Catching Up

Once you have a bit of a break from blogging it is rather hard to know what exactly to say, even though one has done so much. Regarding our long term plans I've had the pleasure of contacting old references whose houses I minded while they were away for around a month at a time. Experience with dogs, cats, small animals and alpacas come to mind. Especially a tender memory of contacting the owners on their last night away because of the condition of their ageing, well-loved dog. Poor old Rufus.

Back to the present, an old school friend is returning home from abroad where he has travelled Europe broadly over the last 14 months. A simple post on facebook alerted me to the end of his travels and provided a map pinpointing a number of his stops along the way. It got me pondering my own plans of travel and provided my workmate with a rather thoughtful and quiet workmate to spray weeds with this morning.

Part of being flat out has consisted of getting a new job (which I'm working into the end of the Forestry season, and getting called to fill shifts left right and centre), re-registering vehicles, passing my Lifeguard course and getting my motorbike licence (fingers crossed, wish me luck!). The lifeguarding I'm hoping will help in the long term if we can hold down somewhat of a home while o/s. My cousin (who I need to sit down and chat to about her adventures living and working in the UK) taught swimming, among other things while she was away for 2 years, returning just last year. The local pool has scored me a grant to re-complete my training in hope that the weather holds out and they can induct me to their pool. The weather has to hold out a bit better than what it would need to for other pools as it isn't heated, which makes it a chilly dip at the start of Autumn. Here's to keeping my options open though!

In my spare time I've managed to finish off the back room, well enough for now. The ceiling is still visibly water damaged and if we had a longer term of occupation than the 12 months we have it might be worth spending more time finding leaks and fixing the source but for now the room is much friendlier and inviting than it used to be.

After

As an endnote/reminder for next time I'm planning a post all about different animal markers while out in the forest. We always see them, in the form of diggings, scratchings or different paw or hoof prints and its such an interesting little tidbit from my everyday I can share.

Thats it for the moment I'm afraid. Bed is calling and it look incredibly inviting. Til next time!