Today we are off to a birthday party. It is our next door neighbours son’s 1st birthday and we are going to a BBQ at their house.
Nothing odd about that you might think, but for me it is a first!

Our old neighbours were nice people, but mostly kept themselves to themselves. In fact I think I only went into their house twice in the 7 years that we lived next door to each other, we never had BBQs together or anything like that, despite our children being in the same school (2 of them in the same class even), we never really chatted or got to know each other. Most of the other people in the street were nice too, they’d occasionally call for a favour or to borrow something and I didn’t mind that, but I wouldn’t have said we were ‘friends’.

That was partly down to me, I wouldn’t call myself shy but I am quite private. I didn’t really want other people knowing my business and frankly I didn’t really care to know other people’s business either, I didn’t want to be sitting around drinking cups of coffee with people when I should have been working or ending up with the whole street’s kids coming into my house and trashing it, so I kept myself to myself. They probably thought I was a right unsociable cow!

My new neighbours haven’t given me the chance to be unsociable! Within days of moving in they were knocking on the door to say hello and introduce themselves. They have a daughter the same age as ours and every day since then the two of them have played together flitting backwards and forwards between the houses. My daughter makes buns with them (I don’t bake!) and the other day I made a handprint cast with their daughter for her to take home as a keepsake.

I have to be honest, I first I thought ‘oh dear, these people are really going to get on my nerves’. But actually although I do still sometimes find it a bit overwhelming actually I am starting to like having neighbours that I chat to and not having that ‘I really should make more effort’ feeling.

We’ve only been here 2 months and already we’ve met and made friends with quite a few people on the street. Although it feels a bit strange, it’s a new start for me. Time to say bye bye to that miserable woman who didn’t want to be bothered with anyone, and embrace the community spirit that I should have welcomed in ages ago!

So where once upon a time I would have been dreading the BBQ, today I am actually quite looking forward to it. Lets just hope it doesn’t rain!

Well it’s been a while since I last posted a blog!  So long in fact that I have moved house and now have a totally new workspace to the one I shared with you last time!!

At the moment the space I have is pretty similar to what  had before, my equipment is set up in the back bedroom of our new house, it’s a bit smaller than what I am use to, but it’s only temporary.   One of the great things about this house is that it has a basement with an original cold slab (used to keep food cool before the days of refrigeration) which will make the perfect workbench for me, as the cold keeps my clay workable for longer, so as soon as I can get some money together I will be converting the basement into my perfect workspace!

This is a short post because that’s all I have time for today, but I shall write some more about creating workspace in your home later.

I am so proud of my husband, he has worked so hard this year and passed all of his paramedic assessments.  All that he needs now is 650 hours of working with another paramedic and then he’ll be able to register for his paramedic’s licence and I can officially say that I am a Paramedic’s wife!

It’s been a tough year, studying to become a paramedic as you would imagine is hard going.  There is a lot to learn and the pressure to get it right first time and every time is immense!  My husband was at a head start, having worked for the Ambulance service for over 10 years and been a qualified AEMT (Advanced Emergency Medical Technician) for 5 years he already had a lot of the skills he needed, but nevertheless the pressure has been on this year and tension has at times been high in our household!

Not only has he been working full time as an AEMT, he has also been traveling to university for lectures and assessments and having to do placements in hospitals which have meant overnight stays, leaving me and our 2 children at home.

All that paid off though, because he has been working and studying at the same time he accrued a lot of time owed and was able to take almost the whole month of August off.  It has been a wonderful month, the children have been off school, I have been able to be flexible with my working hours and we have had a great time.

Today is his first day back at work, he started at 6am.  To throw him in at the deep end after 28 days off he now has a 70 hour week!  7 days in a row, each a 10 hour shift.  It will almost certainly be more than that though, after all if a 999 call comes in he can’t exactly say ‘sorry I clock off in 5 minutes’ it doesn’t work like that, sometimes he can be 2 hours late home, but that’s a blog for another day.  For now we are just starting to get back into reality, hubby back at work, kids will be back to school in s few days and I will be back to promoting my business.  While you’re here, why not have a little look around 🙂 www.lastingtouch.co.uk