Angelicscalliwags Rag #12

It seems like a very long time since I wrote updating you on all the family. Much has happened. I think I’ll start with the youngest and move through to the oldest (that would be me 😢 ). I’ve been really remiss getting photos. I feel like I’m perhaps juggling one too many balls…

Becca

Becca is doing well. I say that, but actually she broke her finger and damaged a growth plate whilst playing football. Unfortunately it was on her right hand, making writing an impossibility for three week. I gave her lots of video school, bought her books on Coco Chanel and Louis Vuitton (she wants to be a fashion designer). She also took it upon herself to do lots of research on UAL (University Arts London) – the uni her sister attends and which she may be able to attend at age 16. This was kind of cool because it has got her really fired up about her future. It’s funny though, her broken finger meant she couldn’t do school work but she still managed to play football and attend an assault course high up in the air for a friend’s birthday…

Abigail

Abigail is doing swimmingly! She kind of merrily goes through life with as little drama as possible. At last, she is enjoying cadets. For a long time she was the only girl, but now there are three or four other girls who have started to hang out together at the weekend. She is also close to passing all her two star challenges which means she gets to move up a level. She went away for a shooting weekend and was told she showed a real naturally ability as a shooter.

It’s quite funny because Abs is a pacifist through and through and the idea of her shooting someone is ridiculous. She did say that she will have to one day come to terms with the fact that the army may one day require her to do just that. Right now, though, she simply enjoying all the army has to offer in terms of building skills and making friends. Her Explorers (I guess it’s an older sort of scouts?) is also going great with them all going caving last night, which she loved, and the week before she had the opportunity to handle and learn all about different reptiles. Needless to say, she came home buzzing that night!

Charlotte

Charlotte is doing so well at the moment. Her health is improving and even on days when she feels horrible, she just gets on with life. She works in an olde world small town as a book seller. She gets sent books on a daily basis from publishers (before they are actually available to the public) which she reads and then reviews for them. Oh, and I can’t forget the two new books she is working on – one is a fantasy based one giving representation to disabled characters, the other is a Christian non-fiction about her experience with ten chronic illnesses and how her Faith has helped her to live her best life despite the limitations she deals with. She has just got back from a holiday with her husband where they visited old churches and graves stones…seriously, they are a match made in Heaven!

Lillie

Lillie is tootling along nicely. She has fitted in well to her new university and made a lovely group of friends. As she says, she’s met her tribe. This uni is worlds apart from the first one, is so well funded that she has multiple teachers in each lesson. It’s also very career orientated which means they are training her up well to go out into the world of work once they graduate. Lil has also found out she has EDS, which for her means she is super mobile in her joints, so much so that they dislocate very easily which puts her in a great deal of pain.

The physio says that it may be because she is a twin as growing in the womb she had less space to move apart. Now she knows what it is, she can work with the physio to strengthen the muscles around her joints to stabilise them a bit more. Lillie is still with her long term boyfriend JJ, who she met on the same camp for adults with learning difficulties in New York that Gary and I met at (what are the chances?). They celebrate their two year anniversary in a few weeks. Time flies.

Thomas

Thomas is working hard and making some difficult decisions regarding his life. He worked for the army for the latter part of last year, and whilst he still belongs to the reserve army and is basically travelling the world with them (he’s now been to more countries than his father and I have been to), he’s trying to decide what he wants to do long term. He’s currently working with Gary as a seasonal, which gives him the time off to be with the army but also the ability to earn money. He’s pretty content with his life at the moment and feels, I think, like Abigail does, that he learns a lot with the army and has definitely found his tribe there.

Gary

Gary is struggling at the moment with a really sore shoulder. He never takes time off work, but yesterday ended up in A and E because he couldn’t deal with the pain anymore. Agony is how he described it. For him to use that word, it must be bad. After all, when his appendix burst and he was asked his pain level out of ten, he replied with a four.

As you can see, this shoulder must be super super painful! Although he’s been in pain for the last month or so, he has found the strength to create yet another pond. Gary’s pond building is becoming a bit of a joke here in the Stewart household. Not because he doesn’t build them well. He does. It’s just that he keeps rebuilding them. I think more work has gone into that pond than it took to build our house! It is looking rather good though, and he has promised that this latest version will be his last. I’m not entirely sure I believe that though!

Claire

Insomnia

Last but not least, meeeeeeee. I am okay. In many ways life is good but I have to admit to being incredibly frustrated with the insomnia clinic I was sent to back in November. They discharged me a few weeks ago saying they were unable to help. I believe she thinks I have a neurodiversity which is the underlying reason for my insomnia (for those of you who don’t know, I have not slept much since I was born – about 10 hours per week without medication).

Prior to being helped by the clinic, I was sleeping the best I had ever slept in my life, mainly thanks to the medication a doctor put me on when I turned 40. Unfortunately, my new doctor was not happy to keep prescribing it without trying all other options first. Suffice it to say, I am still on the medication but the sleep clinic has messed up my sleep so badly that I’m now not sleeping well even with the medication. Sigh. Sleep is definitely the thorn in my side.

Small Art Business

On a happier note, I am thoroughly enjoying running my (very) small art business, which has included a YouTube channel sort of following the whole art business side of things. Whereas my Angelicscalliwags Homeschool channel sits at around 70 subscribers, my Angelicscalliwags Art channel seems to be doing a bit better with over 800 subscribing over the past six months I’ve been uploading! I’m a little blown away, especially as I don’t show my face. It’s lovely to be meeting new people who have similar interests to me, as well as constantly learning new videography skills. I think I’m improving a tiny bit each time, which is good because I was woeful to begin with (back when I started my homeschool channel 18 months or so ago). I’d love to one day chat away to the camera in real time rather than recording a voice over. One day…maybe.

Summer Collection

I’m just finishing up my summer collection for a shop update on the 1st of June. I’m hoping, if I can get my head around it, to open a shop on my blog. To be honest, it worries me that I’ll get the taxes wrong…or something. It maybe I use my blog shop for the UK and Etsy for international orders. Etsy’s fees are so high though…we’ll see. It might be a case of one thing at a time – get the UK shop up and running and then figuring out how to add international. You’ll be seeing a few blog posts over the next couple of weeks regarding the new products going into the shop in June, which I’m so excited about! I’m currently making them all so I can get some photos.

Masters

I’m keeping up with my master’s but I definitely feel like I might have too many fingers in too many pies. Time is passing with alarming speed. I’m fifty this year which is ridiculous. Maturity wise I am surely not out of my teens yet!

I’ve not left a list of the books I’ve completed for ages either. Due the sheer amount of reading I’m doing for my master’s I’m reading less for pleasure. However, I have completed a few:

For all the books I’ve read so far, head over to my book page

25. One Perfect Day: A Mother and Son’s Journey of Adoption and Reunion by Diane Burke

26. The Pomodoro Technique: The Life-Changing Time-Management System by Francesco Cirillo

27. The 4 Pillar Plan: How to Relax, Eat, Move and Sleep Your Way to a Longer, Healthier Life by Dr Rangan Chatterjee

28. Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg

29. A Year of Living Simply: The Joys of a Life Less Complicated by Kate Humble

30. The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington

31. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (Just Started)

So, I’m not doing too badly on the book front, considering…

Right, I’m off to do a bit of work on my latest essay 👋