A bit of a wordy one

The past few months at work have been more than a little strange. In fact, for three of the past five and a half years that I've been there, things have been a little strange. It seems inevitable that our jobs will go at some point but we go from one temporary contract to another, never quite knowing if we'll have a job next year. As it stands, we're okay until next March.

Because of this, I've been constantly re-evaluating my options each term  and each option has it's good and bad points. I've never been a career driven woman, although thoroughly admire friends who are - how do they do it?

What it boils down to is this: I need to do some sort of work to bring some money in, and at least while the children are at school and, in the not too distant future, studying for exams I want to be here for them. We want  to be able to take holidays together instead of using our leave to cover school holidays. I also want to do something I love.

For now, while my work is still there, I'm sticking with it for the financial security. However, as I only work part-time that does give me time to start working on other ideas. What I really want to do, if I'm totally honest,  is to become self-employed creating and possibly even teaching the crafts I love so much and I don't think there has ever been a better time to do that - it's just a matter of working out where to begin.

I've been pondering this all summer and this has drawn me back to my blog and the community I have come to love so much. Everyone out there is doing such fantastic things and showing it really can be done.The support and inspiration from my fellow bloggers is something that continues to surprise and delight me. When I posted on Sunday, for the first time in seven months, I wasn't sure if anyone would hear me but I was so thrilled to get so many lovely comments from my dear friends - thank you for that :)

Goodness, this is a wordy post, isn't it?

Time for a picture, I think. The view from my kitchen window today is making me very happy!

I haven't had a washing line since March. All that glorious drying weather in the summer and I couldn't use it as the garden was, quite literally, a building site. Yesterday, Mr Moog surprised me by putting my line up again and I surprised me by being really excited about it!!

You may notice there's a big green thing lurking at the end of the garden. It's one of these.

One week into the build Mr Moog became gripped with an overwhelming obsession to get some new hens - our old girls having succumbed to Mr Fox a year or so earlier. This time, he went for the red mite and fox proof accomodation of choice...right in the middle of a garden full of bricks and cement mixers!

Do you want to meet the girls?

Of course you do :) We have four lovely hens - starting with the three below, Miranda, Penny and Peggy (left to right).

And this twit - known as either Echo or That Broody Idiot, depending on whether she's in 'I want a baby' mode or not (and right now she is!).

You can't hear it but she is actually swearing at me in this photo.

Before I head off, on a very exciting mission to see the man at the secondhand sewing machine shop, I'll leave you with some teeny tiny crafting that I hold Mrs Pebble entirely responsible for - even mentioning the words 'a kitchen made of wool' was bound to cause problems, wasn't it?

Naturally, a tiny needlefelted Aga just had to be made.

Moogs xxx