En homage to my French adventure and my French friends: Le Premier Jour du Printemps.

In Ireland the 1st of February is the first day of Spring. I have written before about the start of Spring being in February, following the farmers almanac, it is something I can relate to.

This year, despite the bitter cold and storms, it has felt that Spring has come early. The birds sing differently, with joy. The doves started to coo much earlier and the sun is warm.

St Brigid, who is celebrated as the deity that will bring Spring, is celebrated to such a degree, we do in fact have a bank holiday to mark it! It marks the end of the long dark days. Sadly RD works in the UK , so he does not get time off!

It seems so long ago since I wrote the post about our first Spring in Ireland, and so many things have changed. Not least the loss of our beloved Welshies and ragdoll cat Diddies.

Obviously now we have The Loonies. And we would not be without them. They are our family, along with Daisy, who can never been forgotten. As John, another blogger said, ‘She looks like a Bond villain.’ Dogs and cats just love you, unconditionally.,

But it’s not just these changes. Over the 11 years, yes! It’s been 11 years since we started this adventure! We have got older. We are not only noticing that when trying to complete the renovations (we find we have to take time off now to get things done. No more coming home from work and cracking on, we’re just too knackered) but also in how we look at the renovations. We question now how much do we want to spend. We have renovated so many houses, buying the best, leaving ourselves broke to achieve what we wanted, and then sold the houses on.

We question what do we want more, to be comfortable, but also comfortable financially, or to just blow it all. We’re not being miserable, we’re being realistic. Do we really want to spend so much? Will this be our forever home? How long is forever? Because as you get older you realise that the meaning of forever changes.

So now from this year we will both work part time. This will enable us to finish the renovations and have time together. We will not be getting our single front door changed into French windows. Instead we will get a beautifully coloured single fully glazed door. We will still get a feeling of space, bring the outside in, and get more light. In addition we will still get to spend more time together, and with our furry family.

Losing our beloved pets, watching the girlies get older too quickly (can you believe Elfie, our beautiful angel in black will be four in February?) that we have been on this adventure for 11 years has taught us one of the biggest lessons, that the only commodity is time! You cannot buy it, you cannot touch it, you just need to treasure it.

Being ill was also a wake up call. I do now have side effects from the shingles. I am 95% there but I am aware that we should not take anything for granted.

I find solace now in the sanctuary of nature, taking that minute to sit in the Spring sunshine and breathe.

In this world of lunacy, look to Nature.

Moisy

Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think 

From the great song Enjoy yourself.