The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Backinwellies on December 29, 2013, 08:08:16 am
-
Hi All
Christmas now behind us and a new year ahead .... I find myself full of refection and beginning to plan for a new year (almost at the end of our first year smallholding too so particularly reflective)
a few questions I'm asking myself
1) what ,if anything, of my old life have I missed.
2) what have I enjoyed most this year :excited:
3) what was the worst time this year and why? :gloomy:
4) If I had no money, or time, or family restrictions where do I want to be in 5 years time, what would I want to be doing? and with whom?
so my New year resolutions will be three positive things I will do before Easter which will get me a step closer to the answer to question 4 :thinking:
Maybe I have got you :thinking: if so what are your 3 positive resolutions? (what will you achieve and by when)
Happy reflection....
-
I haven't got quite as far as you, in that I am not sure what the three things are, but my general resolution is to spend less time flapping about all the things I need to do and doing wee bits of all of them, and more time prioritising, so I know what I REALLY need to do, and doing it.
-
What a great post
1. I am going to take responsibility for my actions...or lack of them , and my avoidance of going to the docs :thinking: Need to have at least 3 things checked out, however I acknowledge my underlying fear of the doc is that he will tell me to lose weight :innocent:
2. Following on from above...go on the dreaded diet and exercise more so I can :yippee: without getting breathless.
3. Attempt to grow some :carrot: :pepper: :blackberry: :brocolli: :tomato: :cherry: :chili: :peas: :pear: :cucumber:, so as a complete novice will be relying on lots of advice from you guys
-
Linda, try not to mention how dry the weather has been in 2014, the rest of the country will be very happy :roflanim:
-
easy must try harder to advertise the business and actually find some new clients...
solves most of my problems, earns me more money and provides more regular exercise so i'm not quite so round in the belly department!!!
-
Never make 'em, always break 'em :roflanim:
-
That's a good method, better than what I'd have just picked off the top of my head (again!).
Sadly I can't resolve anything as so much is beyond my control. The things I miss appear lost, the things I love are tied to things I have problems coping with, and tho I'd love to pack a bag and walk away and find this mythical new life one more time, I can't, so I just despair of the distance between where I am and whatever I might come up with. What I'd like to be doing in 5 years time just doesn't seem to have much reality to it even in my imagination!
The inevitable resolution is to find a way out of my dream life and find another way to get by within that 5 year timescale, tho I'm not sure what it would be yet. But that involves things I have no control over, people buying saleable stock and possessions, then selling up the holding and using whatever equity I am left with to start over in a much reduced capacity somewhere I can perhaps get to a part time job I could do without paying more to drive and park than I'd earn there. But the kind of property I could invest in, without a mortgage, I don't think would bring the new dream but just different kinds of nightmares, so I don't know what to pick for my 3 at the moment. I suppose being realistic they'd be along the lines of:
1. Keep getting up every morning and doing what needs done.
2. Survive physically, mentally, emotionally as best I can meantime
3. Try and make the best of what is and let go what used to be and might never be again..
Not sure that's a set with specific enough things to do by Easter tho, more a way of living until something else appears possible..
-
I am already doing what i want to do , living the life i want . Yes the are bits i could do without happening , and others i would like to happen , but on the whole i am where i want to be in my life .
No point in me making a nyr as i wouldn't do it ioi .
I do try not to be the grump i am , but that is just how things are these days , and i can live with the consequences of my actions (mouth) .
So my only resolution would be not to make any .
Rules of my life , would be nearer what i must try to live by ;
cause no harm to anyone , (no problem . As long as they don't harm me , if they do , the gloves are off !) .
Don't be greedy . ( don't think i suffer with greed anyway ) .
Try to remember what the other rules are ?
-
I need to offload a lot of work as I'm not in rude health.
Make a will, so the government won't take most of it.
Spend abit more time with my children.
-
We should all make a Will, no matter how young or fit we are. If an accident happens then having a Will, and your affairs in order, makes life very much easier for your rellies. And we old and decrepit ones should have everything well sorted in plenty of time.
1) If circumstances permit, I would like to find a farm sitter and get away with my husband for a couple of weekend breaks, as far north and west as we can go.
2) keep my veggie garden in better order
3) stay alive long enough to enjoy it all :sunshine:
-
Our resolution is to enjoy life.. and what ever happens….make the most of it :)
-
Linda, try not to mention how dry the weather has been in 2014, the rest of the country will be very happy :roflanim:
Hazel Hollow :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: I'm NEVER going to mention the weather again!!
Will add my thoughts to this thread when I've come to conclusions
-
1. ........
ok I give up already! I already have this mantra in my head that every time I see someone spreading more inane drivel on FB I shall tell them to stop it! I have actually started this and if this upsets people then tough, they should take the time to find out the facts before they repost and share utter crap!
oh and to be nicer to tourists when they are driving on the single track roads....life is too short and at the end of the day we are all just tourists in this life so why not enjoy the ride?
-
Am reading these with interest .... so far no one has really committed themselves to anything
(it really doesn't have to be a mountain ... just a first step.... eg vision - I am healthy and fit. First step: I will ring Dr for appointment at 10am Monday30th )
so to start the ball rolling (and commit to doing it by having you all in the know)
I commit to getting my accounts up to date on spread sheet by 6th January. First step: I commit to getting June and July done this morning starting at 10.30am.
-
1. Don't try to move a rat rap when it's set......ouch :tired:
2. Clean out the hen houses when the mud is not so deep that I am slipping all over the place
3. Get the vat return in on time.
4. Become a domestic goddess :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
-
We have a Gantt chart on the fridge in the kitchen and put our plans for the house on there.
2013 start and finish enclosed.
As you can see - we only got through about half of it :innocent: :innocent:
-
Love that suziequeue ... a great recording sheet and really useful to be able to look at and review what you achieved and more importantly what prevented you doing the rest? ...... too big a project? (cut into small chunks on chart for 2014) no money (maybe better left off 2014) weather (well there is always plenty of that in Wales!!!
Anyone else got a good example of planning system?
I have done June and July accounts (didn't quite get there yesterday but having set the time and day really gets my brain focussing). So am setting Aug for later pm today, and September for tomorrow pm (after hangover worn off!!)
-
I did my tax return paperwork in time for Christmas (my step Mum is a tax accountant and has always done our returns). I was so pleased with the neat way that I had all the documentation in a folder that I wrapped it up and gave it to her as a Christmas present!!! (jokingly - I gave her other things aswell!!)…. all just in time to have the bill worked into my tax code for next year so no need to pay a big lump sum by the end of Jan - PHEW!!! :relief:
I am now motivated to get my 2013/14 tax return done BY THE END OF MAY
-
ok well I resolve to
1 continue to smoke too much
2 continue to drink too much red wine and coffee
3 continue to ignore all the negative people who say I can't do things!
4 continue to love those who say yes you can!
party on people! :excited:
-
I resolve to spend more time writing. After my success in NaNoWriMo, when I achieved over 50,000 words in one month, my aim is to write 3,500 words a week starting at the beginning of the year. I will make a spread sheet to log my success/
otherwise.
-
lose 4 stone :o :o :o :o
-
Humblepie ..... maybe you need to just say what you will weigh by end Jan (unless you intend to lose all 4 stone by then ! :roflanim: )
MGM great target ... look forward to your success.
-
Loose a lump of weight and get my bantams good enough to show
-
My only resolutions are to do things I like with the people I love.
I got sucked in to the world of promotion and working all hours before Christmas, and my family suffered. My daughter has been like a different child while we have been home doing stuff together.
I will continue to work, I have to. But as far as above and beyond goes then I'm afraid my family are more important.
Lots of fun stuff to look forward to, we are getting married at Easter, OH has a job interview at end of month so a chance to escape where he is now and stop working nights. We have ordered the seeds for the veg plot, got a baby poly tunnel, we have an old caravan we are restoring for holidays - starting today!
So my resolution is not to lose sight of what is really important.
Happy New year guys, and thanks for being there with advice/support/humour whenever it is needed :wave:
-
Not a new year resolution, but zoe_emma really pleased things are going better for you and your family. :thumbsup: :bouquet:
-
OK I'm trying a more specific rewrite after a couple of really bad days in a pretty dire year all round I'm determined things need to change in 2014. Probably drastically, but to start with..
1. I am not going to let up on the NHS to clarify diagnose and inform me of options/achievable outcomes on all health issues through all departments and both/all 3 hospitals concerned. It wears me down and I tracked the year from when I finally went to the GP back in March because I couldn't take it all any more, and it is unbelievably hard work, easy to let it be pushed down waiting lists and backburners and easy mistaken assumptions regarding existing conditions, but N. O. is my resolution, I will not give up.
2. Without riding, hillwalking and all the other physical hobbies I used to have, I need some form of exercise that is pleasurable rather than just collapsing on a sofa between the necessary rounds of physical chores that I now find so hard. I've got physio exercises which I'm doing, and I've got a few wee things I can do just in the kitchen when waiting for the kettle like a few squats maybe or just stretching. But I need to look at facing the swimming pool and find one that I can get to that hasn't a vertical ladder exit alone as neither feet nor hands will get me out via one of those! I have heard Perth has one, possibly Glenrothes, and I must overcome the embarrassment of my current physical state to have any hope of improving it. So I will.
3. I have already taken the step of advertising 2 ponies on the breed sales list, tho they may not be up yet due to office holidays. But any foals born this spring, regardless of how much I like and want to hang onto them, WILL be advertised straight away for sale at weaning and I will not let a good home with a decent price go by due to my addictive behaviour about breeding and future bloodlines. I need sales before weanlings get too strong for my hands to be sure of holding, so I will be ready from day one for the fact that nothing stays bar the oldies and crocks I have, and a breeding mare as long as I have my stallion who needs the company plus one as a spare if the one with a foal has to be removed for treatment or foalhandling. And no more!
Not all achievable by Easter but hopefully an improvement in terms of smart targets and all that...
-
Godd news Zoe Emma, I am glad things are getting better with your daughter. I hope your OH is successful with his job application, and good for you about your job- it is so easy to get caught up in work to the detriment to family life. Wishing you a happy and more settled 2014 !
-
I always struggle with this, I have dream resolutions and reality resolutions!!
Dream resolutions :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Find a small holding within reasonable access of Bristol (six grandchildren and another on way there) needs to be on a very long term lease!!
OH to find well paid job in above location!!
Reality resolutions
Make the most of the lovely rural cottage I currently live in and get it sorted and de-cluttered (My bedroom finished TODAY
Find a cheap (very) local (very) piece of land to plant with fruit and veg, maybe keep a couple of pigs and sheep for own consumption,
Find a way of doing some kind of horticultural/animal husbandry course (this is more of a dream resolution really)
Think I had better stick to my reality resolutions!! Mind you, if I don't get off this web site I will have failed at the first hurdle (again) :innocent: :gloomy:
-
Well have now done June, July, Sept Oct and Nov ..... so yes small focused and time allocated goals DO work!
MCL good idea to have dream and reality resolutions ... dreams do come true if you take small steps towards them ...... check out SE Wales for small holdings .... good access to Bristol (only hour and half from here) .... job for OH :thinking:
-
yay, finished my bedroom :excited: :excited: Next round, my craft room :'( this is the biggie, been here three years and never got it straight. Had loads of card making stuff, then inherited my Mums' when she died, its so stuffed I can't even get in there so all this stuff is useless :gloomy: IT HAS GOT TO GO! :idea: anyone local who could make use of some of this, can't post due to probable weight but happy to make up a mixed box as long as you don't mind what you get! Mostly card, paper, ribbon and bits and bobs, probably some cd roms and I also have four - yes four- boxes of stamps, need to sort out my favourite and get rid of the rest! :fc: