Living the Good Life - mortgage free and living in line with our values

rtandon27

oooo Vix - how exciting to have a plan for change!  - I completely empathize/sympathize with MrVix & his need for change!  I'm loving that you have a bigger picture plan laid out & look forward to hearing how this materializes for you!

Wondering if your Mr has an option to ask for an unpaid leave of absense rather than quit flat out?  I've know several folks in my high pressure workplace who have taken a year to study and/or persue other interests.  Some have not returned, but others decided they wanted to return.  It won't change your plan of action in anyway, other than to provide him with a fallback should it be needed!

Watty1

Wow how lovely to be in a position to make a change

themadvix

Ooh 

Cheery_Daff said:

The working holidays I've been on were with Trees for Life

https://treesforlife.org.uk/support/volunteer/rewilding-weeks/

And The Conservation Volunteers

tcv.org.uk

Both charge, and when I did them at least, they were very communal - cooking/eating together and even sleeping in one big dorm in some cases, but I bet there are plenty woth different choices.

But if Mr MV isn't looking for something sociable they're probably not the thing! 

Our local national park have volunteer days too, usually building a stile or repairing a footpath etc - good, useful skills.

I do have a friend who does things like dragonfly monitoring - far more solitary, and I've previously done some mapping of ancient orchards (although it was so long ago I can't even remember who it was for)

Ooh, thanks for those Cheery. The NT holidays were quite sociable too - I think Mr MV will have to get over that to some extent, but I think doing a holiday rather than something regular at a weekend might be easier - he's a completely different person when he has a bit more time away from work, so I think he could manage being social if it's not straight off the back of a working week (he's more introverted than me, so lots of social time is not his favourite thing). He's volunteered to monitor a local river for pollution too, so that will be another thing. Mapping ancient orchards sounds fascinating!

themadvix

rtandon27 said:

oooo Vix - how exciting to have a plan for change!  - I completely empathize/sympathize with MrVix & his need for change!  I'm loving that you have a bigger picture plan laid out & look forward to hearing how this materializes for you!

Wondering if your Mr has an option to ask for an unpaid leave of absense rather than quit flat out?  I've know several folks in my high pressure workplace who have taken a year to study and/or persue other interests.  Some have not returned, but others decided they wanted to return.  It won't change your plan of action in anyway, other than to provide him with a fallback should it be needed!

He does RT and we have discussed it, albeit not thoroughly - it probably needs more thought. Not sure whether he'd be able to take a full year though. Definitely one to look into further.

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks you lovely lot - for the support, positivity and suggestions. They are all very gratefully received. 🥰

And now today's usual update...

I'm just back from collecting a cat key, but prior to that was enjoying a cream tea with the Trefoil Guild (£5 donation to our nominated charities, from cash, so will transfer £5 from personal spends account). Regretting inviting mum for dinner now! We're having stuffed 'courrow' - it's a bit big for  a courgette but definitely not yet a marrow. Followed by plums as they have ripened beautifully on the dining room table.

Was up early and got two bits of work and Cambridge stuff done before I went out. Have come back to an enormous project from main client. So much for August being a bit quieter. Am cat sitting from Sunday for a fortnight, so I will be busy!

A man from the asbestos testing company was here earlier poking around all the places where the heat pump installers will need to go. Pretty sure the artex ceiling will be fine, but he also tested the water tank and a cement board in an outside cupboard - less certain about those. Asbestos removal, if needed, is not included in the heat pump price. 😏

MS things:
* Clicks and HW - a decent win on HW so another £5 transferred to account
* PA surveys
* 1P surveys
* Lots of work!

Gratitudes:
* A lovely afternoon catch up
* Mum's company this evening - looking forward to lots of family history talk as she's visited some distant relatives recently
* Admired the new street art that has been installed recently as I cycled to the cream tea

Have a good evening all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Had a lovely evening with Mum - it feels like it's been ages since we've had a chance to chat properly. We had the stuff courrow (OK, that's a stupid word) and there's half left (of both marrow and filling), so that will either be tonight's dinner if Mr MV returns on the train and feels unwell or tomorrow's post-pub dinner (I can pre-roast the marrow so it'll only need putting together and heating through when we get back). Then either tonight or tomorrow we'll go for tapas for date night as we've still got about half of our birthday gift card to spend. (It probably won't quite cover it, but it will go a long way towards it.)

I have a Cambridge meeting later (we keep pushing it further and further back, so I hope it happens as Cambridge boss is then off for the best part of a fortnight and there are things I need her input on). In the meantime, I'm making really good progress with a project for main client - was expecting it to take much longer, so that's real bonus.

I am struggling with overwhelm at the moment. There's a lot of balls in the air and it seems to be a struggle to find time for the basics (a clean and tidy house, a relatively tidy garden - these things all bother me, especially when there's stuff hanging around). Every time I think I'm caught up with work (and I never seem to be on top of Cambridge work), there's more, which is great but means I don't get onto the other stuff - and by the evening I'm past my best for doing the 'other stuff'. And then the weekend is exhausting because I'm catching up on all the other stuff and the allotment and processing the food etc... (To be clear, Mr MV isn't sitting around - although our priorities aren't necessarily aligned all the time). And I don't want to slow down with the work because it's always a case of making hay while the sun shines when you're self-employed *plus* there's the added incentive of earning more now to reduce potential stress next year. I'm hoping this weekend we'll get on top of things (Mr MV has offered to help with allotment) and have some time to relax in a nice, tidy garden - here's hoping. My gut reaction is to want to go out for the day, which I think is an avoidance technique, but it doesn't make the to-do list go away! Sorry, moan over - I didn't sleep well last night and B&W cat peed on the stairs for the first time in over a week, so I'm having a bad day. Ask again tomorrow and I'll probably be absolutely fine!

MS things:
* Clicks and HW
* 1P (payout arrived today too)
* PA? Actually possibly nothing since yesterday
Gratitudes:
* Lovely time with Mum, discussing family history
* This project is straightforward
* Date night/easy dinner to look forward to

Have a good afternoon all!

rtandon27

Sending a supportive hug! - This too shall pass hun❤️

themadvix

Thanks RT. ❤️
I realised I must sound like a total spoilt brat after complaining of overwhelm when I’ve been out with niece, for breakfast and then for a cream tea this week - I do appreciate how lucky I am but none of these constitute either rest or getting things done (and thereby freeing up time for rest).
I have chivvied myself to clear a couple of niggly hotspots this evening and it has helped (Mr MV opted for stuffed marrow not tapas tonight). Might do a few more small jobs before bed so I feel I’m getting somewhere. And I need to remember to take breaks from work - took some cards to the postbox earlier and it made such a difference to my mental state/ability to concentrate when I got back. As you say, this too will pass.

Watty1

I'm with you on the spoilt brat bit, I rarely say too much about my overwhelm because I have such a nice life, but, being self employed also,  yes, sometimes it can all get just a bit too much.    It will pass x

earthgirl2

Not a spoilt brat at all, just very busy and I can see why working coming in unpredictably can cause a backlog in "life" and overwhelm. I have to look at my day in terms of "how much energy do I have?" And then plan from there, as it's just not possible to "do it all" sometimes! Hugs 🥰