Word of the Week - (Uneccessary) UPSET

Many would say I'm always upset. Life is full of upset.

In general I always feel that just when life is ticking along nicely, something comes along to upset things.

However when you're general level of life is GAD and depression with a touch of PTSD thrown in, a little upset causes a major disturbance.

I'm looking for a new job. My current role has come to an end. I started work at a local secondary school as a Teaching Assistant in February 2022. 

In my interview when asked where I saw myself 5 years from now, I replied 'working as a Teaching Assistant in this school' 

7 months later there was a change to role and with this change I was required to terminate my full time permanent contract and accept a 2 year temporary one. I did this willingly with full knowledge that there was no guarantee of a job at the end of the contract. 

In the months leading up to role ending 'yep, there will be plenty of work in September for you' and then came my letter saying goodbye.

Well I didn't take it lightly and I fought bloody hard to keep working at the school and I was offered a new role as Alternative Provision and Academic Tutor, on a one year temporary contract.

In February I was warned this role was unlikely to be renewed. So looking at booking a trip to Australia and realising we could save over £2000 on flights alone by going August-September instead of July-August, we went ahead and booked.

So there we were in March/April before my formal letter arrived knowing I wouldn't be back at the school in September anyway.

I'm very sad to be leaving, I'm very disappointed there is 'no suitable alternative employment' on offer.

But this week when I got my letter to say my temporary contract was ending it read: 'dismissal' (when challenged this was retracted) but it has left a very bitter taste in my mouth. It caused a lot of stress and upset and has set me back several months in terms of not wanting to leave the house and go to work anymore.

It's been a very tough 7-8 months. Our daughter died 6 weeks into the start of the school year. I was off for 7 weeks and then returned part time for 7 weeks. I've also had a 2 week period off just before Easter with ill health and ended up in hospital, but I've given my all to my job, I always do and it's not just a case of working somewhere else.

When you work in a school you belong to a community and it's going to be hard to say goodbye.

I'd not been thinking too much about my contract coming to an end, there are deeper 

16th - 18th May 2025 - Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

The weather has been glorious this week. I've made the most of being out in the garden and not just gardening, but sitting and reading and enjoying the summer evenings. I love this little area we had added when the extension was built, no need to rush indoors when the skies open and it's great for all year round use.

We were supposed to be camping this weekend but Peter took a car for a test drive on Monday and they called midweek to say it was ready for collection on Saturday. The car needs collecting from Plymouth so a full day out and we need to drop the second car at his sisters, so it was getting a bit tricky with logistics, thankfully I'd not booked the camp site yet.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

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Week 19 2025 - One Daily Positive and Project 365

I've had a stinking cold all week and been really nauseous and dizzy especially in the evenings, but sussed out the nausea was linked to withdrawal from the previous migraine medication.

Work has ticked along, the garden is being sorted bit by bit, jobs in the house are being tackled (well talked about) the weather is glorious, family are well.           

Day 125 #onedailypositive #project365 an easy morning of play and cuddles, then off to the park for play, picnic and ice cream. A few chores in the afternoon via a quick food shop and back to the airport. Sad to go home but back again in a couple of weeks.

Day 126 #onedailypositive #project365 Woke with migraine took rescue meds felt nauseous all day in work. Home and liberated this ‘free’ slide from a neighbour. Did a little bit of weeding. A restful evening bed at 9.10pm asleep within 10 mins.

Day 127 #onedailypositive #project365 Woke at 2am cold just staring no thoughts till 5am made tea and went back to bed. I’ve got a heavy cold right shoulder pain when coughing. After work I planted out some seedlings, finished book and evening spent on sofa watching tv. Got to bed around midnight

Day 128 #onedailypositive #project365 Slept till 7am woke briefly at 5am. I tidied some photos after work and got caught in a rabbit hole. I was late meeting my friend for the cinema. We watched David Attenborough ‘Ocean’ home for a bath and bed at 11pm.

Day 129 #onedailypositive #project365 cat and I did some painting after school, then an impromptu quick drink with work colleagues to a local pub, ended up in a missed train and getting Peter out to give colleague a lift home.

Day 130 #onedailypositive #project365 woke late rush to get the cat to the vet’s, followed by a food shop. Home to chill in the garden and started a new book. Out with a friend for afternoon tea and a couple of gins. Evening spent reading in the garden. Bed around 10pm

Day 131 #onedailypositive #project365 a lie in the off to the three counties RHS Flower Show for the day.. the weather was gorgeous. Had coffee, a snack and bought some truss and an azalea. Home mid afternoon and I spent the rest of the day in the garden, weeding and rearranging the over cover area, just in time for the rain. I also had a little snooze in my hanging chair and finished by book. In bed by 9pm

Things to make you smile:

5 middle aged women running down the road at almost midnight to help a friend catch a train that already left, on our way home from the pub. Peter gave her a lift.

Things that made me happy:

Getting ahead with my planning in work. Using an app to identify weeds/veg/flowers. Rainfall. Being able to drink alcohol again.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love

Word of the Week #WOTW - Cat

My Garden in April 2025 - Flowers for Stephanie

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April 2025 - Days out in the camper van

 Picnics and chilling out with mugs of tea and reading books after a walk on the Malvern Hills.

Finding new camp sites in the Forest of Dean - St Briavels. Close enough to walk to a local pub for the evening.

Bottled water for this trip as the pump has broken.

After a visit with a friend in Much Wenlock, I found a camp site rather than driving home so I could chill out for the evening and spend the following day meandering home visiting National Trust and English Heritage Sites.

Fab washing up facilities, including a dishwasher, normally the sink areas are just under a cover, this was fully indoors.

The site had had problems in the past with travellers so everywhere had CCTV cameras which meant you had to use the cubicles for all dressing etc, which made things a little uncomfortable and awkward.

A nice quiet site with plenty of space around the pitches.

Packing up time, making sure the nothing rattles on the journey.

Pulling the mat out over the edge makes for easier access in and out the back of the van.

Bag bought for me by DIL which I use to pack up everything that is to go back into the house when I get home. I then put in clean t towels, more tea bags/sugar etc for going back into the van ready for the next trip.

.

Narrow country lanes in a van, not a lot of fun when meeting tractors and other vehicles.

Friends kids exploring the van after a day out.

Next up. I'm off to Northern Ireland for the Whitsun week on my own to help DIL out with the new baby and the 3 year old grandson. There will be lots of days out and I'm hoping grandson and I can have a night away.

Word of the Week - Cat

Pushkins our expat cat, from South Africa. She moved in with us in 2012, 13 years ago, the vet said she was about 3 years old at the time.

We moved to Dubai the end of 2014 and she relocated to the UK with us in 2020. She's 16 now.

She's also not a she, but a he. We found out a year after our move to Dubai, we've had her details changed on her microchip and vet records, but she'll always be a she to us and she still wear her pink studded collar.

This morning we had a trip to the vets and I had to change pronouns. The vet gets quite upset with me as saying 'she' would make a huge difference if he was to get lost, in helping us find him. FFS microchip and records up to date. The vets in Dubai found it funny and called her, she. 

Anyway at 16 she is still very active, clearing the fence, starting and finishing fights with the neighbours cats. She's overweight (again a vet issue) she's always weighed 5 kg. She needs a tooth extracted as it's broken (again a vet issue) the tooth has always been broken and she needs blood tests and scans to check she doesn't have a, b & c (again a vet issue) she's a cat, aged 16.

We spend a lot of time with the cat, she's either on our laps, or under our feet or shouting at us for food. We think she misses Bob the dog still (it's been 18 months since he died) she's much more needy (could be old age) she's forgetful (can't find her food) and we don't think she can hear as well and recently she's got herself locked in a cupboard and in our shed, but I think that's more of a Peter problem for not checking than it was hers.

This week I got the paints out to make a card for my son's dog who is recovering from surgery. I found myself explaining to the vet (and to you now) that the card was for my 3 year old grandsons benefit and I only told the vet so they weren't alarmed if they found anything red on the cats paws.

After the vets we went for a coffee while Peter did a food shop as it was too hot to leave her in the car.

And the rest of the day we spent at home for cuddles, after feeling sorry for herself after her jabs.

She's disappeared out now for the evening, prowling her territory, she'll be back soon scratching at the living room door. Failing that, I'll find her under the neighbours hedge where she'll make me go and drag her out, purring her head off.

She'll be up early waiting for her food, then she'll take herself over the road to the neighbours where she likes to perform her morning duties. She'll return home for her food, that we'll have to take her to her bowl to eat 2-3 times before she realises her food is there and she stops asking us for it, then she'll sit out on the front door step in the sunshine, making us step over her as we come and go and she'll watch the world go by. On a school day she entertains the kids and the parents on the school run and stares out any dogs as they are walked past.

At 2pm she'll start asking for her tea, for cuddles, for attention until one of us gives in around 4pm, usually when I come home from work.

9th - 11th May 2025 - Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

I had a full weekend over the bank holiday with a trip to Northern Ireland to visit our Grandsons. The 3 and a half year old and 2 week old.

This weekend we're off to South Wales to visit our great niece with a belated easter egg. On Saturday I'm out with a friend for afternoon tea and on Sunday it's the RHS Three countries show in Malvern. 

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My Garden in April 2025 - Flowers for Stephanie

I can't believe these photos are taken 20 years apart. Not much has changed, even the door mat is the same. The front door and the blinds have been replaced, the carpet in the hall has been replaced with wooden bamboo, the shrubs have been weeded out and the woodwork has been painted. In those 20 years, several other families have lived in our house as we rented it out while we lived abroad from 2010-2021 and Stephanie is no longer with us.

Peter and I bought the Jasminum x stephanense earlier in April and planted it by the front door in a pot. It is highly fragranced and we wanted it somewhere where we would see it every day.

We've involved our grandchildren with planting flowers in memory of Stephanie as they are too young to have remembered her and sadly our 3 year old grandson never got to meet her, she also has two new nephews born this year.

Our granddaughter planted these Angel Wings tulip bulbs after the funeral in October, given to us by a friend. As she watered them she said 'stay hydrated Stephanie'

They flowered in time for Mothers day.

Our grandson planted a rose bush 'In loving memory' that my mum bought for us to mark the 6th month anniversary.

We also planted some marigolds for great grandad (my father) his favourite flower.

In the rest of the garden, I finally planted the raised beds with a variety of vegetable seeds I had. I'm not hopeful for a lot of them, but I do have a good crop of radishes, beetroot, tomatoes, and one or two carrots, cucumbers, chilli and an abundance of parsley, coriander and Thai basil. 

The garden, although north facing, gets a lot of sun and isn't over looked. The old green house is ready for  the tomatoes and the compost is doing well in the new containers Peter built. We've bought a new post to re site the clothes airer so it doesn't block the view of the garden when sitting outside.

The back of our garden is quite stark with a wooden fence and the bare brick wall of the neighbours house but with do have clear open skies. I wanted to break up the brick work and the fence so I've bought a few fruit trees that are planted in pots to add a bit of colour and depth to the garden.

Apple

Cherry

Pear

They sit amongst the bamboo, magnolia, willow, bay and olive trees and shrubs, also in pots. There are a couple of exotic fruit trees, lemon and orange that are growing very well.

As well as the grandchildren helping out, Olive has been digging.

The front garden has been weeded and wild flower seeds sown.

BBQs are being enjoyed.

And the bluebells are out. Once they've finished flowering, this area needs digging out and the soil will be moved to the front garden to level it up and hopefully with some more soil the trees will grow and we'll have a hedge to stop the local dog walkers and kids from the local school running over our front lawn.

How is your garden coming along? Any plans? Or are you at the stage where you can just sit and enjoy it?