Anna Rashbrook's Blog, page 12

Swingle is Seven

A belated happy birthday to our sweet hound, who was faithfully with us throughout all our waiting to get into the house, having to sleep on hard hotel floors. She had nightmares for weeks after her journey to the UK. She was kept in the dark in the van, and was happy to go back in, but after three days, she began to understandably refuse. For the next few weeks, she would wake us in the night, not to go out, but for confirmation we are here and she’s okay.

On her first train journey, she shook and was terrified, but soon got used to it and now loves the attention she gets, she even got a treat from a guard once! She sits and waits patiently on platforms, hops on and off with alacrity.

She just loves her new walks, the village field, the old tip on the hill with its dingles and streams, and the golf course where she runs around like a nutter.

In Cardiff in the park, she learnt all about hunting squirrels, but not that dogs can’t climb trees!

But being Swingle, her accident prone ness has hit again. I wish I had followed up the thought about getting her insured. We were clearing the garden on our terrace, there were holes and roots where woozels and mice had been making nests. Trouble is Dave was cutting with sheers… need I say more?

Her ear was cut in a jag across,and on the other side of the ear too. Blood flew around the kitchen as she shook her head. Could we find a local vet on a Saturday? Only an accident line. A wonderful neighbour who is doing a house up a few doors down, took us nearly all the way to Cardiff to a 24/7 vets’ clinic. One anesthetic later, she came home with about six inches and the collar of shame.

She took it all in her stride and after two days is legging it around the rough on the golf course as if nothing was wrong, except I keep her out of the long grass. She’s now VERY insured after the huge bill. English vets really are onto a nice earner.

She now has beds upstairs to over the street and bark at people like she did in Madling. She’s lost weight with all her galloping and seems to love Wales!

Saying Goodbye

I’ve just found this post, three months after we left Austria, just shows the stress we were under as I forgot all about it.

Having been in lockdown for a while (!) and a hard winter, we haven’t seen many people. But as the word gets around we are going, people, when they meet me, they say how sorry they are that we’re going. But when have we ever met, except to pass the time? Others say we’ll meet for a coffee before we go, and okay, time has run away with us, but I get the idea, some don’t mean it, they’re being polite. Others, I will miss and will have a tear before we go. The other day, I had this best ever farewell conversation. It was with the farmer who has supplied us with firewood for the past fourteen years.

‘Hey, so you’re still here?’ he smiled.

‘Yes, but we’re going next Friday.’

‘What, so soon?’

‘Yes, we have to go when we can get the lorry to come here.’

‘Ah, well, we’ll see each other again in heaven!’

Perfect way to say goodbye!

Christmas Edition

My Memoirs are on sale together as a special edition box set, just over the Christmas period.

Anna Rashbrook used to be a person who would proudly boast, ‘I am what I am.’ It took nearly forty years of the hard knocks of life before she found God, and that much of what she treasured was actually caused by damage.

In these totally frank memoirs, follow Anna through what should have been a privileged childhood, pony mania, a badly behaved teenage, student placement on a farm in Switzerland, working as a zookeeper, running a smallholding, marriage, and family.

Then, through a traumatic eviction, she finds God’s love and begins a new journey. Yet, it is only when her marriage comes under threat that she must come to terms with her past and find healing. Out of this comes a new job, where her passion for horses is reignited.

Has life finished with her, are there more hurdles to overcome, or even another new start on the horizon?

Dingles

We have started to explore the countryside around here, it goes from glorious beech woods, to moorland and coal tips now growing over.

There are also narrow, stream filled valleys, with oaks,ask, willow, all sorts of trees.

They are secret places and due to the wet climate, many of them are covered with moss and ferns.

Here’s some of my first impressions. Can you see the old man?

Holiday time!

Amazon Universal Link:

https://smarturl.it/wish-you-were-hereAS

Amazon UK Link:

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I’ve been involved in a Facebook group for memoirs and was thrilled to be asked to contribute to a book on holiday memories. It’s out on November 14th. I contributed the story of our first ever trip to Austria, to before this blog even began!

“I must send a postcard back home.”

“Hang on a minute, I need to take a photograph of this.”

Favourite holidays and special travel memories are shared in this anthology featuring twenty award-winning and top travel memoir authors.

We all have that one holiday that stands out in our minds, that one break or vacation we will never forget. Whether it is a childhood ‘bucket and spade’ family holiday, the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ dream destination, your first trip abroad or the city where you first fell in love, the memories are still there today.

The authors in this anthology bring out their postcards and photo albums and invite you to join them as they reminisce about their travels.

Maybe they will inspire you to book your next holiday too.

Amazon Universal Link:

https://smarturl.it/wish-you-were-hereAS

Amazon UK Link:

Amazon.com Link:

Back at last!

After two months to the day when we left Austria, we finally moved into our new home! I have kept a diary of the whole process, which I will continue until Christmas when I publish it as a memoir!

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This blog will naturally take a new direction, but I guess the title will be no less apt. I will remain in touch with my Austrian friends, and no doubt to some comparisons with the old and new lives.

I fully expect to have snow here in Wales, everyone we talk to says it comes on the tops. But just so long as it stays there, and doesn’t linger icily underfoot all winter, I will be happy.

An afterthought… Having said all that and having been here a while now, I think maybe, the blog might need to be called, ‘So where’s the rain?’

Durlston country park, Swanage

Wareham Forest

Scenes at Farnham Rural life Museum

Taking a break

Hi Folks, I’ve decided to take a bit of a break from posting for the moment. I’ve been diarying all about how things are going, but after some comments (not on WordPress), am not going to continue to talk truthfully about how this move is both blessing and frustrating me. I’ll just post some piccies instead!

When we arrived in Cardiff, these Buddleia were flowering everywhere and I’m sure, in years to come when I smell their heavy, musky scent, I’ll be taken back to this time.

Your support is so appreciated and when we are in our new home and settled, I’ll be back.