This...

Random picture of some nice ducklings at work

This...is why I've been such a crappy blogger, blog reader and especially blog commenter over the last couple of months.

This...is why I had a week or so of feeling (and being) pretty darn sick back in May (and couldn't complete BEDM).

And this...is part of (but not the only) reason why we bought ourselves a new car.


This is Findus*.

Travel back in time to 1st May 2014 and I was having an egg collection operation as part of our second IVF (ICSI) treatment. They collected 10 eggs on that occasion and 8 of them fertilised overnight. By the 6th May 2014, two of the little embryos were looking really good; one of them was transferred to me there and then (which sadly wasn't successful); the other plunged into a freezer at -196°C to be stored ready for us to use at a later date.

That later date was originally September and I started taking the medication in August last year. The transfer date was all set for 19th September and then what did I do on 18th September? Fell off my own doorstep and spectacularly fractured my ankle, that's what.

Fast forward 6 months from September (the length of time the orthopaedic consultant specified I had to wait for everything to heal) and I started taking the medication again in March.

Exactly 1 year to the day, on 1st May 2015 that frozen embryo was defrosted and transferred. Two weeks later, for the first time in 3 and half years, we actually saw those two little lines on a pregnancy test.



Today is 12 weeks and 4 days and in theory (keeping everything it's possible to cross, crossed) Findus should be joining us in January.

At the moment, it's about 25% excitement, 25% disbelief and 50% 'oh-my-god-I-can't-get-too-excited-because-I'll-jinx-it-but-what-if-I-don't-believe-in-it-surely-that'll-jinx-it-too?' thoughts. We've had three scans so far - two early ones at the fertility clinic and one normal 12 week one at the local hospital (which strangely, was done at 10 weeks and 5 days). All the medical people seem to have a hundred times more confidence than I do; what's going through my mind all the time is "my body hasn't worked properly for the last 3 and half years so what on earth makes everyone think it's going to work now?"

I'm hoping all those thoughts are fairly normal though.

*Obviously we're not going to put 'Findus' on the birth certificate but we did think it was rather appropriate for a little one who spent a year in the freezer.

A Photo Every Hour - Saturday 20th June

I'm a week late with this month's photo an hour post (and a whole month late with May's but we won't go there...) - I meant to have this published last Tuesday!

Anyway, the short story is for July's photo an hour date I've chosen Saturday 18th July - let's hope the mini heatwave lasts til then and we can have lots of sunny beach and BBQ themed pictures!


The long story is here's how my day panned out...


9am - It was Andrew's turn to cook breakfast and he didn't do too badly.

10am - Andrew had taken the lorry out to a local event but I stayed home for a bit and tried to get on with sorting out the 136 dresses I'd dug out of my wardrobe.

11am - Time for a spot of tea and cake.

12pm - I remembered that I still hadn't unpacked the previous night's American candy bargains from B&M.

1pm - Off to catch the bus to the other side of town to meet Andrew for lunch.

2pm - Andrew had taken his lorry to the local heritage railway station and they'd laid on a vintage-style lunch in their buffet carriage.

3pm - Off for a walk around the station.

4pm - Still at the station with Andrew's lorry, watching the last few punters drift away.

5pm - I was back home and started undoing the cards for both my dad and Andrew's dad ready for father's day on the Sunday.

6pm - The current project was this little stuffed dog which came free as a kit on the cover of Knit Now magazine.

7pm - Still knitting but the wool's getting a bit tangled.

8pm - Gave up with the knitting to take the new car out for a spin in the lovely evening light.

9pm - Andrew's choice of driving music!

10pm - Back home and everyone needs a bit of Gavin and Stacey before bed!

16 lovely people took part this month!

Jane from Is That Your Darling joined in on Instagram and Twitter
Susie from Second Hand Susie joined in on her blog
Bev from Confuzzledom joined in on her blog
Lizzie from Lizzie Dripping joined in on Instagram and her blog
Janet from Words That Can Only Be Your Own joined in on Instagram and on her blog
Kerri from Crumbs in the Bed joined in on Instagram, Twitter and on her blog
Sarah from The V Nice Life joined in on Instagram and on her blog
Rebecca from Writing, Fatshion, Me joined in on Instagram and on Twitter
Rebecca from Futures joined in on Instagram, Twitter and on her blog
Rebecca from Just Me joined in on Instagram
Laura joined in on Instagram
Dan joined in on Instagram
Liz from Distract Me Now Please joined in on Sunday on Instagram
Siobhan joined in on Sunday on Instagram
Jennifer from Adventures in Pop Culture joined in on Sunday on Twitter
And of course, myself here on this post, plus on Instagram and on Twitter :-)

 

 

I hope I've managed to include everyone but give me a shout if you took part and I haven't included you. See you next month!

 

Also, check out what I was up to in...

June 2014

Life Lately at the Duckpond

Howdy, long time no blog it seems! You know when you get ill and then life gets hectic and then time just seems to run away with you (#bloggerclichealert - how is it July next week?) - well, yeah, that.


So life lately's included...

• being ill and ending up with a week off work, which of course under any other circumstances would be great but spending a week sleeping and feeling sick wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

• quite a good while afterwards still feeling tired and just "not quite right".

• taking Andrew's lorry out to Selwood Steam Rally for the late May bank holiday weekend.

 

• celebrating the wedding of two friends at their evening do (they had their big day with family on holiday in Cyprus!)

 

• knitting a stuffed dog called Fudge which came as a free kit on the front of Knit Now magazine.

 

• seeing comedian Tommy Tiernan at Wells Comedy Festival.

 

• seeing another funnyman, Rich Hall in Salisbury (a gig which I saw Eileen (on her blog) went to as well - one day, we really must meet up!)

• spending a weekend at our local heritage railway station where they were having a wartime-themed weekend and asked Andrew to take his lorry (even though technically it was built in 1952...)

 

• getting out the old-fashioned candles during a mini (30 mins) blackout in our local area one evening.

 

• packing in our ancient LoveFilm DVD subscription and joining the modern age of Netflix (tell me, what should I watch first?)

• introducing the ladies in my office to the Only Connect connecting wall game online - resulting in a substantial reduction in the amount of actual work completed over the last few weeks.

• spending one lunch hour online browsing and then buying some wool (to make a dinosaur with). Does that make me a grown up?

• really enjoying 'No Offence' on C4 - it seems to have been a bit lost in all the TV mags and reviews but it's actually really good.

• buying tickets for the shows we want to see at Edinburgh Fringe in August. This year we're there for 7 days and I've managed to shoehorn 30 shows into our schedule.

 

• getting severely behind in blogging (Really? You hadn't guessed?). My drafts folder still has stuff from our Easter holiday in it and owe Bon Marche a sponsored post which is already incredibly late.

• and buying a new car! Our good old Citroen C3 was getting a bit life expired (we'd had it 8 years) so we traded it in for a slightly bigger and newer car. I'm most impressed with the fact that in the new one I can plug my phone in and the music plays directly!

So...tell me all, what have I missed?

This Weekend at the Duckpond

We have mostly been...


Day-tripping - to Salisbury, somewhere that's really not that far away (about an hour) but we just don't seem to visit it. Andrew wanted to spend his weekend painting and polishing his lorry (ready for Selwood Steam Rally in Wiltshire the following weekend) and we had a bit of spare leave from work so we had a day out and strolled around.

Knitting - a little something for a really good (elephant-loving) friend who's going through a bit of a challenging time at the moment. Hopefully it'll bring her some much needed luck over the next few weeks.

Wrapping - up a little gift for my cousin who had a gorgeous baby girl a few weeks ago. We didn't want to get anything that would be too much like clutter so we picked a blanket and some dribble bibs plus a £10 Boots voucher (which could be used for baby or parent) and also three bars of Galaxy as a 'well done' present for the worn-out mum!

Realising - that I've well and truly stuffed up Blog Every Day in May this year round. It's been a bit busy over the last couple of weeks and I've been knackered - ah well, there's always next year!


What did you get up to at the weekend?

This Weekend at the Duckpond

We have mostly been...


Travelling - over to Pinkneys Green near Maidenhead to visit Carters Steam Fair. Even though they travel around the south of England and we visit them in other places, this weekend they're joined by extra steam engines and it's a lovely day out plus a chance to catch up with various people.

Munching - on the usual fairground fodder - donuts!

Treating - ourselves to the ultimate accessory to any long car journey, a pack of M&S Percy Pigs!

What did you get up to at the weekend?

Here Is The News #42 (#BEDM Day 6)

Blogland Brilliance

Shazza visited Skipton Waterway Festival (and I'm just a little bit jealous of her jammie dodger milkshake drink - at least I think it's a milkshake!)

Kerri's take on last month's photo an hour challenge is well, typically Kerri - very clever and very funny.

Zoe showed everyone how to make a quick and simple bird feeder.

I love Elise's sheep hat - I reckon Shaun would be chuffed to be immortalised that way!

Chloe visited York's Chocolate Story and got the chance to make her own chocolate lollies (plus her hot chocolate looks delicious!)

And possibly the best post of the week, Danielle's shots of Jemima Puddleduck and her brood - I mean, who can resist stunning shots of fluffy little ducklings?



Interesting Info

A very British story methinks - one man has morris-danced his way from London to Norwich, recreating a journey undertaken by Shakespeare's clown in 1600.

This circus couple had their marriage ceremony on high wires 80ft in the air above Wookey Hole Gorge. There's a short video of the ceremony which you should watch - it's lovely!

 

What's new with you?

(This post is day 6 of Rosalilium's Blog Every Day in May challenge - after sticking to the topics for the last couple of years, this year I'm going off piste)

This (Long) Weekend at the Duckpond (#BEDM Day 5)

We have mostly been...


Being - pretty lazy really, with just a bit of gardening and housework done in amongst listening to podcasts and watching some TV programmes.


Spotting - that the apple tree in our back garden (which Andrew gave a serious chop last year) is blossoming very nicely.

Sorting - out my shoe collection which (rather embarrassingly) amounted to 60 pairs. I really didn't realise I owned quite that many. After breaking my ankle last year though, one thing I can't do now is wear high heels so after eliminating those ones and a few others, I managed to whittle it down to 47 pairs - which is still an obscene amount to own, I know.

What did you get up to over the bank holiday weekend?
 

(This post is day 5 of Rosalilium's Blog Every Day in May challenge - after sticking to the topics for the last couple of years, this year I'm going off piste)