Dreaming of Italy...

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Originally uploaded by gimmeachance05

It has been way too long since I was last there and I am getting homesick for all my secret places in Abruzzo...

This is a view down a street in the village of Palena, Abruzzo, with the Maiella visible in the distance.

Hopefully I will be able to enjoy this view in person again later this year...

Dare I Say It?

Is it possible that summer might have arrived? As I sit here typing it is a wonderfully warm day outside and I have the fan going in here. At night I have the window wide open and the fan on low to stay cool enough to be able to sleep... long may it last.

I am settling in relatively well into UK life. I am on my second job - another temp assignment with the NHS, which is proving very interesting thus far, and continue to have interviews for jobs in the City, though as yet nothing has materialised.

That said, my current job is at a centre in the same area that I live in, and it is rather nice to be able to walk to work in 20 minutes, rather than have to rely on the Underground.

Work on the allotment is progressing (pictures due soon) and I am hoping to be able to plant by the end of this week, I just need to clear a few more weeds, dig out the bramble and turn the soil once between now and Friday...

Thank you all for your support - it has meant a lot. Things are still a bit hectic here so posting may be sporadic for a while yet, however I will aim for a once weekly post from now on, and also share with you some pictures of this great city I find myself in now that I finally have a digital camera (thanks Mark and Debs).

I Is Here...

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let you all know that I have arrived in London safe and sound. The ferry crossing was calm (was worried due to the storms of the previous few days) and the bus journey uneventful.

I am settling in now and contacting agencies to set up appointments. Hopefully I will be working by next week, or at the latest, by the week after next.

Thank you all for your support over the last few months. It has been much appreciated.

Hopefully I will also get to meet some of you UK based bloggers in the year ahead.

On Moving, Change, and Fear...

I must apologise (yet again) for being so quiet of late. I am not exactly very focused at the moment. For the past few weeks I have been on the verge of complete panic, mostly to do with my imminent relocation to London.

The closer I get to going, the more nervous I get. Part of me knows this is the right move to make, and that this is the right time to be heading over. That is the logical side of my mind. Then there is the other side, the illogical one, the emotional part that is terrified of giving up the life and security that I have built up here over the past 6 years (no matter how crappy it might be), of saying goodbye to good friends and turning my back on what looks to be a potential relationship (which I did when I left London for Dublin all those years ago as well...).

Circumstances haven't made it any easier either. Things aren't working out so well in London. I was meant to be sharing a house with my sister, but finances and timing have prevented that from happening, so I am having to dip into savings to rent an alternative place (that is cat friendly so 'the evil one' can come with me) and this without actually having a job over there.

The Euro does not go very far when converted to Sterling either, so that is another worry, as is actually moving the contents of a house across to the UK. The logistics of that is proving a nightmare in and of itself.

To add to that, things at work this end are actually going well for the first time in a very long time. It is much harder to resign when you feel valued. That too, I guess is a major factor for me. I have some status and a bit of influence in the job I do now, plus I work in a truly unique environment. Giving that up to become just another faceless employee in London is really quite intimidating, and part of me wonders if it is really a wise thing to do.

Don't get me wrong, I am committed to the move, but I am having a moment of weakness here. I don't have anyone I can speak to about this and that makes it much harder as I have no sounding board to help make sense of my emotions and the jumble of thoughts racing through my mind.

What I find really amazing is that this move is proving so difficult for me on so many levels. Leaving South Africa for the UK was far easier than this is turning out to be.

Tomorrow I have to start packing for the move. The boxes have been sitting in the livingroom for a week now, and I cannot postpone this anymore.

For those of you that have read through to the end - thank you.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you and yours!

I do hope that 2008 is a rich and fulfilling year for all of you.

Looking back on 2007 I have to say it was a difficult year, and a challenging one that lead to significant personal growth, and also significant setbacks in some areas of my life. I am very very very happy to see the back of it and am looking forward to the potential as yet unrealised in 2008.

For all of you, my new blogging friends, I want to thank you for the 'virtual' web of support that you have been in 2007 and for all the excellent advice you have given me. I look forward to becoming a more integral part of the blogging community in the coming year.

So, onward and upward for 2008!