Word of the Week - Orange Button

I'm an Orange Button wearer. 

I attended training with Worcestershire county council last month. The training is intended for you to wear the Orange Badge in work, either paid or voluntary or in your own time in the community.

The role is to be approachable and run from the word suicide, a first point to start a conversation, to be non-judgemental, caring and an understanding listener, sign post and be somebody to ask directly about suicide.

It is not to provide counselling or therapy, long term support, a replacement for the NHS or a mental health referral service.

I've linked this post to Word of the Week with Raisiebay.com

 

My garden in August 2025

We've done loads of work to the garden since we got our house back in 2020, rebuilding sheds, building a new shed, demolishing the old ones, moving the soil from the building, twice, as we were saving it to fill the new raised borders and for levelling off the front garden, which we finally started this week.

Jobs done:

Soil dug, sifted, wheelbarrowed to the front garden, dumped, spread and levelled. Bags of rocks to the skip. Tree stump removed. 

Jobs left to do:

Cut conifer tree down and remove roots.

Plan and build new path.

Build a greenhouse, cold frame for wintering plants.

This is the area we've been moving the soil from so we can build a new path.

1st-7th August.

We've got so many tomato plants that I've been giving them away. These are ripening on the windowsill and I'll be freezing for making chutney.

I've collected seed heads and pods from around the garden, sweet William, sweet peas and poppies.

We inherited these pots 23 years ago when we moved here and this tree took some effort to remove.

   

The raised beds have been a huge success but I'll be planning next years planting.

The parsnips taste so sweet. They've been blanched and frozen. I'll plant more next year for sure.

8th-15th August

I wish I could share the fragrance of the sweet peas. They're in pots near every door.

I have melons, cucumbers, beans, peppers and pumpkins growing really well in the garden.

I think with the number of pumpkins I have that I'll be able to open a 'pick your own' pumpkin patch in time for Halloween.

Next year I want to plant more beans, strawberries and parsnips. I'll have the same amount of tomatoes. I'll grow the pumpkins and melons in a bigger space and just 1 cucumber plant. I want to grow peas, spring onions and more herbs. 

What do you grow in your garden?

Week 33 2025 - One Daily Positive and Project 365

More football this week. Carabao Cup against Sheffield United. I started supporting Birmingham City and going to their matches in 2006 when child 4 was training in their academy. My father was a professional footballer in the late 50's, a goal keeper for Barry Town and I grew up with his football stories and he took me to my first match at York City when I was around 7. From 2008-2010 I worked for The Football Association. In 2010 we left the UK and BCFC fell into the Championship and stayed there until more recently being demoted to League 1 and this season, they've bounced back up to the Championship.

I attended a few games when I was visiting the UK over the years when we lived abroad. We moved back at the start of covid and with grandchildren and me back in work, going to the games wasn't on my agenda.

I started back going to St Andrew's in February this year and it was getting harder and harder to get a ticket. This year, I'm determined to go to as many games as possible so I stand a chance of a season ticket next year.

Day 222 A lie in then off to Keynsham to visit MIL, drop off some tomato plants and cucumbers we've grown. Went shopping, then back for a cup of tea and off to visit the grandchildren on our way home. We sat in the garden, had a takeaway and lots of cuddles. Home around 8pm, watered the garden and watched TV.

Day 223 Another lie in, well I stayed in bed till midday then walked into town for a wander around the charity shops, a coffee, read my book and walked home. Finished my book in the garden, watched TV, had a bath, a bit of blogging and in bed by 10pm.

Day 224 A lazy morning, started some packing, tidying, paperwork and some reading in the garden. Out for a meal in Worcester with friends in the evening. Loving this hot weather, can’t believe it’s lasting this long. 

Day 225 Bit of drama this morning when the neighbours car shot off over the road and into our garden. She tried to stop the car and ended up with some nasty grazes on her legs. We were on our way out for coffee, Peter saw the whole thing, I just heard the car thump on the new border we've built, which thankfully stopped the car hitting the house, as the engine was on. Home to sort the garden, do some more packing and then off to Birmingham for the football. Peter collected me from Worcester at 11.30pm as there are no trains to Malvern.

Day 226 Into town to see a friend quickly, then coffee with Peter. Home and a bit more packing, re-levelled the front lawn. Lots of paperwork sorted out, laptop backed up onto memory sticks and general tidying of the house. Watched TV in the evening. I regretted my choice of a quick and easy tea. 

Day 227 Walked to get my nails done, Peter collected me and we spent the day with our grandchildren at home, the park and a walk to get ice creams. Home to pack, dinner, watch a movie and the football. Bath and bed. Sad news to hear our friend’s dog died. Jelly and our dog Bob were besties friends when we lived in Dubai.

Day 228 Off to my Mums for day, took her food shopping, sorted out her photo access on the iPad and full instructions handed over for the care of Pushkins while we are away for a month. Home to write some letters and ensure birthday cards are posted on time. Birmingham won away to Blackburn. Evening spent in the garden finishing a craft project, then everything tided away.

Things to make you smile:
I helped a guy at the train station by unhooking his rucksack from his bike pedal, he'd carried the bike off the train and it got hooked up, when he tried to put the bike down it pulled him over.

Things that made me happy:

Visits with the grandchildren, getting my 'to do' list ticked off, football, night out with friends, the hedgehog came back. Eating fresh fruit and veg from the garden.

On the blog this week:
Word of the Week - Bowels I'm almost half the way to my fund raising target - Please share the post if you can.

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

The good bits of July 2025

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Post Comment Love. 15th-17th August 2025

Welcome back to #PoCoLo 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.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

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

It's been a peculiar week with a neighbours car ending up in our front garden. We've been gardening, fixing windows, visiting family and seen friends. Lots of washing and hubbies favourite task of ironing has been done almost everyday. Lots of reading and a variety of crafts.

Here are some random photos of the week:

Lovely melons I hear you say.

I got to the football an hour early, read my book and had a picnic.

Diglis in Birmingham is full of street art.

Out walking across the common.

Looking at spiders with our granddaughter.

Pushkins is now 16 and starting to slow down.

How's your week been?

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Word of the Week - Bowels

Yes, BOWELS. You read that right the first time.

I'm fundraising for Bowel Research in memory of our daughter Stephanie who died on October 7th 2025.

We requested no flowers at her funeral and didn't have a charity in mind at the time.

She was taken ill in the morning. Died in the evening and her funeral was held 8 days later. There was too much to do with arranging for children to fly in from Africa and Australia and just the sheer shock of her death.

I want to mark the first anniversary of her death and I've found an organised walk I can join in with on September 27th.

So why Bowels? 

Stephanie died from an Ischemic Bowel. She wasn't able to communicate, she couldn't tell anyone she was in discomfort, in pain. She didn't reflect pain in her emotions. Often she would laugh even when injured, she might just cry for no reason at all. So by the time Stephanie reached the hospital for help, it was too late. A stoma was not an option, it was too advanced and she died on the operating table.

Our grandson, now 3 was born with Hirchsprung disease and spent several months in his first year with a stoma bag and had numerous operations. 

I've was diagnosed with diverticulitis after a colonoscopy and biopsy. I don't have any pain or even any symptoms other than chronic constipation caused by my new migraine medication.

I'd really appreciate it if you could share my Just Giving Site on your social media sites. I'm aiming for £1000 and already a third of the way there.

In Memory of Stephanie

Why a walk?

The one thing that Stephanie could do independently was to walk, we used to call her Forrest Gump when she was younger. She'd just head off in any direction she fancied. We had to guide her and she had no spacial or risk awareness and you couldn't take your eyes off her. She would grab onto a pram in the street or a trolley in the supermarket to steady herself if she had to stand still and would go off in a total different direction with us playing catch up.

As she got older, she walked less, swam less, rode a horse less, bounced on the trampoline less, moved around less.

Stephanie was 36 years old when she died.