Life has a way of taking you along for a ride and if you're not careful (or not watching) it can scoop you up and whisk you off for days at a time - sometimes months or even years at a time.
And so it seems to have whisked me off.
Mia on Maverick - where it all started
I'm a little worse for wear at the moment, I'm coming out of a bout of Covid that has laid me low. Since September I seem to have been well (or at least OKish) for only 2 weeks.
We returned to the UK for 'stuff' - visits, a little shopping and blood tests etc - and on our return, we were promptly struck down by 'English chest' (I could be wrong on the name, it could be something like 'English plague' because that's what it feels like). Apparently, the pollution encountered in the UK doesn't affect you until you return to the wonderfully clear and pure air of our rural home.
Start of my health battle
I'd like to be able to promise to make these posts a regular thing, but unfortunately, I'd be deceiving myself and you if I did that.
I do have lots of things to share and I'm sure I'll get around to writing down my thoughts before too long. We grew a lot of produce over the summer and the garden is coming on in leaps and bounds, although it's in hibernation now.
We have two new chickens - grown from 'seed' - and are delightful to watch. The eggs they give us are still working out to be the most expensive (eggspensive?) ever because of the investment in their home, the incubator etc etc, but they are so much fun and so are well-worth the investment!
Grown from seed!
First time outside!
Luxury accommodation!
The horses are living their best life and so are we. We have new friends, new hobbies and a completely new lifestyle and we both thoroughly recommend it!
If you have the time and patience to wait for the next instalment of our French adventure, stick around... I hope it won't be such a long time until I write the next one.
Glad to hear from you again, it's been a while. Good to know you rural adventure is blooming! Contact with mother nature does wonders. :) Cheers! !BEER
Hi @pardinus, it's good to be back :D
You're back! : ) I'm so glad you're healing and moving forward in your new adventure! I check your page from time to time to see if you're writing again. Merry Christmas to you and the family.
@ericvancewalton, Merry Christmas to you and yours <3
It appears I am back. I have a new project, a few old projects and a book in a competition in the UK (long story, I'll get to that later, I have to pace myself).
Things haven't been simple or easy and I've had minor illnesses (including 3 bouts of Covid - one in the middle of Chemo & Radiotherapy), internal battles with my own mind, and distractions - so, so many distractions!
I'm determined to write down my adventures, and where better than Hive.blog?
Thank you for being such a good friend, I'm sure we'll meet up again, and if you're ever in France, the offer of somewhere to stay is right here, in The Dordogne (River of a Thousand Chateau).
Thank you Michelle! It sounds like you have lots of exciting irons in the fire. I bet it's been difficult to create these past few years. Just settling into a new country alone would be enough to wear you out. It seems so nice there though. I would absolutely love to spend some time in France and thank you for that kind offer! We will definitely reach out when we're out your way. We don't have any immediate travel plans, my wife has been very sick (one reason I haven't been writing on here as much). Once we can get that figured out we'll be back to traveling again. Take care and Merry Christmas!
@ericvancewalton, I'm so sorry your wife has been sick, please give her my very best wishes.
I'm afraid I seem to think I can do more than is physically possible sometimes. Mind is willing and all that :D
Happy Christmas to you both <3
Thank you Michelle! I certainly will. Merry Christmas my friend.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @michelle.gent, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @pardinus for you. Enjoy it!Did you know that <a href='https://dcity.io/cityyou can use BEER at dCity game to buy cards to rule the world.
So good to ear from you, @michelle.gent !
I hope that you fully recover from that health issue. In a moment you would be fully ready for sharing with all of us all the news from your new adventure in the chicken production (with plenty of love and care)!
Stay safe!
Cheers!
Hi @xrayman, the health issue was bowel cancer and I'm over it ;)
I plan to document my journey through diagnosis, treatment and subsequent recovery, right here on Hive.blog (I promised at the Amsterdam HiveFest).
Thank you for the warm welcome back :)
I'm so proud that you've been able to describe your diagnosis, your treatment, which is certainly a long process, and your recovery from a disease that causes so much taboo. It's certainly not an easy task, but I'm sure it will help many people who deal with it in the first or second person. A very tight hug! (:
@xrayman, thank you, it's been a rough few years. We're now in our 'Happy Place' and to be honest, living the dream. I always planned to document the journey between symptoms, through diagnosis, onto operation or 'cure', but I couldn't wrap my head around everything that was happening to me. It was 'The Year of Doing As I Was Told' and it was one of the hardest journeys I've taken.
Actually, I think that will be the title of the blog... possibly the book, so thank you for that inspiration :)