Two years and counting....

 Henibean is 2 years old today! 
I know I've not been as diligent at writing over the last month... it's been a difficult time... and I haven't felt much like sitting and tapping out my thoughts on the keyboard ....but hey this blog is about balance ... and you have to cut yourself some slack sometimes don't you? 


A lot has happened in the last two year and today I wanted to

Empty chair and an aching heart...

 I woke up this morning after a bad night sleep to what I thought was the hum of the nebuliser down stairs.... 
Had I slept in?  Was Hubby getting Heni ready for the day ahead? Then Boom... reality suddenly hit me with full force, and I was reminded of the past few days ....my heart heavy and aching with the thought that this would never be so again.

On Tuesday morning, after 21 years, two months and 23 days with us here....our angel Heni gained her wings while she was sleeping peacefully. Her time with us on earth was up ....  It was the perfect ending to her perfect little life. She was born at home, she lived and loved at home surrounded by those who  loved her.....and she died here in her own cosy bed.

The Struggle!

I'm now home after a lovely week in the Lake District and back in to catch up mode. I always love to do a few of our favourite walks while we are  up there and take in all the gorgeous scenery. This year we did a few of the usual's.... like Grasmere Lake and Tarn Howes.  We did however add some new ones to the list because we had to stay in the southern lakes due to the road up to Keswick being closed.... it had fallen in to the lake! (caused by all the flooding around Christmas)
We did a lot of Tarn walks....which included Loughrigg tarn, (and here), Blea tarn,  Little Langdale tarn, Moss eccles Tarn (where Beatrix potter loved to go)... and a lovely walk from Wray Castle down by the side of the lake! Some of the walks we took Heni on and others we did on her rest days. We even got to go back to Lucy's again this year for another meal catered to our food intolerances.

On one of the days, we also took a drive up over the hills to Glenridding at the other side of the pass.  To get there you have to go up a 20% gradient road, along narrow stone walled lanes that wind back and forth. The climb covers more than 4.8km of twisting road, cutting through what is a stunning backdrop and the road is aptly named...... its called The Struggle!

Everyone has challenges...a blogging buddy interview.

In four and a bit weeks time I will have been blogging for a year...(Yes it's going to be my blogging birthday on the 28th March!)  and throughout this year I've been linking my posts up to a number of different linkup parties to try extend Henibean's readership and reach.  In February I took up the Solidarity Sister's blog challenge (given out by Susannah over at Simple moments stick... and was paired up with a blogging buddy called Elizabeth, who lives in sunny Florida ....she writes a blog called:- 

Elizabeth had bacterial meningitis when just 16 months old, the outcome  of which was damage to both of her cochlea and subsequent severe hearing loss in both ears. Over the last four weeks we have been getting to know one another, learning from each other and have been sharing hints and tips on how to improve .....and in today's post I have interviewed my new friend, the lovely Elizabeth, to find out how she is learning to live amid challenges as a deaf mom to a hearing child and finding out how she maintains health, sanity, creativity and copes with balancing her busy life.

Making Memories and Traditions - Audley End House

Hubby has been away on a business trip recently and I had a full day of respite organised on the Saturday  of the week he was gone. As usual, I decided to get out of the house and go do something with Daughter Number Two and The Hungry Boy. We love to try out new venues and seeing as we hadn't used our English Heritage cards for a least a month or two, I  decided it was time get them out, dust them off and put them to use again in making some more memories! 
We left Heni at home in the capable hands of Laura and set off on our adventures to..... Audley End house. It is about an hour and a half drive from where we live and so wouldn't have been a natural choice of places to go if Heni was coming with us....plus the fact that it would be a full day out.... long trips tend to takes their toll on her these days. Seeing as it was just the three of us we packed a quick picnic, stuffed it in a cool bag and hopped in the car and headed out...

ITALY AND HOLLAND

A few weeks a go I returned from an amazing six night respite break in Italy with Daughter number 2. We flew to Verona and drove to a beautiful location on the Gardone Riviera at the side of Lake Garda.

When we arrived home and reflected on the trip... it suddenly occurred to me that I HAD BEEN to ITALY!
Now I know that may sound rather strange to some of you having just said that's where I'd just been... but  I'll explain a little more later.....

Book Review- Beyond the Summit by Todd Skinner

We just got back from a weeks break in the Lake district (Cumbria, England) and on the last day before returning home we decided to climb “The Old Man of Coniston”. It's a 3000ft trek up the mountain starting with a nice gentle incline from the lake and ending in a sharp climb up craggy rocks... (we did it on a respite day without Heni of course!)

During the walk/climb/scramble…I was contemplating the journey up the rocky terrain and a book that I had read came in to my mind. 

The Old Man of Coniston... in the background

A signed copy of “Beyond the summit” was given to us from my niece and husband quite a number of years ago. I’d read it, enjoyed it and then forgotten about it until that point.

The book was written by a rock climber, Todd Skinner, who scaled the infamous Trango towers… a 20,500ft vertical mountain in the Himalayas. The book is a recount of his teams story and journey to conquer the tower but within it he gives gems of wisdom gained from the climb and lessons learned along the way.

Ostrich head in the sand- Avoidance tactics.

At The Skansen museum Stockholm, Sweden

 With Easter coming just around the corner I have been thinking about the ostrich egg that I bought from a local farmers shop a few months ago for Christmas breakfast. We blew the contents out, scrambled them up and had a feast to feed 7 adults very easily (probably about 10 portions all in all). I kept the egg safe and have been waiting for an opportunity to do an egg project (I'll show you that a little later). However, it got me thinking about the stereotypical image we have of the ostrich with its head in the sand trying to hide away from its predators. I often feel like acting like that ostrich!

Book Review - The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner

I love to read books related to health, healing, well being and nutrition so when I was recommended The Blue zones recently I thought that I would give it a try. Here is a brief summary of what it's all about.

Dan Buettner (Author and National Geographic Explorer) together with some of the top scientist in the field of longevity traveled around and studied why some people tended to live longer in certain geographical areas in the world.... these areas have been labeled as the "Blue Zones". The areas they researched were Okinawa Japan, Sardinia, Loma Linda California, Costa Rica, and Ikaria Greece. For some reason, each of these regions has a higher than normal density of individuals who have lived to be centenarians.
Dan and his fellow researcher's purpose was to find out why this is the case and to see if they could discover any common factors.

Hello!

Me ...on a "Flat Stanley" adventure! (for those who don't know Flat Stanley... more on that one in a future blog post)

Hello there... and welcome to Henibean!
This is my first ever post on my own blog!  I've read bits from other blogs on my navigation around the web and over the last few months, I've had a gradual kindling of a desire to write one of my own.

"Why a blog?" I hear you say...well, I guess my purpose is in wanting to share some of my thoughts, knowledge, experiences and life adventures with you all.
 I have wondered about what it is that I have to share that is any different from anybody else out there in the ether?  What Will I have to offer? Will it just be the "same old stuff". Guess what? It very well may be....but I hope not!  
However here I am. So let me tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Jade. I'm a wife and mother of four children....one of which has a "life-limiting condition" (more on that one another time). I trained as a Chartered Physiotherapist many moons ago and through the years have done further studies in my "spare time" on massage therapy, life coaching, and Naturopathic Iridology. You could say that I have a thirst for knowledge on anything to do with health, fitness, nutrition, well being and spirituality. 

The motivation for my studies through the years has been to help my family and disabled daughter and also to try to fix my own declining health (due to caring responsibilities over the last 20 years). Now, I am wanting to share with YOU some of the things I've learned and the things I do to stay sane in this challenging stress-filled world! 

My posts will probably be wildly varied. They may range between my daughter's condition (Edwards Syndrome/Trisomy 18), to problems I've either experienced myself (or have treated in other people)... to things I do to de-stress, be healthy and be creative (like the craft room I'm constructing in my eldest sons old bedroom....he moved out and got married recently!) It may also contain some book reviews, a recipe or two and anything that may take my fancy! There may even be the occasional rant! In general, it may consist of ANYTHING  that I've done or learned to try to create balance in my life and that I think may be of benefit to you.  

So who knows what may appear in front of your eyes? Stay tuned and I hope that you will stick with me along the journey. Ultimately, if this blog gives you a bit more confidence and courage in you trials/challenges and a few ideas to stay strong, be healthy, look to a positive future and feel like you are not alone, it will be worth it.

Hope to see you again real soon.

Jx