Thanks

for the kind comments below. I had a hard think and realised part of my grump is I am absolutely exhausted. The cause is a combination of late nights due to D being awake most of the night, if not all of it and getting up early to battle the elements to care for the rabbits - up to 22 rabbits now and counting cos of so many being dumped or seized and just getting in the hutches has necessitated in pouring hot water onto the latches cos it has been so cold. Then I had the water bottle saga trying to keep them thawed out which meant bringing them in every two hours to replace the frozen ice in them with water. It was frozen solid again within 20 minutes of going out. I also have a poorly bun in the house who needs a lot of attention and one with an eye infection who needs 6 hourly drops. The vet runs for spaying neutering and vaccinations have been constant too but at least I have been getting a lift there. S is working in the shop now and is not here to help and wasn't doing it much anyway tbh. Having said all that I enjoy it and love it when the phone rings and another is on its way. I am waiting for one now:) It is hard work tho and combined with facilitating the twins , housework and cooking and shopping and endless laundry ( washer finally fixed ) it is busy. I am not that fit or well. Winter is never good for me. I find it depressing.

So..........roll on Spring:)

Hmm

today I am another year older and one off the "biggy" The problem is my brain has not caught up with that idea yet and still thinks I am in my 20's. I am not. Realistically my life is more than half over if I am lucky and with my medical history I might even be on borrowed time lol. Today, as most days I have any expectations of, was a disaster. My clothes got trapped in a defunct washing machine which has broken down twice in 5 days and only been functioning for 24 hours when it died again. All my other stuff was covered in rabbit shit and pus from Maisie's infected eye so I have spent the day in an old pair of p.j's and dh dressing gown bleeding all over the place from a bite an ill rabbit ( not Maisie) gave me this am. Then a rellie turned up and borrowed the only money we have which was my birthday money. I got to thinking what do I want to do with the rest of my life but in truth I have no idea. Probably what I am doing now. It isn't a pleasant thought. Depressing actually but I have no energy left over to do anything else and no one to take over any of my daily grind.

It so thick snow and hard ice. I hate January:(

Blogging Sporadically

is often an indication of being busy but in our case not so much lol. We are mostly reading snuggled up listening to howling winds and lashing rain. B is busy collecting Pokemon and Lego mini figures for a film he is making and D is doing loads of maths cos he has suddenly got a need to learn all his times tables and play around with them. B is joining in but with different maths. ( algebra type stuff). Around the World in 80 Days has been restarted and Mayans. Rainforest are nearly done as far as the boys are interested now. They saw an interactive rainforest habitat at Dynamic Earth, we read a few books, cobbled together some busywork to keep the LA happy ;) and moved on. Ditto Marco Polo and Norse myths. Sharks are now D's thing and British history, next phase, B's. ( actually we are still on medieval cos he loves it). The earthquake in Haiti set D off looking at extreme weather and tsunamis and hurricanes. We have been here before but he enjoys it. B is interested in astronomy ( cos of reading Harry Potter books not going to Dynamic Earth at huge expense:) )and I wish I had taken advantage of Staples free telescope if you buy £40 worth of stuff one now. I wouldn't say we are back to normal but life is better than this time last year at the start of the review.

S is working as a volunteer in the RSPCA shop on Saturdays. This LA won't allow her to work in the week even tho she is HE and 15. Rabbit wise we are full but have room cos of a hutch transfer for 4 more. It is hard work at this time of year and I am finding it hard going on my old joints. We have had more sleepovers, been out to the RSPCA post Chrimbo meal and met people for the day. The kitchen is nearly finished and the bathroom is getting there. We decided not to put the house on the market tho and downsize to two- loads of reasons why but I feel better about it now. ( remind me I said that when the fuel bills come in lol ).

I Was Going To Do A Review

of the year but this has been the year of the HE review and has sucked us dry. I have nothing much good to say about this year. Nothing at all actually. It's been crap. Here's hoping the next one is better and we can all get back to family life and important stuff like being with our kids instead of fighting the government.

Love to you all. Thanks for the fantastic support and for being so great.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

New post, new post

Nowt exciting tho. My computer had been playing up endlessly and I have not been giving anytime to blogging. So what have we done?

Well socialising has been the main priority with HE friends arriving for and staying for the boy's 11th birthday last week. Some stay longer cos it snowed and got stuck here but we had a great time. They built a snowman on the beach and we had lots of food and went to the cinema to see Avatar. Visitors came a couple of days from elsewhere and we had lots of food and chats and played in the snow. We decorated the house for Christmas and I, dh and S have spent hours keeping the rabbits going in the bitter cold. Their water bottles were freezing solid within 20 minutes of being put out and the greens we gave them were cracking up within 30 minutes. Dh put carpet over their hutch fronts but it made no difference. We are still under a foot of freezing snow and had to cancel a dental appointment for the boys today as we cannot get there. Its...erm ..interesting. The upstairs boiler stopped working but dh managed to fix it. Me and dh went to the pub quiz Christmas meal ( our quiz team name is Dumb and Dumber) we thought would end about 9 ish , ha , ha ha. It was still going strong at 1 am. We had a great time and met a few ex pats, as I dubbed them.

G got a great report from college tho I found it a bit odd that they send them for nearly 18 year olds lol and is working now everyday she is not there, except Sunday.

Boys have been doing their usual thing. I can't even pick it out now - pity the LA next year cos my answer to what they have learnt will be ..erm... well I have no idea now it has just merged into life and I don't keep track anymore.

D learnt to swim tho:) B is doing maths in his head all the time and D spends a fair bit of time playing computer games that seem to be helping him pick up a lot of skills as a by product. Cafeworld and Farmville on facebook are good for this;)

Got a houseful on Sunday. Should be good.

No Time To Blog

I don't remember why tho. I seem to have spent a lot of time this week and last week running around in every decreasing circles. I have had big decisions to make about the future with no crystal ball available lol and I a m still dealing with stroppy teens with decreasing patience:(

I have been out with dh a fair bit for meals out and chats about stuff. Some of the older kids resent this bitterly ( having watched too much Jeremy Kyle and perceiving themselves hard done by when they are not by having to share me for a small part of the day) and my ability to be all things to all men left the building about a week ago when I basically told them if they don't like it then bloody well move out. FFS I was younger then all of them when I did lol. I feel wrung out and very hurt over the kids behaviour recently and very sad. That has made it hard to connect with them in a meaningful way tho I have tried. I know I am the adult but so, in theory, are some of them. It has been tough and continues to be so. Anyway it was nice and we sorted things out and it is much better now. The unexpected upshot of all the going out is dh and I made friends here. Kind of weird to finally fit in. Never happened for me before.

HE wise -er - we had a reshuffle. Nothing looks like "work" anymore - not that it did much anyway and the boys are learning by every day living. I can' t even explain it. It takes up a lot of the day cos they need constant input at times and leaving alone at others and judging it right is often a hit and miss affair.

The rescue is full to overflowing, with a recent addition found in a garden near the beach and is in an indoor hutch as outside is full. The poor thing was born in this garden and then her mother died. She has fended for herself ever since and kept off dogs, cats and foxes and she slept for 5 days solid once she was safe with us. I love her and have carried her around wrapped in a towel like a baby, which is bad news cos sooner or later she is going to be re-homed and I will be so sad to see her go. I can't keep her tho. We have 13 of our own now as it is.

We are getting another dog.

Tough Times

I would love to say it got better but it hasn't. Life goes on and I am trying to keep going and keep things calm but it is hard work. I am trying to get my head around sorting out Christmas and sorting out getting this house finished to sell next year. I am going to buy two smaller ones and let the older kids have one of them to live in and one for me and the twins and S cos this place is too expensive for me long term. They are all happy with that idea. I am not sure if I will be able to run the rabbit rescue from a smaller place tho:(

It has got very cold here now and the heating doesn't seem up to it.

I feel strange like someone punched me only no one has. It will get better tho.