Noahs Ark finished and framed

Time To Catch Up

Yes, I know this blog has been quiet lately. I haven't stitched on anything for ages and life has been busy. I have been very quiet on a personal level for a long time too, but maybe now is a good time to spill some beans.

I left my husband six months ago, after years of unhappiness. After moaning about him and boring you all to the point where you were probably shouting at your monitor "For F***s sake, leave him!", I finally did. It felt great being free and at first while the weather was still nice, the two bedroom flat was great too. But as winter crept in, the lack of central heating and the noise from the selfish noctornal TV watching woman downstairs, things started looking not so great. We were overcrowded, cold and tired.

Then about a month before my six month lease was due to expire, with my landlady keen for me to take the flat on for another six months, and me feeling depressed at the thought of another six months in the flat, the letting agent I had signed up with phoned with details of two houses where the landlords had decided to take DSS in order to shift them. I looked at both and chose one closest to DDKs school.

After a couple of weeks of uncertainty, it turned out that the landlord had let the house to someone else without telling the letting agency. Just about to fall into despair, I learn that the other house is still available. It wasn't my first choice, as the smallest room has a problem that I am working around and it's further from DDKs school (but she is cycling and locking her bike up at school).

We moved in a week ago and I am so glad that we had this house now. I love it! And its directly opposite the woods I love walking in.

Fireplace in living room


Dining room. Still sorting things out and living around boxes.


View of the hill at the top of the woods taken from my bedroom window. (Not a good pic)


The best thing is that it's a five minute walk from the house of the chap I'm seeing (Shh, I didn't say that) lol

Ruby Grace Elizabeth arrived weighing 9lb 2oz on 17 November. My brother and his SO are remembering how much hard work newborns are. :D




I have to rediscover my stitching mojo so that I can finish her birth sampler.

Mediation has finished and the Deed of Separation signed. I am officially separated. :D

Wapley Bushes Nature Reserve

Went for a walk with my camera on Saturday.

"This Local Nature Reserve contains flower-rich meadows with wonderful displays of colour in spring and summer. There is an ancient woodland with a good mix of trees including oaks and ash trees. Underneath these are smaller trees and shrubs like hawthorn, hazel, field maple and holly.
Explore the woodland throughout the year and you will discover a great variety of plants from bluebells to ferns. The woodland and meadows and the hedgerows that link the two together are home to a great number of birds, mammals and insects. The site is an important habitat for local wildlife and therefore is an excellent place to visit to study nature."

~ South Gloucestershire Council website

Wapley Bushes Nature Reserve blog





St Peters Church, Wapley


Top of the hill overlooking my town, St Marys church in centre of photo

Noahs Ark Progress

Nearly finished, just got to wait for baby to be born now so I can add birth details.

Good Enough ~ Evanescence

Under your spell again.
I can't say no to you.
Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand.
I can't say no to you.

Shouldn't let you torture me so sweetly.
Now I can't let go of this dream.
I can't breathe but I feel...

Good enough,
I feel good enough for you.

Drink up sweet decadence.
I can't say no to you,
And I've completely lost myself, and I don't mind.
I can't say no to you.

Shouldn't let you conquer me completely.
Now I can't let go of this dream.
Can't believe that I feel...

Good enough,
I feel good enough.
It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good.

And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall.
Pour real life down on me.
'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough.
Am I good enough for you to love me too?

So take care what you ask of me,
'cause I can't say no.

Noahs Ark Stitching Progress

Lone Parent Advisor Part 2

So, because the money hadn't gone out of the bank for the ECDL course, I got onto the college and they agreed to hold off on taking the payment until I asked the LPA about having it paid for me. That was on Wednesday but I didn't manage to get hold of the LPA until this morning. She said tell the college to take the money and she would have the money put into my account. Hang on. I swear she told me that they couldn't reinburse me after I had paid it.

See if you can keep up with this. When I went to see her the first time and I had booked and paid for the course, they couldn't pay it. But now I have already seen her once and it is on record that we have discussed training and I have contacted her again about the course, now they can pay it. I was flumoxed, so she said it again.
"Yes, I understand what you are saying, you couldn't agree to have it paid the first time, but now you can. I just don't understand why." So she went into again and I'm none the wiser except that I understand that I can tell the college to take the payment and I will get it back from the jobcentre.

That was the first hurdle. Onto the second, the Sage accounting course. The only college offering Sage is City Of Bristol and it's on an evening in the centre of Bristol which is no good to me. Filton haven't offered the course for 2 or 3 years. Both colleges offer the AAT NVQ during the day which I can manage. The only other way I can do the Sage is buying a home learning course. The LPA thought that was a bad idea. Then, hurrah, she suggests I do the NVQ first and then the Sage later on when I have passed my driving test and have a car.

Apparently you can only apply for funding for one course per year. The ECDL is being payed as a one off out of office funds because it is a small amount, local with no transport or childcare fees. I should enrol for the NVQ which starts in February and apply for funding for that. In the meantime I have to ask the college if I can apply for a hardship grant.

So, this morning I'm feeling quite positive, as though I am actually getting somewhere, even though there's a lot of confusion along the way. lol