2016 – A year of unexpected.

2016, a time of crafting, reflection and thing’s not always going the way we planned, however other things came about that were unexpected and we made a year that could have been tiresome into something just as beautiful.

Jan 2016 

We had different plans for 2016, we bought a house and that became our focus, spending the money we had to decorate it the best we could, we got creative with colour, wallpaper, tiles and boldness and made a house into our home. 

March 2016

The Hens came home, then they multiplied. We always knew we wanted our hens back, it was a jolt in us moving as the rented flat wouldn't allow us to have them, so when we started to be settled i spoke to Jill, a friend who was looking after them in Rothbury, she was moving and looking to re-home them so it worked a treat, Spring came and they arrived on the back of a truck, one had sadly passed due to a sore foot but Maisy and Mavis joined us again, these two have moved all over the UK, i was pleased to see them back where they belong. We decided to purchase a few more hens, so went for two hybrid layers and another two bantams. The coop got bigger and after a few teething problems they all become a flock and enjoyed being together. Sadly we lost Maisy just before Christmas, she must have been around 6 so had good innings for a hen, Sam found her passed at the back of the coop, with her mate Mavis (aka Tina Turner) watching over her. We have a new hen coming in the next week from my Aunty, Nicola the black rock, hopefully the girls will accept her and there wont be too much bullying.

Spring/Summer 2016

We took many a walk out in the country and coast, enjoying the Northumberland air, we took trips to some old haunts but also some new.

August 2016

We then decided to take a trip to Sri Lanka, however just before going we purchased Betty, we had always decided we wanted a campervan project, however didn't expect this to happen until 2017, an opportunity presented itself though and it was too good to miss, so a few days before flying we headed to Sheffield to pick her up and bring her home.

We took our travelling toes off again mid August, not thinking we would have the opportunity to this year, we found cheap flights and decided what the hell, why not. We booked 3wks off work and decided to explore a this enchanting country (i hope to write a blog about Sri Lanka, so watch this space). Sri Lanka was beautiful, really laid back and chilled out, tasty food, the most beautiful beaches and sights that were awe inspiring, my highlights were climbing Sigiriya and all the beaches, lots of relax, book reading, life planning and silliness with my love. 

October 2016

We came back to England and decided it was time for us to become 3, it wasn't happening any other way so why not this way. The decision to get a dog did not come lightly, i have wanted a dog for years however its just never felt right, my love of pugs moved and Sammy suggested we take home a retired greyhound, it's a dog i didn't know a lot about however Socks is perfect for us. Socks loves a good walk, but also a good rest, she is affectionate and loves a cuddle and her nature is just to die for. We have made many good decisions this year, but this one was one definitely beats the rest, we visited http://www.northumberlandgreyhoundrescue.org.uk/ up in Steele, luckily for us we had already seen Socks online and she was still there when we went to meet the dogs, from the moment we saw her we knew she was our girl. A few weeks later, home she came and we haven't looked back.

At the end of October i became an Aunty, my brother and his fiancee had a baby boy called Miles, blessing us with his gorgeous smile, cute face and delicious baby smell. I got my craft on and made him a mobile, i went down the safari animal play and got creative with my miniature knitted world books. 

November 2016

Winter came with a mix of feelings, we thought we would be ending the year with different news but sadly it hasn't happened for us yet, lots of tests and appointments and investigations so some good news and bad over the winter months, i will write about this more when the time comes but for now it is filled with a mix bag of emotions.

December 2016

December came with a new project in tow, something i am going to blog further about but i had decided to bring a living advent window to my local community, lots of planning, preparation and organising and the project came together, each day a new window was reveled in the community displaying an advent/Christmas/winter theme. On the 24 December, all 24 windows were open and the full advent trail could commence. The project was great with amazing participation, here's a sneak of our window, each window would have a short description with it so people could learn the story behind the design.

 Our window was based on my snowy walks with our wonderful greyhound. 

2017

2017 starts with difficulties but i have developed a mantra 'believe in the hope' to push me through any negatives that maybe trying to flood my mind. I have an operation coming up next week and i plan to stay as positive as i can, i have incredible support around me and being in the arms of those souls keeps me going on this challenging but wonderful journey called life. 

ps - here's to more blogging, its my constant, please feel free to leave comments, i love hearing folks feedback and stories. 

Claire x

Nesting and Working.

Wow where has the year gone, were in Spring now and I really feel this year has just flown by, we have been back from travelling a while now and life has just got in the way of writing, I was writing my blog monthly when away and feel I have really neglected it since home, so here goes, I thought my first update this year i could share what’s been happening and what’s been making these last few months.

Work.
My working week is 3.5 days at Acorns working as a Children’s Counsellor with children impacted by domestic and sexual violence, the therapeutic work is carried out using play therapy techniques and is just wonderful to watch the process children/young people go through whilst working in the room.

My initial plan was to work more self-employed but my role at Acorns is amazing and diverse and I feel so many of my skills lie within this role, I have really put a lot of energy into it and its beautiful to say but I really do love it, hence why the private counselling I had thought of being more involved in has gone quiet.

Acorns are supporting me through a play therapy course at the institute of art psychotherapy www.artspsychotherapy.org which is an incredible institute and I hope to study further with them in the future. The course covers a number of different techniques, theory and experiential work to understand play as a therapeutic form, its hard going and means a lot of time back in London town but the learning I am getting from it is brilliant and is enhancing me as a practitioner each week I learn.

I am managing ½ day a week with Yogabud teaching one public yoga class and seasonal workshop’s which run on a Saturday and have a different theme each season. I have offered a few different options with the yoga but it feels right now the teaching I am offering is working best. The public class and workshop are going fantastic with full numbers and a mix of gender and age which is fantastic to see.

I have also been asked to par take in a workshop run by the lovely Shanti Bee www.shantibee.co.uk in June which I am really looking forward too.

Home.
Sam and I bought a house, bit crazy and unexpected but it all came about as I wanted my hens back and felt it was just annoying paying rent and not being able to have my feathered friends to say hello too. So we found a nest in an area we wanted and was lucky enough to have the offered accepted and now were in with our 6 hens and half decorated house. We weren’t sure whether we wanted to live country or city but felt that the stage we are in now the city suited us more with plenty of country adventures.

We had a few things we knew we wanted, like a wood burning stove and a good sized bath, which were two of the things we got sorted asap. We also knew we wanted to use reclaimed wood as a focus for shelves, my house plants seem to be growing so I wanted a place for good light for them. We also have so many books so wanted to use one of our alcoves to storage them so went searching in my dad/s workshops and found a number of old batons that we upcycled and made shiny and new. Really pleased with how far we have got and its really starting to feel like ours.

Bathroom Tiles.

Bedroom Wall

Hallway,

Stove tiles.

2013 A New Year with a challenging start.

2013 hasn’t been the start I had hoped and wished for, after a lovely Christmas with the family, it just feels January and February have been testing me as to what are the right choices ahead of me. I sometimes feel so contrived to achieve certain milestones in my educational attainment due to the constricted world we live in when applying for health related jobs. Everything is governed by professional registration at the moment and even being a qualified counselor (something I thought as a child was a brilliant career) is not even regarded now for statutory employment. I have always wanted to stay in the voluntary sector as believe more in the work voluntary agencies do but sadly even there getting stringent on professional qualification’s leaving me and my hard working background a little bit stuck. As I mentioned in my last blog I had decided to apply for midwifery and since doing so have had a few wobbles whether it’s the correct route and fear of the degree being too medical rather than the holistic way I have studied worked over the last 10yrs, I wondered if this was the best way to get my registration and if I could work with vulnerable pregnant women without a midwifery qualification but with my counseling and experience, sadly the jobs are so scarce right now it’s hard to even research this as there is  nothing to compare too. With all these thoughts and thinking I then received 2 unsuccessful from UCAS stating my GCSE grades did not meet the course requirements, even though I met L3 my L2 was not suffice, so I meet the higher grade but not the GCSE grade I sat 14yrs ago, madness. I resided myself to the fact Midwifery was out and maybe my reservations had been fate telling me there was different ways to enhance my career. I then received an invite to London South Bank for interview, after passing numeracy and literacy tests I then attended an interview, after a 4hr wait and a dehydration setting in, I entered the interview room and the first thing asked was ‘do you have 5 GCSE’s at grade A*-C’ I thought it was a joke and again had to explain my educational journey from school to now, another long tiring journey, with this I was told my application could be at jeopardy due to my not having these grades. I attempted to sell myself with my placement working with women exiting street prostitution, my current employment working with families with substance misuse problems and my extensive health studies course that covered English, Human Anatomy, Physiology, Maths but still they were not satisfied. They then interviewed me and I did the best I feel I could but sadly my grades from so long ago may impact if I gain a place on the course. I left disheveled and low but felt a discouragement from the University and a wonder in my mind if this was the University I wanted to study at and was all these negative signs someone telling me this was not the change I should be chasing.

In other news I was told I was facing redundancy and then two days later told I was not, another shock to the system and another time when I wondered ‘is this what life is about and is this the country I want to be living in right now’.

My mind keeps going back to my first thoughts of exploring, buying a one way ticket to India and making our way around the world, practicing yoga, gaining life experience, seeing family and friends, working and strengthening our minds. I keep questioning is this something I could do, is there fear in me that stops me and asking what is that fear – Letting others down? Feeling a failure? Missing an opportunity? Or is it just the general rule that I feel society puts on women and that at 29 (nearly 30) should I not be starting a family and getting a good career, but then the part of my personality that strives for excitement and fun, rebels against this concept and tells me to follow my dreams and take the adventure.  I have this underlying fear that keeps me in the safe comfortable reality but I can feel myself yearning for more and a main fear is one day it will be harder, it will never be too late but other obstacles will be in the way, whereas now there is nothing (apart from my chickens) if Sam and I wanted to take this opportunity we could, we could work away for some part and see where our traveling toes take us. Sadly it’s not just my fear I am fighting its Samuel’s too, the fear of the unknown can be the biggest cause of regret I feel, it’s just so hard that fear can control so much of our thoughts. Adventure to be or not to be, watch this space.

Our beautiful Murphy was killed by a fox, the day was a horrid and torturous one and I didn’t realise how much I loved my chickens, we put flowers with her as we said goodbye and hoped she had found her chicken heaven. Safe travels Danny Murphy, RIP.

One fun thing that has been happening is craft night aka knitting group, me and a few of my girlies have been getting together and learning the skill of knitting, it’s been so much fun and a brilliant way to get everyone together to craft and learn new skills. If people choose to carry it on that’s amazing, but if not it’s just been nice, having a natter and knitting along the way. So far my crafting has taught me how to make a patchwork blanket, 3 cushions and a mug hug.

Sammy bought me a new bike, a red Britannia Pashley, she is adorable and sometimes I find myself longingly looking at her, feel like a princess riding her and feel she has definitely brought a smile to the start of 2013.

My Mum and Ronnie’s dog Bow is definitely a delight to 2013 also, she is full of energy and puts a smile on my face every time I return home, her enthusiasm to play brings an electric feel to the room and when I am with her I forgot the stress of the ‘real world’ and enjoy silly Bow time world.

Spring is in the air and it feels delightful outside, roll on May for a month of birthday brilliance and Vietnam travels.

Broody Hens

I feel like I haven’t updated on the chooks for so long which was one of the reasons I started the blog. The girls are blooming and after a few months of chicken broodiness all are healthy and happy. Murphy (the black chook) has been worrying us after stopping laying some months back and started  staying in the nesting box. It’s really worrying when chooks become broody as they can stop eating and drinking as they just want to sit on the eggs, luckily she has got through it though and is now back in the gang and hanging out with the girls again. Sadly we had to cut her nails yesterday and when doing so her nail fell off (just due mud stuck on it) so then had to carry out pet surgery in the garden, she is all happy today though and it seems Sam and I veterinary skills worked. Were only getting one egg a day at the moment as the weather is cooling down, hopefully Mavis will withstand the cold and keep us stocked with eggs through to summer.

Positive and Negative Nesting.

Wow, what a crazy few weeks in terms of our home and out pet chooks. So we realised Matilda was a cock, my transgender theory was always right, Matilda was a cockerel and was starting to get a bit too frisky for my liking. We agreed to take her back to the farm which was all good until we got to the farm and i realised our chickens lived a very humble happy life. Matilda went into the coop and she was pounced on by two nearby cocks wanting to show her/he who was boss, it was awful. With this we said our (tearful) good byes and took Mavis with us. Only to find when we got her home all was not happy and Murphy and Maisy were a little concerned at what had happened to their old friend.

After a few days of separation they are all living happily together in there coop with eggs being delivered from them each day.

Pennant Production

I decided it was time to take a venture back North to get involved with the wedding workshop. Moomin and Gran have been stitching and measuring for weeks now and I felt really left out of the home made feel I wanted my wedding to be - I really wanted to feel like I had participated in making the feel of the day so after a phone call with Moomin and a train ticket booked I was on my way to doing that.

 

The weekend was been spent making pennants for the bunting, there are so many amazing fabrics it was exciting looking through them all and imagining them being the main feature of our wedding day.

 










Pennants a plenty - 505 completed. 

Met with the florist - so many pretty flower ideas.

Our Italian honeymoon is booked and can’t wait to venture to the exciting towns we have chosen to stay in.

We have been discussing the business and designing the website - the plan is to not buy the trailer until next year (after the wedding) but we thought it would be good to get the ‘admin’ side out of the way so when we buy the trailer we can concentrate on that. 

Beautiful Amy is designing our logo and came up with some really lovely designs.


 





  

We love this wise owl.

The happy hen adverts are mocking me, after realising we were maybe feeding the chucks an unhealthy diet (who thought too many vegetables would be bad?) we have put them on a strict diet of layer pellets and oyster shells. still no eggs :-( we have been building an extension to give them more space as the nights are coming earlier which means less free range time in the garden for them.

Another amazing weekend of relaxing time’s and perfect planning.

Burning windmills and troublesome foxes.

Shambala. Now thats a festival - after a few weeks of up’s and downs and hard decisions we decided that Shambala would be our last festival this Summer and wow what a way to end the festival circuit. Last minute ticket buying, quick costume of fantastic foxes and we were ready to go.
The festival is really like no other - the intensity of Glastonbury is unbearable at times and this was the kind of festival that i imagine Glastonbury was like back in the early day’s. Lots of exploring, amazing smaller bands and a forest that amazed me, positively perfect vibes all weekend (well until Samuel broke the tent :-)

With the thought of foxes in mind we have discovered a fiesty fox living in our garden, at first it was interested in the chickens, now it seems it just snoozes next to them. I have decided its a kit and lost its Muma - it wants to keep away from my chickens though - still no eggs, humph.

Newcastle time tomorrow - off to the barn for more preparation and measuring for the wedding then the florists - been collecting jam jars and something that has been fallen from tree’s at this time of year.

Sunday my beautiful longest friend Miss Andrea Trainer is marrying Mr Gary Clewes - its gonna be a special day Langley Castle.