Wednesday, December 18, 2013

New dawn

….or that’s what it feels like. After years of deteriorating sight and six weeks of post-operative caution, I've been cut loose to get on with my life. New glasses here I come! I've also proved to myself that I can still touch my toes and am now gearing up for the last-minute preparations before we head off to Yorkshire on Sunday to spend Christmas with DD and her family.



So it’s out with the baking apron and the festive wrapping paper and even a few decorations, to the accompaniment of some seasonal music. I wish I could organise as successfully as this….




39 comments:

  1. Loved the video. Have a lovely time with your DD and family in Yorkshire. Happy Christmas from Molly x

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    1. Thanks, Molly, a good time is ensured. The video is brilliant, isn't it? I loved watching the faces. :-)

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  2. Great news - does that mean you can drive as well now? Have a joyful and blessed Feast of the Nativity - love to you both. By the way, both BH's daughters are now with us, having on Sunday announced by e-mail their imminent arrival on Wednesday! Panic stations all round, but they'll have to help with decorations etc. It's lovely to have them, anyway.

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    1. Thanks, helva and the same to you both. Sadly driving is still out until I get new glasses, as my long-distance vision isn't quite at the legal standard. We're looking forward very much to seeing our two and their families, just as you're enjoying your time with BH's daughters. ;-)

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  3. Hari Om
    OMW super shots and most wonderful video.... Thank you and so so glad you can now get the very best from the season! Hugs, YAM xx

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    1. Thanks, Yam. Sunday's dawn was just spectacular, so I snapped it from indoors in my pyjamas. The flash mob is such fun. What I'm really enjoying at the moment is freedom of movement without having to be careful about bending and lifting. :-)

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  4. I love your clever illustration of the 'before' and 'after' shots of the same view. So glad the op was so successful.
    Thoroughly enjoyed the video too. the best flash mob one so far.
    X

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    1. Thanks, Ray. It was quite unintentional at the time. Two shots of the same dawn a few minutes apart and through different windows, but the effect is just as you describe. :-) I thought the flash mob was particularly enjoyable and so well organised and choreographed.

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  5. So glad that everything is fine with your eyes. That 2nd picture is beautiful. I am amazed at the flash mobs I've seen. Enjoy your baking and wrapping and time with DD. Blessings.

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    1. Thanks, Bonnie. You know from experience how patient we have to be, but the wait has been worth it. Glad you enjoyed the snaps and the flash mob. Now to get down to the fun things....

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  6. Love the video! But am happiest to hear about your continuing recovery from eye surgery and the whole new vistas open to you! Happy holidays!

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    1. Thanks, Kathy. I thought the video was terrific - so vibrant and happy. It really matches my mood at the moment. :-)

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  7. This must really put you in celebratory mood...good sight and freedom of movement.
    I did enjoy the flash mob and then thought - a school of management, sausage machine for the methods which have ruined our working society.
    I hope these young people will remember this event, when they organised something both worthwhile and joyous, and organise something worthy in their future careers.

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    1. I feel so amazingly re-energised, Helen, and very grateful too. Glad you enjoyed the super flash mob. Interestingly it took place at the school of management, but wasn't organised by its students. If you look at the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH8FvERQHtM you'll see that it was organised by the university's school of music FOR the students at the school of management. Perhaps they wanted to shake up their thinking. :-)

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  8. What a joyful way to deck the halls, Perpetua. I often wonder what I would do if I came upon a flash mob such as this. Adding to this joy is the news that you have been "cut loose". Enjoy your newfound freedom and vision, and your trip to Yorkshire and family. Can't wait to hear about it, and your new glasses as well.

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    1. It's such fun,, Penny. I think I'd be as intrigued and then delighted as those young students who had their day interrupted so enjoyably. however, flash mobs being thin on the ground in my rural life, I guess I'll never know. Mind you, the way I feel at the moment I could join in and be part of the one we just saw - all that bending and stretching. :-) The new fglasses will have to wait until the New Year, but the trip is almost upon us!

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  9. I am so happy to hear that you have been given the green light to get on with your life post-op. Merry Christmas - what a gift!
    The flash mob is great - I'd love to encounter such a beautiful scene.

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    1. It feels wonderful and I'm truly in festive mood now. You're right - I couldn't have a better gift. As for the flash mob, I came across it in a search on YouTube for "Deck The Halls" and thought it was perfect. I too would love to experience one.

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  10. Stunning photos, Perpetua and all the more beautiful because you can see them better than before. I'm impressed you can still touch your toes - although this has immediately reminded my of my irrepressible great grandma, who could - and demonstrated often - that she could still touch hers at 89!
    Your joy at being free to enjoy your new sight is only just contained and I'm delighted it's all gone well for you. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with family, Perpetua. Axxx

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    1. Thanks, Annie. It was a stunning dawn and I just had to capture it, even through a slightly misty window for the second one. Touching my toes is my party piece, especially as I'm not exactly sylphlike nowadays. DS teases me that it's because I have short legs - my fingertips are nearer the floor. :-) Actually it's a good thing I CAN bend as my creaking knees really don't enjoy kneeling any more.

      I'm really bubbling over now I can do everything again. DH is watching me patiently and waiting for me to calm down. With Christmas and ther family just around the corner there's no chance of that yet. :-)

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  11. What a lovely Christmas present, enjoy your new vision.

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    1. Thanks, BtoB, I'm doing exactly that. This will be a very special Christmas.

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  12. YAY for freedom and vision! Great to hear you can enjoy Christmas properly this year.

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    1. Thanks, Sarah. I'm going around the place with a great big grin on my face and really looking forward to Christmas. :-)

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  13. What a delightful post, Perpetua, and your happiness shines through. Gorgeous photos of the dawn, and a cracker of a Flash Mob - I'd love to encounter one of them one day too! It is lovely to hear all is well and the new glasses will be coming very soon. Have a perfectly wonderful time in Yorkshire with the family, and I wish you all the Joys and Blessings of Christmas.

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    1. Thanks, Patricia. There's no doubt it will be a very happy and contented one for me this year. I was so glad I caught that dawn. It was so spectacular and the flash mob was a lucky find too. I'm quite happy to wait a little longer for the new glasses, as my eyes are still adapting. DH has got quite used to being my chauffeur and won't mind carrying on for a while. :-)

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  14. Dearest Perpetua..
    Those photos are stunning. A painting even.
    I wish you a good trip on sunday to your DD... to your family.. take care.
    wishing you a joyous christmas..with lots of love all together.
    I send you an extra big hug..for all your kind help through this year.
    God bless.. with love
    Happy Christmas
    val xxx

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    1. Thanks, Val. I was happy to be able to help and it's lovely to have you back blogging. The sky was quite extraordinary that morning and I was very pleased at how well my photos turned out. We decided to travel to DD's on Sunday in the hope that the traffic will be lighter. As it turns out the weather should be better too, a lull between two more stormy periods. it looks like being a wet and windy, not a white Christmas, but that womn't stop us enjoying it.

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  15. Wonderful photos of the dawn Perpetua, even allowing for the slightly misty window in the second one :-) And by the sound of things, they'll be no holding you back once you get your new glasses in the New Year!

    Have a safe journey to Yorkshire to DD, & I presume, onwards afterwards to Oxford to visit DS. Wishing you a joyful & blessed Christmas.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the flash mob video of 'Deck the halls'. Interestingly, the saxophonist at the beginning, starts by playing a melody from Antonín Dvořák's 'New World Symphony'. I noticed the Czech connection :-) And in view of the change of meaning of words, I was surprised that we still got 'Don we now our gay apparel'!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the photos, Ricky. The 'mist' was condensation which gathers on the outside of our new windows during a cold night. Unfortunately it can make early morning photography a but tricky. :-)

      We'll be visiting DS in Oxford too, but not straight away. We're coming back home from Yorkshire for a couple of days and then heading across on New Year's Day to stay on for Grandson'#3's birthday on Epiphany.

      I thought the flash mob was one of the best I've seen. I loved the way the saxophonist segued gently from the New World theme into the carol. it as good to hear the original words too. I think we need to hold onto the old meaning of gay as well as acknowledging the new, or a lot of older poetry and song will cease to make sense.

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  16. I bet you can't wait to get those new glasses! I love flash mobs, I find them quite moving. Did you see the Mandela tribute flash mob in a South African supermarket? So lovely.

    Have a great Christmas with your family Perpetua...with much love xxx

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    1. Thanks, Ayak. I'll be getting them as soon as possible in the New Year, so that I can finally get out and drive again. Glad you enjoyed the flash mob. I love them too and must now go and hunt down the Mandela tribute one.

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  17. That is wonderful news about your eyesight. I hope you have a lovely, peaceful holiday with your daughter and family.

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer, I know we will. My consultant was very pleased with the result of his skill and I'm over the moon. :-)

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  18. Great news about your eyesight, so pleased for you. And that is one of the loveliest flash-mob performances I've seen/heard.

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    1. We're so pleased and relieved that a tricky operation turned out so well. The flash mob is beautifully done and must have taken a lot of planning and rehearsal. I bet it was fun to do. :-)

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  19. Such a joyful flashmob! Thank you for sharing it, we are both smiling now. By the way, the very moving Mandela tribute can be found here: http://za.news.yahoo.com/watch--the-most-touching-mandela-tribute-came-from-the-least-expected-place-070947330.html

    So pleased to hear that your vision is restored, and impressed by the toe-touching! I wish you a safe journey and a very merry (another lovely old word) Christmas.

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    1. Thanks, DB. Joyful is the prefect word to describe it. Those music students put so much energy into their performance. DH's favourite bit was the security guard who took centre-stage. :-) Thanks for the link to the Mandela tribute, which I shall watch forthwith.

      We are both delighted at the way my vision has continued to improve. It has made such a difference! The toe-touching is my one party-trick as I'm the least sporty person you could wish to meet. Yes, merry is another word we need to reclaim, as its meaning is too often restricted to drink taken.

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    2. PS Unfortunately the video on your link is no longer live, but I found it on YouTube at:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHjP7XrBq0

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