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Tag Archives: believe

Motivation during the French winter

08 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in My home, Reflections, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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I have written many times about winter in rural France. I have said how people dread it, how it can be very grey (although that is one of my favourite colours!), and how work can be scarce to the point of non existence; add that to what can be one of the most expensive times of the year with fuel to find, and it can be hard.

A new year – a time of reflection

So this year we are approaching winter with a different approach, in fact this year we are approaching a lot of things differently, but more of that to come over the year!

Firstly we have wood, in our garden, our own wood. So we spend at least one afternoon a week chopping the wood (don’t get me started on the log splitter!). I enjoy it, I enjoy working with my husband, with the puppies running around us, and I find it rewarding.

Secondly we have decided to focus on what we can do, instead of what we can’t do. I believe if you keep going what you need will come, so since the new year we have done the following:

We went for our New Year day walk around the medieval city of forgeres

I said we are going to enjoy the winter in my previous posts, and I hope by doing this I will inspire others to just embrace each and every day.

Rich has decided to use his time, and has painted our toilet, and hung the radiator on the wall. We have decided that this is the year that we will take control and this is one way to do it. To decorate the house, with the paint we already have, and to do it well and how we want it. This house will be unrecognisable.

He has also re-arranged our living room, so that we take more advantage of the log burner with a ‘snug area by the tv and fire. I love it, it has gone from this……

To this..(dog leg not included!)

He has opened up the seating area at the other side of the room, and we have decided not to have a table. We never use it! So it’s going up for sale and we now have a huge amount of space. From this….

To this

We have a long list of jobs that we want to achieve this winter, pulling all the logs from the overgrown dead grass around them, decorate the hall, paint our living room and kitchen ceiling white (the leaking roof has been fixed, properly this time without any odious little people in sight!) and decorate both rooms. I am sure in-between all this work will come Rich’s way.

And last, but never least I will continue to cherish the scenes around me, because they keep me here. So here are some winter sunrises and sunsets from 2019.

Sunrise Ambrières-les-Vallées January 2019

Let’s be positive, and honest with ourselves this year.

Moisy

Sunset Ambrières-les-Vallées January 8th 2019

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Counting My Blessings: Day 10

02 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by in My family and other furry creatures, People, Reflections, Simple things, The continuing adventure

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So here I am on my final post of the ten day series Counting My Blessings and I am going to cheat, I am counting three in this post, and will put it under the heading ‘My Family’.

First let’s talk about my son Tom. I chose this picture carefully because he is on top of a peak in the Lake District in England, with the sun behind him, and for me it symbolises how he can do anything he wants, he is young, and his life is in front of him with every opportunity available should he wish to take it.

I am proud of him: how he has coped with mum and dad moving to France, has pursued his dream of working in the gaming industry and has never given that up. I don’t think he realises just how much strength you need to pursue your dream, and exactly how much strength he actually has.

He is full of fun, empathetic and learnt his lesson to walk in others shoes and is loved by so many people. I am proud of him.

Now my second blessing, my sister. She will kill me for putting this photo on, but she has to be in this, not least for the support she has given Tom over the past four years. The second photo is of Tom and I, with Tom getting ready to walk her down the aisle.

We have had our ups and downs, as sisters do! She thinks she’s always right ( and annoyingly more often than not she is!) But she is always there, she cares, and Tom would not have his dream job without her tenacity and love.

Now last but never least:

My husband Richard.

If any of you have read my serialisation of my soon to be published book (it will happen this year whatever) https://makingthisbetter.com you will know how Rich I and sailed The Ocean of Despair for a long time, to get to where we are today.

This man fought tooth and nail to keep me; he evolved because he wanted to, not because I asked him to; because I never did! After what happened he had to keep up with me, I wasn’t going to wait for him!

And every minute of every hour of every day he did.

I once had someone say to me that they ‘had never had a man look at them in the way Rich looks at me’ and that was true, I know I am truly blessed to have that in my life.

He is a kind and gentle giant, who enabled me to trust him enough to come on this adventure. He makes me laugh every day, literally every day, with his dry sense of humour, and silliness.

Everyone he meets loves him, because he just sees the funny side of life. Look at him in this picture, he is so naughty he has led them all astray.

I am blessed to have this man in my life, he is sensitive and loving; strong when I need him. I could not be on this adventure without him. We are blessed to be as strong as we are now, and we both count that blessing every day, and NEVER take it for granted.

I know he will cry when he reads this; and that just makes me love him even more.

So my final blessing, my family, but more than that: the pride I have for my son, the hope I have for him too.

The understanding I have of my sister, and the respect too. My book wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for her!

The respect I have for my husband, the love I have for them all. I am truly blessed.

I hope you have enjoyed this series; And I hope it has made people think about the small things, because, trust me, they are the things that keep you going in life. So in this New Year, please take time to stop, and see the small stuff.

Moisy

Counting my blessings: Day one

24 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in My family and other furry creatures, Reflections, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure

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As I have got older I have started to find that we seem to have lost what Christmas is about.

Christmas was originally a pagan festival to celebrate the Winter Solstice, it was just taken over by the Christian faith and Christmas was born. It was meant to be a time for reflection on the year past and to celebrate the small things we have. I really believe have lost that along the way.

So this morning as I sit here drinking my tea in bed (yes it is one of my favourite things when we are not working, and I notice, a place of inspiration lately) I looked at my beautiful boy and came up with an idea: each day until New Years Day, I will post about a small thing I am grateful for. Here is todays…..https://moisfrenchadventure.com/2017/12/05/dogs-are-not-our-whole-life-but-they-make-our-life-whole/

My beautiful boy Harley, who we re-homed five years ago, after a relationship breakdown took place. He made us fall in love with the Welsh Terrier, and he is a mummy’s boy. We nearly lost him last year after he ruptured his disc in his back, you can read about it here…

Today this is my blessing: Harley.

I hope that in this time of madness and frenetic rushing about this may inspire some of you to just stop; and reflect; and then join me in sharing your blessings with us by telling us the one small thing that you are counting as a blessing each day over this time of celebrations and gratitude.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Have a good Christmas Eve folks.

Moisy

I’m back! You can’t keep me down for long.’

18 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in My family and other furry creatures, My home, People, The continuing adventure

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Someone said to me on Saturday that she had missed my blogs recently; and guessed after my last blog that I was,perhaps, struggling with life out here; but that she hoped not because I gave her hope.

I wasn’t necessarily struggling with life out here, I was struggling with my belief that life would show me the way, and that despite all the crap good would come.

If you’ve been reading my blog you know I follow the teachings and philosophy of the Tao; I know that where there’s bad there’s good, and where there’s good there’s bad; that you may have a lot of crap come your way but if you hold onto your faith good will come; and things over the past few months were making that hard, I was struggling to believe.

But over the past few weeks so many people have supported me, helped us, and they gave me hope: my sister sent me a medicated mouthwash and mouth gel, my friend Saveena called to say the assessor was coming out for the roof, and both she and my sister contacted me almost daily to check I was okay. It all helped but I still struggled.

So on Thursday I looked up and asked for help to regain my belief; because I knew that good things would not come if I could not believe. An hour later my IPad pinged and what I needed started to come my way. By Friday my faith was back; and I started to see ALL My blessings: good friends, new friends, our son, our family, our animals, the stunning place where we live, and not least our love for each other.

I had worked hard all week creating pretty Christmas stock to sell at a craft fair on Saturday at a beautiful old French Mill half an hour from us.

But when Saturday came it was minus six degrees and thick ice, with icicles were hanging off our garden table, and when Rich wound down his window there was another window of ice in its place! The roads were treacherous. But we trundled on, with the van skidding everywhere in the sleet, and set up our stall.

Sadly in the end, and understandably given the weather, only about ten people visited the fair. But we still had a wonderful day. We met two lovely, kind people. They too were doing what they could to keep their dream alive, and we laughed all day. They had spent all summer making these wonderful reindeer and you can find them on Facebook as la petit Cretouffiere.

At the end of the day we all gave each other something: cakes, key rings, angels, chocolates,

And my dear, kind friend gave me this stunning lamp, which now takes pride of place on our stairs (walls to be decorated next year!) projecting stars all over the stairwell

Stars are a big thing in my house, a star is for life not just for Christmas! So I decided to keep my newest design for me – twinkle, twinkle! It now takes pride of place in my bedroom, twinkling in the twinkly lights…

It can be replicated if required by anyone…

At the end of the day we all helped each other load up and tidy before the night drew in. We got home to a freezing house (gotta love that stone!) that took three hours to warm up! But we changed into layers of fleecy pyjamas, Snuggly socks (two pairs!) opened the wine and watched the Strictly Come Dancing final; with a roaring fire, four sleepy cats, and two snuggled Welshies.

I know that we are blessed, we have each other, and we fought tooth and nail to keep that; no money in the world can buy what we have. We have no presents (but the dogs have one) and we don’t need them. Our Christmas present will be snuggling in bed with a cup of tea on Christmas morning, and eating our dinner on our laps, not caught up in all the hype! My happiness is complete with our Christmas decorations, that I have collected over the years.

We have now been invited to various shin digs and I am busy. This morning I woke up to this stunning sunrise and I thought to myself ‘all I had to do was believe.’

And I do, my belief is strong, nothing can take that away, it may wane but it will never leave me.

I’m back!

Moisy

You may want to read my other blog

https://makingthisbetter.com

I had a little cry…..

12 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in The continuing adventure

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I started to write my second blog  makingthisbetter.com (See link below) on the 2nd of October. I know that some people do not read it, the subject is one that they find difficult, it is a story of Rich and I in times gone past. A story of heartache and pain but ultimately a story of hope; because we are here today, happy and content with what we have.

After polling my readers on this blog I decided to serialise some of the book that I had written, about what happened to us. I truly believe that it is a tale that will help other people when they are in the place of utter devastation and desolation that we found ourselves once.

Well it went mad!!

On Saturday night, thirty nine days after my initial post, my blog hit ten thousand views. and I have had such wonderful comments:

‘@moiraswindell I’ve already binge read your blogs’

‘You’re story gives me hope, it is incredibly inspiring’

‘This completely resonates with me, word for word’

Not least the number of people who have said that they are going out to get a journal!

So on Saturday night as that figure crept up and over the ten thousand mark  I cried! Why? Because I always knew that we had a story to tell; I knew that others would want to read it, I knew and I never gave up. The emotion that I felt, after so much hard work just overwhelmed me.

When someone told me once to ceremoniously burn the journal that I kept then, the journal that kept me sane and kept us together, I said I would never do that; because at the time I wrote that journal I wanted to read someone else’s that would be like mine – that would show me my pain was normal but also show me I would get through it.

Over the past three years I have had people do that thing – you know – ‘hmmmmm’ when you tell them you are writing a book; had people smile at me as if to say ‘of course you are!’ And people who have said  ‘but that won’t get you money now! You need money now, you need to leave that and go and do other work.’

But I didn’t listen to them, and I never, ever, gave up! I cannot tell you the confidence that the response has given me with regard to my writing, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to all of you who have read this blog and given me such encouraging words- not least

‘You should write a book, I would buy it.’

A big thank you to you all.

I have sent my book off to an agent now, and will send it to another one this week, because those ten thousand viewers told me that they want to read my story. If nobody takes it up then I will self publish it, because I have a story to tell and now I know that others want to read it!

What has that to do with living in France? Moving here and having this adventure gave me the freedom to do this; this blog gave me the confidence, you all supported me, leaping off that cliff got us here now. That’s what it has to do with an adventure, it gives you freedom, if  you let it.

Believe – that’s what I say – believe.

Moisy

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Change is coming, the things we’ve learnt – The Roof

25 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Change is a coming, Reflections, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure

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“An integral being knows without going, see withoug looking, and accomplishes without doing.” 

Lao Tzu

In my previous post I told you how our roof is now being replaced, but for those who like to think differently there is more of a story here – it is how Rich and I have learnt to accept things as they are, and now things are coming together.

This has been our kitchen roof for the last two and a half years.

I wrote in a previous blog about Allianz the insurance company with whom we had our house insured, and how when storm Katy blew through in the March 2016, she ripped some holes in our roof and the insurance company refused to pay out because ‘we had not maintained it!’ Considering we had only lived here seven months that was difficult!

We had run out of money at that time and had no means to repair it. We listened to others and bought some tiles when we had some money left from our intermittent income believing that we would eventually accumulate enought to repair the roof, but we never did; we tried to drive circumstance and made our lives even more difficult because we were spending money we could not afford on something that was going to do nothing. As if to prove the point in the September a tornado ripped through the garden, literally! It took half the silver birch with it, and our gazebo, it carried Harley’s paddling pool off into the chemin

…but more than anything it took half the roof!

So for two years we lived with a tarpaulin. Two tarpaulins over each other in fact, after the cat ripped one!

At first Rich and I could not see how we could carry on living here, or carry on with this adventure. Other’s asked whether life was indeed trying to ‘show us the way’ and if we should give up. But at this point I had started to read the Tao, and I did not want to go home. People asked how we could live like it, but, as someone said to me “It wouldn’t be an adventure if there weren’t bumps in the road!”

So we did the only thing we could do, we carried on and believed that good things would come our way one day.

At first Rich got really stressed. worried about the timber rotting – as someone helpfully told him it would – questioned how we were living like this, but I never stopped believing; and I would read the Tao to him and eventually he ‘got it’. So whilst over the years we’ve had bowls all over the kitchen at times, and learnt how to stop water splashing everywhere, we also learnt to accept that it had not killed us, had not killed our dream and we were still here. The worry about how we would survive left us because we knew that to worry about something that you cannot change is just a waste of energy that will just bring negative shit your way; and most important of all we learned to laugh about it.

As time went by I started to read Deepak chopra and as he says:

‘You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment. This is important to understand. You can wish for things in the future to be different but in ‘this’ moment you have to accept things as they are.” 

(The Seven psiritual Laws of Success – The Law of Least Effort)

This situation has reminded me of my old life when I lived in England; then we would have stressed to the max about getting the roof fixed, got into debt, panicked, listened to others who would have said we had to get it done. We would have believed that we could not survive without it, and we would have worried about what other’s thought. Here in rural France everyone lives simply, and I find that people understand and accept when people cannot afford things and they do not judge – not our neighbours anyway. But most importantly Rich and I have learnt not to care what other’s think, to let go of our egos and just be us. I say it often, as my darling late mum used to say “All the time they are judging you they are leaving someone else alone.” A brilliant way to look at things.

So here we are over two years later and our roof is being replaced. I know that this is at the right moment of time that his has happened and I know that we had to be without that roof to show us that we did not need what we thought we did; that nothing other than ill health and death is insurmountable and that something would come along in the end and enable us to replace our roof – and come along it did. But most importantly this lesson showed Rich and I that you do not need everything that you think you do – No, not even a roof!!

Let go,  don’t force things and see what happens.

Trust – Always

Moisy

“Relinquish your attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the filed of all possibilities. ”

Deepak Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.)

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iPad and other inconveniences – and then the good part came

04 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in People, Reflections, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The background story, The continuing adventure

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Over the past few weeks I have been without my iPad. I had dropped it many moons ago and, despite it being in a case, it had a wobble for a couple of days and then righted itself. But it is old and two weeks ago it was ooompah loompah’rd by the Barnes Wallace of the house also known as Wiglet (She has so much coat, and such a fat arse that she looks like a bouncing bomb!!)

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She jumped onto my poor pad and that was it, the screen would no longer respond.

I was lost, more than I thought I would be; because I do all our admin, emails, my Etsy shop, this blog, Instagram to promote our shop, Facebook on the iPad.  I don’t have a smartphone and, to be honest, i don’t need one and don’t miss being bombarded by social media all through the day. Just using my iPad kept me measured. But now I was lost.

As you know then ‘The Beast from the East’ arrived and our water froze so things were tres difficile.

But now I am back, a lovley man in Mayenne replaced the screen sensor, the BFTE has departed, our water came back on Thursday and I gave thanks for a lovely hot shower. Since our well ran dry in the summer I have truly respected water!!

A lovely friend of ours called us up and took us for a meal (simple but wholesome) and our logs are slowly being split and stacked. Overnight Spring has sprung, and we are embraced in a balmy twelve degrees!!

More than anything I have finally sent my re_edited book to another publisher, and received an acknowledgement to say that they are considering it! I have already been asked where it can be purchased! All good, all good.

Positive thoughts, always believe.

Have a good Sunday folks.

Moisy

You always need to believe if you are going on an adventure, believe you are a star.

14 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Reflections, The continuing adventure

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twinkle stars

 

So this week the same person (I would say bitch but I don’t want to give their sex away!!) who told me my Etsy shop was ‘crap’ told me that I was delusional and should stop writing my blog because it doesn’t make me money! Should I?

I want to write; I  have been told by many that I am a good writer, that I  have a way with words, that my words are ‘beautiful’; and having sent my book off to one publisher I know that I need to have a media presence, and that is what I have been working on over the past few weeks, relentlessly.

I have also been building a media presence for my shop, mainly because I need to build it and raise it’s profile, so as a result I did not do as many blogs last week as I should have done. But now I have been told that I am ‘delusional’ and ‘need to focus on what makes money’ my strong personality kicks in and I think f**k you!

So today I will be finishing my book for my ‘friend in the  know’ to read in it’s entirety, and then I will be sending it off to other publishers, because do you know what? Delusional or not, I do know that if I don’t do it I will never ‘make money’ from it! But more importantly, for me, I will not help people who are finding themselves in a situation we were in ten years ago, and who just don’t know what to do. Contrary to some people I do not believe that life is ‘all about making money.’

In addition I will continue with my blog because my reader content is going up all the time, and I love that people all over the world from Canada and America to Australia and Malaysia read my blog; I adore it when people react to it, when it touches a nerve for them, when it makes them cry because they can relate. What better compliment can a writer have to have touched an emotion?

I will look into advertising on it (or perhaps I won’t) and I will write because I want to. Good old ‘Delusional me’!!

Why am I writing this? Because when you go on an adventure like this, unless you have a massive pension, or pot of savings to take with you, you have to believe that things will work out. If you don’t you are lost. This negative person, is like J.K. Rowling’s characters in Harry Potter;  a Dementor, in that they suck all of the life out of you because they are not happy so they do not want anyone else to be.

If you are on an adventure take my advice, stay away from that crap because they will have you stop believing in a heartbeat. Do they read this, ‘no’ they advised me, they ‘do not read my blog,’ so how would they know or understand what it is about?

Do I feel better for saying this? Yes I do! I bit my tongue for too long, f**k i!! t I am not doing it any longer. If they read this post my message to them is that you said it, if you are offended ‘Suck it up!’

This morning I got up and my best friend had sent me a message through messenger saying ‘Believe’ with this underneath

STUBBORN HEART QUOTE

She know’s me well, I am stubborn when you push me. So here I am writing my blog, being delusional!

But really folks, especially those who want the adventure, my message to you is that you will never do it if you think about all the ‘what ifs’, and trust me all the people who too afraid to do the adventure will have  you believing the ‘what ifs’ in a heartbeat to keep you in your place.

For those on the adventure with us, and I know there are many who are finding it hard for whatever reasonm the same friend sent me this later today…….

FIND A WAY

And I will.

So here are some pictures of our new venture – I have always loved interior design and rustic, and original, so we are now making wooden ornaments for the home and garden #made with  love in our barn in France # a star is for life not just for Christmas.

*(Oops apologies for those I traumatised when I missed the ‘with’ out and implied we had been making love in our barn!! Have corrected now!!)*

We have our first order already, it is currently drying in my kitchen waiting for more decoration…..

SMALL SPARKLY STARSBLUE STARSRED STAR

If you would like to visit my shop petiteFrenchfancies I have included a link just click on the word …….petiteFrenchfancies

Then just now, as I always believe that ‘life show’s you the way’, a message popped up in messenger from an old friend in England who used to be my boss, and always believed in me, and in the message she said ‘how are you? Still fabulous I see.’ Wonderful!!

It is the small things, always better to be positive than negative (although the same person told me once that I was ‘too positive’! And as I am writing this I realise that I have to step away from that crap!!!) a positive word can do so much more, a negative word is only said to destroy something, there can be no other outcome.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, because, trust me, I enjoyed writing it! Rich’s new name for me is ‘Delusional Moisy’ !!! Let’s all be delusional together and ignore the others!!!

Another post tomorrow folks – no stopping me now – a witchy poo cook recipe as requested for my Sweet Chillie Sauce and Mexican Chicken.

 

Moisy xxxx