A sad year

2012 is drawing to an end, an end I am looking forward to as it was not a good year.

Sadly poor darling dearest Carter passed away on 8 December this year, he is so missed by us all. I am waiting for the time when I can think of him without wishing with all my heart that he was here still as he gladdened so many hearts with just his presence and I want that love to envelope me time and again.

We were blessed to have had Carter as our companion for over 11 years of his 12 year life. One day I will be able to tell his tale, as he had a varied life with us, but that is for another day. I feel his spirit and soul with me every day, for which I am thankful.

2012 was also the year that I spent 6 months unemployed, which will hopefully change early in the new year. It was also the year that DH spent 6 months working on our place in France. Much as he annoys the heck out of me at times, I am rudderless and lonely without him here and this length of time was far too long - we won't be parted for this long again.

I am sure 2012 brought many good things too but I am so looking forward to the new year with it's fresh starts and fresh hopes and dreams.

Onwards and upwards my friends!

Time and Patience

“The strongest of all warriors are these two: Time and Patience” Leo Tolstoy

 Well, I have been struggling with these two warriors for a while now. However, not all is bad, so I must sometimes remind myself to count my blessings for the friends, family and creatures I have supporting me.

DH has been in France working on our place since June. Patience waiting for him to come home - he still doesn't know when that will be :(

Patience in trying to find work, struggling on this front: interviews (multiple sometimes for the same job at various stages) but no success (yet). I have another interview this afternoon which I would really love, not only because I need and want work but also because it is just up my street experience-wise, as well as with what the company does. A good match!  If I am successful I will of course tell more.

Time and Patience in waiting for Carter to heal and repair. I know that he won't be back to his old self as he's getting older and I try to look on every day now as a blessing. But it's hard. I wish he was a youngster again so that we would have all this time together again - but that won't happen either. I just try and focus on his wonderful character and nature and all of the love he has given us - and we in return - and the lovely memories we have together. And he's still here, happily mooching along, but I worry.

I also sometimes need to give myself a slap around the face and a boot up the backside to stop feeling sorry for  myself and get on with it!  That I will do right now and get my chores done so that I can prepare for the interview and know I have a meal in the slow cooker to come home to, along with a neat and tidy home to bring a smile to my face - well, Carter will do that as I walk in, but it's always nice to have good surroundings to collapse into and pick up my knitting :)

George

This is George - it took a few days to decide on his name and, wanting something solid and 'human-like' which is how I like my animal names. It was only after we named him, I was reminded of George Carter from The Sweeney, way back in the 1970's! Our George is not like Dennis Waterman's character at all!!

Work-wise... only 4 more full days to go before I venture into the unknown. I am so excited, and yet so worried. Hopefully the worry will just make me push for clients and thus gather lots of income :-)

One More Week to Go

I'm getting a bit stir crazy here now, very little work to do for the company who currently employ me, yet I have to work my notice period. One more week to go - last day is next Friday (2nd May).

Do you think I can get away with sending this poem (allegedly by Dr Seuss!)to all my colleagues (all 300 of them)?


I love my job, I love the pay!
I love it more and more each day.
I love my boss, he is the best!
I love his boss and all the rest.

I love my office and its location; I hate to have to go on vacation.
I love my furniture, drab and grey, and piles of paper that grow each day!
I think my job is really swell, there’s nothing else I love so well.
I love to work amongst my peers, I love their leers, and jeers, and sneers.
I love my computer and its software;
I hug it often though it won’t care. I love each programme and every file.
I’d love them more if they worked a while.

I’m happy to be here. I am. I am.
I’m the happiest slave of the Firm, I am.
I love this work, I love these chores.
I love the meetings with deadly bores.
I love my job – I’ll say it again – I even love those friendly men.
Those friendly men who’ve come today,
In clean white coats to take me away!!!

New Career

I promised news on the work front, and I have taken irrevocable steps towards my new career as a freelance PR and features/copy writer. I resigned from my job nearly two weeks ago and it is only now beginning to sink in that I won't have a regular pay cheque coming in!

This fear has meant we will be cutting short our planned holiday in June down to one week and coming back so that I can work... sad or what? However, the long term benefits should make it worthwhile.

I can across a great website for quotations, something I'm always looking for to jazz up copy... how's this?

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath


Wish me luck!

Still Alive... Still Struggling :-)

Yes, I know, my blogging hasn't been too good for the last year or so. Hey ho, I'm not going to add more to my Catholic ingrained angst, so I'm not going to worry!

However, I have been busy...

Here are a little collection of felt corsages which I made to sell via our local pub. A friend has a glass cabinet in the pub through which she sells some jewellery she makes - we're going to make this a more mixed-media affair and will add some turned wooden pieces too soon. It's not going to be a money spinner, but if I don't stop talking about doing something and get on with it, nothing will change, will it?

We've had a busy week this week - apart from Easter with friends (not good, she's very stressed out and very agressive - but it will ease off and things will get better - I'll just be here ready for her: isn't that what friends are for?) and then took two van loads of kitchen units to the barn in France to reduce the storage costs here in the UK.

We were very pleased to see all was well in our little corner of Normandy - and the sun shone brightly for our al fresco lunch in Honfleur: lovely!

I also have plans on the work front (does this count towards my happiness non-new year resolution? I hope so!) and will have more news soon... have to make sure I have more to write about later this week - bye for now!