On The Move

We are moving.....no not Home Millie, but Work Millie. We outgrew our current premises ages ago, but my Boss managed by squashing his desk in amongst all the stock & stuff & going with the flow 'cos the office is very convenient (1 minute from his house!). Then I came along 4 months ago & that all changed. I need a large space around me to work effectively (don't ask!) & it has proved problematic. So we have spent the past month first trying to find something & then trying to contact the relevant Commercial Real Estate agent (which is akin to arranging a meeting with Julian Assange in a public place!!)  We think we've found the right place but boy does it need some work, in fact a total refit is on the cards. So the Boss's lovely wife has taken up the challenge & between the 2 of us we will be in make-over mode big time.

Due to nature of our business it will never be a shrine to prettiness, although I firmly believe there's room in the market for a range of defibrillators in Pantone colours. But I've finally been able to justify the time I've spent on Crack Cocaine Pinterest (thanks Heides!) & trawled through Work on my boards. Lots of great ideas to chuck on our Wish List.

All is well with baby Gracie, as you can see she's sleeping well. In fact she gave her tired Mummy & Daddy a full 6.5 hrs on Wednesday night. Not bad for a 10 day old baby I reckon! Its the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy!

There's Always An Angle

Regular readers of The Hedge have long known that MOTH's always looking for an angle. Most of it has centred (very unsuccessfully) around making millions of dollars through this blog. He has a misguided notion that all I need to do is spend a couple of minutes a day doing a ripper post, that sponsors will clamber & then he will be able to sit around all day drinking beer & making the occasional guest appearance on Martha as The Hedge's Resident Craft Genius. So it was no surprise to me this arvo when I heard him yelling:

'Mills, Mills, come quick, I'm about to make us a fortune!'

'Do ya remember the other night on telly when we saw all those people flocking to see that image of the Virgin Mary that's appeared carved into a tree on a street in Newark?'

'Well I'm just about to put Stirling on the map, look what I found on the Dining Room floor, impressive aye!'

 

'And we could always say that miracles do occur at The Hedge regularly, just don't tell 'em that I'm a Presbyterian.'  

Ed Note: The only miracle that occurs around here mate is that occasionally another room gets finished in the world's longest renovation!

'Oh, oh Mills come quick again I'm upstairs & look what else I've found! If the VM image doesn't pull them in, then this one of a mouse will, geez I'm good!'

I've left him sitting at the Dining Room table working out how many tour buses will fit into our short no-through country lane, how he can con our long-suffering neighbours into letting him use their driveway as a turning pad for the said buses & seeing if getting the Pope to make a guest appearance will up the numbers of the faithful & consequently his GP on signed photos & admission charges.   

Image 1: Philly Other 2 images via my phone.

A Post With Benefits

What a delight it's been reading all the beautiful comments left on Gracie's post - thank you to everyone who left a message of welcome. Looking through them all suddenly brought home to me that the roll call of familiar names are what this blog is all about. Wonderful, wonderful friends who have been an integral part of The Hedge since day dot. You've stood by us through the roller coaster ride of this renovation & our family/work sagas - empathizing, advising, observing, occasionally chastizing, but most of all having a laugh, often at the latest catastrophe to befall the hapless MOTH. 

Since returning to full-time work again I've been a rubbish Blogger. Unrelenting exhaustion has made for few posts & even fewer return visits & that's made me miserable. Throw in a MOTH who's on a Go Slow campaign & things have been less than optimal around The Hedge. I've even thought about shutting it down & giving you a break, but I know I'd regret it the second I double clicked on the Delete Blog Forever option. 

So the arrival of our darling baby girl this week has brought with it some delightful additional benefits. The realization that you gorgeous Hedgies are a most patient & forgiving bunch & that I want (not need) to lift my game here. Thank you for the gentle jolt, I feel more determined & fired up than I have in ages. I love you all - it's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy!

She's Here!

Yay I'm a Nonna at last! Sweet baby Grace was born at 1.44p.m. yesterday to her exhausted parents Son #4 & his partner Miss K. At 3.62kgs. (exactly 8lbs.) she made her appearance 10 days early, but after a check, that renown Paediatrician Dr. MOTH reckons she was well cooked. 

Just a couple of dodgy phone shots from a quick visit last night, we were surprised to see her fair hair as her Daddy looked like a little orangutan at his birth 30 years ago. A mass of black, black hair on his head & soft black down all over his body! Dr. MOTH reckons Gracie's been here before - her pensive, wise gaze is mesmerizing. It's been a big couple of days, now back to earth for us all.

Fine For Some!

This is the reason I've been totally absent from Bloggie Wonderland these past couple of weeks. I wish I could say that I've been shacked up in this wonderful villa in France enjoying a warm European summer, swanning around the associated champagne houses & eating & drinking to my heart's content. Unfortunately it wasn't me, it was my Boss! 2 weeks ago he went to Portugal for a work conference & then decided to stay on for a week's vacation. Think Florence, Venice, the Swiss Alps & Paris here. Then he called & said he needed to do some serious product investigation in the Loire valley. Interesting that, as I wouldn't have thought the cool, cavernous cellars of the French champagne houses held the secrets of the next generation of external cardiac defibrillator/monitors, but I stand to be corrected.

Anyhoo, his absence has meant that I have just experienced one of the most challenging, exhausting times of my working life. While I appreciate his confidence in leaving me to run his wonderful business alone just 3 months into the job, there have been days when I was ready to send in the Special Forces to kidnap him from his travels & bring him home pronto! Ours is a complex business with an exacting & technically/clinically demanding client base, many of them working in extremely remote sites.

The phone went non-stop & my problem-solving abilities were put the ultimate test time & time again. Early starts & late finishes, trapped in the office without a break. This morning I'm so exhausted I can hardly put one foot in front of the other.  He's back on Monday & it will be with the greatest of pleasure that I leave him to it & head out to see some actual clients. Somedays I think at 56 I'm getting too old for this caper, but only for a nano-second. I keep thinking of how miserable I was this time last year in a job that had nothing going for it. I'm very grateful for the chance to have something to challenge me in every way, but for now I think I'll head off to the sofa & the warm fire with a trashy mag. It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy!

P.S. Our little grand-daughter is not far off making her appearance, so stay tuned!