Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Wednesday 15 April 2009

A thank you.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts about my earlier post.

I loved my Mum very much and I miss her very much. This day is always a hard day for me and it actually gets worse as I get older, in a way, because I am a Mum now and all the things I do here, the preserving, growing, chickens, making wine etc, well my Mum was SO good at all that and I remember her doing all of it so vividly.

I would love to have her here, to see what we do here at Compost Mansions (oh how she would love it here!), to meet her grandchild and for me to ask her questions...I have SO many questions I would ask her and so many things I want to say to her.

I only ever had my Mum as a child, I lost her, to talk to, when I was 10 and I really miss not having had a mum to talk to, as an adult.

Ho hum...it has actually been a good-ish day, I have resolutely avoided all the Hillsborough stuff, not because I don't care, (I do, oh how I do...) but because for the last 20 years that is all this day has meant to every body else and I have always felt somehow *my* single loss paled in comparison with the deaths of all those poor people.....I know that sounds a bit silly, but having thought about it, I look back now and realise that is how I have felt.

My post about my Mum earlier today was partly to claim this day back for her and for me (but without wanting to be disrespectful to other people and their grief).

Also I realised I tended not to talk about my Mum, partly because, well, we just don't talk about death, do we?

Also I suffered a lot for being "different" as a teenager, having a mum who was not there at events, who lived in hospital and was "not the same" as other peoples mums...there was a stigma attached, somehow?...I got, not bullied exactly...but certainly I suffered from some very unkind, thoughtless words at school.

So...my post, whilst not being the first time I have ever discussed my Mum, was certainly the most public discussion I have ever had!

And while I didn't intend to upset anyone, I hope you all realise how precious love is, and how we should nurture it, welcome it, treasure it and live each day to the full, joyously and with an open heart....and that we should tell those we love, that we love them. And show it, each and every day.

because we only get to live today once.

I have learned that the hard way.

So, thank you all for your kind thoughts, they did help, and I thank you for them.


love, Sarah x

8 comments:

  1. Sarah that is so beautifully written and what wonderful words. I will remember your words always!
    I am truly sorry for your loss and the very hard time you suffered at such a young age. You have coped with so much that has been thrown at you and although your Mum is so sadly not with you now I am convinced she lives on in you and the wonderful things that you do each and everyday!
    (((Big Hugs))) and Lots of Love,
    Jane xxxxxx

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  2. "We only get to live today once"
    What a elegant way to put it. I was talking with my mother last night and it hit me how precious it is to have even the most idle of conversations, things I never even thought about. The ability to express love each day to those we care about is a gift in itself.

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  3. thoughtful post, I lost my Mother in 1992, and miss her just as much today as the day she died.

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  4. We only get today once,very very true words,makes me wish I was a sewer,that would look great on a sampler type thing up on the wall when we could see it everyday to be reminded. Glad you got through the day ok x
    GTM x xx

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  5. I am fortunate in still having my Mum (though at 93, she says she's lived too long, bless her).
    Your post really goes to the heart of life though, how precious it is and how the present is just that, a gift to be valued in this instant, with family, friends and even plants!

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  6. I'm still sending hugs!

    :) Karyn

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  7. Hugs and much love to all of you

    :-)

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  8. Every now and again, amongst the normality of most blogs, you come a cross something with real meaning, that talks from the heart. This is exactly that.
    Wishing you well

    Deano

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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