There I was happily working away enjoying my single life in Spain and all the advantages that brings, when a chance encounter on the internet..........yeh I know (no fool like an old fool !) changed my life forever. I went from being in control of my destiny to being in control of a whole tribes destiny and boy have I had my work cut out. But, before I go on I have to say it was the best decision I ever made and anyone who knows me will probably agree. Being single has its advantages obviously but I was not happy, I was lonely and however much work I had, however much social life I could enjoy something was missing. So after this chance encounter I was introduced to the most adorable children in the world and fell in love instantly. Never being one to think things through too much I made a snap decision and gave everything up to move in with them. They had a particularly tragic background and I felt drawn to them. Nearly 4 years later I am still here living quite an isolated life on a mountain with my little tribe around me. I LOVE it. Despite everyone saying I was mad, all the usual warnings ´´why on earth do you want to do that at your age´´ ´ýou´ve got such a great social life´´ blah, blah, blah I have no regrets and I certainly feel much more contented and fulfilled now than I have for a long, long time, we laugh a lot, we cry a lot but its all worth it. I did find it quite a culture shock and the paella room is now full of racks of designer shoes and suits which will never see the light of day again, but I still like to sit and look at them sometimes. These days its all flip flops and loose dresses really, am toying with the idea of a straw hat too just to complete the image but dont know if I can go quite that far yet. Think it finally hit home when I made jam - me making jam ! I used to have problems finding the kitchen let alone using it. I remember my sons (my own son) first visit to Spain years back, he rushed to the fridge as he was starving and was horrified to find it only contained nailvarnish and my make up bag ! I never quite got the knack of being domesticated in those days. But I have worked at it and now although I say it myself I am pretty good.
But, with all this time on my hands I have had to find other things to stimulate my brain cells, I sell Avon and thats quite a feat living where I do, I certainly have to go out and find my customers, there is no walking down the street ringing door bells, sometimes I have to stand at the end of a very long drive shouting out ´´Ding Dong Avon Calling ´´ doesnt always get me the response I wanted but thats life, no sense of humour some people ! And I go out to Ladies Luncheons and fayres to tout my wares. I recently won an award for top sales and was recognized at a presentation dinner held by Avon, that was a really nice feeling after being on the mountain for these past few years and only being recognized by the dogs, guinea pigs and lizards !
My latest venture is designing and making beaded chains-lanyards for spectacles and sunglasses. I did this because I couldnt find any in the shops around here, to be honest its not easy to find the shops around here let alone chains! But I think there is a gap in the market and I have put my artistic skills to use and started making these really quite interesting chains. To this end I have also developed a website (with the help of a very kind friend who has the technical brain, I am just the artistic one) and doing this has got the old grey matter going and it feels good. The website is www.beadedchains.moonfruit.com if you would like to have a look. Bear in mind this has been done by a complete novice (me ) so for anyone else looking to make a website but with no knowledge it can be done. I have had frustration after frustration and felt like a complete idiot so many times doing this but got there in the end. Making the chains is very time consuming but I find it theraputic and can go into a little world of my own whilst making them, reminds me of when I was a little girl and my Dad taught me the art of tying flies for fishing, I would spend hours making my own particular fly, my poor dog had endless bald patches where I would take his hair to use in my designs and pinch my mums beads to make the eyes, so maybe I was destined to do something like this. Both you and my dogs can rest assured that I dont use hair in these designs but I am always on the look out for old beads and broken jewellery if anyone wants to donate.
WelI I dont know if I am doing this blog as I should, I dont know if anyone is even reading it, but its been good for me to start writing some things down. I have had such good times here and silly little things have happened which have made me laugh more than I have in years. Incidents with rats, lizards, bees, no electricity, no water, too much water, forest fires, helicopters over pool taking water the list goes on and will continue going on as my life is certainly never dull now. I would not go back to the life I had for anything, in my opinion it was false - this is about as real as it can get and hopefully its rubbed off on me. What you see is what you get. That cant be so bad can it ?