IT'S ALL SYSTEMS GO HERE AND LIFE IS NOT EASY

Well just when you think all is planned really well things tend to go wrong! I'll start with the positives in my life and hopefully it will make for a happier blog page lol

Firstly, daughter is doing exceptionally well at school as a teacher and all her assessments during her NQT year have been very positive.

Granddaughter has settled into Reception Class at her local school and really likes it there - which she never did at nursery. Daughter spends time with her every night teaching her to read and write which is showing great benefits.

OH and myself are still very determined to move to Devon next year so hopefully the house can go on the market in the early spring. I may well move down to live in the caravan around February if we can get it sited onto a seasonal 12 month pitch.

OH has started taking lots of days off work and weeks of holiday. This is time in lieu he has been accumulating all year - the product of overworking (often 60+ hrs a week,)

He is definitely going part-time after Xmas or if 'the Boss' refuses his request he will resign in February.

So it all sounds good so far so why is life not easy?

Daughter's boyfriend walked out on her in early September as he wasn't ready to commit to living with her and her little daughter. This leaves her now trying to buy a house with shared ownership on her own. It is hard to find one as demand outstrips supply so she may well have no option other than renting.

Granddaughter, age 4, is obviously unsettled due to looking around houses, talk of moving, new school, and our home in chaos atm. This means that the tantrums and screaming episodes have increased which I find extremely hard to cope with. Daughter is also very abusive if I complain, which does nothing to help the situation.

Nephew is still here on the sofa, but does realise that he has to leave soon after Xmas.

OH has taken it on himself to empty the loft and declutter the house every time he has a day off. The dust is horrendous here from boxes and bags that have been stored for over 25 years. All the bags and boxes are stacked in our front room where nephew sleeps on the sofa. I have found toddler clothes from my 25yr old adult child in some of the bags and also all my adult children's primary school books and reports!! Even a college course that I completed 20 years ago. As I have dust allergy I am coughing worse and often sneezing with runny eyes. Living in chaos is not suiting me and I feel quite overwhelmed by the mess. As a result the house is generally quite dirty as I have all but given up. As usual daughter still does nothing towards the upkeep of the home here and all cleaning is left to me.

Back on a positive note I have sold various odds and ends from the loft on eBay and Facebook selling sites to the grand total of £100 so far in the last 2 months! Things like diving fins, ornaments, shoes, clothing, material for crafts etc. Also our local charity shops have really benefited as we have donated loads of ornaments, clothing, books etc. over the last few weeks. Also I found my son's teenage clothes which were in vgc (and he no longer wanted them) so we donated those to the homeless workers to give out. Hopefully the sweatshirts and jeans will help somebody keep warm this winter.

Bye for now All the best x

TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING !!!

Well it's been over a year since I last wrote on this blog and so many things have changed in that time. Where to start - well I'll start with the car.

The insurance paid out and repaired the car so all was good for a few months. Then one morning I woke to a police note in the door. It asked me to contact the station as my car had been hit by a stolen car in the night. Apparently the thief stole an old Vauxhall Astra and went joy riding around the streets here and out on a ring road, reaching speeds of 90mph. Police gave chase and also the polie helicopter (I call it Budgie) was up following it. As he rounded our corner he bounced off of a car opposite and hit my car. Finally came to a stop after crashing into a garden wall where he was arrested, but not before punching the PC. And do you know what - I never heard a thing with all that going on in the street lol.

Our household has changed as we now have a lodger and a puppy. The puppy is 7 months now, a working Cocker Spaniel bitch. The 2 dogs get on quite well together which is good. The lodger is one of my nephews who has parted from his long term girlfriend and now has nowhere to live. We only have a sofa in the front room but until he gets more financially stable it suits him and is much better than cardboard city. Most of the time he stays with friends overnight so he's only here a few nights in the week.

My daughter is just finishing her PGCE to qualify as a Primary Teacher, and has managed to secure a 1year temporary contract at the school she did her placement in. She will be moving out around December / January time into a flat with her boyfriend and our granddaughter. The granddaughter is starting school this September. Time goes so fast when they are young - I can't believe she is nearly 4 already.

DAWLISH

So now for the biggest change for us. Me and OH have made a joint decision (which is a very rare occurrence that we both want exactly the same thing) that we are going to sell the house and retire to South Devon. We both really like the area between Babbacombe and Dawlish so next Spring or early Summer we will be off. I already have a good friend in Honiton who I see whenever we are at our caravan and OH has an ex work colleague in the area that he gets on well with, so that's a good start for when we go. We are at the caravan more or less every month now exploring the area and looking into house prices. OH will be working part-time after Xmas and retiring when we move. I really must make a good start on de-cluttering the house very soon as there is so much junk here!! Bye for now Sally xxx