Tag Archives: birthdays

Belief. Life’s messages

25 Saturday Jan 2020

Posted by in Belief, Learning and Evolving, Making our own way, mental health, People, Reflections, Simple things, sunrises and sunsets, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure

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This is the Table beside my blue wing back chair.

It is a place I sit often to write, manage our life, and just look at life; and this table holds many things I use: my journal, my diary, my iPad, my book, books I am reading, currently Mark Nepo ‘The Book of Awakenings’, and ‘The Road Less Travelled and Beyond’. It has become a little sanctuary to me, as I look out on my garden, often with a Welshie sitting opposite me.

I took the picture of my table last night because today is my birthday, and as I placed the flowers that RD had bought me on my table (where else would they go?!) with my cards, ready to open this morning, I realised how much this table encapsulates my life, and just how blessed I am.

I have no religion, or ‘God’. Perhaps my ‘God’ is life. I truly believe that life does show you the way, if you have faith. But as with all faiths sometimes it is hard to hold on to them. I will do another blog to show how life has shown us over this month to believe in it, and ourselves, but today I want to share a gift I was given by our client.

I have often written about the awful people we have worked for, but yesterday our client paid their bill and then gave us a tip on top! A tip that will enable us to buy wood for the rest of the winter. But it was not the actual tip that was the biggest gift, it was the fact that it reminded me that there are good and kind people out there. It bought tears to my eyes because of that, because of their kindness, and because it gave me a lesson, and it gave me faith.

I think I will chalk that up as one of the best gifts ever, along with my son turning up at Christmas: spiritual gifts not material ones.

Rosie

You can read our other story by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Making This Better the book is now available including the journal entries for the first 5 years of our recovery & the whole 21 days of ‘The War’. Available internationally in paperback and ebook  at Amazon and Barnes & Noble also available at Xlibris and Apple Books for iPad and Waterstones Bookstores for click & collect

The best Christmas Present ever

22 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by in Friends, My family and other furry creatures, People, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The good life

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A quick post, more to come. Our son’s birthday is on Christmas Eve. The plan was that he would come out and spend Christmas with us this year; but flights were too expensive, everything was too expensive and despite all our efforts we all agreed it wasn’t possible. Yes I was disappointed, we haven’t seen him for two year, but as you know I am also philosophical and I did not want him to start the New Year with debt because of a trip to see us.

He was disappointed because he is thirty this year, a milestone birthday. But I put a brave face on it, we planned to put some money into his account and were going to call him at my sisters house on his birthday. I ordered his birthday card from Moonpig on Friday to be delivered to my sisters house so that it would be waiting for him when he got there.

Yesterday we had a lay in, and got up at ten. We were meant to be out and about early but something stopped us, and as we sat in our wingback chairs in the window, and I chatted to my sister on the phone, I heard the gate go, and the dogs started to bark. Still in my jymbies I stood up to see who it was, and saw my son standing in my garden looking at me. (I have tears in my eyes now!) I couldn’t believe it, and found myself in denial, with my brain telling me he couldn’t have got here. (Any train or plane would have meant someone would have to collect him). All was explained when in walked his friend Chris, who we haven’t seen for five years! Every Christmas for many years he would spend Christmas evening at our house, eating and playing Monopoly (a Christmas tradition.) and he has often said how he misses us.

I cried, RD cried. What a fabulous surprise. Tom (Ethan) had been travelling for over twenty-four hours, Chris pretty much the same. For the love of us. That is what Christmas is about.

So much more to tell you, but have to go and make more memories.

Just a little tantaliser here we are stuffing our faces with bread, cheese and wine. Happy days.

Rosie

Aperitifs, birthdays and champagne

27 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in Food in France, Friends, Simple things, The continuing adventure

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It’s been a strange couple of weeks, my sister turned sixty (60!!!) on the 18th of January and it made me realise as I turned 56 last Friday the 25th just how time is of the essence. But more of that in future blogs.

One of the best things about living here is that we are blessed with wonderful French neighbours; out of all the arseholes we have met over the years on this adventure none of them are French!

Our neighbours knew that things had been difficult for Rich and I, and my darling friend Martine knew it was my birthday, so a couple of Sundays ago they rang our bell and invited us for aperitifs at their house on the 18th (my sisters birthday). It was so lovely of them, and it made me feel better because I couldn’t get to see my sister on this landmark birthday (that is all part of the adventure, but I am sad I missed it).

On the evening of the 18th our neighbours and friends Marc and Nadia picked us up, and when we got to Martine and Michel’s home the assortment of aperitifs was amazing: mussels, stuffed cherry tomatoes, olives, little hot dog balls, spinach in pastry, so many things!) Out came the champagne and I found myself, in my basic French, conversing with my French friends about politics, and language.

We laughed about the hot dog balls being called knackers! Explained the dual meaning of that word in the English language which made them laugh, and this led to a conversation about the word for testicles in French! They have a fantastic sense of humour and really are lovely people.

Fast forward to my birthday, I had given myself a gift of a day of doing nothing: no logs, no new FB sites, no ironing, washing, writing, no promotion of my book and blogs on social media, nada! In the early evening I did venture out to the postbox and Marc called me. We were invited to their house for champagne, and when we arrived there was a big bunch of flowers waiting for me. The time flew by, as it always does with them and it really made my day. Hubby cooked me a Mexican so hot I couldn’t eat it, and it was the day I wanted, with some added extras along the way.

But I am at a crossroads……

Is it my age?

Moisy