Feels like weeks

I had one of those oh shit! moments just now, I honestly couldn't remember when I had last updated this blog!  Turns out it has only been 5 days or so, but it feels so much longer.

It probably feels that way because I have been absolutely flat out busy, I had 5 farms to visit in 4 days this week for milk sampling, two of those had quite large herds so it took about 3 hours to sample each of them.  I was shattered when I got home last night, but good at the same time.  I got horribly lost (well, I thought I was!) trying to find one farm the day before I was due to work there, someone else was doing the sampling that afternoon and she wanted me to come in and see what the procedure was for that parlour (EVERY milking parlour I have ever been into has it's own unique system for collecting samples - so weird!).  Anyway I drove for almost an hour before I finally came home as mad as hell, I was so worked up from trying to find this freaking farm.  The next morning when I finally found it, I discovered that I had driven almost right past the road.  Unbelievable.  I gave up looking in the end because it was getting dark and I was scared of getting lost!

The other thing that has kept me occupied this week is my online training for my new role as distributor for Wikaniko.  There is so much to learn and I just love their products so I have been studying my backside off.

As a self employed distributor, I get to have my own website www.embrace-eco.co.uk, this is my very own domain name which "points" to my Wikaniko shop where customers can register and buy products, and if they are interested in becoming distributors there is a link they can follow, fill out a form and it will be sent to me.  If they join, I get a small percentage of their sales as my reward!  The bigger the team I build, the more profit I make.

I also have a blog www.embrace-eco.blogspot.com which my customers will be able to follow for product reviews, information on how to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, and as the customer base grows I will be adding competitions for them to win free products and gift vouchers.

For all of this to work I have to treat it as my own business, I can set my own hours and days to work too which means Andrew & I will be able to have the same time off together.

Ch-ch-ch-ch changes

I have had to delete some of my latest blog entries due to privacy issues.

The blog address has changed slightly too and I am making this blog available by invitation only, as I had someone contact me on a forum today asking if I had "that Keeping up with the Joneses blog".  This person was using google blog search and found my blog by using a key word.  Creepy.

I didn't realize my blog was so open to everyone, I was sure I had the security settings at the highest level.  Apparently not.

Sunshine!

We've had some lovely weather in the past week after having alot of rain.

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, Daz aka Freaky Boy came over for a visit and we went into Shaftesbury for lunch at the Salt Cellar Cafe which overlooks Gold Hill.  We went for a stroll down Gold Hill afterward, and then along the next street which is lined with some of the most quaint cottages in Dorset.  It's no wonder Dorset is so expensive to live in!

Today is shaping up to be the same, only not as cold, so I'm off to do some shopping, pop into the Vets' for Andrew, and maybe start preparing the garden for some vegetable crops.  We weren't going to plant anything because we were possibly leaving in a month's time, but after some contemplation yesterday and this morning we have decided to hold off on renting and changing jobs so we can build up some savings.

Grocery shopping awaits!

Whatley (is now Not-ley)

http://www.swallows.co.uk/Property-To-Rent-Whatley-Frome-PI-79.htm


The website won't allow me to copy photos and post them here, so you will have to look at the link.


Isn't it gorgeous?  It's only one bedroom which I believe is upstairs but the downstairs area looks open and spacious, so that would be great for guests, either on the sofa bed or the king size Aerobed.  My only issue is, we need storage space for "stuff", and this place doesn't appear to have that.


It's on the shortlist for viewing anyway, so once we've been to have a look around we'll have a better idea.


GONE.

This rental property hunting is already starting to piss me off, and we haven't even seen one house yet.

It seems that any property with some character or quirkiness is snapped up.  I have phoned three agents and had at least six properties crossed off my list in the space of two hours.

I hate this already!

Gone

It was too good to be true.

The gorgeous barn conversion below is a holiday house, the owners were only advertising to fill vacancies for a couple of months.  That's no good to us, we need somewhere permanent!  I don't want to be moving in, only to move again in two months.  I think their ad was quite deceptive.

A couple of other properties we had earmarked are gone as well, so may not be as easy as we'd hoped.

Another one

While browsing for rental properties today, Andrew came across this little beauty.

The ad was first placed in early January so we aren't getting our hopes up yet.  I'm sure this kind of house is very sought after so I will be very surprised if it hasn't been snapped up yet.

Beautiful two bedroom property situated on a rural small holding in Spring Gardens, Frome, Somerset. This stunning property is a fully furnished barn conversion which benefits from many features including an open plan living/kitchen area with glass doors allowing maximum light exposure, gorgeous wooden beams in both bedrooms and a private garden and patio area. Also comprises of bathroom with shower facility, downstairs WC, parking and outhouse. Excellent location with access to Bath and Bristol and ready for occupancy. More photos available on request. Please note that council tax is included in the rental price. 

(my bold)

Council tax is usually paid by the occupant in the UK, but it depends on the owner.  At the place we live now, Andrew is paid a very good salary so we have to pay the council tax (and Dorset council taxes are significantly higher than Somerset!).


Please cross your fingers, toes and anything else you can that we get the answer we want for this property!  If we get it, we can sell the cooker Andrew bought before I arrived, as well as the washer/dryer so that will help to free up a bit of cash. 

Busy week

I only worked at one farm last week because Andrew & I were meant to be spending 3 days up north in Coventry, so this week I had FIVE farms to visit, two were ES (essential sampling) farms which meant I only had to visit them once, the other three I had to visit twice.  One of the ES farms alternates from an evening milking one month to a morning milking the next month.  So I had to be up at 4am yesterday, to get ready (I am so not a morning person) and drive in the dark to a farm I had only been to once before.  And yes, I got lost.  Well, not lost, I just missed the road I was supposed to turn down.  Which meant I drove probably another two miles before I knew I'd gone too far.  The joys of country living in the UK.  Not all roads are signposted, and even if they are, the road doesn't always have a name.

Anyway, long story short is that I have survived my busiest week so far.  It feels good, I feel like I have achieved alot, but I am so tired now!

Andrew has been following a job lead from the cattle show in Coventry and he is really keen to try something different, rather than being a herdsman.  I have encouraged him for a long time now get away from just milking cows and pursue his real passion which is cattle genetics.  This job will require him to visit farms and sell new genetics to the farmers and help them to improve the standard of their herds.  I think it will suit Andrew so much because he loves to talk about cows.  So a change of direction in his career also means a change of address.  I have the responsibility of searching for potential properties for us to live, but closer to Frome.

Here are a few links to my favourites so far, I hope they work, but if you are in Aus they may not:

Alfred Street this place is not my ideal as it is an apartment, but if we don't like anything else this could be all that we can afford.  I like the size of the windows and the rooms.

Kingfisher Drive  price-wise it's good, seems to be a good standard of house but nothing remarkable about it except the street name, kitchen looks good if small


LET AGREED :( period home, Westbury love the garden, the kitchen and the period features, rooms look like they are in good proportion too.  Looks shabby at the front of the house but not going to let that deter me.  As long as the place is in good nic.

Richmond Road downside is that it is in the middle of town, but I love the proportion of the rooms and the kitchen looks great.  Tiny backyard though :-(

1 BR cottage downside is that it is only a 1BR place, but it has alot of character and seems airy and light

Green Parlour, Radstock this one is out of town (good), but not enough pics to really know if it's right for us.  Description of the house sounds promising.

Southfields, Frome we like this one moreso for its location.  Ok on the inside

LET AGREED :(Barn conversion, Rode looks quaint but only has one bedroom, which is no good if we have guests come to stay

There are a couple more to link but I'm struggling to keep my eyes open so I will get those up later.

FB is back on the menu

I couldn't keep my FB account deactivated for very long, I missed being able to keep up with everyone, plus I had quite a few people expressing their disappointment that they wouldn't be able to keep in touch (only via email which isn't as exciting is it really?).  So I am back on FB, count yourself lucky if you are still my friend (kidding!!  I haven't deleted anyone)

The cattle show was really boring this year, I guess I knew what to expect this time.  I took my knitting with me and got a little bit done, I felt really self-conscious and quite silly, I must have been the only person there who wasn't interested in looking at cows.  It took 3hrs to get there, 3.5hrs to come back and even though I did nothing all day (Andrew drove all the way both trips) I was exhausted when we got home, crawled into bed and slept about 11hrs straight.  Probably because I had to get up at 6am.

Change of plans

We didn't go to the national all breeds show today like we planned.  We will be going on Wednesday instead, driving up early in the morning and driving home in the afternoon.  Our original plan was to go today, stay two or three nights, then come home.  But we are trying to cut down on spending so Andrew wants to do it all in a day.

Tonight we are having a Chinese banquet for dinner, that is our little splurge compromise, and as I will be getting paid at the end of this week we can afford to treat ourselves to some takeaway and I get a night off from cooking (besides, it's too cold to be standing in the kitchen, I'm quite happy to stay here on the sofa)!

Strange day, good day

We've had sunshine, snow flurries, sunshine again, then snow flurries.  There's only a dusting on the ground, very patchy and not photo worthy.

Andrew has gone out for a boy's day out at the cinema with Daz aka Freaky Boy, they went to see some gory movie that I am definitely not interested in seeing.  So I have been enjoying the peace and quiet at home, pottering about doing housework, and popping outside to clean the windows when the weather is calm enough.

I have picked up more farms for work, my supervisor Ken just called to ask me to do a new farm on Friday afternoon so I have a total of 9 farms to do this month.  One of the milk samplers has injured her back so while one person has to cover for her, I have to cover for them which means I could end up with even more work while Karen is recuperating.  This is all good, it means more money for Andrew & I!

FB

If you were on my friends list on FB, please be assured that I still like you, I just decided to delete my account.  You know how to contact me if you need to :-)

Have I mentioned how much I love....

my Dyson?

I don't know what's come over me, I've never been this house proud before.  I'm vacuuming twice a week, giving the bathroom a quick tidy-up ever second day (sometimes every day, depending on how badly the black bath towels shed their fluff!) and *shock horror* making the bed.

Last night we had a few friends over for pizza night, I had the house literally glowing on their arrival.  No, it wasn't on fire, I just had the whole lounge room aglow with tealights, as well two of my home made candles on the front step for their arrival.  I should have taken some pics, dammit. Must do that next time.

Something I'm not happy about at the moment is our Hotpoint washer/dryer.  If you ever think of buying a combined washer/dryer, be sure that the machine has a lint filter for the drying stage.  My machine doesn't have a lint filter, so you can imagine what our lovely cream coloured bed linen looked like when it came out of the machine.  It is a MESS.  I'll have to take the linen to the local laundromat to wash and dry it properly there.  I'm so annoyed, I want to sell the machine and buy a new one... ggrrr....

She's home :-)

Mum was released from hospital yesterday and she is glad to be home (aren't we all!).  She hardly slept in hospital, what with the other patients, the constant beeps and alarms from various machines and monitors, and the nurses buzzing about.  I know from my own experience when I had the stroke in 2004 that you never go to hospital for peace and quiet, my most vivid memories are of curtains being thrown back at 7am (just as I'm starting to go into a deep REM sleep), nurses talking loudly and emphasizing their words and making bizarre attempts at sign language at me (they instantly treat all patients as if they are deaf for some reason) and then poking and prodding me for endless blood tests.

Andrew & I are looking forward to two days off, we are going to visit Gran on Wednesday and maybe catch up with some friends, and then on Thursday Andrew has a job interview at a farm not far from where we are living. Whatever job he does end up getting, I hope it doesn't mean moving too far as it will probably mean me also having to find a new job.  My current employer pays me for mileage and I don't think they'd be keen on paying me to drive an extra 20 miles for each farm I have to visit.

Mum is doing better, it appears that it was a blood clot in her leg coupled with a virus that had spread to her heart.  She is undergoing some tests (or may have by now) so I will know more when I call her tonight.  I tried to call her this morning but she's never in her room!  I think she's using every opportunity to go out for a walk in the hospital grounds with Dad.

MUM

I got a phone call tonight from my brother.

Mum is in hospital, it appears that she suffered a heart attack around 4am Sydney time and is now in Westmead hospital.

I don't know any more than that at this stage.

I am just beside myself, I feel helpless being so far away.

Heaven's Gate

On the weekend we caught up with our friends Chris and Ros.  We met them at Heaven's Gate, a nice walk which overlooks Longleat.  After our walk we went to a local pub for lunch and all important chatter.  I got to have lots of cuddles with baby Tristan, who had discovered a really fun game of dropping his toys on the floor for daddy Chris or uncle Andrew to pick up.  Hours of fun.  After lunch we went to Nunney and visited Gran at the nursing home, she is looking forward to getting the plaster off her ankle in a few weeks' time.

Baby Tristan getting a ride on his dad's back.  Tristan is 6 months old and was all toothy smiles and giggles during our walk.  He loved posing for the camera.

View over Longleat as we were hiking down the hill.  It was so eerie being able to hear the Longleat lions roaring off in the distance.

Ros, Chris, Tristan & Andrew

We saw these shells on our walk and couldn't work out why they were there as we were nowhere near the ocean.  Then we realized, they were the leftovers from dinner for the seals at Longleat.

The pub at Corsley Heath where we stopped for lunch after our walk.

Next day we had a lovely sleep-in before going to watch our nephew Zack play soccer, his team won 2-0, Zack scored one of the goals.  He had a really good game and attacked the ball well.  We went back to Helen and Paul's place for dinner, then Helen went off to a church meeting and Andrew went to the cinema with Andy and Darren to see Daybreakers.  I'm not into vampire movies so I stayed at Helen and Paul's to play some games with Zack.

Zack scoring a goal.  Look at how tiny the goalkeeper is!

In other not-so-exciting news, I finally have an iron and an ironing board!  I got my first pay last week so I was able to afford them, as well as some new Kilner storage jars for the kitchen.

This is just the start of my collection, I want another two of each size (except the butter dish).  Now I need some labels so I don't forget what I've put into the jars.  For now, I'll have to do Mum's old trick of tearing the label from the flour packet and pop it inside the jar with the flour.

Aren't they pretty!

How boring my life must seem

If I have nothing more interesting to post about than my new linen bins.  Whoop tee doo!!

I wish I had some exciting news to tell you, but there is nothing to tell really.

Andrew's gran had a fall three weeks ago and broke her ankle, she is okay though.  Her leg is in a cast and she is as comfortable as can be under the circumstances.  I drove to Nunney to see her today, then I did a bit of shopping on the way home.

It has been so cold recently that the radiator in our room just doesn't heat efficiently enough, so I had to buy a convector heater from the hardware store.  If that doesn't help then all hope is lost!  I think it will do though.  We are in the middle of winter now, the daylight hours are getting longer, so it shouldn't be too long before we'll be switching the heating off.

Andrew has a three day weekend coming up this weekend, I think we might be catching up with Chris, Ros and their baby boy Tristan.  If the weather is fine I am guessing we'll be making the most of it and going on a walk somewhere.  We'll also go and see Gran as Andrew hasn't seen her in weeks because of the terrible cold he had.

Getting organized

Things are slowly coming together in the house, we don't have a great deal of money to spend on household "stuff" but I found these handy linen bins with pine frames at the local hardware store for 6.99 each.  I have one for light clothes, one for dark clothes, one for "farm" clothes and one for towels & linen.

So much nicer than just piling the clothes on the floor in the kitchen! I still don't own a laundry basket though.  Or a clothes line... or an ironing board...  or an iron...  but we manage hehehe :-)

Two days late

The snow, that is.

I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow, we must have had about 2 inches on average.  It was so lovely to see the snowflakes clinging to the hedges and branches in such a delicate and fragile way.  On my little venture outdoors today I took some photos of animal tracks I noticed in the snow out the front of our house:

Penguin tracks.  I wish!

Fox tracks (left).  I know for a fact that these were left by a fox because I actually saw the little bugger late last night as I was staring out of the lounge room window!  Not sure about the smaller tracks on the right, possibly a cat?

Badgers on skis???

I have absolutely no idea what caused this but it freaked me out.  I actually thought someone was playing a practical joke.  There is a whole trail of these going right across the yard.  Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation for these bizarre "tracks"?  I thought maybe there were some sticks laying in the snow and someone had picked them up (why, I would have to ask!) but there were no footprints around.

Creepy.

This tree with the berries is the same one I cut some foliage from to decorate the fireplace for Christmas.

Andrew watching me prowl around the garden.

Jack barking at me as usual.  He loves going for walks in the snow with his owner Charlie.  They were out playing with one of the many squeaky toys Jack owns.

My poor little vegetable plots, barren and cold.

I would have dragged Andrew outdoors for a walk this morning as it is his weekend off at the moment, but he is still trying to overcome a horrible cold.  Instead, I whipped him into submission and he helped me tidy up the house.  We had some music to keep us motivated and it was a rather productive day.

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, Andrew toyed with the idea of going to see our nephew Zack and join in with some snow activities but I really don't think it's a good idea for Andrew to be larking about outdoors.  We'll see how we feel in the morning.

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.