Review of the Year - Part Four

October

October was the month that excavations for the holes that would hold the steel beams for the conservatory were dug.  Has it really been almost three months of having mud and upheaval outside the back door - yes it has!!

It was also the month that we had Mavis spayed and her crooked teeth sorted out, both have had a good effect on our littlest lady (yes, she is lighter than Charley).

It was also the month I gave you this tip .... put a conker on your windowsills to keep away unwanted spiders.  It really does work, this is the first year I have done this and we have hardly had any spiders in the house.  Just a copy of those delicate little almost see through ones that live in the corners of your room.  No big, horrible monsters to get my heart racing and my mouth swearing.

November

This was the month the work really started on the conservatory, the roof was removed, the kitchen boarded up and it was here there and everywhere for the dogs.  The linked to post told the tale well.  I hate disruption and the previous post had seen me stamping my feet and having a blog post hissy fit.

This one saw me doing what I do best,  simply making the best of it and organising things to minimise disruption and make life bearable again.  It worked I got myself back on track.

This was also the month I got totally fed up with making cups of tea!!

December

Through out this month I have no doubt been boring lots of you senseless with photos of the developing conservatory (hence me not putting another photo of it here).  It's driven me to distraction and back.  Now it is almost finished, there is just the bench tops to do and the tarmacking outside which is bookmarked for February, so no longer do I have to record for posterity the developing work.

December also sees us always opening our Sealed Pot, something I think is really worth doing.  Just get yourself a pot seal it up tightly (as you can see from the post linked to under the photo I had a real struggle to get into ours) and feed it with your dribs and drabs of change throughout the year, opening it on a date of your choosing.  I usually use ours for a Challenge in the New Year, something I will be doing again starting next week. :-)

It was also the month I came across P333 for the kitchen which will be the Challenge I take up when the Sealed Pot money runs out.  I'm planning this long and slow and not rushing into it at all.

*** *** *** *** ***

So overall it's been a reasonably good year.  

Better for us than some recent ones, we've lost no members of our human family, we've gained, lost  and then re-gained members of our furry family.  There has been some illness, a marriage breakdown, mental health worries and financial ones in the wider family, but nothing that between us with the help and understanding of family, friends and some medical expertise we couldn't pull through.

The most important thing is we are all facing the New Year with roofs over our heads, food in our cupboards and in relatively good health which is more than can be said for some folk.

Now it is time to plan the coming year.  It holds the fresh promise of things to come.  New plans to be made, new goals to achieve and more to be learnt.  The one thing that shines through everything is that with family around you, hope in your head and love in your heart it is possible to face head on whatever life throws at you ... and face it with the certainty that you will come out the other side and you will be stronger for it.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Happy New Year.  

May the coming year be what you want it to be, and may it treat you with all the respect and love that you have earned and deserve.

All the very Best.

From Sue & Lovely Hubby

and 

 Rosy, Suky, Mavis, Charley, Ginger and Caldwell and his harem of 18 wives

 xx