Keep Looking Forward

 Hmmm. 

It has been a confronting few weeks. 2 more friends lost their mums, and we finally had some progress on the block.

I didn't expect that to trigger me the way it did, but 400 tonne of clay and rubble in the middle of where your house used to be is bound to be a little confronting.

I had always thought that I would replant the bee/bird/butterfly garden out the back and when they cut the site they cut right to the back fence and the side fence.  I feel bad for the neighbours, and at this moment I can't imagine how I will be able to have any sort of garden back there.

So far, it feels like nothing about this build has been simple.  They were going to leave the fill down the front for us and then a) it was too wet and would delay by weeks and b) they were going to charge $100 an hour to move it from the top of the block to the bottom.

We got a quote to get it taken away, and then found someone close by who would take it but they weren't interested in that.  Tonight James visited the site after work and tried to save some of the big rocks for me for garden beds etc.  He called me and asked me to come back with him after tea instead of walking.  How beautiful are our friends. My walking crew sent their husbands over to help and we managed to save quite a lot of rocks in a short space of time.  Many hands make light work - so often this year I have been amazed and overwhelmed by how supportive this group of friends are!

Right now it feels like we are the furtherest away from the old house and the furtherest away from the new house.  Kind of in this limbo - a wilderness at the mercy of contractors and bureaucrats.  I am determined that one day soon we will be closer to a new house so for now it is about baby steps that will move us in the right direction.

My garden has been such a solace. The roses are blooming prolifically now, and on the weekend my lovely friend Lea-Anne came with me on a jaunt to Mt Pleasant to pick up this little blue chair! I love it.  I feel like I can sit in it and turn my back on the rubble and house site and just watch the ducklings on the duckpond, and the birds flitting in and out of the roses.

Funny how quickly wildlife adapt to new habitats.  We have magpies nesting right near the house site and galahs further down in a hollow log.  The wood ducks hatched a clutch of 8 babies and a heron has moved into the pond.

Today the first of my big Close to My Heart Re-tooling orders arrived.  This was a wonderful Business Recovery Iniative and will go a long way towards replacing thin cuts and inks and cardstock.

I spent some time yesterday getting inky and making some cards for Sue to sell at the Garden Open Day.  I feel like we have been so supported by so many throughout this process and it feels good to be able to give back, even in small ways.

I've had some IT support too, so learning new ways of using my technology to help grow my business - I think we may finally have sorted the phone photos to blog issue!!!

Anyhow, I have to run and put the chooks in, but I am still here, and hoping to blog more frequently from now on!
Keep smiling,

Nell