So Many Half Finished Posts

That I'm not really sure which one to go with so hey, here's a brand new one ;)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

Mine was eventful ...  hmmm, yep, lets just leave it at that for now ...

Do people ever surprise you?

 They do me.

In fact sometimes they shock the hell out of me!

Sometimes it's in a really bad way.  People I thought  .... well anyway, this post isn't about them.

This post is about someone who has been a part of my life for well over 20 years.

Someone who has always been there but mostly in the background.

Someone who was in the right place at the right time and has completely taken me by surprise.

Surfer dude (he who kindly tidied my 'lady garden' for me at the end of the summer), took me to the Carnival and knows all the best places to get great coffee.

Surfer dude happened to pop round on the afternoon of the 23rd December.

A day that is surely cursed in my life.

The day in 2010 that I broke my arm (ever tried to lift a turkey out of the oven with one hand??).  Funnily enough I was on my way to meet surfer dude for coffee when it happened.

Anyway, to cut a long story short he popped round and discovered me curled up in a heap on the kitchen floor.

Now I don't just call him surfer dude because of his long blond hair and beach bum looks.  It's more of a personality things.  He's so laid back he's practically horizontal.. He's gentle, fun and doesn't give a shit about convention.

He works with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds who struggle to fit into mainstream school and although he loves his job and the kids love him, he works to live, to indulge his hobby, to enjoy life.

I think he's one of the few truly happy people I know.

You can't walk down the street without bumping into someone who wants to stop and chat to him.  In fact I'm pretty sure you cant go ANYWHERE without bumping into some one who wants to stop and chat to him.

So why has he taken me by surprise?

Well, like I said, he's always been there.  We have periods of time where we hardly see each other for months on end and others where we meet up a couple of times a week.  Nothing formal, no agenda, just a little time out.

These last couple of weeks he has hardly left my side.

On Boxing day he came round, made me get dressed and took me to the beach.( Damned blogger for some reason wont let me add pictures at the moment but we went to Lyme Regis and it was beautiful).



We walked for miles. Blowing away the cobwebs.  Talking. Not talking.  Laughing (and I really thought I'd NEVER do that again).  Crying (just me ;), Holding hands and hugging.

He made me feel ..... hmmm, I was going to say whole again but that's not quite true.

He made me feel that I COULD be whole again.

He took me to a cosy little cafe with low, dark beams and a roaring open fire and fed me scrambled eggs on toast and then he took me home again and produced surely THE best distraction of all.

The box set series of Black Books!!

If you haven't watched it then DO!

Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey ... how I'd love to go on a pub crawl with Bill Bailey :)

He's mended my roof (surfer dude, not Bill;).  Does my washing up (above and beyond I'd have said).  Takes me shopping. He brings me dark brown free range eggs from his parents farm and makes the best sandwiches bursting with salad and ham and cheese in oat topped rolls because I need 'feeding up'. He's walked the dog and just been everything I could possibly have needed these last few weeks.

He's not the only one of my friends to be around at a time when I really have needed them.

There's been the lovely L (the one who 'sucked Boris up her exhaust').  Mad 'C' (I'm not quite sure where my placenta is ....) and my wonderful Maggie (who sleeps on car park floors, give horrendous advice on my  love life and sent out an FB alert for felt to mend a bra!) who came to see me after Christmas with four children in tow and who always makes me laugh. The Demon who, like surfer dude is a constant in my life.  Oh, and not ever forgetting my blogging buddies who I've largely neglected of late but who are always there.

Thanks guys ;)

I'm getting a little soppy now but I really do feel I'm truly blessed by the people I have around me and I'm not really sure what I've done to deserve them but hell, I'm not going to question it too closely,

I'm just going to be grateful they are there and I know that they always will be.