As we came into 2019 I already knew it wasn't going to be a good start to the year with Ellie having a terminal cancer & recently discovered my problems were to do with my spine & thus will need a major operation to stop me going into a wheelchair (The road to recovery has taken a left turn & the end is nowhere to be seen!) & I found out more about it later this year.
Well in March I had my bathroom converted to a Wetroom which didn't go as planned, took twice as long to do & had to be redone months later.
But it did give me a month at home for the work to be done & spend the last month with Ellie who passed away from the cancer at the end of March.
And thus the end of my family I have had for over 20yrs & the flat was empty, cold & no longer felt like a home anymore.
And a month later I decided I couldn't have this, I didn't like how the flat felt so I decided to foster whilst I wait to go into Hospital. I tried contacting a few cat rescues & didn't get anywhere but I gave it one more go with one recommended to me & it turned out 2 female cats were in need of a roof over their heads like yesterday. So next day I had 2 scared lil girls Peas & Midnight come to my home but soon settled as they found they liked the place.
But this decision turned out to be one that has changed my life, for a few weeks after they came here I noticed they were both pregnant!! And I did the decent thing, I gave them a safe, secure home that will help with their pregnancy & on the early hours of 1st of June I was requested by Midnight to go with her to the bedroom where she (with my assistance) gave birth to 3 lovely lil girls & later that morning Peas gave birth to 1 kitten & I got no sleep. For the next few months with the assistance of WLF cat rescue I was fostering for, I helped the 2 mums to raise 4 adorable kittens. An experience I never knew I would ever have & will never forget!
But alas as the kittens grew up I knew I couldn't keep them & the mums & 2 of the Kittens of Chaos had to go to new homes.
And in August I had to say goodbye to Bear & Cinnamon.
Then Peas & Midnight in September.
It was hard to do but I am not allowed more than 2 pets permanently so I had to let them go as much as it pained me to. And as I have already fell in love with the other 2, the ginger one (Teddy) & the last dark Tortie (lil Minx. coz she is one).
Also in Sept I finally got the spine operation & it went well & was out of hospital after 2 days & not the 3 weeks I was told to expect, which is good as WLF were looking after my 2 lil girls as well as the mums whilst I was in hospital.
And even tho I didn't plan to have the lil ones or any more cats until I was fully recovered, I was glad to have them here to keep me occupied during recovery as I was housebound for a few weeks & not able to get out much when I could. Tho I didn't keep idle, I went to a Wheels for All event which was the first of many (I hope). I couldn't cycle any of the cycles but I did have fun sitting on a few to see what they were like.
And in December, there was another Wheels for All where I could try out the cycles & was a blast!
And back in October the ebike conversion kit arrived after months of waiting & I gradually built my Cruiser into an eBike to help me back to cycling with my recovery & disability.
Which I got to test out with help just a few weeks back.
And the end of a Decade...
And as everyone seems to be going on about the past 10yrs, well it's been an interesting tho not how I would have expected the past 10yrs to have gone. I moved out of Surrey to Essex & then moved again in Essex for a partner which didn't work out in the end, but no regrets in giving it a go for it would have failed had I not moved & I have had experiences which I would not have had if I had not moved to Essex & have learnt so much from them.
Also got back into cycling, which has changed my way of life more than I thought it would & most of that is down to living in Essex. Now am a campaigner for better cycling infrastructure, disabled cycling & better infrastructure for all who aren't driving which is fueled by being disabled & see issues for all who are not driving.
Still been on the goal to be fully able-bodied but now know this is never ever going to happen & have adapted my life to work with it better & finally got back into work after many years of trying & being fobbed off due to my disability.
I haven't changed too much, still have hair, still chubby & still a pain in the arse to those who annoy me. 😄 Have got a lot more white in the hair, mostly in the beard & have gained 3 tattoos are the most changes I can think of.
And now it is the New Year as I finish this blog, it's been an emotional one, plenty of tears shed, lots of laughter & joy & loads of pain & anguish has filled the year. As for 2020, well for me the main thing I be focusing on is improving my health, get back to cycling & try improve it even more than I have & most of all get myself back to working again as being stuck at home is great at first but when you can't do anything much, the appeal wears out pretty soon.
So I will raise a glass to a new start & changes for the better for the new year! Happy New Year!!
