It’s the winter school holidays, already, so soon? Apparently yes. Which means that it’s been almost one year since we moved house waiting for the renovation to begin. I cannot believe how fast that has gone and that there are piles of stuff in the garage that I “meant” to get sorted after I just a little break from the exhaustion of the move and there they still sit. Waiting. All of us a year later, still exhausted and still catching my breath from it all. Does this mean that we never actually catch our breath and I am still trying to catch up from 2011? I thought so.
Home is coming along. It’s taking time. It’s taking money. So much money. But hopefully in the next month we will be back in except I cannot even let myself think about packing back up for another move and then actually being in our home and not having to pay endless amounts of money each and every week. I truly can’t believe that we will have a brand new home that we get to live in soon. Our old, new home. I can’t even. I think that’s why I haven’t even let myself go there.
I have created lots of reels on my Instagram with updates on the build which you can check out here.
I will miss the house we have called home for a year. All those big skies we just don’t get at home. The birds. The sunrises and sunsets. It’s a beautiful warm and sunny home that has nurtured us all this past year. I will not miss having Rob ruby his business from our dining room table though.
The start of winter has been cold, we even got a dump of snow in May which was so exciting. I have been waiting through many a cold winter for some snow, and to settle and we got that on a freezing cold Sunday night. It snowed for a few hours and was just as magical as I thought it would be be. It was better. There were beautiful autumn leaves and light and now it’s winter the short sunny days are here as we slowly turn the corner to longer days.
We lost our dear Aunty June this week. Just shy of 99 she was died peacefully and quickly with the support and love of her carers around her. My Mum and her cousins were all so dedicated in looking after her as the last of that generation to leave our family. She will be missed by them all…but what an innings she had! Always the hair and nails just so, a glass of bubbles nearby and a lunch to be had. Till the very end she remained glamorous and regal like the Queenager that she was.
There’s been long lunches, 40th birthdays, farewell drinks, date nights and Mother’s Day gatherings. Always so blessed to spend time with people that we love in their homes and out and about in the glorious Highlands.
Frank has struggled with various ailments the last few months and had his hopefully (last) appointment today for a while. An ulcer on his cornea at Easter saw a very long and expensive trip to the vet again and again and ophthalmologist thrown in for good measure. Then it was infected ears, mystery lumps…today was hopefully the last of it. Tomorrow he turns 9. How?
I am in the process of trying to sort our peri menopause which I am well and truly in. I know it. I have seen a Dr and am in the process of getting bloods and ultrasounds done. Next week I will see what they have to say, which I fear will be, take some magnesium and hope for the best you are too young! You know when you get that impression? Will report back on that and how it goes. But the poor sleep, mood swings, increased periods and heaviness of them, anxiety and depression episodes as well as lack of confidence and increased sensitivity makes me think that I need to top shelf some oestrogen STAT. Why is women’s health something that just gets fobbed off so easily?
In the meantime I will start to think about the packing that lies ahead. I’ll try and get some sleep in, read a book, stop spending so much time on my phone and continue to ponder the marriage of Kyle Richards like I am prone to do.
Enough about me. How are YOU? What’s been happening? Tell me everything. Make me pack.
Beth, don’t be fobbed off by a GP who knows nothing about menopause! I wasted years when I could have been relieved of symptoms. Make an appointment with Wellfemme or another menopausal specialist service. Life is too short to put up with stuff unnecessarily! All the best. xx
Hi Beth, I had trouble with irregular periods for almost 10 years and was fobbed off by GP and gyno’s for years. One GP said ‘just be thankful you are a woman!’. Late last year I found an excellent GP and gyno and this year I had a hysterectomy and I have not looked back. After about 2 months I started having hot flushes, night sweats and anxiety. They have only lasted a few months and now I am feeling great! I know this is not the answer for everyone but it is a relief 🙂 A friend is also a Chinese Medicine doctor and he treats all symptoms of menopause with herbal medicine, so might be a path to try too xxoo
I have three words for you Beth, Dr Mary Claire Haver (is that 4?😂). A female
OBGYN who specializes in Women’s Health (the dreaded Menopause). Look her up at The Galveston Diet. Diet was a poor choice of words, but anyway, I found her during Peri and made a world of difference. For me anyway.
I’m in the trenches with you, visited the vet today with the dog, packing up to move, running a business and driving teenagers to jobs. It’s all happening. But my house doesn’t look as put together as yours lol. You’re smashing it.
Jesus i love your blog !! It’s like we live such similar lives although yours is MUCH more glamorous than mine !
we’ve just returned from a week in QLD to attend a family wedding – and it was absolutely amazing, the sunshine, the beach, the glasses of bubbles, and just the weight of the world off our shoulders.
We’ve come home to a super messy house, animals that have missed us enormously and loads of washing to be done but I don’t care !
I’ve made a promise to myself to enjoy life more and even got a small red heart tattoo on my wrist to remind myself to love myself more !
Hi Beth – I have just stumbled upon your blog and have enjoyed reading it! thanks for sharing your life in the Highlands. We’re planning a move to the Highlands – actually, more than planning, we’ve just bought a property and going to demolish and rebuild. My question for you – we’re thinking of moving to the area from Sydney now, and get into the life there while we build. I am having trouble getting any information online (that’s not rants or advertisements – although these are good to read too!) – that really tells me what its like living in say, Moss Vale. I like the look of Moss Vale but am getting mixed information on the town. Any thoughts on where to get info would be helpful. Also I read about your perimenopause – as a woman on the other side of menopause (which I define as the actual date of my last period) I’ve dealt with peri and post. I dealt with peri by getting on progesterone and it changed my mood swingin’, crying jags, anxiety and sleepless nights almost immediately! I had a full on corporate job at the time and this treatment was lifechanging for me. 10 years on and Im still dealing with post menopause symptoms with low dose progesterone and oestrogen and lots of exercise seems to help. I agree with Vivian – life is too short to suffer through hormone changes – too much else to do! Jen
Hi Beth. I just discovered your blog today and wanted to say that your “new, old home” is going to be stunning. I will head over to find you on Insta so I can see more of the reno.