Not quite drowning

but waving!

Still here, but with crises in several areas, some bigger than others, life is a bit of a struggle just now, and there isn't a great deal of spare time for blogging or even money saving these days..... BUT there will be an improvement when the EF girls leave, which I am now looking forward to in a bittersweet kind of way - I will miss them, but I am keen to regain a higher level of privacy in our lives again - we are feeling like we live in a fishbowl some days, and the YFG has resorted to coming to my room late at night to share things with me that she doesn't want overheard.  

I have had a gallop around some blogs at the weekend, so I have an idea of some of what is going on, but hopefully I will catch up properly in the summer - I shall be back, as I am too fond of this space to abandon it. The story's not over yet!  Love to you all x

Caught myself

I did it last week - I saw a man on a bike, struggling against the wind and lugging two bags of shopping on his handlebars, and I thought to myself, "Poor bloke, can't afford a car, and in this weather, he's having a hard time....." but then I wondered whether actually, he can afford a car, and just prefers to bike, or preferred to bike on that particular day.  And I have been subject to comments myself a couple of times lately about my ability to afford things, albeit in a very subtle way today.

We have been borrowing our neighbour's dog over the past couple of weekends to go for walks around the village, and I mentioned to him today that we might consider a dog ourselves by the time that the YFG is off to uni, so that I have some company....and his response was that it is cheaper to borrow his dog a couple of times a week than to have one of our own.  Yes, that IS strictly true, of course, because we get the pleasure of the walks without the costs of keeping the lovely dog.  On the other hand, I can't see me going round and asking if I can borrow the dog for a hour or two "to keep me company" as that sounds weird compared to asking if I can take him out for a walk!!

And then there have been the comments about my capability to do things, like buy a car, and rod our drains.  Some folk thought that I couldn't do either on my own - I won't go there!!  I've done both in the last month, and survived.

The moral of the tale - you know!  Don't prejudge.......heck - don't judge at all, and just let's all get on with what we are doing and do it the best way we know how - we can all ask for help if we need it!

Popping back

Sunday nights are good again - except that "The Durrells" is on ITV so I do have to put up with adverts.  Having read the book when I was at primary school, I had a vague recollection of the storyline and some of the characters, and the first episode last night was good.

(image from radiotimes.com)

Lots of things are going well at the moment - the EFG is home for three weeks, work is going well and the weather is perking up.

Unfortunately, I still don't have my new car but we won't worry too much about that or life will get depressing.

Grandad has booked another cruise in August for the girls to go along with him and his partner; the YFG is stressing about exams already; the EF girls leave in 10 weeks, and we are beginning to be ready for that - I shall miss them but I will also be glad to regain some privacy in the house, and some freedoms.

Hope you are all well, and thank you for reading xx