Swallows in the Garden

Way back in Spring we found some swallow nests being built on the side of the house.  We left them to it and they left us to it also so there was no need to go out and stare too much.  We soon heard the noise of little swallows and were thankful that the weather was warm-not thinking too much of it.

Then one morning we came out of the house to find that the nest had fallen.  We could only find two birds, both of which were alive, but they were quite little.  There still seemed to be lots of adult birds flying around overhead, but the little ones were firmly planted on the ground.  So we were very worried for them.

I phoned the SSPCA who told us to put them in a box and take them inside as they couldn't fly and feed.  We were told to put a little bit of water in with them and we made the box comfortable.  A man from the SSPCA came out quickly and took the birds away and told us that there were many little birds that had fallen during the hot weather. 

He told us that our little ones had a good chance of surviving as they were so very close to flying away themselves.  The other day he looked in whilst we were at home and said that all of the little birds he had collected that day survived.  TH is now planning a fishing trip with him and the rest as they say is history!

Another Swap

I have recently been over to Blueberry Hearts fantastic blog where she has been planning another swap!  I've copied out what you can see below from the blog post about the swap so get your thinking caps on people!  I have put my name down for the Hocus Pocus one so can't wait!

Hocus Pocus Hallowe'en - a Hallowe'en themed parcel to thoroughly immerse yourself in the wonderful black and orangeness of the occasion. Some ideas for this are bat shaped bunting, Hallowe'en themed cushion or sweets for trick or treating. So many options with this one I think...

Autumn Glow - an autumn themed parcel which could include anything autumn themed that you like. For example an autumn themed wreath, some cosy hot chocolate or even a handmade scarf or hat. Possibilities are endless!

Awesome Autumn Plans

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how much things will change when we move to a new country. One of these things is ridiculously simple and so impudent that I am even thinking about it. We are being shipped off to an amazing place on the other side of the world and my little worry…oh it was just about how I love autumn and winter. My worry was that I would be sad missing golden crispy leaves falling to the ground. My sadness was that I would be missing snow covered branches and twinkly lights I associate with my journey home in Advent.

I felt that if things weren’t the way they always were then they would automatically be bad, or I would perhaps become sad. Fear of feeling sad in the future is something that I’ve only just learns terrifies me. I have had some really tough times in the past and I guess I am subconsciously very worried about being like that again.

To overcome this (or at least in part) and hopefully move forward I am planning an Autumn Adventure with The Husband. I would like us to have a slow and leisurely drive down to Dundee taking in two lovely shops I always HAVE TO stop at. We will then set up camp there for the night and then travel on to St Andrews to walk around the prettiness there. They have so many cute little independent shops and I always feel so at home in University towns as I think they are some of the most inviting and welcoming places.

So there we go, that’s my plan. I will have a last hurrah to autumn and then I will attempt to move forward and embrace and love the new.

Whatever happened, happened well

the Bhagavad Gita

“Whatever happened, happened well. Whatever is happening, is happening well. Whatever will happen, will also happen well. For what are you crying? What did you bring with you, for you to lose? What did you create, for it to be wasted or destroyed? Whatever you took, it was taken from here. Whatever you gave, it was given from here. Whatever is yours today, will belong to someone else tomorrow. On another day, it will belong to yet another”.

Looking for Jobs for the move ahead

The move to Singapore has The Husband and myself planning what we need to arrange and sort out before we get there. Because of TH’s job I will get a full visa and will be allowed to find work, however how easy it will be is another thing. Singapore is so full of people at the top of their game that it’s going to be quite hard to get something, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Any money that I am able to make will still go into a pot for when we come home so that we can buy our own home.

I was lined up to do some training with work, but because of this move everything im involved with will be winding down and work will be slowly taken from me. I look forward to being able to help with the training of somebody else and can’t wait to get into that role in the coming months. I was looking forward to all of the training that was lined up for myself. I had been accepted to a university course which would have been a great asset for my CV and would have been free as an employee. I was also lined up for some Project Management training which would have been great, but as it is I would have to pay for it, and I really don’t want to even start something I can’t finish right now.

What I have been looking at is getting other sorts of training under my belt so that when I look for a job abroad I will be able to get something half decent. I’ve been looking at lots of courses which I hope will help to set me apart-even if it is just to prove that I can do things off my own back.  Train the trainer training courses are for those who want to get into training others in organisations, so I hope that I can build on the times I tutored with computer training through the library. They do all sorts of courses and this will hopefully build on my skill set to make me look like a good future employee! The courses are mostly under £500 so are something that I am more easily able to get involved with and I seriously look forward to getting my teeth into something new. They do all sorts of things but right now I am looking at getting into something to do with education as we know people out there that run their own school. I hope that this does make me look a better candidate as I think it will be easier to meet new people if I have a job too.

This is such an exciting time and I am really trying to focus on all of the positives as I can be really averse to change so part of my looking at these courses is something to do with preparing myself for the move…. All we need to do now is pack up all of our worldly possessions, sort out all direct debits and bills, sell the car and excess furniture etc…. Hmm, not much then!

Singapore

Can't wait to get over there!

So excited for the move to Singapore

Sorted for Leaving

Sky has always been my go to TV package as it was the one I grew up with when I was little, but when trying to get my Mum the best deal I was keen to look about for a really good package. The point of these packages is to bundle together two or more services in order to make things more convenient and cheaper. This means that Mum would only have to pay one monthly bill rather than several and deal with only one company. With us moving away I was really keen to get my Mums broadband sorted so looked at some of the sky broadband offers available.

While looking up deals I noticed that you can either go for pre-made bundles that are aimed at people who are interested in different things, whether that’s sports, broadband, talking or watching films, or create your own so it’s tailored exactly to what they want from a multi-service bundle. Obviously, the more that is included, the more expensive the bundle will be and when trying to sort this out I found that my Mum is into the widest range of shows possible!

We are getting closer to the mark and with 15 weeks before we go we do have a bit of time. The list of things we have to get sorted ourselves is a bit scary, but I keep telling myself it will be worth it!

Make it Home

Hi everyone, we’re going through such an exciting time here so I haven’t been on the blog much. This year has been crazy, it’s made me crazy, and I’m only half way through it. So far we have unpacked half the boxes after the move as we only got heat a couple of days before Christmas (we still have loads of stuff in boxes). We battled through snow that eventually ended up coming up to my waist (sliding off the road is never how I want to start my day). We had power cuts and broken ovens, broken showers and disconnections, a wrecked garden and a bump to the car.

TH and I have been to the Doctors over stress and infertility. I took over the budgeting, stressed some more and then got things in order. We started to save, and boy have we saved (on average 60% of our take home pay!) but this has been hard.

My goal was to get out of the place we were renting. We wanted an actual contract and to feel safe and secure. We started to like where we lived more. It was about freedom to move about the beautiful countryside which we are surrounded by. I felt so alone not having neighbours, but I started to enjoy our home in a different way. We started to deal with stress and we felt better that we had medical professionals to help us through the infertility. We planned ahead. I booked a weekend away in Edinburgh for Christmas, we started to make more money by selling things and doing odd jobs. TH has taken up a bit of photography and I have a second job with getting And now it’s all change again.

I am changing the blog title to ‘Make it Home’. This is going to reflect the change that I’m no longer a homemaker full time and as a result I have less time to do the homemaking things I used to take for granted. It will also reflect the change to the type of home we will have in the near future. We have lived in a flat, a coastal cottage and a little house in the middle of a field in the time that I’ve been writing this blog. Now we’re moving again. I want every house we have to feel like home, to make it our home. I want this blog to chronicle our journey to our eventual home.

What I want this space to convey is the journey to the place you feel safe, I want this space to be about making things that make me feel like I have a proper home.

I said that we are moving, and we should be leaving our current house within the next three months. We are leaving the UK as The Husband has been told he has the job in Singapore. They want us out there for the beginning of November. We are getting a relocation agent to help us get organised and we will either get a house out there that is already owned or we will have to find a place to rent ourselves. TH will be working in the D10 area, so we are hoping to live around there. So far we have looked into taking Daisy Dog over, but that seems like a long process because of the wait to get air conditioned carriage for her.

So we are having an even bigger ebay clearout and more car boot sales, things are starting to get put back into boxes and packaged up. I am starting to get my CV organised and find out about banks and credit cards abroad. We have a super busy 3 months ahead of us, but we will get there.

Little Friends

The sun is extraordinarily sunny. The breeze is deliciously warm and sweet and I am so looking forward to the weekend. We’ve had seven weeks of sunshine and it’s just so wonderful to wake up to a clear blue sky. The garden has never been so used and I have been spending plenty of time laying on the grass reading my books.

The Husband loves the bigger garden for all of the ‘man jobs’ he can do out there and is in the process of making a garden bench from an old bed. Daisy Dog has also been spending her time luxuriously propped on an old duvet that we’ve dragged onto the patio where the sun spends most of the day. She intermittently wonders back into the house to cool off, but it’s so sweet to see another little soul doing what I wish I could do.

On a wee bit of a sadder note we are having our friends little girl to stay for the weekend as her parents are separating and need to get on with some of the stuff that just needs to get done. It is very lovely that we can take care of her for a little while or give her some TLC when she is down, but we know that there is an awful lot that must be going on in her head. We know that we can’t make the world a better place all at once, but we can make the little part of the world we inhabit better by trying to make lots of tiny little changes.

So, although I can’t give her what she wants the most, I can give her a bit of a break from thinking about what’s been pulling her down.

Smile

The Happiness Project Part 2

I am still in the middle of reading the wonderful Happiness Project and have felt that this book more than any other book of this kind has got me asking really important questions of myself. I said in the last blog post that I was going to read the whole book and then re-read it again slowly. I said this because it is one of those books that I love in which the sections are divided into months with an aim for each. It begins in January and January is all about aiming to get the most energy, then each month has a new aim added to the past months aims. This means that little by little things will change.

The book isn’t about a certain path being followed but shows the writers experience as well as asking lots of questions of the reader. I was reading the book in our back garden last night when I started to think about how my own happiness project would go. What things would I want to work on? What would my aims be? This is from the Happiness Project website and shows you how to get started (I’ve written my own answers next to each of the questions):

“Identify your aims
The First Splendid Truth will help you identify areas to tackle in your Happiness Project.
Ask yourself:
▪ What makes you feel good? What gives you joy, energy, fun?
Going for a walk. Reading. Chatting for hours over delicious food. Making others happy.
▪ What makes you feel bad? What brings you anger, guilt, boredom, dread?
Rudeness, unfairness and cruelty in others. Being unmotivated and lazy makes me cross at myself.
▪ What makes you feel right? What values do you want your life to reflect?
I want to be someone who is fair and helpful. I want to be able to look after children in my life. I want to show that education is important and that working hard is how to get what you want from life.
▪ How can you build an atmosphere of growth—where you learn, explore, build, teach, help?”
This is a much more difficult question and the reason that I am trying to read up a lot on this subject.

The author also made up 8 Splendid Truths and wrote little notes beside them:

1. To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
2. One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy;
One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
3. The days are long, but the years are short.
4. You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.
(Many argue the opposite case. John Stuart Mill, for example, wrote, “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.” I disagree.)
5. I can build a happy life only on the foundation of my own nature.
6. The only person I can change is myself.
7. Happy people make people happy, but I can’t make someone be happy, and no one else can make me happy.
8. Now is now.
So far all that I know in my own project is that I need to start in the same way. I really want to start generating some energy within myself. I need to do things and eat things that make me more energised so that I can take more on and squeeze as much out of life as I can.

I hope this gives you a little insight into the book or at least gives you some questions you maybe feel you should be able to answer. Now get to the library!

So Happy

I've been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin recently.  I'm only on February at the moment, but can't wait to get all the way through it in one go and then hopefully go back and re-read it properly with the hope of following through on a lot of what it says.

I love getting new books and have been reading more and more like this.  So although i can't say too much about it at the moment i can defiantly tell you that this is a really good read...so get to your libraries!

Richer than you know

Although I can promise that I’ve not turned into a preachy person about saving, I most certainly have aimed to save as much as possible and I’m not ashamed to say that I am being grippy, tight, frugal and thrifty. We’re saving about 30% of our joint income and I’m thoroughly ashamed to say that we saved 0% beforehand. We keep hoping that the job in Singapore works out, but if not, ‘hey, TH did very well to get as far as he did!’ and it’s all gonna be ok.


This frugality and thriftiness originally comes from my Grama and then my Mum who taught be everything I know. I should add here that the bit that I know was lost for a while when I went on various shopping rampages between 2000-2008 before being followed by the extravagances of eating and going out.

However, here I am, a little older and a little wiser. I know what I can get for £10 and I know how long I have to work for it. I know that the time in which I work for it is more than the hours I sit in an office, I know it’s from the moment I get up to the very moment I arrive home-but this is what motivates me.

This is what I do now, and what I need to do now, but this isn’t what will happen forever. As the savings grow and our ability to be content rests less with what I can buy we stretch ourselves as a couple. These are skills I should never, ever have forgotten, and I am trying to ensure I never will. My Mum and Grama both taught me about how to prepare good food cheaply and work out the costs of meter readings, as well as regular hints and tips for when I would have my own home. However, as technology progresses I am now more able to help them find their best value products by using various forms of technology.
When I got myself a better deal with my phone provider and satellite subscription I wanted to be able to help them too, so I showed them a comparison site and ensured we worked through all the deals together. When my Mum said she wasn’t watching much of the channels on her subscription I found her a good http://www.digitaltvsignup.co.uk/digital-tv-providers/virginmedia.htm deal which would work out much cheaper. It depends where you are and what you watch, but we were able to check out all the deals. I have been half way through a conversation with someone more times than I care to remember when I think I am about to get a good deal only to find that it is for something I don’t want or need. I get so annoyed that part of a sales technique can be blatantly ignoring what a potential customer has asked for. This is why I much prefer looking up deals online and reading through everything they promise for whatever price they say they can do. I also think it’s a great way to compare the competition and even to get knowledge to really understand what you are paying for.

I’m so happy that I can help out and save my Mum and Grama pennies just like they were able to help me save. The basics are still the same though. Understand what it is you are paying for and decide from there if it really is worth that. It’s like if you only use sirloin steak maybe you genuinely don’t know about stewing steak and the costs of similar products. All I’m doing is using whatever knowledge I’ve gained in a different sort of way, and I’m so glad that I can.

Summer's a time of change...

Hello, Hello, I’ve been a bit dormant for a while in blog-land, but up to an awful lot in real life. Firstly, how awesome is it that the sun is actually shining?! It is brilliant to have the ability to hang out washing when I leave in the morning and come back when the working day is through and not curse myself all day long through rain clouds.

The sunshine has pushed me outside, but I have also been trying to stay very busy as TH is away with work again, and I can be kept sane by making myself go out for walks or do a thorough clean. It’s great that I can leave the windows wide open again, not something I’ve been able to do in this house.

I’ve also been trying to keep fit as we have finally got our appointment at the fertility clinic. Although I’ve lost weight I’m still just over the healthy bracket, so I want to get those last few lbs. shifted so that we can get on with things and hopefully get as much help from them as we can.

It is also very exciting that we may have a move ahead of us. TH had been asked to attend an interview for a job in Singapore, which of course he jumped at the chance to do. Last week he got told that he had the job if he wanted it, and because it is through his own work he has been able to fully explore what would be involved in the package that would get us over there. We’re still able to say no at any point and we should be getting a trip this year if we go so far into this.

Obviously we won’t just say anything to get it, but we really need to figure out who pays for what and any costs incurred by us. I’m trying not to get too excited until we know for sure, but me being me means that I have already been looking at apartments over there, and bulk storage facilities over here. I want a place that can offer one all-inclusive price that is secure. I looked for a while at some places where you rent from different people, but I just don’t feel like I could do that with so many things as I don’t want to take lots abroad. I also want somewhere that I can drop a whole bunch of things and they wheel them in to a big warehouse. No heavy lifting or lugging for me please! We also know that they accept deliveries for you if need be and we would also be able to get more space if need be. This might be something that needs to happen when we’re thinking of coming home again.

We are so far away from anything that is certain, but it will be an amazing opportunity to visit a new country and to save as we are pretty sure they’d be paying for quite a lot out there. However, I guess you can’t be 100% until it’s in writing.

So maybe, just for now at least, I will be excited about the progress with the clinic, and mostly about the fact the sun is shining!

Day by Day

Dance in the Rain

Getting There

The ISA was opened earlier this month and it felt so good putting money away into it and knowing that this is the start of really taking control of things. Not only have we been blessed with great weather recently, it feels like things are finally all falling into place. Although I love Autumn and Winter I love it when we get a bout of sunshine that really cheers everyone up. Eating supper outside is such a simple pleasure, but such a treat. We’ve had great news too and are waiting for our first appointment at the fertility clinic. There are so few in the country that I can’t help but be grateful for the chance to attend one so easily. I know some people have to travel from the Highlands and Islands just to attend, so I really shouldn’t complain about my lot in life. I’m so happy that we are getting to visit this amazing establishment and are getting closer to real help. The help might be medical or counselling or anything they see fit, but I am so happy that we can now get over all of the confusion and sadness. I can celebrate that these things were never in my hands in the first place. There is a plan, and if there’s another person on earth to help show me what I can and can’t achieve then I can accept it and get on.

I guess there was a point when we really thought about babies or thought about money and saving and all it brought was unhappiness. We’re not supposed to overthink these things, most of what we worry about isn’t anything we can control. The money thing I could deal with, for too long I’d blamed others, but as soon as I copied my Mother and got myself a little note book it made sense. The baby thing was so far from being in my control that no wonder I drove myself crazy trying to ‘fix’ it. It seems like the moment I noticed that although I loved my job in a library, I couldn’t be with people who were so rude, nasty and deceitful to each other. I remember when I left and I spoke with my new colleagues, I was shocked that they weren’t horrible to me. The fog cleared and I could see that it was a good thing I got out of there. I could see no amount of money or job prospects mattered if I was deeply unhappy.

I feel like we’re slowly getting to where we should be. Not getting somewhere in a monetary or benchmark sense, but where we should be IN OURSELVES. Where TH and I were meant to be with regard to being calm, happy and settled. Not striving for more, just doing what people have always done and I am so thankful that we have that chance. We might get some treatments and they might be difficult, but we sure aren’t sitting hunched over trying to figure it out between us. I am so grateful that on Tuesday it’ll be us, waiting in a queue…and you know what? It might be the start of something really, really good.

Ooops....

Ooops, where have my pictures gone on my last two posts....hmmmmm

I'm sure I'll figure it out in no time!
x

A bit of a catch up

Hello, Hello, I’ve been a bit dormant for a while in blog-land, but up to an awful lot in real life. Firstly, how awesome is it that the sun is actually shining?! It is brilliant to have the ability to hang out washing when I leave in the morning and come back when the working day is through and not curse myself all day long through rain clouds.

The sunshine has pushed me outside, but I have also been trying to stay very busy as TH is away with work again, and I can be kept sane by making myself go out for walks or do a thorough clean. It’s great that I can leave the windows wide open again, not something I’ve been able to do in this house.

We’ve actually been up to all sorts recently with our two Birthdays (well three if you count Daisy Dog) and all of the planning and organisation that takes. A lot of the Birthday prep happened before we started to save so we both got each other a bit too much. Always nice, but we know the true cost of the ‘stuff’ now.

For my Birthday I got Jessie J tickets from www.bigticketshop.co.uk/jessie-j-tickets.htm I had been really wanting to go to see her as I think she’s great, and seeing as this was bought a while before the Birthday TH and I will act like they are free. The Nephew informed us of the site as you can figure out the best value ticket as with so many of these sites they rip you off royally and you have to pay quite a big fee for the pleasure! I think he is quite ashamed I like someone so cool, but we’re in good seats so we shouldn’t see him. Well, I’m sure if he sees us he won’t let on anyway. The site is quite good so I am going to go on there again when looking for comedy shows. I was really cross I missed out on a couple before, so will definitely have to be more organised in future.

Seeing as we are country side people now and it takes a while to get into town so it is a bit of an ‘event’ to go out to these things. Also as we would have to go to Glasgow normally for these things we’d have to stay over, and then have a wee look around the place….one night out quickly turns into something quite expensive. If you are ever in the same predicament as us then you can appreciate that going to gigs or shows isn’t something you can do all of the time.

Apart from the Birthdays we’ve been trying to get the garden under control. We’d hoped that for TH’s Birthday we could be out in the garden, but the weather was so awful, by the time it got nicer the sunshine woke all of the weeds up and they are sneaking through every crack in the ground.

We’re also hoping that we can start squirreling away lots of wood while the weather is nicer which we can whip out in Autumn instead of paying out every month. The wood pile in slowly getting bigger, but seeing as its soft wood we do go through it really quickly. However any night that we can get a free fire will be a bonus.

I think that’s me caught up a little bit now. Hopefully I can get some pictures of Daisy with her Birthday cake up, have a good day.