A walk in the park ......

HuffingtonBear and I do love a walk and today was no exception.  Although it was a really warm day and we were both worn out before we had started we bimbled off on our usual route.

And there we were, me and my dog, walking easily and with light feet around the local park in a desperate attempt (on my part) to do some exercise that doesn’t involve leaping about in an exercise class or walking for miles on the spot on a treadmill.  For HuffingtonBear of course, this is one of the joys of living with me and mine.  He gets plenty of exercise and loves a run and today, for him was just another day and just another walk.

HuffingtonBear, of late, is a bit naughty.  He has a propensity to throw himself in anything that smells revolting and has been known to chase OH around the park covered in filth.  Today he teetered on the edge of ‘throwing himself in the river’ until I yanked him back on his wheelie lead.  He also rolled about in something white, which looked like bird poo, but was in fact the white line marking for the cricket pitch.  He is a boy – he behaves like a boy!

When he’s with me it’s safer for HB to be on a lead.  He’s not dangerous, he’s not a barker, he doesn’t tear towards unsuspecting walkers, joggers or cyclists with rabid foaming mouth or terrifying glare.  He just wants to make friends.  With everyone.  With anything that moves.  Usually his attempts at friend making are more successful with humans.  This is mainly because he is completely irresistible to look at and this apparently passes other dogs by who quickly tire of his over exuberance and extreme puppyness.  Glossy coat, smiley face with tongue hanging out after a good run, extremely waggy tail and a fumbling, friendly but mostly unfit owner rambling along behind him seems generally to attract the people and not so much the dogs.  We are a smiley happy pair. 

Other dogs, however, occasionally like to intimidate HuffingtonBear.  Three huskies surrounded us yesterday, tails perked up, standing proud and galloping towards us at a rate of knots.  The Huff and I braced ourselves, only for the Huskies to stop and stare at us, like wolves assessing their prey.  So we adopted our usual stance of ‘walking off in a strop’, which I am quite good at but which HuffingtonBear needs a little practice at.  With the lead shortened right down I literally dragged my 20kg dog away from the gang of huskies.  Their owners wandered aimlessly in the other direction completely unaware of our predicament.  The gang soon had us cornered as my ‘marching off’ tactic failed. 

We tried again, my dog and me striding through them with me shouting ‘LEAVE IT’ menacingly in my best angry dog trainer voice through gritted teeth.  The huskies appeared amused and looked at us smugly before trotting alongside us until their owners realised they were almost in another postcode.  A swift whistle and the gang of three were gone, sniggering and leaving us trembling in their wake.  Well trembling is an exaggeration but they were a tiny bit intimidating I must say.

Back to today.  Unperturbed by yesterdays shenanigans with the the Gang of Three, HuffngtonBear and I began our walk as usual, him eyeing up the stream, me pulling him away, until we met Lola.  Lola is HuffingtonBear’s best friend.  Although he barely knows her I think he’s in love.  He refrains from rolling in unpleasantness, he trots alongside her, his coat positively gleams and shines and he is a complete gentleman.  He doesn’t even wee in front of her.  Instead they run about together sweetly, Lola hides in the long grass and Huffington goes and sits beside her.  Lola’s owner RUNS around the park even on inordinately hot days like today, looking the picture of glowing health and attractiveness.  I, on the other hand, am red faced and sweating slightly, having brought my raincoat (just in case), which is tied around my waist.  I am also struggling to juggle the dog paraphernalia I always saddle myself with;  poo bags, a bottle of water, Huffington’s short lead, car keys and treats for when he’s good.  Lola’s owner has a pretty pink drawstring bag slung casually over her shoulder with provisions.  Inside are Lola’s eye drops which she sits nicely for as her owner pops them into her eye and wipes away her tears.  This woman, and her dog are the epitome of calm, collected, together and organized.  I on the other hand represent haphazard, uncoordinated and disorganized with my slightly naughty and over excited dog and yet, like chalk and cheese, the dogs have fallen in love with each other.  We chat about everything and nothing as Huffington and Lola gallop through the daisies and buttercups and smile at each other.

Without warning they arrive, like a gang out of West Side Story (cue music).  I swear I hear fingers clicking as they strut towards us.  The Huskies.  They eye up the situation, they look back at their owners, oblivious as ever, and then they come closer.  They begin to gallop proudly towards us.  HuffingtonBear is clearly unsure what to do and momentarily looks a bit flustered.  I do the “LEAVE IT” command in my scariest voice several times.  Lola’s owner looks at me as if I am speaking a foreign language.   The Huskies behave as if I am not even there. Huffington and I are almost shaking, standing like a pair of lemons as the gang of three circles.  And then to the rescue comes Lola the springer spaniel, flying majestically out of the long grass and barking with just enough force to get her point across.  The Huskies are taken aback.  They look at one another not sure what to do.  She stops beside Huffington and barks once more. ‘Sod off’ she says.  Huffington gives a little added bark as if to say ‘Yeah.  What she said’.  The Huskies retreat and Lola saves the day.

Me and Lola’s owner say goodbye and both her and Lola run off together.  Huffington and I walk in the other direction, him panting slightly and me sweating slightly.  I resolve to leave my raincoat at home tomorrow and to buy a drawstring bag for ‘our things’.  I’ll draw the line at wearing my good trainers though and will stick with my scruffy walking shoes – no point in running before you can walk eh?! x

Stranger things have happened!

Good morning and a Happy Friday to one and all!

So this week has been strange.  Actually the last couple of weeks have been strange - life has a habit of being eventful if nothing else.

In this post I'm taking you back to The House Move.  To recap, it was all meant to be simple.  Make house lovely, have people visit, fall in love with it and then clamour to buy it.  The next phase would involve looking at half a dozen houses, finding the house of my dreams, offering way below the asking price and having it immediately accepted because I'm a nice person and the seller will know that without question.  The first part has, thus far, gone as planned, with an offer at the asking price within a fortnight which we accepted.  Phase two becomes infinitely more complicated.  So yes, I did see a house I liked quite a lot, all the boxes were ticked and we put in an offer. Ta daaaaa!  That should have been it right?  Wrong!  I had serious second thoughts, spent several nights largely without sleep and decided to withdraw the offer and the interest we had in the house.  Knowing it was the right decision relief flooded through me.  Phew!  Lucky escape.

Now, here we are two weeks later and virtually zero houses have come onto the market and we snatch at the opportunity to look at houses that don't quite fit the bill.  Tuesday's house backed onto countryside.  I tried to look past the army of slugs marching down the never ending garden and the electric fence surrounding the almost empty chicken coups.  I tried to understand that the man wanted to take his lovely cooker with him and the two wood burning stoves AND the pipes connected to the wood burning stoves.  I tried to turn a blind eye the wood chip paper and the polythene covering one of the windows but in the end I just couldn't do it!  So now I lie in bed at night imagining improvements to this house just in case we can't find the perfect house.  Over and over again it goes through my mind.  Extend the kitchen, build a downstairs toilet, put a cabin in the garden for OH's gym ........ And then in the morning, dozey from lack of sleep I look frenziedly on the internet in the vain hope that My Dream House (MDH) has appeared over night.  It never has, or at least it hasn't up until now.

Widening the search for MDH has meant a slight change in area which resulted in a quite bizarre find last night. My childhood was spent in a 1930s semi in a lovely place locally to here.  When my beloved Mum passed away towards the end of the 80s, Dad decided to build a house at the end of the garden.  Thankfully, we had a large garden or this would have been a somewhat odd idea!  Once the new house was finished we moved our belongings up the end of the garden to the new house.  I lived there for a couple of years before moving out as a 'semi grown up' (I say semi grown up because although I thought I was adult enough to live happily ever after in my own little world I was probably sadly mistaken!)  Dad lived there alone for a bit until he met my Stepmother and they lived there happily until Dad died and Stepmother sold the house.  And that was the end of the house we refer to as 2a.  Or so I thought. Last night 2a appeared on my newly widened internet search.  Just up for sale and at the high end of our price range, I looked at the photos with more than a little interest.  To cut this increasingly long tale short, I'm off to see it next week.  Will it be MDH?  It's extremely unlikely.  Is it worth a look?  Absolutely, for light relief if nothing else.

Right, I must go.  Oh and for those of you who come and read regularly, my 'glorious winning short story moment' can be viewed on the Time & Leisure website in the current edition.  They kindly call me an 'author' which feels odd because I'm yet to publish my book, but then again there is a difference between 'author' and 'published author'.  I'm pretty happy with 'author' - it sounds very special and important!  

Have a brilliant weekend full of relaxing moments and smileyness.

Blog you later, Julesy xx

What is a friend?

'A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today just the way you are.'

I'm not sure who said this, maybe lots of people have.  For me though, it sums up the friendships I have in my life right now.  What I also like about this quote is that it applies to family members who are friends too.  My brother's wife for example, is not just my sister in law, she is a brilliant, wonderful and giving friend.  Yes, she lives too far away to have an occasional hug with or nip round for a glass of wine or a baking masterclass but thanks to modern technology we are in touch all the time and we understand each other's needs as friends as well as family.  I hope she realises what a terrific friend she has been to me.   

I haven't always been lucky enough to have strong friendships with people that I have just met along the way, especially in the early days of marriage.  However, in making my own way in life without outside influence I have somehow managed to be blessed with an abundance of wonderful friends.  Without these girls the trials that life brings would have been harder to deal with and joyful moments would have been less celebrated.

Let's not forget men in this too.  My very best friend is OH (Other Half) who unstintingly supports me in everything I do.  We are completely in tune with one another and I know that I am his best friend too.  Before I met OH I had several male friends, one of whom I remain in touch with.  He lives on the other side of the world and is a complete inspiration.  A man who has made a massive success of his personal and professional life, despite a tricky start in life.  In the early days of my traumatic marriage break up he was there with unswerving support and advice from the male perspective.  We don't speak much but I know he's there.

As I bounced from one job to another in the same organisation over 20 years, I managed to collect a veritable bouquet of friends.  When my boys were young they used to sing a song at school 'Friends are like flowers, beautiful flowers, friends are like flowers in the garden of life'. My place of work was the garden and the girls I worked with, the flowers.  Towards the end of my time there, we friends went through some incredibly tough times, with redundancies on the cards and a constantly changing working landscape.  It was tough but we got each other through it.  Tonight sees a reunion of some of those girls.  I can't wait to see them, to find out whether life has been kind to them, to laugh, to commiserate and to just be there.  We will eat, drink and no doubt be merry.

Speaking of eating, drinking and being merry brings me nicely to a group of girls I wouldn't be without.  Each of them is different, unique and special.  Each of them brings something different to the group.  These are my old school friends.  It has been 30 years since some of us left school, 28 for others.  The interesting thing for me is that I was never especially close to any of them at school but over the years we have remained in touch one way or another.  Whenever we get together, we seem to do everything to excess.  We talk over each other, we break off into pairs and have separate conversations, the volume is always exceptionally loud, we drink too much, eat too much, stay up too late and laugh until our faces ache.  We know we can share anything with each other and we do - often!  We offer up advice, we share our opinions, we laugh together and we cry together.  And then we leave, we go about our normal lives only to re-convene weeks later and do it all again.  It really is very special and the quote definitely fits. 'A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today just the way you are.'  

Enjoy your friends people, mine keep me sane, without them I would be a jibbering wreck, rocking in the corner of an attractively padded room!

Have a mighty fine Bank Holiday weekend, enjoy the sunshine (cough, cough) and be happy.

Blog you later, Julesy x

To Move Or Not To Move ....

Here's another Monday.  I would say morning, however I have only just made it out of bed, shocking headache having kept me up part of the night and having woken me up super early.

Last week I wrote about moving house.  This week, we are under offer.  The news from the agent that the potential buyer was prepared to pay full asking price filled me with unexpectedly mixed emotions.  Firstly, I experienced that reassured feeling that my house was 'worth it' - someone else likes it enough to buy it.  This though was quickly followed by confused emotions about whether I wanted to part company with it after 11 years and my children having grown up in it.  This was completely unexpected and came out of left field.  I thought it would be rather more simple and if you take emotion out of it then I guess it is.  

But I am an emotional creature and began remembering all the good times we have shared in our house, particularly since Ex left and then OH (Other Half) arrived in our lives.  I have worried about the silliest things.  Will The Cat be OK?  Will he get lost or run over in unfamiliar territory?  Will HuffingtonBear be happy?  Will Son#1 be able to get to work OK and will Son#2 be happy?  But then I realise we are only moving 5 miles away.  Work will still be there for Son#1 and friends will be in travelling distance for Son#2.  The Cat will adapt and HuffingtonBear will be happy wherever we are just as long as there is a decent walk and a treat at bed time. Those thoughts, together with some stern talking to by a couple of very lovely and sensible friends has helped.  OH has been patient and completely wonderful, understanding me so well and I now feel really positive about moving on.  OH and I get to invest in a home together - our future - and everyone comes with us.  Memories come too - we just leave the walls behind.  

So with somewhat more excitement we began hurriedly visiting houses on the market at the weekend.  One has really taken my fancy.  It backs on to woods for lovely walks with HuffingtonBear, it has much more space and an extra bedroom.  It is in a much nicer area and seems perfect.  All I need now is to compare it with some others so I have two further viewings of houses tomorrow morning.  By lunch time I aim to have my mind made up.  OH has said he will then put in an offer .... and we will see what happens next.  Exciting times!

Watch this space.  Have a fabulous week, Julesy x

PS  I have also taken the plunge and submitted another short story to a magazine and I was invited to write a review for Dogs Today magazine.  The writing 'thing' seems to be taking off quite nicely and OH has began developing a web page for me too.  Life is good! x

The longest week!

Morning!

So last week has to have been one of the longest weeks in history, hence no blog!  Having ended the previous week on a super high note with the success of my first short story, last week began on a more stressful note.

We took the plunge and put the house on the market.  In words it is such a simple sentence but in reality it is way more complicated.  Having got everything ready in advance - paperwork already done with estate agent and photos taken on rare occasion of complete tidiness,  sudden flurry of activity ensued with a number of viewings on the same day.  So, whipped up into a frenzy, I cleaned and tidied like a crazy woman to the point that even a misplaced glass of water or thread from someone's sock almost tipped me over the edge.  

Selling a property seems kind of simple on the surface.  Have it valued, tidy it, show people round, take an offer and bingo house sold.  Equally, finding your dream home is meant to be simple.  Bimble around people's homes (some not so tidy though - shocking!) and at some point fairly soon in the proceedings, wander into the perfect house.  Put in an offer many thousands of pounds lower than they are asking and have it accepted immediately because you are so nice and they desperately want YOU to have their home.  Well, not so much.  This doesn't really happen. You walk into other folk's houses and they are sometimes untidy, often over priced, sometimes the bulbs have gone in the light fittings and gardens are messy.  The reality is that unless you want to pay over the odds for a new property where everything is perfect then you have to put up with the way other people want to sell.  

In fairness, we are a week in and I'm already considering the 'what you see is what you get' stance and not stressing my entire family to the point of crisis, even when they breathe!  Poor HuffingtonBear has me following him around with a brush and plastic bag in case any fur whisps off into the air, to be sneezed over by prospective buyers.  So, I am hoping for an offer today, because I am bored already.  We have upped our top limit in terms of what we will buy and are hoping the perfect house will plop into my lap sometime over the next couple of days via the internet.  Keep your fingers (and paws) crossed!

Last week was also a pretty sad week in Our House.  Our poor bunny of 9 years sadly departed, having been to the vet early in the week.  I sat with him through much of the night on Thursday as his fragile little body struggled to stay alive.  I snuggled him close, wrapped in a towel and told him how much we loved him and the following morning he left us.  The saddest experience in a very long time.  Son #2 having loved poor Bun since his 9th birthday when he arrived in our back room was devastated.  A much loved part of the family we said goodbye to Our Bun on Friday at a wonderful little ceremony at the Surrey Pet Cemetery near Lingfield.  What a wonderful place, where you can take your beloved pet, where your tears and sadness are completely understood, where you can say a heartfelt goodbye before your pet is either buried or cremated with complete dignity.  Having sobbed through a poem and short service, we left Our Bun and went for a cup of tea in a village tea shop only to return an hour or so later with Our Bun's ashes safely and lovingly wrapped in a handmade envelope and popped in the back of a photo frame.  We brought him home.  It was a special send off for a special little part of our family.

So here we are on Monday.  Hoping for a nicer, kinder week.  Whoever you are and wherever you are, me and HuffingtonBear are sending you a hug.

Have a good one!  Julesy x 

That Friday Feeling!

Happy Friday!

And today, it is an especially Happy Friday. Last night, having been invited to the prize giving for the short story competition in which Waiting For George was entered, I was absolutely thrilled to discover that my story had won! Yahooooo! 

So today I am feeling especially blessed not only with wonderful friends and family who support me and have no idea how precious that support is, but blessed with a little more self belief than I had yesterday.  Having your work judged and scrutinised is always a tricky thing but to have people praise it is ridiculously heart warming especially when applying to literary agents for representation can be so demoralising.  Today I plan on chilling and perhaps reading one of the many books from the hamper that was part of the prize (Thank you Waterstones!).

Please do look out for the next issue of Time and Leisure magazine where you can see my story and those of the two runners up.  However, I would urge you to try and ignore what is probably a rather unflattering photo - especially as I wasn't expecting to win and had ZERO make up on!  I did ask the photographer whether he could photoshop me some lipstick or a better fringe to which he replied 'Probably - I know that if your eyes are closed in my favourite shot then I can paste them in from another one' Terrific!  Pasted on eyes and still no make up plus a gappy fringe - I can hardly wait!  

Happy Bank Holiday weekend everyone, I hope you have a lovely sunny one filled with laughter and loveliness.  I'm looking forward to dinner tonight with a lovely friend, a treat tomorrow to be funded by Other Half, perhaps a walk with HuffingtonBear and the last of The Voice auditions.

Happy Days!

Julesy x