More to come

The forecast is for more snow today (Sunday) and tomorrow.  In fact, it is starting to snow lightly as I type.  The snow we have had is still here but it has melted away a little.  I love being able to see the snow but it does have its downside - the roads are becoming too icy for me to drive, so I can't get into town to buy some groceries and I won't be able to get to work tomorrow.

I will post some more photos shortly, still waking up and I want some breakfast.

-3 celsius

Today's forecast was for all day sunshine so I was dying to go outdoors and go for a walk.  Andrew was home sick with a bad cold so I headed off on my own for a bit of adventure.

Small natural lake outside the village.

A lonely tree.

Sheep grazing up on Fontmell Down (strange that a hill is called a down, considering that I had to walk UP it to take this pic!)

Looking down over the village of Compton Abbas.

Umm...  a dead plant (sorry, don't know the species but looks similar to Fennel?  Suse, what do you think?)

Looking back up the track as I head back down into our village

Looking back toward the village and the Blackmore Vale in the background

Our house is almost smack bang in the centre of this photo (row of three cottages, just above the dark hedge but below the farm buildings).  If you want a better view, click on the photo and it should open a larger image.

More snow

Remains of 15th century Saxon church - we can see this from our bedroom window too

Wintery scene inside the Saxon church graveyard

Gravestone in Saxon church yard

Our house (not all of it - just the right half)

Village post box

Front of our house

House in the village with an interesting topiary tree

Converted church in the village

One of several thatched cottages

'The Old Reading Room' - I think this used to be a school house at one time

Baa Ram Ewe - some very obliging sheep who patiently posed for me.  One of them even came up for a scratch on the head.  They like to eat snow too!

Laneway through the village

I have fallen in love with English houses.  Can you see why??

Can't remember what these mushroomy things are called, or what they are supposedly for.

Resident snow man.

Christmas gifts

Tray from our neighbour Charlie; glasses & ice cream scoop from Andrew's sister & her family; egg cups from our friend Daz aka freaky boy!

Mr J gave me the complete DVD set of Gavin & Stacey

Chocolates, port, gourmet cheeses and chutneys

A toy cow Helen bought for Andrew in Budapest

Weeeeeeee!

We did extremely well for Christmas.  Because people knew that we didn't have alot of practical things for our home, we got some great stuff.  I am really pleased with the tray and the ice cream scoop, I was only thinking a couple of weeks ago that I would like to buy these things.

The chocolates were well received and didn't last long (hanging my head in shame).

I've got a job!

Starting yesterday, I have a part time job as a milk sampler.  Basically I have 5 or more dairy farms to visit twice each month (once in the afternoon, then once the following morning), I have to collect a sample of milk from each cow during milking and write down how many litres of milk each cow is producing.  The milk samples get sorted and sent away for testing to find out how much fat & protein is in each sample.

I have done this job before in Australia, although on a much larger scale.  The farms I'm visiting have around 100-120 cows, so it is small and manageable, and each visit to the farm only takes around 2 hours.

The money isn't alot, but it is a real help to us as it will cover 1/2 of the food bill each week or fill up the car and give me a little bit extra cash to buy things for the house.  The job isn't my ideal but it's better than nothing and at least it means we have more money coming in until I can find something more suitable.

Andrew & I are heading to Dartmoor for 3 nights' stay at a cottage which we are sharing with some friends.  I am hoping for some sunny weather so we can go out hiking and take some nice photos.  The forecast is for possible snow for the south west of England, that would be fantastic too!

Merry Christmas

Real snow!

We had a surprise visit from a group of carollers last night, including Andrew's boss' wife Denise.  If I had known that the village had organized to go carolling I would have joined them (not that I like Christmas carols, it would just have been a nice way to make some friends).  After they'd been through the village they stopped in for mulled wine and mince pies at The Old Forge B&B.

I actually went looking for the group after they left our house but they had completely disappeared and despite following their tracks in the snow I couldn't find them.  I was so upset to have missed out and really disappointed that I hadn't been invited.  So to cheer me up, Andrew took me for a walk after dinner so we could go look at the Christmas lights and walk around the village.

Local villagers at our front door singing Christmas carols to raise money for charity.

The only house in the village that had gone to any real effort to decorate.

Our driveway and house from the road.

Shaftesbury high street (church is on my left).

Shaftesbury Abbey overlooking Blackmore Vale.

Snow.... almost

It snowed for about an hour yesterday.  I was so excited, I really hoped we'd get about 1-2 inches, just enough to blanket the garden & roof of the house so I could get some photos.  Sadly, it didn't do that and the snow melted away as soon as it stopped falling.

Don't know if you can make out the snowflakes falling.  It all melted away pretty quickly.

I decided to have a go at making a Christmas wreath today, thanks to a home decorating series called Kirstie's Home Made Christmas.  I didn't have any of the materials she had so I made do with some string and very flexible branches.

My first attempt at a (rather rubbish) Christmas wreath.  Cost me absolutely nothing so I'm happy!

Fireplace again with some berries and evergreen foliage along the mantle.

I've been going crazy with candle making again.  Andrew & I are giving candles as Christmas gifts to a few of our closest friend this year, so I have had fun making a mess in the kitchen.

The finished candles.  Some of the wicks need trimming before they are wrapped and packed into gift bags.

The next batch of various colours and shapes.  These candles will be used around our house.

The two large jars at the back are recycled salsa jars, the three small clear tealight holders are from Tesco (50p each! Bargain!!) and the purple and red tealight holders at the front are from Homebase (99p each!  Also a bargain!!).  Rather than put tealights in the tealight holders, I made wicks and stuck them inside the holders so I can pour the wax straight in.

It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas

Andrew & I decided to pick up some Chinese takeaway for dinner on our way home from visiting his Gran tonight. Neither of us goes through the high street of Shaftesbury unless it's during daylight hours when the shops are open, so it was a pleasant surprise to drive into town last night and find the street ablaze with lights and colour for Christmas.

The photo doesn't do it justice, I'll have to go back again tomorrow night and take more pics.

Take-away food in hand, we are just about to jump in the car and head home.
Andrew reminds me of Blackboard (from Mr Squiggle) in this photo - "Hu-rrry uuuup..."

Can you see the similarity??

Our fireplace with a little bit of Christmas cheer

For the last 4 years I haven't felt very festive because of the terrible things we've endured and the sadness it has left in my heart.  It certainly took the "Merry" out of Christmas.

This year I am feeling a little more relaxed about it so, rather than buy a tree, I have decided to invest in some Christmas lights just to brighten up the fireplace (the foliage you can see inside the pit is just some cuttings I took from a tree outside).  These are teensy tiny LED lights that have about 7 different flashing functions.  Tomorrow I will add some more green foliage and berries to the mantlepiece so it looks even more Christmassy.

Brighter day

Today I had my first job interview.

The job is for a part time milk sampler, which means going to 5 farms every month to collect milk samples for every cow which then get sent of for lab testing to see how much fat and protein is in the sample.  I've done this job before but on a much larger scale when we were farming in Australia.

I got some positive feedback from the interviewers, they told me that I am the strongest candidate for the job as I'm the only one who has had any experience.  Sounds good so far but I'm going to keep level headed about it and not assume that I've got it, otherwise I'll be shattered.

The money isn't too bad really, it will be nice to have a bit of extra income for us, and there is opportunity to pick up more work when someone goes on maternity leave shortly.

Fingers, toes, anything crossed for me.

Feeling very blah

Another birthday gone.

I feel utterly miserable tonight.

I'm 35.  I have no job.  I have no children.  I have no home of my own.

This is not what I had planned for this stage of my life, Andrew & I should be in a more secure position than we are right now and we should have at least two children if everything didn't go to shit like it did.  Instead we are still up to our ears in debt with no way to pay it and we will be declaring ourselves bankrupt very soon.  When that happens, we won't be able to borrow money to buy our own home for years, the banks won't come anywhere near us.

I feel like I have failed in so many ways and wasted so many great opportunities.  Money isn't everything to me, having a grandiose home with all the high tech gadgets and a fancy lifestyle isn't up there on my list of wants.

Ignoring the debt for a moment, in some aspects the absence of a mortgage and a house is a blessing.  We aren't tied to the one place, so if Andrew was to get the dream job offer we can pack up and go.  We have a freedom that so many people don't, so that is one thing I am truly grateful for.

I am also grateful for the support and love I have received from my family and friends, I am grateful for my health, I am grateful for a loving husband who has been through so much with me and stood by me when the going was so tough it would probably destroy many relationships.

We deserve so much more than the shit we have been dealt.  All I want is for us to be financially secure, and above all I want us to be parents.

Right now, we are neither of those and that is what makes me so sad.

Bliss!

This is my second Dyson vac, it arrived today.  I left the first one behind in Australia, gave it to Mum as she needed one!  This model is the DC23 Allergy and it is fantastic, I bought it from an authorised seller on eBay and the best part is that I saved almost £100 off retail price, plus free delivery!


Double bliss....  Dr Phil has started showing on Freesat, today I got to see the very first episode he ever filmed.  Now I can have my midday fix of Dr Phil every day.