Hello Hello! It has been some time since our last Blog Post and where do I start? So much has happened in every aspect of our lives.
Our new store finally opened in October last year and it feels like a blink of an eye but its been 6 months!! Where did that time go? We are still settling in and finding that we are busier now so we need to bring in more people for our team. More on that later though. Next blog I promise we will be introducing everyone to you so that when you come in or give us a call you will know who you are speaking to.
A pic of me with my two daughters Laura & Georgia when we opened the store 🤍🤍🤍
Mothers Day is just around the corner and whether you are a mum yourself or not, this day will touch you in some way. It’s a time to stop and reflect and appreciate your own mum and also to let your own family appreciate you and what you give each and every day to their lives.
This day is about holding your mum close and showing her how much you appreciate and love her. Her unconditional love is like nothing else you will ever experience. So truly celebrate them this Sunday 8th May (just a little reminder haha!).
Celebrate the women who pick you up every time you fall, who sit and listen with an open heart, who’s shoulder you always can rely upon to cry on and who still worry and hurt for you even long after you have grown and left home?
This day is a mixed bag for so many people. It’s a day that brings celebration, pride, love, happiness, joy and sometimes sadness. Sadness for those who have been lost to us and we have only their memory to keep us company on Sunday. Joy and happiness for those women experiencing the first flush of motherhood with their young children and babies. Pride for those of us who have teenagers and young adults who are forging their own careers and pathways to adulthood. Celebration because even amongst the over marketing of this day, it is still a special day carved out amongst 365 to Stop and truly appreciate the special women in your life. To truly celebrate them and take the time to show your appreciation for what they do and how they have enriched your life.
I love love Mothers Day! I have a large family so it's usually a morning of going for breakfast and spending the day with my young adult children and perhaps their partners…. Maybe, maybe not. I am happy to go along with whatever is easy for them but I do know that whatever they choose to do it is always with 100% enthusiasm. I am blessed to have children who all want to spend time with us and it has been my greatest gift to have them all living in the same town (so far, fingers crossed!) Realistically, this might not be the case in the future so this year I send a prayer of thanks.
Our gorgeous kids…..not kids any longer… but always our babies 😉
I will be remembering Peters mum Rosie. She has been gone from us now for three years and we miss her every single day. Sometimes it just hits you so hard it is overwhelming. I will always be grateful for the love she brought to my life and how she showed me through every action of what it meant to be a good mum. One thing that I always remember about Rosie is each time we would go over to see her she would be standing out the front waiting for us. The kids would pile out and all receive hugs with great enthusiasm and lots of laughter but then I would always stop and watch her with Peter. Each and every time she would put her arms around him and in that moment I would see her close her eyes and just “be” in the moment. It never changed and I am sure no one else ever noticed it …. But I did, and I hope that I never forget that lesson of just “being in the moment”- to truly appreciating the love of your children.
A pic of Rosie….
A pic of Rosie with her youngest grandchild Harry. The love she had for these kids was endless and the best legacy she could have ever left them.
This year is also a special year as my own mum will be joining us. She travels to be here this year with us and I am hoping it will be one of our best. She is 80 this year and it's hard to believe because I still think of her as a force to be reckoned with. She has always been this strong, energetic woman whom I am a little bit afraid of and a little bit in awe of. She is still an enigma to me. When I went to see her in hospital last year she said to me “Megan you don’t know me as an adult”. I have thought on that, and even though it's an uncomfortable thing to admit…. It is true.
We don’t have the same relationship as what I have with my children. It’s not as open and as easy as the relationship I have with my daughters. I don’t mean to say there isn’t respect and love there. There certainly is. She has given me a foundation that I am forever grateful for. She has taught me so many things that just come out of the blue…..crazy random things. For instance, I am not a big gardener… as my poor pitiful garden can attest to (been a bit busy)…. But I can weirdly tell you the names of so many plants!! Where did that come from? Mum. That’s where. I can tell you that this fabric is such and such and how to take care of it. I can tell you that this design of dress is going to suit me even without trying it on. I can do a renovation on a building and decorate the whole project without a blink of an eye. I can have thirty people turn up at the last minute and have a meal on the table in less than an hour to feed them. Where did that come from? Yes!! You guessed it. Mum. She can do all those things and more. I am telling you she is a force to be reckoned with and I am her daughter….
At some point in your life though, I feel that you have to let go of all your disappointments and hurts you had growing up. This is the case for me anyway. My childhood was not easy and I think its time to let go of that. To look at Mum through the eyes of an adult and truly learn who she is and how she became the woman she is today. I feel that there is a blossoming of mutual respect there that grows more as we have both aged. This visit I am going to make myself a promise that I am going to “be in the moment” with my mum. I will do her the honour of getting to know her and try to make a connection which i hope will be based on mutual honesty and admiration. She is worth it.
My mum Jan…
For all the women in our lives who have given their love and support to not only their children, but to their partners and friends I raise my glass in a toast to say
“Cheers to all of you! Congratulations on the success of what is no doubt the hardest job description of all time. You are amazing!” ♥️