Z is for Zygote

 

Don't you just love the idea that each one of us was once a single celled organism. Each one of my lovely children were once a zygote, even my twins, who are di-zygotic, having been formed from two separate ova. It feels like an astounding process to go from this to a fully fledged adult. 

I love this photo, taken at my parents 60th wedding anniversary party, and I am filled with warm contentment and gratitude that they made it over the major hurdles and have grown into such wonderful human beings. A couple of weeks ago I read this article in the Guardian, by a woman describing how she handles the fact that she is no longer central to her son's life, it affected me quite sharply. You spend many years nurturing and caring for them, with the intention of making yourself redundant, but it still comes as a bit of a shock when it happens. Monkey's recent departure for the other side of the world feels as if it has marked a moment when my job is done. 

Linking back to the A to Z Challenge.

Stay safe. Be kind. Let them go.

Y is for Yak (Lucy and)

I don't very often gush about clothes; over the years I have had long periods of not buying new stuff at all, and in fact some of my favourite things are very ancient. Wearing a uniform for work and then gym clothes to the gym often doesn't leave me much time for wearing other clothes. But I have gone a bit crazy over Lucy and Yak. They are a fair trade, ethically conscious company that ploughs some profits back into charities and organisations that they support. I have always been a dungaree lover and these are the most comfy dungarees ever. And Claire has some too because my niece Natalie, another dungaree lover, bought her some, so now she is a convert too. 

She has gone home again now but in a couple of days we have turned my messy yard:

into a beautiful tidy yard, with lots of potential to add things and just sit and watch it all grow:

Stay safe. Be kind. Wear some dungarees.

X is for X-Ray

Mammograms are not fun, they are just something you do to protect yourself. I went last week and this letter arrived yesterday. Being told that you don't have breast cancer is definitely a cause for joy. Mammograms are a double edged sword however as they can also diagnose cancers that would never spread and are not life threatening. A proportion of women diagnosed thus will be treated for cancers that would never have done them harm. When I got my mammogram invite I also received an invite to join some research into breast cancer screening. Currently all women between 50 and 70 are screened routinely every three years. The research is looking into the idea of screening based on risk factors rather than treating all women the same, so some women will be screened more, some less. I have been allocated to the "risk-stratified breast cancer screening" group and will be having a DNA test and an interview to assess my cancer risk. So we will wait and see what the future holds for me and my boobs.

Stay safe. Be kind. Get screened.

W is for Watson (Rebecca)

If you have never come across Skepchick it is certainly worth perusing if you are at all interested in having a questioning approach to life, the universe and everything. Her videos have been a source of reassurance for me that there are still people out there who want to understand the world, not just believe the crap that is fed to them. She pretty much propped me up single handed through the previous American administration. She delights in picking apart the meaningless waffle that politicians spout, and debunking outrageous claims in the media. I particularly enjoyed this one last week. Sometimes my jaw just drops to discover the weird stuff that people will believe, and more importantly spend their hard earned cash on. It takes all sorts to make a world as they say, but it only takes one Rebecca Watson to put you straight. 

Stay safe. Be kind. Don't believe everything you see in the interweb.

U V is for Unexpected Visitors

 

I am cheating again today because the visit from my sister Claire was not unexpected, but visits always bring me joy. It's lovely when people just pop round unexpectedly and lovely when you have the pleasure of antici ... pation of a visit. Today we have been for a little walk around the Marie Louise Gardens, a tiny gem of a green space in south Didsbury. It had this delightful and clever sundial, partly created by local schoolchildren. It works by standing on the month that you are in (in the figure of 8 symbol in the centre) and then your shadow will cast showing the time (with both GMT and BST in separate rows) (sadly it was cloudy this morning, so we had no idea of the time):

p.s. the first egg has been laid at Loch Arkaig

Stay safe. Be kind. Stand in the sun.

T is for Trees

I am an unashamed tree-hugger. What's not to love about trees? They are just all round fantastic. They suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turn it into wood, and make oxygen in the process. They cool urban streets just by being there. So here is a blog post with love for the trees in my life. 

At the top, the lovely tree in the park at the end of our road. It is framed so beautifully by the street and when I ride home from work every day I watch its changing nature as the seasons pass. This one was taken a couple of weeks ago just as it was coming into leaf.

Below is a photo I took last week when I went out to do some delivery; spotted in a garden on Parsonage road, the magnolia and cherry blossom were all mixed up together and it was just delightful.

My longest standing tree friend, one of many avocado trees I have grown in recent years. They don't get very big at the moment but our cunning plan is to anticipate global climate change allowing them to fruit in a future British climate and to have our own supply one day:

I started planting acorns a couple of years ago and now I have a mini forest. When they are a bit more sturdy, probably another year or so, I will find somewhere to plant them out:

There is mostly concrete in my yard but you can get fruit trees on dwarf rootstock so I have my plum tree (two years old now):

and, added last autumn, a crab apple (it still looks pretty much like a twig, but there are leaves peeping through slowly):

Stay safe. Be kind. Hug a tree.

S is for Savage Chickens

Savage Chickens have been giving me huge joy for many years now. It is lovely when you find someone who has just the most surreal sense of humour, and every time a new comic arrives in my feed I know it's going to make me smile. The chickens are the most regular characters but he has all kinds of creatures, and even inanimate objects, that have very random and unexpected thoughts.

Linking back to the A to Z Challenge.

Stay safe. Be kind. Hug a slug.