Next door is getting ready for the big flood, keeva has gone feral outside, me and Ivy are learning how to sign and Niketa is washing her bum🙌

Today is a crazy positive day for me as I’m now back in my studio painting. This is what happened. In early February I passed out and fractured my skull coursing a brain bleed. This became quite a problem for me as everything soon came to a total standstill. Initially I was unable to even stand, I couldn’t concentrate on anything, I couldn’t balance, talking was even difficult as I not only struggled to remember words but I constantly lost what I was saying. The injury made me very dependent as I constantly needed help to do the simplest task and so everything was now a challenge In addition to this and to the despair of my wife I also kept trying to pass out five or six times a day. The impact from the fall also coursed some brain damage which I’ve now been told is permanent 😞 and then several months after the fall the hospital found the reason why I collapsed in the first place. My heart was stopping constantly during the day and night for six to eight seconds at a time. Within hours I was immediately taken into hospital for surgery and now live with a pacemaker wired directly into my heart. This whole experience left me unable to draw or paint as I didn’t even have the strength hold the weight of my arm out in front of me. I had no feeling in my fingers so I kept dropping brushes but then my hands shacked so much painting anything simply became impossible. Till today that is, for the first time since my fall I returned to paint a second layer on a seascape project I started all those months ago. I’m back in my studio 🙏 This whole experience has made me feel so grateful to my wife, family and friends. Without their love and support I know my recovery would have been harder for I had many vulnerable moments where I literally thought is this it ? Five months on from my fall and I’m now back at the gym 3 times a week a week working to recover my strength, stamina and health. I’m teaching in my studio again and as from next week I will be running two live streamed painting lessons every week.

My first family pet was an amazing boy called Ollie🥹 he was a border collie and was my best friend in the whole world. Ollie went everywhere with me… I dropped out of school when I was 13 due to being neurodiverse. Ollie got me through that period of my life, we explored, played and ate and slept next to each other for years.❤️ Show me or tell me about your first family pet and what they meant to you❤️ (The pictures below are Ollie)🐾

Happy thoughtful Thursday everyone🙏 tag/mention someone in the comments that you are looking up to this week! It can be ANYONE! On OR off of Skool!🙌 Thank you so much to all of you for being as amazing as you are. I love you all- I’ll go first!💪

Looking back at the start of my journey I can not for the life of me remember how I found Skool! I’m glad I did of course and the reason I’m glad I did is because I no longer feel like I don’t have any friends❤️ I lost a lot of my so called friends when I got clean and sober and since then my time with friends is very limited… Skool has given me somewhere I can talk to people every day and meet new people constantly! I’m so happy that my journey on Skool has led me to knowing people all over the world 🌍 You guys are amazing, thank you for making me feel seen. I will constantly be in your debt❤️