Sub zero

It was so cold today... but we managed to finish off the fencing and put some dowling around the windows on the summerhouse. We also transplanted some ferns from the top of the field into the area inbetween the steps and fencing in the garden....the deer dont eat ferns or bracken. The weather forecast is for possible snow here tonight.....

Skull

Skull, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Tel found this animal skull up in the woods yesterday. A grisly discovery. It could be a deer ...or maybe a wild boar. We are not sure.

Pineapple

Pineapple, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

I bought a pineapple yesterday. It is amazing.... I dont think i ve ever bought one before. I had a chat with the nice young man at the checkouts about it.
I also bought a pack of 3 Fujicolour SLR films... it is time to start using my "proper" camera more.
Some cheap purple nail varnish...and a packet of sweet pea seeds.
My participant bought an amazing poncho from a second hand shop.... if she hadnt picked it up I think I would have bought it.

DONDYLION

DONDYLION, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

A tweet from Dave Brown (Bollo) ..."Noel Fieldings Luxury Comedy cutting through a sea of average grey lazy reality based tv drivel"

Shirelles - Baby It's You

Fencing

Fencing, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

We have achieved a lot this weekend.... we have almost finished the fencing and it looks really good. Very smart. Our trip to Cardiff was cancelled as there was too much wind for Tels sailing today...so we planned our next moves with the summerhouse... and went to the tip.

Sunset

Sunset, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

After a very dull and grey day weather wise... there was a spectacular sunset about 30 mins ago.

Dr Tulloch fabric based on a chaotic bookcase.

Dr Tulloch fabric based on a chaotic bookcase., a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Marty Robbins - Story Of My Life

"Look into my eyes..."

"Look into my eyes...", a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

We are friends again.x

Clear

Clear, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

A difficult week.

I had booked the first week of January off work, as I felt I needed a break from being an enabler. I turned my work phone off and tried not to think about it too much. So on Monday I turned my phone on again and immediately fell back into phone calls, paperwork and worries relating to my job. I was feeling under pressure straight away.

On Tuesday I was thinking I cant do this anymore.... its too much for me to cope with.... I m feeling a bit fed up and worn out.

I visited 2 participants in the morning and in the afternoon I drove out to see a lady who I had been supporting for about a year. When I arrived at the house, I was told by her family that she had passed away a few days before. Understandably, they had nt yet informed my office.

This news was very upsetting. I had seen her just before Christmas and she had told me how a few years ago she had done a similar job to mine... and how she thought it was so worthwhile and important that I was doing my best to support people. She also gave me a lovely Christmas card with a handwritten message inside thanking me for my kindness over the past year.

Her death has made me stop and think about my job and to remember why I have been doing it for the past 5 and a half years. I think I had lost track of what its all about.

I will go back to 3 days a week and try and enjoy the job a bit more.

I am thinking about my participant and her family. She was very kind and very brave. And I will remember her encouragement of me as an enabler. x

"Midnight in Paris"

We ventured out on a very cold evening last night to watch the Woody Allen film "Midnight In Paris" at the amazing 100 year old Palace Cinema in Cinderford. What a great place..... it really was like stepping back in time. We will be going back soon.

Bright

Bright, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

The weather as it should be... nice and frosty.

The weather as it should be... nice and frosty., a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning

"Where is Wilson?"

"Where is Wilson?", a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Wilson has been in the bad books and the doghouse recently. He cannot be left unattended in certain rooms in the house and when we go out certain doors have to be closed. He seems to have forgotten where his cat flap is and why he needs to go outside sometimes!!
He is either sleeping or howling or pestering us for food.
There are brief moments of cuteness. We are dealing with the ups and mostly downs of having an 18 year old cat as a pet.

The Automaton

The Automaton, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Hugo

We went to Cinema de lux in Bristol on Friday night for a rare trip out to watch a film. We watched the lovely Martin Scorsese film Hugo.... about a young boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station ... he keeps all the clocks running on time and is trying to fix an automaton left to him by his father.

"I d imagined the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts you know. They always come with the exact amount of parts they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine, I couldnt be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason."

Hills

Hills, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Mr Pheasant

Mr Pheasant, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

"Hours of Pleasure"

I bought some piano music yesterday... £2.50 from a local charity shop .... my favourite so far is "Jolly Companions". Inside the front cover it says the book belonged to Kathryn Cornell from The Pararde in Rhondda and as I flicked through the pages a little certificate dropped out dated 1957 and presented to Kathryn for Pianoforte at Lower Elementary grade.

New year deer

A big group of deer came into the garden yesterday...about 10 altogether. It was lovely to see them. It is really wet, slippy and muddy out there at the moment.... the trees are bare and it is cold.

Deer

Deer, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Deer

Deer, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Catherine Wheels

Catherine Wheels, a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

The Bright Field.

" I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while and gone my way and forgotten it.

But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had the treasure in it.

I realize now that I must sell all that I have to possess it.

Life is not hurrying on to a receding future,nor hankering after an imagined past.

It is turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush, to a brightness that seemed as transitory as your youth once

but is the eternity that awaits you."

R S Thomas

Woodland creatures aka Harry Styles biggest fans.

Woodland creatures aka Harry Styles biggest fans., a photo by Jillian DIxon on Flickr.

Mark, James, Anna and Lara came to stay on New Years Eve and it was lovely to see them all. They travelled down by train and Tel picked them up from the station.
We had hotdogs and jacket potatoes. Later we made a fire at the top of the field and let off a few fireworks (which we didnt use at the party in August). We waited in the front garden for it to turn 12 oclock midnight ... there was a smokey "j" and the flashing lights of the pedestrian crossing in the village..... James played a fireworks app on his I pad... lets just say the village fireworks were a bit disappointing!!!
In the morning Mark made us all a big breakfast ...including eggy bread...and they all headed back to the station in the afternoon. x