Wish me luck as I try to get to grips with the real world, and perhaps the real me.

Au revoir from your fallible friend...

DO make use of the facilities at the library to access internet
DO NOT foolishly use slack time at work to check personal e-mail
DO read wiblogs in library
DO NOT fall into trap of 'just checking one blog' after checking e-mail, when you know that you never just stop at one
DO admit your mistake when confronted with evidence of your foolishness by the boss.

It has not been a good week. The above was entirely my fault and thankfully I have a reasonable boss who did not haul me over the coals for it. She had me bang to rights, and all I could do was apologise and resolve not to do it again.

Which I won't.

This is very likely to be a stream of consciousness kind of entry, and may well be deleted before posting.

I am in one of those grey moods, so being positive and upbeat would require effort.

I could praise and thank my way out of the slump, I am sure, but sometimes that seems too hard.

Is this just a self-pitying-yuk-fest, or do I really need a hand, some help, some encourement here?

Any ideas, people?

Any at all...?

The cider trap has now gone - as have the marigolds, sadly!

Ranunculus form a mat on the ground,
Whilst bindweed likes to twine and wind all over and around,
It can grow, you will find,
From the least bit left behind,
But ranunculus are easy to remove.

I think it is a shame,
That ranunculus are weeds,
For they are cup-like, small and very yellow,
Sadly, they really like
To distribute their seeds,
Meaning your veg would not grow all that well - oh!

Ranunculus are easy to remove,
But they're never gone for that long, as experience will prove,
I may chuck 'em in a sack,
But they'll just keep coming back,
Yes, ranunculus are easy,
So very, very easy,
(Well, relatively easy)
To remove.

Dith '08

It had to find a way out in public somehow. For some reason T \& E did not want me to sing it to him. Can' t thinlk why!

Prizes may be given for those who can give me the common name for Ranunculus. They may not, though, as there are some pretty big clues in there!!!

News: Am off work for the coming week, using it to visit the folks in Dorset. Am hoping it will be a time of R \& R, and not a time of family stress. Prayers ascending for the former!

More news: Have got a new little week-end job. I will be showing people around the local Folly Tower (and occasionally another local site of interest, the Shell Grotto). I start work in May and the rota runs until the end of August. This is totally different to anything I have ever done before and, although my primary motivation for applying was to gain a little more money, I am looking forward to the experience. Thanks to the Welsh Dragon for the tip off. (Btw, have you ever walked into an interview to be told at the outset that you have the job if you want it? I have now, unbelievable!!!)

Other news: Have started a little gardening group with my 'main' job at the mental health drop-in. If ever there was a niche I felt I belonged in, this is it! Today we potted some primroses, and I think they looked lovely. The group has even managed to gain the interest of a long-term attender of the drop-in who, in my experience, has rarely joined in. How chuffed am I?*

Final news: Off home now. Love to you all. Byeeeeeee!

*A. Very.

Close it all down,
And reboot it once again,
Computer still showing signs of strain.

Finally, give up,
Turn computer off and walk away,
Only to try again, day after day.

Dith '08

Okay, you probably deserve an explanation. The title was from a poetry competition advertised in a poster above the library computer I was using the other day. The poem itself was written to pass the time while I tried to open a dialogue box (in the end I gave up!). The reason you are getting to see it is two-fold (i) it really is not worth entering it into the competition, imho and (ii) ee recently posted a worship song he has penned, and I figured that I needed to restore the poetic balance in the Wiblogsphere with some of my nonsense.

Hope you liked it, or at the very least it did not cause you physical pain! ;)

I have very little to say, which is good as the library puter timer says I have 7 mins in which to say it.

Have been living, breathing, working, resting, playing, suffering from the lurg, getting better (mostly) and coughing (see previous statement).

I am sure that I will continue to do many of the above (tho hopefully not all - would prefer the lurg-related stuff not to recur) for the next month or so. After this time, I will probably write a blog entry to tell you so.

Watch this space - if you consider it worth the effort.

Bye for now.

The last few weeks have seen more allotment work, paid work, trouble at mill (or at home in Dorset), Fairtrade fortnight, school governors meeting, evenings at agri college, a failed journey to Salisbury, a couple of trips to Swansea and a lovely, luxurious, long week-end in Ireland. I have been trying to get healthy, get my finances in order, get my life in order and get closer to God - with varying degrees of success.

Other than that, nothing to report.

Btw, if you would care to pick on one or more of the above items in the list and pray for it/them, I would be most grateful. It may help with the last item, at the very least, which could assist with the rest of the relative mayhem!

Thanks guys, see you in April - if not before!

My Mum-in-Law is currently v proud of me, due to the fact that I had some - er - private investigations of the medical kind without the aid of a safety net. By this I mean that I had the throat-numbing spray, but opted not to have the sedation. She is of the opinion that this makes me very brave, and accolade which I feel I do not deserve.

Y'see, given the option of a few moments of pain and discomfort as opposed to a few hours of feeling 'out-of-it', I opted to have my wits about me. The fact that I would prefer not to feel vulnerable via not being entirely compost meantis (sic) for a few hours is not, to me, a sign of bravery. A sign of needing to be in control, perhaps, or of common sense, but not bravery. After all, this blog is written by a woman who has never been beyond 'slightly tiddly' when it comes to drunkeness, and experience of mental illness makes you more that a little averse to not seeing the world aright!

So, dear Welsh Dragon, whilst I appreciate your compliments, I feel that the decision I made was more from self-preservation that any, more noble, motivation! However, thanks for your kindness, and that of the Holy Father-in-Law, it was very welcome indeed. :)