgive others it's really ourselves we need to forgive. 

I calmly got out of my car and walked in the shop where this post office was. There was a lady ahead of me in the cue. Taking what felt like half an hour. Forgiveness opportunity number two! When she stepped away I took a deep breath and probably forgot to take another one for a few minutes half expecting the lady behind the window to tell me off again for something. But I managed to smile at her as if I was seeing her for the first time in my life. And she smiled back. And we exchanged pleasantries and she sorted my parcel and off I went with a peaceful heart and a quiet smile.

In the few years I've been practicing the Course I've been having more and more moments like this. With strangers, with loved ones, with myself. I've decided to pluck up the courage and start sharing them. Writing brings me joy, I'd almost forgotten just how much joy actually. If only one person is touched by these words, then me sitting here reflecting was worth it. May you be as blessed by these lines as I have been by the ones that inspired them. Nx

A miracle a day... Day 1

 Lesson 115 (review) 

1 Salvation is my only function here 

2 My part is essential in God's plan for salvation 

A miracle a day... 

Today I was tempted to do a routine walk with my dog and I almost got him back in the car when I remembered that I wanted to capture something beautiful on camera before the day was through. So off I went for another circuit and was amazed at the stunning landscape I had taken for granted the first time around. I am grateful that I was nudged to look for beauty, and with that intention, there it was. It reminded me of a gratitude practice I had heard of in a Charlie Mackesy interview. The interviewer was telling Charlie that every evening he thinks of three things he is grateful for, which as it turns out has made him go about his day with a gratitude mindset, looking for things to be grateful for. I felt like that today. I was determined to see beauty, and there it was, I just had to become present and really look with my heart and notice it.