And she's back!

After a long period of absence the Monkey lady is back! Thank you for bearing with me dear reader. I have not been a well Monkey for some period of time. Depression, like many mental health conditions, creeps up on you without you really realising that things are getting worse until, suddenly, even waking up is a chore that requires a strength of will equal to climbing Everest whilst carrying a portly Shetland pony. Still, some new pain medication for my physical problems has had a knock on effect of raising my spirits & energy levels...and so here I am, back & not defeated! The addition of some spring like weather has certainly helped! The daffodils are in bloom and my newly sown seeds are sprouting through their compost.

And so, a little catch up is required, me thinks. This is also a chance to do a little review of the past year as I have been up to so much.

There are a couple of new additions to the Monkey house; Isabel  & Sebastian. They are beautiful, tabby kittens; brother & sister. They are playful, affectionate and gentle. Perfect additions to our little home (read big, drafty hovel) and yet more evidence of Ms Monkey's inevitable decline into mad cat lady hood. These small balls of cuteness are a source of perfect amusement & comfort. Eldest son, Gee, has decided that Isabel is his...although his interest extends to a quick cuddle before shooing her in my direction. The extent of his affection does not extend to feeding or cat litter duty! Dude adores the kittens, although they do not compare to his beloved Jake (who has now gained the moniker 'The Big, Black, Fluff Ball of Malevolence, owing to his bad tempered demeanour . However, he is a little rough with them, which means that they generally avoid him where possible. They generally spend their evenings curled up on my lap. As they are now a few months old and gaining in size, although they will always be somewhat diminutive  I suspect, this is becoming a little uncomfortable. Still, they provide an additional supply of free heating in the evenings, although their interest in my knitting is a little tiresome! I won't say that the other cats have welcomed them into their midst, but a level of bemused tolerance exists, which I am more than happy with. Only poor old Po has been directly affected as he has been ousted from his seat by the radiator. He has always been a timid chap, so has been far to polite to point out their little indiscretion...he has now moved to the top of the bookcase, which now results in a shower of fluff and dander, whenever I pull out a recipe book...I think he may find that access to his post may return with the advent of sunny weather.

If that isn't an Aw moment, I don't know what is!

Dude has been having a troubled time at school lately. His autism means that everything is very black and white and this particularly applies to rules. If any of his peers commits a transgression Dude feels obliged to make a report. This has led to him being labelled a 'tell tale' and 'grass.' Subsequently, he has been on the end of some pretty nasty behaviour  Still, things are starting to move in the support area thanks to the involvement of Parent Partnership. The first multi-agency meeting (TAC) has taken place and although I am glad to see things moving along, I am still not convinced that he is going to receive appropriate support...a case of wait & see at the moment. Hmmm....

As usual, the past year has been peppered with its usual dusting of calamities. The culmination of which has been the usual festive disaster trio...first the broadband slowed to a trickle the week before Chrimbo. Not so much of an issue for me as I could still access e-mail and Amazon (I am typing this on the 3G of my phone), but for teenage son with a shiny new copy of Black Ops, it was the end of the world. Then, during the awful storms, just before chrimbo, the leak in the kitchen roof became a waterfall...but not the picturesque kind. The piece de la resistance happened on Chrimble day itself, when the oven element died half way through cooking the big feast. Grilled turkey anyone? Unfortunately I do not have the financial wherewithal to fix any of these 'little' problems at the moment...and, to add insult to injury, the tumble dryer is making wonkey noises & it's the MOT next month...hey ho!

Any old hoo...I promised you a review of the year and so here it is. In pictures...because pictures say a thousand words and with our Internet speed, it will take as long to upload a picture as type them!

There has been quite a lot of THIS this year...yes Ms Monkey has been privileged enough to see The Damned THREE times!

Warrington, May 2012

Ms Monkey has been lucky enough to make some fabulous friends via Twitter, who all share a passion for this wonderful bunch of old punks. The Twitter #damnedclub all met up in Warrington, a blisteringly cold town oop north, and shared a beer or two while enjoying the fabulous tunes and general silliness that is The Damned. As you know, Ms Monkey has a bit of a crush on Mr Vanian and it was wonderful to see that he still has it...albeit with slightly looser fitting trousers! In June the band came to Falmouth, just down the road as twere and Ms Monkey got to sit right at the front! Heaven! And in December there was Bristol, where once again #damnedclub reconvened and Ms Monkey got frostbite because of over enthusiastic air conditioning! Ms Monkey didn't get to meet Mr Vanian this year, although The Captain's private rendition of 'Happy Talk' outside the stage door at Bristol more than made up for it!

Reach out and touch me! I was that close...OK, maybe a bit of zoom.

I also got to go here twice, but sadly not for the members party, as rain stopped play...a lot of rain!

River Cottage...not under a foot of water, may it remain so!

So no Hugh this year...no celebs at all but I did get to converse with Rufus Hound, Marcus Brigstock and Mark Diacano, albeit on Twitter. And then there was the famous Usain Bolt re-tweet, which leads me onto:

Teenage son strikes the pose of 2012 (not the Mobot), later re-tweeted across the globe by Usain Bolt

Yes, great fun was had by all at WOMAD. As I spend a great deal of time in a wheelchair I found that the festival was really well thought out for the disabled visitor. It would be interesting to see how they coped with a wet, rainy year....actually, it wouldn't! May the sun always shine on WOMAD! Not going this year, I still have to pay Ms Raven and Mike back for last year's! Still, Dude enjoyed it. Which for a lad with sensory overload problems was a fantastic result. Besides, Ms Monkey discovered the wonderful Correspondents there...I would really like to see them again!

Uncle Mike and Dude up to some festival horse play

Ms Monkey also went to see ABBA this year...well, almost! Ms Monkey and Mrs McGregor went to see Bjorn Again in Falmouth....did we dress up? Of course we did! And we sang along!

There weren't many opportunities to get out and about this year, so this was definitely the year of the cocktail...quite a few were consumed!


Strawberry Daiquiri...don't mind if I do 

To finish the year off, the delightful Mr Payer popped down for a visit; to help fix a few bits on the house and to flirt outrageously with Mrs McGregor...I hasten to add that Mrs McGregor is now a 'single lady' and so no impropriety occurred.  Whilst Mr Payer was here, I had the pleasure of introducing him to the marvellous Tehidy Woods. A wood filled with some of the most beautiful trees one can imagine and Mr Payer is a child of nature...Twas like being with a child on Christmas morn!

Mr Payer communes with one of nature's giants!

And of course, Ms Monkey gave up smoking...still ciggie free five months later! Although you will have to prise my e-ciggie from my cold, dead hands! I am not ready to give up that emotional crutch just yet! And so to finish, here is a fabulous picture of hundreds of Santas parading through our local town...the boy's school did a sponsored Santa walk, as you do!

A small section of Santas...now you know how he gets to be everywhere at once!