Welcome to 2022!

Elsie, growing up SO fast!

And so the year turns yet again and I am teetering on the edge of being back to work after a lovely 12 days off work. It feels like I've had a good break, albeit it also feels like the time has passed in a flash - quell surprise! Despite the constant crappy weather (incredibly mild but very wet with occasional bouts of wind), I've managed to get out and about for lots of lovely walks, with the dogs being spoilt by the fact that any of these have been with others.  

One of the things we had planned on was catching up on some house admin over the holiday and we have managed to do pretty well. Glenn has continued with all of the little DIY jobs that still need to be done to get things straight and to the standard we would expect of a new house. This includes everything from sorting the gutters out (not big enough), to redoing the mastic in our shower (not done properly first time around), to changing light fittings (poor quality and hence falling to pieces), to building a surround at the front to tidy up the bank and stop people from driving into it. On my side I had 2 sets of planning to try and work through, the first to address the planning deficiencies we had been left with, the second to be ready for when we finally manage to purchase the land adjoining ours (process taking forever!). The planning portal apparently is designed to ensure that normal people can make their own planning applications with the minimum of fuss. In reality it's bloody complicated and took far longer than I would have thought, but I have got the first application in, so finger crossed.

The kids have also had a good time, particularly given Covid continues to throw a shadow over every day life. The new variant (Omicron) has taken hold of the country and it seems everyone knows someone that has it. On the plus side, for those who are double vaccinated and boosted (i.e. everyone who wants to be), the symptoms are generally pretty mild.  Given this you would like to think we could just get on with our lives, but the girls will go back to school and have to wear masks in the classroom, and we are back to working from home with no idea when that might end. I appreciate that numbers of people having to isolate mean services are under pressure, but we have to find a way to live with this otherwise we will be in the same boat this time next year!

Despite the complaining about the house that I've done over the past 8 months, it really has been a hard year, we are moving into 2022 feeling much more positive. We have tackled most of the big stuff and although it's been so tough at times, we do love the house and I particularly love the fact that I feel so much more relaxed here. I was saying to Abi this week that one of the reasons I've had such a nice break is that I started it in a calmer frame of mind than normal. Even Christmas Day, after much debate about how we were going to do it, was lovely. Mum and Dad popped over in the morning, we all met for a VERY wet walk in the afternoon, and then we came back home for dinner together in the evening, For the first time in years I didn't end up upset, mainly because I didn't feel disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm from everyone around me. 

New Years Day would normally be a windy walk with Simon and Sharron but they now live so far away that wasn't really possible. Instead we started what I hope will be a new tradition, meeting Kerrie, Ryan, Elsie and Grace at Blue Anchor for coffee and cake followed by a walk. The beach was not overly busy when we started out, although it got busier, and the dogs had an absolute blast. Little Dougie gives it his all on every walk we go on, mostly coming home and flopping exhausted on the floor. He was flat out all the way home from so much excitement. I'm very conscious not to over walk him but he is loving being out with the big dogs and even on a short walk does about 5 times as much as we do. He is a water magnate and so the beach was perfect for him. Betty loves having a companion and I think it's good for her to see him coming back to the whistle. She's even learning to do the same sometimes!

As my thoughts turn to the week ahead I'm very grateful I've taken this time to properly relax. I haven't made myself run every day or similar, I've taken time out to do a jigsaw, see friends and have made time for lots of yoga. January is always a busy month at work and hence I needed the time to recharge before plunging back in. I can't believe that we are about to start year 3 of the pandemic. If it's taught us nothing else it's that you can't stress too much about the things that are out of your control. What will be will be, in the meantime I am going to look forward I hope to a more peaceful year in our new home, enjoying the fact that we are now making progress on the thigs we want to do, rather than the works we have to. I also need to get my head around the fact that Abi will be 16 this year - eeeeekkkk!!

Happy new year all!