So Here We Are

28 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in Change is a coming, My home, new adventures, New Paths, poignancy, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

adventures, believe, Change, Changes, coming home, Contentment, enjoying the here and now, Goodbyes, Happiness, home, Hope, LIfe, looking forward, Moving on, remembering, Tears, vintage French statues

So here we are, having a glass of wine and a beer in our home. I am back in France.

We have just signed the documents agreeing to sell our home. It’s time to move on.

I have shed a little tear, I am sure there will be more to come. But for now, despite the stormy weather, it is good to be back in my ‘for now’ home.

Tomorrow we are having a BBQ for all our fabulous French friends and neighbours, and two English friends that we didn’t realise were there, all the time. Here is to a party to celebrate the last five years.

Just a little teaser, I used to swim in this river, right by the bridge.

And I spent many hours under a bridge just like this catching tiddlers in the glen that flowed down from the mountain.

Ireland has so much to look forward to.

Exciting times. But right now, I am going to enjoy the hear and now.

Rosie

Oh! Just to make you giggle our buyers thought we are religious! I think it may be my vintage bleeding heart statue of Jesus.

You can call us many things but religious is not one of them.

😉

Rosie

‘And Homes the Most Excellent Place Of All’ …..

14 Thursday May 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in a sense of community, Belief, For the live of dogs, Friends, Goodbyes, laughter & giggles, Learning and Evolving, New Paths, People, The continuing adventure

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beautiful views, being grateful, cats, Change, Contentment, counting your blessings, Dogs, Happiness, Heartlight, home, Jersey, LIfe, Love, Neil Diamond, small boats, turquoise seas, Welsh Terriers, Welshies

The sea is the most beautiful turquoise blue today, and this view never ceases to take my breath away. I have made new friends, despite being at work; and I have giggled every day. Drunk more hot chocolates than I normally would, seen nearly every beautiful beach in Jersey. But I am not home, and in the words of Neil Diamond from the fabulous song ‘Heartlight’: ‘

‘Cause everyone needs a place
And home’s the most excellent place of all’

Thirteen years ago Rich sang that song, and he cried as he struggled with where we were at that time. I have loved that song ever since.

If you love good music thus is for you…Heartlight

I go home tomorrow in a small boat, to my home, and I cannot wait.

Thank you all for your positive thoughts

Rosie

Silence

15 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in Change is a coming, Learning and Evolving, The continuing adventure

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

adventures, being grateful, Birds, Blessings, Change, Changes, Contentment, Dogs, Feeling blessed, home, Inspiration, LIfe, life shows the way, Moving on, Nature, new adventures, Reflections, Rural France, silence, Simple things, Small things, spring, sunshine, thoughts, tranquility, understanding, Welsh Terriers, Welshies, Wind

I am sitting in my bedroom and the spring sunshine is streaming in, something to warm the soul.

Since arriving home from work the thing that has been the most soothing for me is the silence. Calming, thought provoking, thought soothing silence.

I can hear the wind blowing on this blustery day, I can hear the birds tweeting, I can hear my Welshies snoring, as they snuggle up beside me in bed, I can hear the clock ticking, and they all add to the sense of calm the silence brings. but I can hear nothing else: no traffic, no sirens, no motorbikes, no cars revving, no buses…..

The first thing that hit me on my return to the little part of the UK that it turns out is actually it’s own little country, being only five miles by nine, was the traffic. The permanent constant hum twenty-four hours a day; punctuated only by louder revs, the hiss of brakes, and sirens. It shocked me, I have been away from that for five years.

On arriving home the first thing that embraced me was the silence, and I welcomed it.

When we search for our new home the level of noise will have to be considered, that’s now on the list.

Rosie

Taking every day

09 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in Change is a coming, Goodbyes, Learning and Evolving, My family and other furry creatures, My home, Simple things, The continuing adventure

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

adventures, being grateful, believe, Blessings, cats, Change, Changes, Contentment, counting your blessings, Happiness, letting go, LIfe, Love, Moving on, new adventures, Poignant, Reflections, Rural France, Simple things, Small things, The seasons, understanding, Winter

We are going to move, our mind has been made up. But more of that in a other post. Because of that we are savouring our moments in our house.

Today France has been lashed by storm Ciara, and the winds are getting stronger, with the rain sleeting down. We have embraced the French culture of doing nothing on a Sunday. Last week we sat in our wingback chairs in our picture window reading blogs and Mark Nepo, so RD, after a week of hard work, asked could we do the same.

So here we are with the cats (this one is Diddies) watching the storm go by, and cherishing our time here.

Taking each and every day.

Rosie

We laugh, all the time

07 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in laughter & giggles, mental health, The continuing adventure, Us

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Contentment, crying with laughter, Happiness, laughter, memories, Simple things, Us

I thought I would share a quick story this Friday (Friday? where the hell did this week go?) something that I hope will make you giggle.

I recently wrote about my aunt who had recently died well my sister sent some photos to me that my aunt had in her keeping; and the above photo is one if them. It is a picture of my sister and I on holiday, probably somewhere like Clacton, or Margate.

I casually passed the photos to RD when he got home from work, he didn’t have his glasses on and I hadn’t really looked at the photos in depth, and he asked ‘is that a real donkey?’ !!!

What made it worse was I said yes!

He the said with incredulity ‘ Well! I’ve never seen a donkey that looks like that!’

I then looked at the photo! I couldn’t breathe for laughing, so much so I had to stand up!

Still giggling today.

Here’s to a good Friday.

Rosie

Winter days: Sunshine, Wind and Bright Blue skies

28 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in For the live of dogs, My family and other furry creatures, My home, Reflections, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The good life, The seasons

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

being grateful, Blessings, blue winter skies, cats, Contentment, Dogs, French Countryside, Inspiration, LIfe, Logs, Love of dogs, Nature, Rural France, Simple things, Small things, sunshine on windy days, The seasons, Trees, Welsh Terriers, Welshie, Welshies, Windy days, Winter, Winter in France, winter sunshine, writing

I am currently sitting in my spot that, it appears, so many people covet: my blue chair in the picture window of my house. I am driving Daisy the cat nuts because she chases light, and, with the brilliant winter sunshine reflecting off my iPad all around the room Daisy cannot resist the the urge to chase it; which then makes the Welshies chase her and chaos ensues. (They know their place with her though she’s also known as Daisy Pussy Upsy because she looks like a Bond Villain at times!)

Today is an incredibly windy day, with gusts of up to sixty kilometres and hour forecast. But where there is bad there is good and there is brilliant sunshine and phenomenally blue skies, one of those days that just blow the cobwebs in the mind away.

I have made the effort this winter to get out into our garden whenever possible, if only for fifteen minutes.

Since Molly died and we have started to consider moving on to pastures new, it has inspired me to treasure what I have in the here and now, with the countryside around me, and the two teddies that I am blessed to have running around my garden.

So today,after bringing in the wood I walked over to the field behind our barn on the other side of our chemin (lane in French), with two excited Welshies and Daisy the cat (she is also known as cat/dog) running around me.

I found myself just standing there looking across the garden, with the dogs snuffling, and Daisy, precariously balanced on a tree, and smiling.

There is nothing like hearing the wind rushing through the trees in bright winter sunshine, and I stood and I looked out and I took it all in.

Then I came back into the warm and shared it with you.

Let’s treasure the here and now.

Rosie

You can read our other other story about the things we went through that got us to today on my other blog.

Wind and rain.

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in For the live of dogs, My home, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

being grateful, Contentment, LIfe, Rain, rain on the shutters, Simple things, Small things, stormy weather, Welsh Terriers, wind and rain in France

The wind has picked up and the rain has come in. Our house on the hill is being battered by the elements, it sounds as if the ‘ little people’ are throwing shingle at our shutters.

I give thanks for the warm covers over me, the Welshies snuggling around me and my husband beside me.

Count your blessings, I am, as the rain sings me to sleep

Rosie

Belief. Life’s messages

25 Saturday Jan 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph 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

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

a little place to sit, being grateful, Belief, believe, birthdays, Blessings, contemplation, Contentment, count your blessings, counting your blessings, Dogs, Faith, Feeling blessed, French sunsets, good times, Happiness, Helping others, home, Inspiration, kindness, learning, LIfe, life shows the way, Life shows you the way, memories, mental health, positivity, Reflections, Rural France, sanctuary, Simple things, Small things, Tears, tranquility, understanding, Welsh Terriers, Welshies

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

Winter days: Sunshine and Welshies.

23 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by RosieJoseph in Change is a coming, For the live of dogs, My family and other furry creatures, Reflections, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The good, the bad and the ugly., The seasons

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

at one with nature, being grateful, Blessings, Change, Changes, Contentment, counting your blessings, Dogs, French Countryside, Happiness, LIfe, memories, Nature, Reflections, Rural France, Simple things, Small things, Welsh Terrier, Welsh Terriers, Welshies, Winter Gardens, Winter in France, winter sunshine

As I have said before I am trying to take the opportunity to spend time outside with nature, and my two beloved dogs.

It has been bitterly cold this past week in our rural area of France, and the thing with old stone houses is: they may look pretty but they are bloody cold if left without any heating in these kind of temperatures.

I have been working with RD this month, assisting and bossing him about. (I do the snagging in our business because I am a picky bitch!) So we have been freezing cold as we have not been lighting the fire until later, with the house eventually becoming warm and toasty just as we are going to bed!

But the job is coming to an end, so today I am at home, literally keeping the home fires burning. So the fire was lit this morning, and the house is warm, I have filled the log cabinet and RD can relax when he gets home.

Although cold it has been beautifully sunny and I have taken the opportunity to sit in my garden, at one with nature. Well as one as you can get it when accompanied by two Welsh Terriers!

But seriously the time I have with my dogs is never going to be enough; and being someone who always gets caught up in ‘the doing’, I need to remind myself daily to take a moment and enjoy the simple things in my life. Like sitting in the winter sunshine, with my dogs.

We pretty much know that our time here will be limited, and that we are likely to move to pastures new. So I need to enjoy this beautiful place whilst I can, so that I have memories to take with me, and no regret.

Enjoy it all, no matter the weather, breathe it in….

Rosie

You can read my other blog by clicking on the link abive. It may surprise you.

Making This Better my book is also available in all good bookstores including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books and so many more.

Endings and beginnings

30 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by RosieJoseph in Change is a coming, sunrises and sunsets, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beginnings, being grateful, Blessings, cats, Change, Changes, Contentment, count your blessings, counting your blessings, endings, France, French Countryside, French Sunrises, Happiness, Inspiration, LIfe, Nature, Poignant, Reflections, Rural France, Simple things, Small things, Sunrises, sunsets, The seasons, understanding

One of things I adore about living here are the sunrises and sunsets. They often inspire me for the day, or remind me why I am grateful for my life. So I thought I would share some from this year.

For me each sunrise is the start of not only a new day, but a new adventure, a new life, new opportunity……

As I sit here tonight,with my old cat on my lap, I know she will be leaving very soon, and it reminds me that each sunset means endings, the end of the day, and the promise of something new, but only for some. Each beautiful sunset that I see reminds me to count my blessings for each day. I do.