A few years ago I would post a Gorgeous Week In Review every seven days. It was fun to do and acted as a lovely practice to stay grateful and present to the good things in life.

Then times got busy.

I’m not sure quite what happened, but it was as though the world began spinning faster on Her axis and the days sped into weeks and there was no time to publish my days in review. This was cool with me.

After all, did I really need to be capturing these moments in life online?

A few days ago, my beloved Roo came into my bedroom and declared, “I’ve done it, Mum!”

“Done what?” I asked him.

“I’ve reset your old phone.”

It took a moment for the penny to drop.

Roo has wanted my old phone for ages. It’s been in the drawer. Earlier that day I’d taken it out and plugged it in so that I’d be able to download

Every.

Single.

Photo.

I’d.

Taken.

Since.

Reid.

Was.

Born.

And once these were downloaded and safe, I could reset the phone and let Roo have it.

But now, Rooster, in his proverbial helpfulness had reset my phone back to factory settings …

To. Save. Me. A. Job.

These pictures were not backed up. These photos were not printed and put into nice albums like all of Pix and Roo’s baby pics were. They weren’t saved anywhere. At this point, Ads went to grab the hard-drive where we had saved all of HIS photos.

The hard drive was in Pix’s room from where she’d borrowed it.

Broken.

It had been accidentally dropped.

Now, other than some FB shares, the only photographs I have left of Reid as a baby and the children over the last three years are on my Week In Review posts – which as you can imagine – make these online journals suddenly very precious.

Here’s my September 2017 in Review:

Making the most out of the final days of summer.

Only when this photograph was enlarged did I realise that the red thing in the foreground was a little Father Christmas doll!

I originally thought it was a stray sock.

Because I LOVE the feeling in the gardens here – the ancient trees and the meadow grasses.

Originally a beautiful Georgian manor stood in the grounds of Osborne. The woman who lived there didn’t want to sell the land or the house to Queen Victoria but was forced to do so against her will.

Queen Vic and Albert then demolished the house and built Osborne instead.

I never feel called to go into Osborne House itself and instead stroll down the tree lined avenues, enjoying the beach and the views and sending thoughts and thanks to the lady who owned the Georgian manor.

Because she must have been gutted with a capital G.

Having no choice but to pull over on a verge so I could go and stroke this gorgeous boy!

His nose was like velvet and then he stamped his hoof and I took that as a sign to go.

The 9 year anniversary of my brother’s departure into the Great and Mysterious Land Of Oz.

I feel that 9 is an ending number and a new cycle is now beginning for him and us.

That feels nice.

Having a glass of red with my beloved Ads …

… whilst looking up at these crazy dudes eating food whilst dangling 100f in the sky.

And then being hoisted up 100f in the sky, so that we could be fed food!

To be honest, by the time we went up I had drunk two  glasses of red wine and two large gin and tonics and didn’t even notice the ascent. Was too busy introducing myself to the man next to me and discussing his wife’s impending labour as well as finding out that he worked in sewage plant construction in Oxford.

He clearly didn’t like heights and (I feel) was very lucky to be sitting next to someone as merry as me who was able to keep his mind off everything through discussing child-birth relaxation techniques.

Lunching it with the biz partners at our new sister restaurant, The Smoking Lobster.

And an early autumn, fully clothed paddle for Reid.

Seconds later the heavens opened and a monsoon started. Such fun it was!

Watching all of the colourful beach huts being dissembled and put away for the winter.

One last jaunt out with my girl before she headed off to college.

She’d been sitting in Neil’s gallery strumming a guitar two minutes before this was taken. I think the music was still in her head and being channelled through dancing feet.

Lounging about in this garden, reading.

My reading material.