Seren's blog

Thank Crunchie it's friday. It's been a rotten week as Himself (my husband, forever known as Himself) and I had had words early in the week.  Well, the words were all on my side if I'm honest.It's just that now that the buying of our new house is getting closer, I was started to get the collywobbles. He had informed me that he could spare all of 4 days from work to get us settled in. And then it was down to me to cope with settling in 6 nervous cats who have never moved house before, looking after 5 hens, getting to know a strange place (bearing in mind that it's a Welsh-speaking town and my Welsh is rudimentary) and the visitors from the village who will all be wanting to know who we are.  While I've spent the last 13 years or so being a virtual hermit. Seriously, I do not cope well with strange people in  my house.

 

I threw a bit of a wobbly. But Himself and I had a talk on the phone last night and he agrees with me, that four days is not enough. And he said he was sorry for not realising how scared I was getting about all this.  He even admitted he's getting a tad scared himself. What a pair, eh?! So, he's on his way home for the weekend and should be here any minute.

 

(Oh, note for new friends: my husband works away from home from monday to friday. At the moment he's working for Vodaphone in Newbury, near Reading. We live in south Wales and are moving to Aberystwyth, on the west coast of Wales. Actually, to a tiny hamlet called Chancery, near Llanfarian, if anyone knows the area. )

 

We've got some serious packing to do this weekend as it look as though we may move over august bank holiday. Eeeeek! We've got a ton of things to sort out between now and then.

 

Anyway, have a good weekend.

 

noswaith dda

Well, I can already play the piano. But if I could choose, I'd pick being able to speak Welsh. I've lived in south Wales for 13 years and I can speak a little and understand a little more. But we're moving soon to the west Wales coast where Welsh is the first language and folks tend to assume that one can siarad Cymraeg than not. (Speak Welsh, I mean!) I'm planning to take it up again when we move there anyway, but I wish I could speak it already.

 

Thing is, I'm not actually Welsh. I'm English and have only lived in Wales for those 13 years.

A few years ago we had a great storm. I live up on a mountain in south Wales, so when we have a storm, the lightening is often right above our heads.  But this time, it hit the ground right by our street. It knocked all the electricity out in the whole village and was just fantastic! My husband, daughter and I and a couple of our cats stood at the back window and watched. I often like to watch storms from outside, but thought it best to be indoors this time!

 

I remember one good storm when I was a Girl Guide.  We were camping and this was the last night.  So we were all up, having midnight feasts in our tents.  When a huge storm hit. It was great fun!

A fiend of mine over on LJ asked "You can't control everything so why control anything?".  Well, I reckon that as we can't really control the big things, we might as well try to control the little things.  Because all the little things will eventually add up to be the big things.  If you see what I mean.

 

Though thinking about it, my own philosophy of living has always been one of drifting in uncharted seas. I've rarely had any control over any part of my life. My parents controlled where we lived; when I was 13 they decided to move us all to New Zealand, which I was very unhappy about. And then after four years they decided to bring us all back to England.  I suppose I did have control over where I went to college when I was 19, mainly because I wanted to go to one that was the furthest away from my mother as possible.  And then I met the man I eventually married.  I had left home and within two months, I had partnered my life to another's.

 

When I was expecting our daughter I wanted to move back near my mother (I know, hormones talking!) and we did, though that was really in my husband's control.  If he had not been able to transfer his job from Birmingham to the north east, that would have been that. We moved here to south Wales because he wanted a better job with better pay and lived here for 13 years.  But now we're moving to Aberystwyth.  It was not a decision I made as we both decided that we were fed up with Merthyr Tydfil, at the same time. 

 

I have always had a say in everything we've done though. For example, we looked at one house in Aber which we both liked and seemed suitable.  But when I realised it was not, my husband listened to my opinion and agreed. We both love the house we're moving into, though it's actually more for me than for him, with the big garden, vegetable patch, little orchard, greenhouse and the chickens! He works away from monday to friday, near or in London, so he would only see the house at weekends and holidays.  He said he wanted a house that I could be happy in; that would change my life for the better.

 

It's interesting, thinking more about it.  In a sense, I did have more control over my life than I realised.  I could very easily have not decided to marry him.  After all, he was the first and only boyfriend I had ever had.  The first and only boy I had fallen in love with. (Yes, I married my first love!) If I had not settled down with him, what sort of man, if any, would I have ended up with?  And would I have married a man who was so willing to think of my needs ahead of his?  Because he works in and around London, it would have made more sense to live in that area, not all the way over on the west coast of Wales! But he knows I hate the city, that I'm a country girl and I love the sea. It's also better for our daughter since she is more likely to get the job she wants in animal behaviour in Aber. He made life much more difficult for himself by choosing my needs and our daughter's rather than his own. (See why I love him so much?)

 

So, I suppose it's not been a case of drifting in uncharted seas, as being the crew of a ship that has a good captain who knows where he's going and has a map and a compass that works! And taking the analogy a bit further, by choosing to sign on with this particular captain and no other, I've taken control of the way my life has gone, after all.

 

Hmmm, this is all a bit deep for a friday morning! But it's been interesting. Now, I just have to watch out for the Kracken!

 

bore da

Well now, I'd like to actually finish writing my novel before the end of this year, though I think that's unlikely. I have a terrible affliction, called procrastination. And I have two stories that I'm trying to finish writing so I should get on with them. That's it really.

 

Oh, and I want to learn more about organic gardening as we're moving to a house with a big garden. It has a small orchard, vegetable patch, herb garden and masses of flowers.  And five hens! I'd like to do it all organically, no pesticides and so on.

....and a weatherman also.  You know why I hate watching the news and weather on tv?  Because they sit there, in air conditioned studios, grinning like loons and twittering on like a bunch of addle-pated twits about how wonderful it is that it's so hot.  No.  It is not wonderful. It is horrible and a danger to life and limb. First of all, the schools are not closed yet for the summer so all those kiddies are still crammed into hot buildings.  And you can bet your sweet bippy that some of them had to endure the hell that is sports day today.  And people at work, slowing simmering in the heat. Tempers fraying, not to mention that folks in the cities are putting their lives at risk, having to wallow around in the pollution.

 

Hello?!  It's not fun. It's dangerous and proves there is something seriously wrong with the planet.  Arghh!  I swear, newsreaders and weather people have to have their brains extracted through their noses in order to keep their jobs. Next time they have to get all excited because, oh, Wales had it's hottest day on record forever as if they were going to get an award for it or something, I wish someone would throw a bag over their heads. 

 

How can you tell that I am not a happy bunny? I am sitting here way past midnight, in my underwear, which is not a pretty sight. There is no point in me going to bed yet because for the last few days I've not slept until 4 in the morning. I have the fan going at full blast beside me, which is actually quite nice. I'm trying to hold onto the thought that in a few months, we'll have moved to Aberystwyth and be just a mile and a bit from the sea. And we'll have a lovely big garden with lots of trees for shade, and a stream running through it.  It's cooler by the sea than it is on top of a mountain anyway.  Cannot wait.  September cannot get here too soon.

 

Anyway, hope you're having a better day.

bore da (I'd say nos da, but it's after midnight so it's morning already!)

My first vox post. Eeeee, I'm a Vox virgin no longer! LOL!! I was delighted to get an invitation from Vox in my email today, now that cheered me up after a rotten day.  I'm boiling, is what it is. What is it with this weather? I live in the wettest part of Wales, in the wettest part of the UK, in the wettest part of Europe. So why is it so hot?  It's not natural.

 

Anyway, as I said, my first post. I have an LJ (locked) but was curious about this one. I know, I know. Couriosity was not kind to cats, but I'll take a chance.  So, about me. I'm 40-something; married with a teenage daughter and 6 cats.  My husband and I have been together since 1980 (married since 1983).  Still madly in love with each other.  Our daughter is a student at Aberystwyth university where she's studying animal behaviour. At the moment we live in south Wales, but we're buying a house in Aberystwyth and will be moving there in september.

 

I like music, reading, cats, chocolate, Johnny Depp, movies and TV, building fanlistings and so on.  I'm  Pagan, but I don't believe in religion.  Only in faith. And that's it I guess, for now.  Nice to be here.  Now to look around a bit more.

 

nos da