[Risen from Ashes]

Hey everyone :-]

I don't know who has kept up with me and knows this, but we have recently moved homes, and now live on a lifestyle block in the country. I wasn't expecting this, but it is now a lot harder to get a connection to the internet so I haven't been online very much. We've lived out here for about a week and a half now. My usual activites have changed, because now the internet is a luxary :(



Also, now we don't have a strong shower or much hot water so I've had other reasons for feeling a bit miserable. And its the middle of winter.

I've really missed everyone, and keeping on top of the threads here. There have been lots of stressful moments where I've wanted to come online and share what has been going on, but I haven't been able to. I've never known anything to cause as much fighting as moving house!

I haven't been getting much sleep either, because we have a train near our house which goes past 3-10 times a night which is very noisy, and likes to make the grounds shake. Oh the price we pay so that mum can have her sheep!

There have been some good things though. My bedroom is huge and has a walk in wardrobe (never expecting that!), Tahi and Max (our dogs) love having extra land to run around and bark on, we don't have to deal with too many neighbours, boy racers or town folk and I finally got a car! Woo! If only I could drive it...

I've been applying for some jobs today and it hasn't been good. One guy was like ''yeah, maybe, come back next week...'' another agency told me they didn't have any positions available for someone with my skill set and the third place hasn't responded yet. I'm really nervous about getting my first job, I'm not even sure if I will make it through the interview phases!

Any updates from you guys?

[Fitkiwi]

yay,I found you! :) The train noise would really get on my nerves,my neighbours stereo is bad enough-sometimes I hate being a light sleeper.

Keep trying on the job front,its shocking down here,you're probably better off up there and its not half as expensive as city living!

[Risen from Ashes]

@Fitkiwi Don't tell anyone where I live, its a secret ;-)

If all else fails, I'll start a tshirt business or something.

[Fitkiwi]

T shirts are good,I have far too many...along with all my shoes and handbags! ;)

[Eloise]

That sounds like quite an adventure! Currently, not much has changed for myself, other than working close to every day (but being wary of our 40 hour cap.)

I hope you're enjoying your stay in the country, do you plan on having any farm animals? Excuse the cliche question!

Much love, Eloise C:

[Risen from Ashes]

@Eloise We're probably getting some goats by the end of the month, because we have an autistic boy staying with us soon, and he loves them. My sister wants my parents to get an alpaca, because apparently they ''hum'' when they are happy, but I don't think she has much say, because she doesn't live with us. One of her friends did need a place for her horse to graze, so we might have a chance to look after one. We will definitely get chickens, and I suggested ducks, but the closest thing we have to a pond is the swimming pool. I know we're getting sheep, although some of the neighbours are in our paddocks now, because we don't have any paddocks of our own. Oh, and my mum wants some ''mini moo's''- they are cows that are about 1/3 smaller than regular cows. My dad asked if there was anything I wanted, and I requested a Border Collie- he said if I can get my current dog all trained up and teach him to round up sheep, he'll consider it, but I don't like my chances. We already have two dogs, and they wind each other up, so I wouldn't be able to just train the one dog- as soon as they moved in together, they picked up all of each others bad behaviour, which is a shame, because my dog used to be pretty obedient- now he just listens when he feels like it, and hes become a bit of a barker!

Other than that, the neighbours had a bull that looked like it wanted to rip my stomach out when I walked past... that was scary!

[Eloise]

@Eloise We're probably getting some goats by the end of the month, because we have an autistic boy staying with us soon, and he loves them. My sister wants my parents to get an alpaca, because apparently they ''hum'' when they are happy, but I don't think she has much say, because she doesn't live with us. One of her friends did need a place for her horse to graze, so we might have a chance to look after one. We will definitely get chickens, and I suggested ducks, but the closest thing we have to a pond is the swimming pool. I know we're getting sheep, although some of the neighbours are in our paddocks now, because we don't have any paddocks of our own. Oh, and my mum wants some ''mini moo's''- they are cows that are about 1/3 smaller than regular cows. My dad asked if there was anything I wanted, and I requested a Border Collie- he said if I can get my current dog all trained up and teach him to round up sheep, he'll consider it, but I don't like my chances. We already have two dogs, and they wind each other up, so I wouldn't be able to just train the one dog- as soon as they moved in together, they picked up all of each others bad behaviour, which is a shame, because my dog used to be pretty obedient- now he just listens when he feels like it, and hes become a bit of a barker!

Other than that, the neighbours had a bull that looked like it wanted to rip my stomach out when I walked past... that was scary!

THIS IS ALL SO COOL. I'm going to have to visit sometime teehee c:

It's really exciting! Animals are the best--you can build really great relationships with them! I wish you all the best with this new style of life!

[chimeric]

Hang in there on the job front. It takes time, but it'll happen.

Sounds like a beautiful space. Are you into photography at all? If not, maybe a good inspiration for sketches.

[Snow Leopard]

Welcome back. Good luck with your job search.

*resists urge to post sheep joke*

I actually find that a break from the internet can be liberating, so long as I know it still exists.

I'm sure a change will be good, minus the train of course (perhaps try different earplugs?).