Post Comment Love 9th - 11th January 2026

Welcome back to #PoCoLo and 2026 with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

Please leave a comment with the host you link up with and we'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter/X tag us and we'll RT. You can find us here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby Please also add our badge to your post.

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

We had a pre Christmas visit from child 2 and family.

We took our granddaughter to the panto and then her dad, mum and baby brother joined us for a christingle service on Christmas Eve, the day itself, then hubby entertained on Boxing Day and I went to the football.

We went to Portsmouth for the New Year and I did a parkrun on New Years Day at Southsea.

All the decorations are down, there's been snow and I'm back in work. It feels like Christmas and the New Year was a long time ago now.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and here's to a prosperous 2026.

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Word of the week - Unrelenting

If you're fed up of hearing about Stephanie.

Fed up of hearing over and over about grief

Hearing yourself saying 'here she goes again'

Sighing and thinking 'what more can I say?'

Then I hear you. You're finding it hard. It is hard to keep being there for someone who is grieving.

I've read the blog posts, I've seen the photos, I've scrolled past. I've not known what to say.

But I've also stopped and paused and lingered and added a heart or a care or a comment or made a connection, because something has tugged at my heart, something has made me think.

It's unrelenting - grieving.

It's become as much, if not more, part of my life as Stephanie was.

I blog about my life, that's what Chickenruby is all about, therefore I blog about my grief. 

I don't mind if you can't comment, because you don't know what to say, that's ok. I don't know how I'm going to feel, how I'm going to react.

I blog about grieving because we all experience grief.

We celebrate a pregnancy and a birth, we celebrate the milestones, we share the achievements. 

We relate, we imagine how wonderful these experiences are if we haven't reached those milestones.

No matter how hard you try to put yourself in someone else's shoes though you can never replicate the experience, the feeling, the elation and the joy, because everyone's experience is different.

It's the same with grief.

The lead up to Christmas is agonising. Not being able to buy the card, the gifts, not being able to drop off the advent calendar. This is the week all this would have been done. It's noticeable we're not doing it. It's the 2nd Christmas without Stephanie. It's not easier, the gap in our lives without her is immense. 

Two of our 4 sons and all 4 of our grandchildren are visiting this weekend.

The last time we had the 4 boys together was at Stephanie's funeral. With one son living in Australia, it'll be a long time before we all get together as a family.

The last time we had all 5 children together, due to us living abroad, was in 2017. It's our last family photo of our family of 7.

It's the first time Peter and I have had all 4 grandchildren together, this is so precious to us. To have the time, to make the memories and to take the photos.

Week 21 One Daily Positive and Project 365

Can't believe it's half term already, only 4 weeks this term due to a late Easter. How does the weather know it's half term? Typical!

I'm helping out with son and his family and getting loads of new born and 3 year old grandson cuddles. 

I've had a couple of headaches this week, but nothing requiring anything stronger than paracetamol. This new migraine drug is so far working, however the nausea as a side effect really isn't pleasant.

Day 139

A very quiet day in work, walked to fetch a student from home and caught up with year 7 assessments and a last minute Lord of the Flies revision session ahead of tomorrows GCSE. Charged the car at work then met Peter for coffee, watered the garden, watched Mastermind Finals, bath then Lockerbie and bed. These 2 photos taken 12 hrs apart.

Day 140 

A good sleep till the alarm and tea brought up to bed. The whole day has been stress free, work was good catching up with assessments and my last GCSE English tutoring session. I am glad to see the back of Macbeth for now. Sorted out car insurance and van windscreen repair, then into town for some shopping and a coffee and home for dinner. I bought and wrapped birthday presents and made cards for the month of June whilst catching up with the soaps.

Day 141

Took the car for a charge and Peter went for a coffee and I went for my medication review before work. A full day of organising and supervising assessments. Home for an hour then out to meet a friend for coffee. A late dinner, I packed for my trip on Friday, did the washing and tidied up my school paperwork.

Day 142

Windscreen repair done and Peter cleaned the van for my trip tomorrow. Bags and car packed and I found some time to fill up the new flowerpot Peter made and get round to planting the azalea we bought a couple of weeks ago. Evening spent in front of the tv.

Day 143

A day at work which went well. I then headed north to visit the family.

Day 144

Eldest grandson had been taken into hospital on the Friday night, so plans all changed. I unloaded the car which included a Little Tykes slide one of our neighbours was giving away free. Walked the dog and fed the baby while DIL got ready for the hospital. Spent midday till 4pm at the hospital. I was exhausted so came home to rest. Outlaws collected DIL after their visit and I had baby cuddles when son returned for the night shift.

Day 145

A long day starting with baby duty which I bloody loved, walked the dog, made dinner for the evening and headed off to the hospital to spend the day with our 3 year old grandson. We read books, went for a walk, got him off to sleep for an hour, did loads of colouring in and played with his cars. He was discharged early evening and we came home for dinner, a play on the new slide and lots of bedtime stories. I watched TV and went to bed around 10pm

Things to make you smile:

Grandson telling me I'm not his favourite anymore when I told him off. I was no longer his best friend either when I said I wasn't reading all those books at one bedtime.

Things that made me happy:

Thank you cards from my students ahead of their last day in school for their GCSE's. Memories, gluten free cakes, the ferry trip, dog walks (in the dry), baby cuddles (photo captured by 3 yo) decent hospital car park charges.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week.

Word of the Week - Battery

What I'm reading 2025

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The Good Bits of April 2025

April has been busy and packed full of fun with 2 of our sons, DIL and grandchildren. The weather has been perfect for being out and about and we've made the most of it. The 2 weeks Easter Holidays felt so much longer and despite packing so much in, we've also had plenty of time to rest, watch TV and just chill.

Things that made me laugh:

April Fools Brownies. I made these for my students. I work in a secondary school, they humoured me.

Parking the white car. My other vehicle is a camper van, a Ford Transit. I can park it anywhere, this thing takes several attempts and a taxi to the pavement. I took this photo to prove I can actually park it.

The grandchildren have provided us with lots of entertainment from 'She was naughty for 3 minutes' When granddaughter spoke to her friend at the park and didn't give her cousin the full attention he wanted. Being told by granddaughter that I am her favourite, but not to tell granddad. Also the importance of a half year has been discovered. And I best not mention the punch in the face I gave our granddaughter when I was trying to put her seatbelt on.

Places we visited:

Forest of Dean - Beachenhurst with Peter and the grandchildren for the park and lunch

Malvern Hills - Walks with our son's dog and to see the bluebells on our own

Park - We're fortunate to have several nice play areas in Malvern to take the grandchildren to

St Briavels - Two nights camping together and a walk to the local pub

Chepstow Castle - Day out with Peter and our granddaughter

Easter Party - In my old neighbourhood with DIL and the grandchildren

Much Wenlock - English Heritage Wenlock Priory in the morning with a friend, then

National Trust Benthall Hall - Late afternoon before I headed to my camp site for the night.

National Trust Berrington Hall - On my way home

Countrytastic - Three Counties with Peter, DIL and grandchildren

Birmingham City - Two trips to watch Birmingham play

Croome Park - A day out with Peter, DIL and our grandchildren

Goodrich Castle - A day out with my friend and her 2 children

Keynsham - Peter and I visited his mother as there was some DIY to be done - catching up with reading on all the trips

Meeting with friends - Lots of coffee visits, meals out, just chatting and drinking tea moments also

Things we did at home:

Gardening - Lots of moving pots around really for best sun light

Grandchildren to stay

Tidying up after the grandchildren had visited

Had a visit from the Easter Bunny

Had fun with Olive our friends dog we looked after for the Easter weekend

I'm not sure May will be as busy but I do start and end the month with child 4 with a bank holiday weekend and Whitsun holiday, so who knows? How was your April?

Stephanie's Birthdays

Today would've been Stephanie's 37th Birthday.

As a blended family we've had 25 wonderful years with Stephanie.

We weren't always around to spend every birthday with her on the actual day, but we always made sure there were cards, gifts and a cake and a visit as close to the date as possible. 

Stephanie didn't grow up, the family just grew older around her.

2000 aged 12 at Poolway Rise

2001 aged 13 at Gran's house in Saltford, when Stephanie went to St Christophers School in Bristol

2002 aged 14 at Gran's Honestly these photos are 2 years apart, I've doubled checked the printing dates on the back (Truprint and Kodak) She didn't grow out of clothes or shoes, just wore them out eventually.

2003 aged 15 fun in Bristol

2004 aged 16 at Grans 

2005 aged 17 at Grans 

2006 aged 18 at home in Malvern. Sharing a cake with her brother 

2007 aged 19 at Gran's

2008 aged 20 in Tewkesbury when Stephanie went to live in Aspirations

2009 aged 21 when Stephanie moved to Appleton Way in Gloucester.

2010 aged 22 Back at Gran's for a birthday visit

2011 aged 23 We were now living in South Africa. A photo sent to us from her home in Gloucester

2012 aged 24 A visit to the UK with 2 of her brothers joining us for the day

2013 aged 25 A day out in Gloucester

2014 aged 26 Photo sent to us from her home in Gloucester

2015 aged 27 A visit to her home and a bounce on the trampoline

2016 aged 28 A visit with one of her brothers

2017 aged 29 A trip out for coffee, fruit shoot and cake

2018 aged 30 a photo sent to us from her home

2019 aged 31 A visit to her home

2020 aged 32 A visit with one of her brothers and her sister in law

2021 aged 33 A distanced covid visit

2022 aged 34 Photos sent from her home

2023 aged 35 Photos sent from her home

2024 aged 36 A birthday lunch out at Gloucester Docks