Things are falling into place nicely...

Hello again! 

I haven't blogged since November and I've missed catching up on what you've all been up to. 

You may remember this post from July about feeling lost, well... a lot has happened since then! I made a major decision back in June, that has changed my life and since then, apart from a short period of feeling quite low, things have just got better and better! This change means I'm more confident, happy, positive, outgoing and assertive.

I joined the gym in July and lost four stone in six months, which is a major achievement that I'm very proud of! I have started going out more and have made new friends, some of them are now close friends that I wouldn't want to lose. I've also lost a friend through something I said, which I still feel upset about and an old friend has come back to me. I've spent the last couple of months catching up with old friends too. My nan now has carers coming in to help her, although she hasn't met one she likes yet!

As if all of these changes aren't enough, I've got a job with British Gas! After being a carer for so long and being out of full time work because of that, this is going to be a big change. I start next week as a Trainee Smart Meter Expert, I'm really looking forward to learning something new and working! I'd thought about applying for this job 18 months ago, after a friend who'd worked there, talked about it. The situation I was in at the time, made me feel that I couldn't do it but after my lost friend said he was training to be a gas engineer, I thought 'I can do this!'.

It has been quite hard with my nan since I told her I was applying for this job, but me not being around is something she'll have to get used to. Another thing that may be on hold a bit longer is the travelling I mentioned here. I definitely still want to travel but when it will be, I'm not sure.

One of my new friends said "Sounds like things are falling into place nicely!" and they really are! After five years of putting off this major change, I finally feel settled and happy with my life, which is such a good feeling! This year is about focus, learning, being challenged and new beginnings.

Cake, cake, food and more cake!

Ladybirds galore, a Christmas book and a cake!

After not seeing many ladybirds this year, last Monday I saw at least 20 over the road from my mum's by the little wooded area and they were mostly on the stinging nettles. (There is a handy identification sheet on the link above)

There were lots of orange ones with lots of spots.

Quite a few blacks ones with some orange markings.

One red one with lots of spots. 

There was also a funny looking, bumpy one which I think was the Pupa (it looked similar to the Pupa in my book), this photo is a bit blurry though.

I was looking for the book The Night before Christmas last week while I was in the town but I found this book instead in The Works and it was 3 for £10 so I got one for myself, my mum and my sister.

I loved this story when I was younger.

I made this cake today with my nephew, it was a packet cake my mum gave me that was going out of date.

We aren't having a very good week here the shower is broken and the electric went off last night and now there is no power to the boiler. Unfortunately, at times like this, when things are going wrong my nan takes it out on me and has a go at me quite a bit. Although I'm fairly used to it now and I tend to know when it will happen, it still upsets me and makes me annoyed as it's not my fault.

I hope you're all having a better week than me.

Hearing Dogs Late Summer Show

Today we went to the Hearing Dogs For Deaf People Late Summer Show at Saunderton. Despite the weather forecast saying it would be heavy rain and very windy, we decided to go early to hopefully miss the rain, there was a little bit but the heavy stuff started after we got home.

 I like this one with the dog peeking out of the tent!

They had lots of stalls selling all sorts of things, books, toys, about three cake stalls-these were my favourite! There was a show ring in the middle of the field where they had demonstrations of the work of Hearings Dogs, dog shows and competitions. I like this picture with the lines of clouds.

These birds look like statues! They were part of a demonstration and you could hold a Barn Owl for £1, my mum was going to do it but it started flapping and she decided not to!

I bought half a chocolate sponge cake from one of the stalls, it was lovely!

We support Hearing Dogs as my nan had a Hearing Dog but she passed away in 2010, if you look on my photos page there is a photo of Salsa. Hearing Dogs planted this rose for Salsa in their Memorial Garden. We haven't actually seen it in bloom as it's hard to get over there other than when we go to the shows/fayres.

I hope you've enjoyed your weekend.

My week so far

It's been a pretty quite week so far. On Monday I saw a slow worm while picking my niece up from play group, it's the first one I've seen for ages.

We also took some pictures of blossom and a yellow flower, I'm not sure of the name. The two close ups of the blossom are a bit blurred as I used my phone camera.

Yesterday I made some cakes to use up some out of date eggs. They are yummy!

I saw a new flower in the garden at the weekend, I wasn't sure what it was but on the BunnyMummy blog there is a similar one.

My crochet practice is coming on well! My square is getting a bit bigger but still looks lopsided! I have started practicing granny stripe too, I'm following the pattern from the Attic24 blog. Eventually I would like to be able to make a granny stripe blanket, like this one from BunnyMummy. I'm still finding it hard to hold the crochet hook properly but guess it just takes practice to get it right.

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