Quick snow update

After buying the pair of wellies above, for walking in the snow, the snow melted! Saying that it hasn't all gone and the temperature has plummeted again as soon as the sun went down. It's -1 at the moment.

Below is a photo of some holly I took looking very festive :-)

Snow, Dragons and my fab cousin

Today we had snow! Although the north and east of the country have had snow for a couple of days, the snow has only just arrived in Bedfordshire. We haven't had much snow, just a dusting but it has made everything look really pretty. I went out early this morning to take some photographs of the back garden, above is a picture of my lavender plant. Whilst below is a picture of the front garden.
I'm looking forward to going to market this morning, I'm hoping that it will feel quite Christmassy with all the snow.

After the exciting news about our house move which is now only two weeks away, I'll be spending most of the weekend sorting out packing.

as I've mentioned in earlier blog entries my eyesight is getting worse, something that I thought wasn't likely to happen. So I've been thinking about ways in which I can avoid eyestrain and make things easier for myself. One of the ideas I had was to use some voice recognition software; in the past I'd worked with colleagues who used voice recognition software called Dragon. In the past Dragon was mainly used by people with dyslexia, dexterity impairments and by a few people with visual impairments. I'd heard that the actual technology had come on a long way in the last couple of years so I thought I might as well give it a go. So at the moment I'm dictating into a headset my blog entry. It's not quite like Star Trek where you just talk to the computer and it does what you say, but it's not far off. I'm hoping that this will really help me with long report writing and particularly where I'm in the planning stage, I'll be able to dictate my thoughts and initial ideas and then use that to dictate all organised report. The only thing I have to get used to with Dragon is speaking naturally but also precisely and also remembering to put punctuation in as I go.

Yesterday I had a very busy but exciting day. I went to Essex to meet with Essex Coalition of Disabled People, I know quite a few people who work there already. So it was nice to see where they actually work. I had a really productive meeting and it looks like I'll be doing some training with Essex in the New Year. Essex coalition of disabled people are based in Chelmsford which is where my cousin Helen lives. I got in touch with Helen to let her know that I would be visiting Chelmsford but didn't realise that her house is about 5 min away from Essex coalitions offices. So I had a lovely afternoon with Helen catching up, and hopefully in the New Year I'll get more opportunities to spend some time with her and her family.

Anyway I'm about to go out in the snow not that there's that much, visit the market and a bit of shopping. I'm taking my camera with me so made post some extra photos latest today.

Good news!

I am really pleased to announce that we at last have a completion date for moving into our new home. If everything goes to plan we will be safely in our new home before Christmas in fact in just over 2 weeks! So it'll be packing all the way now until we start unpacking I guess.

I'll keep you all posted with progress. We have a "familarisation" visit on Wednesday to see round our finished home and find out some of the practicalities for living in the new development. I'll take my camera next week so I can post some "before" pictures on the blog!

The photo tonight is of some of the Christmas lights in Hitchin, outside the language school where I have my Japanese lesson. My learning is going well but slowly! The pace is good for me because it gives me time to reinforce my learning.

Just a quick update but I will try to keep up to date over the next few weeks.

knitting, work, house move and CBT

The picture above is of some of the wool I have got at the moment waiting to be knitted into mainly scarves for Christmas presents. I just got some new wool today from Dragon Yarns that is absolutely gorgeous. Pure new wool, eco friendly dyes and untreated. Its beautifully soft and luxurious. I haven't been writing much at the moment on my blog but I will try hard to rectify this. The last 3 weeks have been very busy for me and not just because I have been knitting :-)

Work

After delivering the 2 events for RADAR I was asked to help with an event on the UN convention on human rights of disabled persons and health, which is really exciting. I am also working on an exciting piece of work relating to sustainable careers for disabled people. On top of that I am helping RADAR develop their work with associates and delivering a contract for the London Deanery on their Single Equality Scheme. It really has been non stop. Oh, and I mustn't forget the work for the Met Police which I should have some exciting news about in the next week or two!

Moving House

We still don't have a moving in date for our new house, though the good news is I have been inside our new house! Just over a week ago Jase and I got a tour around our house with the project manager for the site. The house was almost complete and flooring and just needing carpets and a few cosmetic things. It was really thrilling to be inside our new house. I can't wait to move in and have my own office! Of course we are now likely to move just before Christmas so getting the extra furniture we need and things like curtains is going to be a nightmare!

CBT

At last I've had some CBT sessions and they have gone really well so far. I will try and write more about this soon as I want to keep those of you who have been so supportive of my "mental health" journey over the last year, up to date with how I am doing.

So just an update for now but I will try to blog more over the next few weeks up until we move (fingers crossed) Next time we visit the house I'll take some pictures of the empty house it'll be great for us to look back to as we fill it with stuff and make it our own!