An Anniversary

Today is an Anniversary of sorts, although I doubt my DH remembers!

24 years ago today I arrived in England to live.  I'd come over in December 1994 to visit my grandparents, stayed until March, came back for a few weeks in June, and then came back permanently October 15th 1995.  I didn't think it would 'really' be permanently, just for a few years, as my husband to be promised me we would return to NZ to live.  Well clearly that never happened, despite many promises, looking at properties over there back in 2005 and several other years.  

So it feels a bit like a strange day to me.

Almost bittersweet in some ways.  I never realised at the time just how hard it would be as I got older, and thus my parents got older.  But that is the way it is.

Sometimes I love it here, sometimes I hate it, and sometimes I am ambivalent.  

It is the winters that get me the most.  Not necessarily the cold, but the long grey, grey, dark damp days.  I find the lack of light really hard to cope with, although have got better in recent years since taking quite high doses of Vitamin D during the winter months.  I actually take Vitamin D all year round now, but lower the dose during the summer, and hike it up at the beginning of September.  It really does make a difference.  Oh and I hate the noise.  The constant roar of the M25, despite having some lovely countryside near us.

I've also felt a bit frustrated today as I had loaded the car up with stuff for the Charity Shop.  Things that have sat up in our loft for the last 10 - 20 years.  Never used, and never will be used.  DH decided to go through it and packed a 'sad' as I call it and basically it has all been hauled out of the car, and will most likely end up back in the loft ad-infinitum.  I sometimes wonder why I even bother trying.

Normally I would have had the car loaded up, and have gone down the road before he was even up...but he delayed me today because he had to take his Mum to the hospital for her physio.  I needed some labels printed out for some Ebay parcels, and he delayed getting those from his office for me.  I swear he did it on purpose!  If he hadn't gone through the stuff, he wouldn't even have remembered it existed!

I've been for my walk with the dogs though, and given Stanley, our Sheltie a jolly good groom.  He is still moulting!  Clearly the colder weather has had no impact on him.  The bird feeders have been topped up, and I've been round the garden taking some photos.  Although I am disappointed with all of them.  I took photos with my 'good' camera and lens, and they were all rubbish, so resorted to my smaller Panasonic camera.  Not sure if it is the light, the memory card, or the camera just isn't what it was (certainly it doesn't seem to have been as good since it was repaired).

I picked up a bale of hay for the guinea pigs, so they are sorted for a while now.  I wish I'd got it earlier last month though as it feels damp now, whereas the hay I had just finished was lovely and dry.  I would have bought it earlier, but I let my DS and DIL borrow my other hay bag, and I haven't got it back so only have one bale bag to use.  I'll have to order another one.

So this is a bit of a strange post really, but one I wanted to record for myself if for no other reason.

I'm feeling better today that I was the last few days, which is good.  The stomach/bowels seem to have settled down, so hopefully that was just a 'blip' or a minor 'bug'.