Working hard for the money, so hard for the money

So, working for a living - how is it going for me?! Well, things were off to a promising start when I turned up ten minutes early on the 8th, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, like the the eager beaver I am. No-one answered the door, so a bit bemused I waited... At two minutes to, everyone else showed up and I was let in! Great stuff.

I didn't recognise anyone, but I knew the branch manager I'd met was due to move to another branch, so I introduced myself to the new manager and told her I was the new employee. She seemed a bit unsure of things, but hey! She's new, let's make allowances. Only... no-one knew who I was or why I was there. I began to feel a bit like some chancer who'd walked off the street claiming to have a new job! My new regional manager was on holiday and couldn't be contacted, the regional sales manager had gone on maternity leave, the old branch manager had left, and two other employees I'd met were in a car accident the Friday before and weren't at work, so there was no-one to corroborate the fact that I had been given the job. After half an hour of faff, I was sent home. Ash was most surprised to see me back in time for morning tea!!

After a series of phone calls that took almost two weeks to resolve, it turned out that the forms I'd been given to sign were the wrong ones, but instead of letting me know and asking me to come back into the branch, they decided to test my powers of telepathy. Turns out they're not so good. So, to cut a looooooong story short, after much faffing forms were sent and filled out and a contract duly appeared for me to sign. The bad news is, I still don't have a start date... The good news is, because it was an employer stuff-up they are paying me as of the 8th!! I am to officially regard myself as on garden leave... First time I've ever heard of that happening at the start of a contract!

In the meantime, I've been keeping myself (and Ash!) busy - we did a spot of hedge trimming on the weekend...

Before... The shed is about 7' tall...











During...

After... Well after the cutting, there was a fair bit of tidying up to do!

Introducing the fandamily

Although I've posted pictures of where I live, I haven't yet posted any about who I live with. This is in part due to Ash's reluctance to have photos taken - his excuse is that, as a photographer's son, he had his fair share and more taken in his childhood!! This means that if I try and take his photo, more often than not I get a photo similar to the one on the right - Ash ducking out of shot, grinning like a monkey! Grr.

However, Ash is not the only member of the household, and others have proved a bit more forthcoming about having their pictures taken. There is of course Ciara, Ash's daughter. After months of careful study it would appear that her natural habitat is in the playground - she is definitely her Daddy's daughter when it comes to a three-year-old's version of extreme sports! As is demonstrated by calls of 'Higher!' 'Faster!' and of course, the regularly-heard 'I want to go on the big swing!'

The menagerie also includes Casey, Ash's welsh sheep dog, who was a rescue puppy almost seven years ago now. She is lovely but also quite mental. She obviously misheard her job description all those years ago, and is completely uninterested in sheep, and instead saves her efforts for squirrels. She hasn't had much luck in herding them so far, but appears to be certain in her own mind that if she can just catch up with one of them, that will all change... In the meantime, she diligently practises her skills with a basketball.

Smallest but certainly the most important family member (at least in her own eyes) is the cat, Zoe. Originally belonging to Ash's grandmother but rehomed because she is such a ferocious hunter, Zoe is at least 15 years old and still leaving us presents of birds, mice, and rabbits on a regular basis - in fact rather too regular! Her favourite things include being carried round like the princess she is, and regular doses of catnip - in a pinch she will make do with her catnip bird.

Casey and Zoe normally tolerate each other, but with the onset of autumn and colder nights, they have delared a truce of sorts and are becoming far more willing to share space as long as that space is by some sort of heat source, preferably the coal fire but with Ash and I coming a very close second. This has led to some very cute moments on the nights where it's been chilly, but not quite chilly enough to light the fire... Thanks to Ash for agreeing to pose for this one, though he did grumble that he wasn't 'agreeing to pose' so much as 'unable to move'!!