How like the prodigal doth she return . . .

Posted on 29 April, 2013 by Simon

I am writing this oh-so-rare post with a cat snuggled down on my lap. Nothing odd about that, you might think (apart from the fact that I am writing a post at all, when I seem to have given up such things over a year ago). But hold on a minute, all the house cats left here months ago to live 1000 km away in Derby. So who is this familiar beast warming my thighs? Continue reading →

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Happiness is like a cat

Posted on 21 January, 2013 by Val

FFS! (As they say in textland). How is it possible that TWO MORE MONTHS (plus a bit) have passed since my previous post. Perhaps I have finally discovered the Art of Living In The Moment, rather than endlessly reflecting on it. But then again, maybe I’ve just been busy with the busyness of getting through each frenetic day, whilst clinging thoughtlessly to the misguided belief that I am actually getting somewhere.

There can be no doubt that looking after small children is a time-and-mind-consuming activity, which leaves precious little space for the Noble Art of Reflection. Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Cats, Chickens, Dogs, Environment, Life, Llamas | Leave a comment

And, moving swiftly on….

Posted on 7 November, 2012 by Val

Hello again whoever you are. Frankly, I am surprised to find you here again, given the enormously long gap since my last post. In your position, I would have considered this a well and truly ex-blog, and have long since given up visiting it (with ever decreasing frequency) in the hope of finding something new to read.

But hey ho, whaddya know?! I unexpectedly find myself with a rare bit of time all to myself, and in the tried and tested style of a die-hard procrastinator, my thoughts have turned immediately from All The Things I Should Be Doing to Any Thing I Could Be Doing Instead. Which, it turns out, is this.

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Posted in Blogging, Cats, Chickens, Life, Llamas | 5 Comments

Sunday Strange

Posted on 20 May, 2012 by Val

This is just a quick and somewhat random post prompted by a strange collection of thoughts basted in a few too many glasses of red. Today I have attended my three-year-old grand-daughter’s birthday party, and arranged to travel down to Dover to visit my dying Father-in-Law. And today is also the birthday of Young Chris – one of the (if not THE) most faithful readers-of-our-blog. So… Happy Birthday Chris – this one’s for you.

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Posted in Life | 3 Comments

Letting Go (again)

Posted on 26 April, 2012 by Val

During a conversation this weekend with our llama-loving friends, Sue asked us if we were really planning to sell our place here and move to England. “Of course we are” I said, wondering why she might think otherwise. She pointed out that, even though we have bought a house in Derby, we seem to have done nothing about selling any llamas, or about selling this house. And that everything we write on the blog seems to be about how lovely our life here is. Clearly it seems hard to believe that we would want to be giving up something that makes us so happy. Continue reading →

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Alright (for) Now

Posted on 25 April, 2012 by Val

Time seems to be tumbling forward these days. I guess that’s what happens to it when you set about Changing Things. All these months of similar days slipping imperceptibly into the next, so that Time-as-we-knew-it ceased to exist, and then suddenly it feels as if someone has opened the flood gates, and all that stored up Time is pouring out of the calm lagoon of the present, and rushing headlong toward the choppy seas of an uncertain future.

And here are we, bobbing about wildly on the peaks and troughs of Life’s current in our dubious dinghy of Destiny, wondering whether we have any hope of steering it, or whether we should just hunker down and enjoy the ride.

So… what did Simon think of the house?

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