So… maybe I will just be a soap maker :)

Hi all – sorry I have been away in my mind this year!

It has been a stressful year at work but all that has ended now after I didn’t sign a new contract, I am now unemployed. I loved my job, loved our team but the management has been awful and while some staff signed contracts under duress to keep their jobs 2 of us wouldn’t. Roger has no work either, however he has found private building jobs to do and has quite a bit lined up, we are hopeful he will keep getting enough to not have to go back to paid employment – his work kept running out and he decided he needed to source his own so left. Our 3 year plan of working for ourselves just came up and slapped us in the face two years prematurely but…we will survive I am sure 🙂

Workplace stress has taken up my whole year, through my attachment to my place of work and the people there I have just kept going feeling quite committed to seeing it through, however the last few months has had me wondering WHY? There are some life things that can’t be changed and they are the stuff of real life. My son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first baby together and are 6 months pregnant with my second granddaughter. The wee bub has a serious heart issue and presently unknown brain abnormalities. While we wait to see if she survives pregnancy, birth and subsequent heart ops this is very real life. Workplace stress, even with all the best intentions in the world, is needless drama – I could choose to say no more and walk away, life will go on.

What it means though is I have to make a living from what I can do right now and I have been busy making all sorts, I can’t deny foraging the countryside for flowers is feeling much better for me the last few days 🙂

Calendula, California Poppy and Violets

Lots of soaps and different balms have been made and my first order went to the Winery. Woohoo!

I am already planning my next post on the therapeutic herbs I grow, so that’s a good sign considering how Away I have been 🙂

The garden is all in and alot more fruit trees were bought this year, Roger is going to try espelier down the whole back driveway. The fruit and berries we froze last season have lasted us all year. We have used 3 different types every day for smoothies and still have alot left, enough to last till the first new berries etc. When you get to have raspberry, fig and peach (or similar) smoothies all year around on what you have grown in summer that’s pretty cool! We still have pumpkins, garlic, frozen vegetables, chutneys and sauce to last so while I didn’t appear to have much to post about last summer in reality we did better than the year before by just freezing everything instead of so much bottling of sweetened fruit we never ended up using because Wendy is not so keen on cooking these days – I think winter puddings are a thing of the past well and truly!

An update on Angus etc – they are all doing great and getting along fine 🙂 This little guy brings us so much pleasure, he is such a happy, joyful wee dude.