Black Dog Gang 5

Hello everyone x
A good thing from yesterday - I went out to my pots of flowers armed with a trowel, having seen geraniums that had been so soaked for months, they had gone black, to dig them up and throw them away. Low and behold when I looked near the base of them everyone had a tiny green leaf waiting to grow. So instead of getting rid of them I cut them right back.
They are obviously determined not to be beaten!

Hi all x

Joce to be loved to Disney and back is a lot of lot of love x

lavenderzen if your geraniums are determined not to be beaten we can all learn from your geraniums, hope the flourish and bring you joy come summer x

I have moved house many times and always plant daffodil bulbs to have a daff for St.Davids Day, 1st March, never happens but am please that I checked them yesterday evening
and they are starting to bloom, better late than never ?

Nonnie that’s all any of us can do at this moment in time. No we cannot stop our thoughts as much as sometime we really want to... I am just pottering round trying to keep my mind busy with out having to concentrate on any one thing it’s hard sometimes.. enjoy your soup..

Joce
Thanks a mil for those words.
As you said "Yes we will beat those damn feelings"
God it is a battle for me at the moment.
Big take care everybody.
Dawn xx

Please don’t compare with those you think have an easy life,
we do not know what goes on behind closed doors or behind a
smile.
doing this deepens depression, brings on ‘why me’, there is no
answer to this question. No magical fingers which point choosing who will have illnesses, win the lottery.

We cannot change the past, I know memories can hurt, but we
mustn’t let them control the future .

We must use our energy on our recovery from anxiety, depression, phobias etc.

hugs x

I am just calling in to say hello to my virtual friends on this thread. Agree Annie comparison can make our feelings worse.
I hope for a better time for all of us.

Dawn it’s just so horrible bless you stay strong and you will come though. My thoughts are with you..x

SalsaQueen though I would follow you I have put some stew on for tomorrow yummm with dumpling. Lovely comfort food ?.

Annie hope you have had a less stressful day our friend..

Hope everyone else is doing ok tonight??

Thinking of you all and wishing you a peaceful night xx

Hi all. annie lots of wise words as usual. ? Well my nice thing today, went for a long walk and saw snowdrops, primroses, lots of daffs and some little blue flowers but I don’t know what they are. Also (and this is exreeemly naughty) had hot cross buns for lunch ?. They were delicious.
Thinking about you all and praying for our ‘gang’. Hope you all sleep well tonight ? ? x

I hope all the gang have had a better day, and that everyone has a good night's sleep. dozed off at 8.5, woke up to find the end of the film I'd been watching on Netflix had ended . Him Indoors has gone to bed (he's going to work again tomorrow morning), so now I'm wide awake with Mr Cooper

My nice thing today was l met Anne and John out today for a walk and Anne said to drop in for a chat anytime and l was so grateful for that in view of all this talk of social isolation going on. Bless them and they would have had no idea how much good that would have done for me.

Sleep well tonight everyone . Joce thank you

Good night all wishing you all a peaceful night sleep ? ?

Morning all, my nice thing from yesterday...
I was sat in conservatory looking down my garden, I was so pleased to see we have Blue Tits nesting in one of our boxes.
There was also frogs mating by the pond..
Nature is so lovely. spring is well on the way, warmer day..
Have a good day all.. x

lavenderzen Sat 14-Mar-20 11:33:05 well done. Think I may have killed off the acers as I 'pruned' them end of October and they are showing no sign of coming back whereas the rest of the garden is looking springlike.

Doodle your walk sounds lovely.

Dawn sounds nice.

Joce you sound cheerful

annie sorry I can't help comparing, my mind does what it does. When I think of someone who really is a nasty person sailing through life without a problem and then of lovely people who have to cope with so much, I can't help it. Fortunately I know far more of the lovely than the other kind.

Very down today as DSs want us to stay home and not socialise. DH has breathing difficulties and high BP so I'm trying to understand. I have a low grade headache and slightly sore throat, both of which I would normally ignore. I find it hard to understand what looks like government briefings about what we are going to have to do in the future which makes me wonder if we should be doing it now.

Morning everyone. Isn't nature wonderful? To walk in the fresh air, to let the rhythm of a walk calm your thoughts, to actually smell Spring approaching, to look at the light, to sit and watch Spring flowers outside the window. Like those geraniums, they keep on going - so why shouldn't we? We won't be beaten down, we can do this. One day this awful Virus will be beaten though, and hope will win out in the meantime. I worked and sat in the sunshine yesterday whilst cursing the unfolding news and trying not to feel like a victim. But I'm not, I made bread and soup. I shall certainly make Hot Cross buns too - no they are not "extremely naughty", Doodle, and if they give you a moment's pleasure, well good for you! We all need that now. Dawn and Nonnie so sorry for all your problems. If you have to stay near to home now, maybe it's the time to try to shift the focus. What do you really enjoy, what lifts your spirits, what distracts you. Think that distraction is important when your thoughts are nothing but invasive worries which get you in their grip. Maybe focussing on a project which will absorb your attention and distract you - maybe doing something for someone else with a time limit so you just have to be more pro-active and less "alone" with your thoughts when you're struggling? Whatever you do, wishing hard for your better health. Joce I sat in the sunshine in my barbecue corner of the garden and saw my darling Black Redstarts diving at the ledge over my doorway where they build a nest in the same spot every year. I cleared out some pots and swept up lots of leaves and fed plants. Both little birds feed the young and sometimes come down and shout at me in the courtyard if they think my drinking coffee there is interfering with their parenting skills! Each year I have to watch for the day that the babies (5 sometimes) fledge and that is the day that my 3 cats dread. They are made to stay indoors whilst the babies make their way to the roof and then fly away. Love your Mr Cooper, SalsaQueen - one of my girls is a tiny version of him but I have to say I think boys are best and with the best cat natures. (That's just my experience, of course!) Lavenderzen how lovely your flowers will live to fight another season. You'll end up like Annie, spreading joy and flowers everywhere at this rate! Hope you all have a calm and peaceful Sunday and one where you can keep all the worries in a box in the drawer. Promise not to take it out until at least 9am tomorrow morning. Virtual hugs all and stay well.

Hi all x

Doodle. Hot Cross Buns ? Very, very naughty, but isn’t being
naughty such fun x

SalsaQueen Mr Cooper is a handsome chap x

Joce you have nesting Blue Tits ? I now have to struggle
against envy x

Dawn do call on those nice people, company is good x

nonnie. Yes controlling thoughts is so difficult, please
don’t be cross with me but I would like to pass on what I
was told ‘(another rant when young, my poor Grampa,)
‘We don’t know what makes a person become nasty’.

I certainly learned this, a girl in school was nasty to everyone,
she was a monster, sneaked on everyone , would even hit out,
we learned some years later she had been sexually abused by
her father from a young age.

Sorry you are feeling unwell nonnie x

Grandmafrench wise advice, thank you, and thank you for
the geraniums, how can such little blooms be so strong, x

Younger granddaughter calling today , yippee.

My positive from yesterday, five birds in the tree outside my
living room, 5 , waiting for the magpies to come back, I call
them Dom and Ethel.

You are all such lovely supportive people. Renews you’re faith in human nature.
I wanted to share this quote with you - ‘don’t look back, you’re not going that way’
So appropriate!
?

Thank you Lizzy I like your quote very much , yes most
appropriate

annie I totally get that and am way ahead of you but is it OK for someone who has had a bad time to treat others badly? Won't go into detail but my childhood has made me react by being more kind and caring, not less. Is it OK for parents to do things which harm the children just because they didn't have a great upbringing? If that is OK surely it would mean that those with criminal parents would be excused for becoming criminal? Maybe I am being logical in an illogical world. because I reacted against my own upbringing and I think my siblings did too.

Annie I live in a x council house, we have a lot of wild life.. birds, sparrow, black birds, blue tits, green finch, Jenny wrens sparrow hawks. We have had a kestrel, Owl beautiful bird. We have a hedgehogs, even had a fox.

nonnie I didn’t say it was ok, and with respect you are saying
what I have been saying.

You say you reacted against you upbringing by being more kind and caring , there are others who react differently.

I spoke of the girl who was so nasty to everyone, she certainly
had a bad upbringing .

I am sorry if I upset you x

Lizzy love you quote thank you ..

Hello everyone xxx
Just wanted to catch up with you all. Hope you are all ok.
Thank you for your wise words Annie I always enjoy reading them.
I took my little four legged friend for a walk today, thinking how nice it was to hear the birds and then fell over, in slow motion! I don't ever remember falling anywhere before except off my pony at eight years old. My little dog thought it was great fun, wagging his tail and running round me, thinking it was all a game to have his mummy on his level! Grazed my knee! Limping now.
Thinking of Nonnie, Dawn, Grandmafrench, Rafichagran, Joce, Doodle, Salsa Mr Cooper is a handsome boy, Nanny, Lizzy thank you for the quote (I am trying to remember everyone!). Hoping you all have a peaceful night and sleep well xxx

My dear mother had a terrible time as a child. She lost her mum at 9 and had to look after the rest of the family in poor conditions. I have never met anyone more loving and caring to all. She was the most caring person and I never heard her say a bad word about anyone. Sometimes it is hard when others seem to have it so easy but life is not always as it seems.
Just be grateful for what you have that’s good. Good friends count for a lot - nice to have the ‘gang’ with me ? x

Lavenderzen bless you hope you are ok, you will feel it more tomorrow.. hope you have not done any thing too bad to yourself...
doodle my friends mum was the same she lost her mum when she was 8 lived with her grandmother till her sister got to 18
When grandmother died she also had a very hard poor life, Never said a wrong word to or about any one... and she always used to say I wouldn’t change one thing in my life. I have had a happy life... she was beautiful inside and out, one very very special lady...
take care Doodle you seem to be so sad... x