Sunday 16 November 2014

It's been a while since I last wrote so I guess it's time for an update.

Last time I wrote I was heading off the the Fabri-a-brac de-stash in Palmy.  It was a beautiful sunny day and I can report that although it started a bit slow it actually went quite well and I was very happy with what I sold, although I still have plenty of fabric left over. I think in the next few weeks I'll have to get the camera out, take some pictures and start listing what's left on TradeMe.  It would be nice to sell off some more pieces.  First though I have to work my way through the growing list of custom orders that I have suddenly received.  It's a really nice feeling actually.

After the 'high' of the Fabric-a-brac weekend things pretty much turned to custard to be honest and I have been feeling a bit down at times.  It started with another bout of the tummy bug.  This is the third time this year that I've been hit with the tummy bug.  I think all the years of not being sick (maybe cause I was too busy looking after Roy) have caught up on me.  This one really knocked the wind out of my sails and it has taken a while to get over it - mainly the tiredness that went with it.  I'm feeling way better now and hope this will be the last sickness for a while.  I had hoped that my healthy fruit, kale and chia seed morning smoothies would have helped boost my immune system but obviously not.

So as if being sick wasn't enough of a downer I also had an appointment at Winz to meet - yip that's right - to meet my new case manager.  Yes you read that right I have a new case manager - apparently my 'old' case manager moved to a new position so all her cases were reassigned.  It is so frustrating having to go through the whole rig-ma-roll again.  It was an interesting meeting.  It would seem that not all the case managers are on the same page - I decided to talk about the course I was interested in doing to up-skill so that I had better job prospects, but apparently I don't qualify for any help as I am not a single mum with children at home.   To be honest I felt pretty gutted as I was really keen to do the course but can't afford it.  So much for them saying they'd help me out if I needed help.  Obviously up-skilling is not important.  I did discover however that if my current job could guarantee to pay me for at least 8 hours but preferably 10 hours of work than on Winz's flexi scheme they could provide funding to top the hours up to 30 to get me off the benefit.  Sadly that isn't going to happen as there is no funding for that many hours and there isn't enough work for me to do 30 hours a week.  It really all comes down to the Winz 'books' looking good and them being able to say they have lowered the unemployment rate.  Anyway I have decided to not stew on it and look at it again in the New Year.  I want to enjoy the lead up to Christmas.

The weather the last few weeks has also been a bit all over the place - one minute you think summer has come and the next you're lighting the fire - not that I'm complaining about that part - lol!  The worst part has been the wind - boy have we had some wind.  In fact it's been so windy I haven't even bothered putting out the Rawleigh sign as it just keeps blowing over.

I am really glad that Guy Fawkes has been and gone again for another year.  Poor Jack didn't know what to do with himself he was so upset with all the banging and popping going on outside.  It always amazes me why people need to let things off at 11.30 at night as if it is darker then than it is at 9.30.  Hopefully this is the last year  they'll be available for the public to buy.

Boy I do sound grumpy don't I but it hasn't all been bad.  I have been blessed too.  I had a great day out in the garden in the sun two Saturdays ago.  I got the lawns all done, weeded all the gardens, pots and edges, I went through all the branches that Hillary had cut down for me and collected all the good sized branches to dry for kindling. I also chopped another couple of branches off the orange tree which were just at the wrong height for head hitting. When I dropped one of the branches on the ground out scuttled about a dozen different sized cockroaches - yuck, shiver!!!!  I have also planted some vegetable seeds (beans, peas, spinach and lettuce) in the garden and am hoping they will come up soon.  It'll be nice to be able to pick some fresh veggies from the garden for dinner.  At the moment I am still enjoying the asparagus that I have growing.

Hillary come and collect the pile of left of camilla and lemon/orange tree branches and took them away for me as I couldn't fit them all in my wheelie bin.  I was also blessed to receive a free load of  firewood this week.  It still needs to dry but it smells wonderful and will be great for next year.

Church wise there have been some exciting happenings.  Firstly 2 weeks ago the congregation gave the go ahead to start building our own church building.  For the last two and a half years we have been meeting in a local school hall as the church we had been using had been deemed an earthquake risk and could no longer be used for worship services.  The school hall has not been ideal esp in winter but it has helped to fill a need.  It will be nice to have our own building in the near future.  We have also been blessed to have an interim pastor and his wife come to minister to us for the next 3 months.   It is so good to have Christ centered preaching from someone with a passion for the Gospel - the good news that God loved me (and you) so much that He sent His son to die for us. What an awesome gift.  What a great way to start each week.

I'm not sure where September and October have disappeared to but November is also flying by.  Is it just me or does time seem to go by faster and faster??  It's amazing to think that in 6 weeks a second Christmas without Roy will have been and gone. I want to say a HUGE thank you to all who continued to support me with your love and prayers.

Until next time God bless.

Love and hugs,
Jolanda