Holly May

“You don’t have to wait for things to get better. Because you can take it upon yourself to be better.”

“The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.”

If you know me you’ll know that I travel a lot, mainly visiting my family at home in Hereford – on average about every fortnight. I travel on the train, which is sometimes long and tiring but on the other hand always gives me a lot of thinking time to reflect. It’s especially good for reflecting because you can watch the clouds change as you speed through a number of different counties, you get a second of other people’s lives as you see children playing in the park, people walking their dogs, families greeting their loved ones as you whizz past. I always find it fascinating to watch people, and the things I see would be brilliant if I could capture them all in photos. It all happens so fast though that I think that would be almost impossible.

Anyhow, yesterday when I was travelling I had a bit of a long journey, having to change at Didcot, Swindon and Newport to get to Hereford, because of engineering works. I started thinking about why I chose to move to Oxford, and it made me think of what a brave thing it was to do at the time. At the time I didn’t know anyone in Oxford apart from my dear friend Christopher. I was leaping into a strange world where I was going to live with strangers, somehow find a job (I didn’t have one at the time) and hope it worked out. I quit my job in Hereford and moved within a couple of months. It was all a big whirlwind when i think about it now, but I told myself I had nothing to lose. I hated leaving my family in Hereford because I love being around them and being settled but I also needed my independance and there is no career options for me in Hereford unfortunately. I was also pulled by a rocky relationship with my then boyfriend and so my heart was also ruling my head. It was definitely the right thing to do though. My then relationship didn’t last more than a few months after I moved, but I soon picked myself up. I found my feet and found a great new relationship which is of course still going strong, I have a lot more friends in who I work with and who I have lived with, and I hope to move in the near future in to a lovely house of our own with my lovely boyfriend Ollie. So, the gamble was a big risk, but it really paid off. I also still have my lovely friend Christopher who has really stood by me through all the turmoil over the years, and I love being able to be close to him. I am also very lucky in that I have a stable comfortable job, and although I am not sure where I want my career to go at the moment it’s definitely the right way up the ladder.

I’m not sure whether I’m a girl who loves routine or hates it. I remember when I was at university all I wanted to do was finish up, get a job and be settled in my life. I have to have variety though, and so I think being in different places a lot does help me in a way, although I think I could do with staying in one place so I can sort my ducks out a bit more often. I always give myself so many things to do and it is impossible to keep up with it all. I have a goal though and I certainly will strive to make it, I will catch up with everything I need to do, that is what I am promising myself.

I am probably not making much sense now so I am going to sign off and have a nice cuppa tea and a bacon and egg sandwich, made by my lovely mother

holus-bolus: all at once; altogether.

Well, the weekend has been and gone again. I had yesterday off from work as I needed a little break, but relaxing is something I did not do. The weekend was taken up by preparing for the kitchen fitters this week to do their thing. We took the fireplace and both stone side things down which was built by my uncle who used to be a stonemason. We also took the imitation beams down which were a bloody nightmare, and very well put up by my lovely dad. Martin joked that my Dad would be looking down on us laughing at us trying to undo his great work. We also did the remaining wall stripping left. The stone inparticular was a very dusty job. I did a lot of the clearing up for that and as a result I have now have an conjunctivitis in my right eye I think. A bit uncomfortable, I should have been wearing goggles really. All in all though, a very productive weekend which I enjoyed very much. I think I take after my Dad in that I love DIY and getting my hands dirty in everything and anything. Don’t believe any task is too hard if you put your mind to it. (However, there are some things that require a man’s strength…). This whole renovation is great but also kind of sad in a way, there are a lot of memories of things how they were, especially of my Dad in all his hard work and the time we had with him there. Those memories will not be lost. It does feel a bit like the end of an era though.

The productive weekend has lead to a productive week, back in Hereford at least. The current state of the place so I’m told is that everything is plastered and ready to go. My Mum and Martin are doing some painting tonight and tomorrow and then Nick, our kitchen fitter, is coming to start the plumbing tomorrow morning before the kitchen is delivered. Then the good work starts and the units (already assembled) are fitted in to place. All should be finished by Friday, with the electricians coming to fit the final things in place. We are all amazed how fast he is. Brilliant work.

Back in the land of Oxford, I am now taking a well deserved rest of an evening at my lovely other half’s Ollie house. I am writing this on my iPad 2 with my Apple wireless keyboard which I highly recommend. Looking forward to the end of the week when we are going together to view a house and then a trip home to see the new kitchen.

With any luck my eye infection will have cleared up in a couple of days.

Now I haven’t seen Ollie in a few days so I am going to spend a nice evening with him