I am thrilled to have been blogging for 4 years on this Quirky Books (quirkybooks) Blog.
Thanks to each and every one of you for joining me on my journey into print, and following my quirky goings on. I couldn’t have done the last 4 years without you. I love blogging and would never be without it, or you bloggers, in my life. I will always be blogging.
I never would have thought 4 years ago, that I would now teach blogging for a living. Okay, so I still have a full-time day job too. Teaching Blogging an an Aid to Recovery, is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my entire life. I have been doing this on a self-employed basis, but will be going on the NHS Staff Bank from the 1st of December.
I am also teaching Blogging for Business, with my Blog for Business Fast Track Masterclasses, next year, at the Phoenix, in Exeter, I can’t wait.
I am pleased to report that Snuggles is recovering from her Bloat/Gastritis/Gut Stasis, life or death illlness. A huge thanks to my mum, for tirelessly nursing and syringe feeding her. She still continues to do so. I will always be eternally grateful to my mum for saving Snuggles’s life, and the fact she was alive for her third birthday party, on Sunday 12th of October.
How do you celebrate your pet’s birthday?
Write soon, embrace your quirky and your pet’s quirky too.
Many a time I hear people saying, I am too old for this or that. Why?
I hear people say I can’t do that now, but I used to do that when I was younger. What’s stopping them from doing it now?
People say I did that, but now I am a grown up. Like not doing a specific thing, makes you grown up, it doesn’t. Being grown up, means different things to different people. Being grown up, in the real sense, means you have physically grown in some way. ‘Grown up’ is a concept and a state of mind.
However, being grown up also comes with stereotypes of what society generally dictates, is acceptable to do, at a certain age.
Being quirky, and embracing my own quirky, you can imagine that I break and defy most of these and I have no shame in doing so.
Having had counselling in the past for depression, I learnt a little about the concept of the inner child and parent within me. At the time, I didn’t really fully grasp the concept. It was after freeing myself from depression, with no medication, and doing a lot to help myself, that I began to understand how these played a vital role in my recovery. Nowadays,the parent and child roles within me, are crucial in maintaining my own mental health and wellbeing each and every day, so as not to fall back into a depressive state.
The parent within me, loves me and nutures me. It gives me positive self talk. It gives me comfort, hope, support and reasoning. If I ever feel down, it lets me know that things will improve and get better. It’s always there in the background should I need it.
The child within me, is no longer just within me, it is me, and I Iove it. It allows my creative mind to be unleashed, to think for itself, to be free flowing and to guide, lead and tell me what to do next. It does this in the most profound and magical way and I am blessed. It’s great for writing, coming up with creative solutions and living a quirky life that is rich with diversity, rewarding and fulfilling.
I encourage you to unleash your inner child. To let go of your inhibitions that stop you from thinking freely and creatively, and that imprison your mind.
Young children try new things, they want to do what pleases them. They like to explore new things. They express themselves freely in the moment, without worrying about what other’s think. They are a bundle of energy and life. If someone tells them they can’t do something, they want to defy the odds, go their own way and just do it. By finding and using these inner child attributes as an adult, there are no limits to what you can accomplish in your life.
By unleashing your inner child, it will free you from the restrictive thoughts and limiting beliefs of your own mindset. This will set you free on the path to success in every aspect of your life. You can be your authentic self. You can be truly unstoppable.
In my past life, as I refer to it, I was old before my time. Now, although I am older in birth certificate age, I am younger, and the authentic quirky me, who I was always born and meant to be. My time for living a young, quirky life, is now. I have unleashed my inner child. How have you unleashed yours?
I am off to London tomorrow with my cousin, and staying overnight. Then we are off to Disneyland Paris for 3 days, from the 1st-3rd of October. Staying overnight in London again on the 3rd. We have got a ton of excitement coming our way, and a lot of energy driven things to do. I am extremely excited. It’s the first holiday I have had in 3 years that won’t involve any work.
Therefore, my aim is to be completely work free and I won’t be able to answer your comments or check in with you, until after my holiday.
Bon voyage for now. For the continued journey of your life. I will see you when I get back.
As you know, Cinnamon died, and I had to take immediate action to get a new companion for Daisy, so she would eat and drink again. It did the trick. Please welcome Chestnut into our furry family.
Chestnut is a Golden Agouti and reddy-brown in colour. Her birthday is the day before mine, on the 23rd of April, making her 5 months old. Being quirky, it’s great to have a new furry baby to be broody over. I am never like that with human babies, and not having kids of my own. In fact being quirky, and breaking conventions, I am not the sex, marriage and kids type. I am 100% a quirky businesswoman, entrepreneur, and love leading a young, kid-like, vibrant quirky life. It’s what I was born to be and do.
What type of life, do you like to lead?
Daisy has taken to Chestnut like a duck to water. It’s like they have been together forever.
I am away in London and Disneyland Paris next week with my cousin. No work for once in my life, in 3 years. Can’t wait. Yipeeeee!
Cinnamon just had a bath.
It’s sad to think I won’t have Cinnamon or my Grandma this Christmas.
This morning my Cinnamon died at home in his cage. He had been severely poorly. He had barely eaten all day on Saturday. I took Sunday off from my day job to take him to the vets. He had to have surgery on most of his teeth. The bottom ones, either side, that were curving over onto his tongue and had food trapped inbetween the gaps in his teeth, and the top teeth that had split. One of his bottom teeth had somehow broken off. He had bad side effects from the anaesthetic, including peeing blood. He had a fit and still wouldn’t eat or drink by himself, and this was ongoing until he died.
I rushed Cinnamon into the emergency vets on Monday morning. Then to my own vets after, where they kept him all day and syringe fed him. I rushed him into my own vets yesterday, after he went on his side and his eyes were closing. In the taxi, his body was convulsing. It was horrid to watch. At the vets he was okay, and they said it must have been seizures. They had him in for the day and syringe fed him. He made a few piggie noises which was a good sign, but he was still very sick. Each time at home, he would barely be able to stand up and kept sleeping. Although the vets believed that his teeth stopped him from eating, two x-rays revealed he had a mass near his kidney and abdomen, that wasn’t a fatty lump. If he didn’t eat by himself by Saturday, he would have had to have an operation to remove it, or he would have died. Nature took him sooner.
There is a saying; that says start each day afresh. I have had to start the same day afresh, and turn the page immediately to start a new chapter in my life. Although I have been grieving for Cinnamon, I have had to put Daisy first. She cannot live by herself; and won’t eat or drink without Cinnamon, and would go downhill and die herself if I had left her on her own. I took action before Cinnamon was taken by my parents to be buried.
While my parents were still in my home, I researched the internet for a new bigger, because I needed my dad to take me to get one. I phoned a breeder whose piggies had all gone; but the heavens were smiling down on me and my furry family, and she had a friend who was a breeder. This friend just happened to have one single female piggie that hadn’t been able to be paired, because she is so different. As you know, being quirky myself, I love different. I went and bought her this afternoon and said she looks like a chestnut, so that is what I have named her. Daisy started eating again shortly afterwards. At the moment they are all living happily ever after, and it isn’t a fairytale in the fictional sense; but a truly magical gift that Chestnut happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Chestnut.
Daisy and new life partner Chestnut.
I miss you Cinnamon so much and I love you with every beat of my heart. I am so very sorry I couldn’t have saved you my sweetheart. Thankyou for the wonderful memories we will always share. I feel pain and loss for you, and mummy will always love you and treasure every moment and every whisker twitch she had from, and with, you. You were the vet’s favourite and my handsome, sexy male pig. You could give the human males a run for their money with such stunning beauty as yours. I loved putting my fingers through your locks of hair, holding you upright in my hands, which you loved, and calling you my king. You loved being the head of the household and I will miss you so very much, my precious one. Know you will be in my heart, forever and always. I love you until the ends of time and forever.
These last few days have been so emotional for me. I have been on a knife’s edge, not knowing whether Cinnamon will live to see another day, or be gone in the blink of an eye. After a few strange noises this morning from Cinnamon’s cage and a couple of light switches on and off, to see what was happening. Cinnamon sadly passed away in his sleeping position. When I took him out of the cage, he was dead, but only just, I think, because his body was so warm. I may have seen the shallows of his last breaths, or I may not have done. One thing I do know, he was a fantastic character, a great headbutter, and I will always love him no matter what.
As I celebrate your life before passing, I welcome a new life into our quirky furry family. It’s hard, but I have to remain strong and get through it. I love you forever Cinnamon. God bless you and keep you safe in his cuddle always. Goodbye my special one. I love you implicitly and always will, forever more. May your soul be at peace now, as your journey continues on the other side. Night my sweet Cinnamon. Love you forever and ever in my heart.
I am out of words and devastated, but thankful for Chestnut coming into our lives to save Daisy.
Take care of you and each other. Life is too short not to care. If you love someone or care for someone, tell them. You only get one life, and the choices you make now, will shape your future forever.
Thank you to each and every one of you, for being part of my community, my quirky life, and my quirky world. God bless each and every one of you.
Always remember to embrace your quirky, keep writing, and lead the life that only you were born to lead.
While I was away in Bristol for the Business Showcase South West, in April of this year, I visited Bristol Zoo.
What do you think?
I hope you have had as much pleasure, looking at these, as I did photographing them.
I still need to re-index and repaginate each page of my Break through the barriers of redundancy book, after re-designing my www.beatredundancyblues.com site that is advertised on the front cover.
I am currently preparing to teach more courses for the Recovery Learning Community, and start my blogging teaching again for this term, on the 22nd of this month.
Every now and then, I post a post from one of my other blogs that I think you will love. Here is my latest post from my beatredundancyblues.wordpress.com blog.
You are very special in your own right.
You do not need to justify the reason for being you to anyone but yourself.
You were born with your own unique and precious gifts.
Don’t listen to other people about how you should lead your life, just listen to your own heart and mind, and go with what you want to do and what feels right for you. I had a life changing moment when I took control of my life, and decided to do just that. Now I embrace every quirky feeling and feature about me, and I wouldn’t change me for the world.
I used to suffer with depression. I didn’t like my life, my circumstances or myself. There have been two major significant breakthroughs in my life. The first was when I was made redundant for the second time in my life, in 2009. This was when I first discovered my ultimate purpose in life. To write, and to help others, particularly people who have been made redundant, to get back into work. It was then that I decided I would become a self-employed writer and businesswoman. Despite the fact, that at the time, my own father didn’t believe I could do it. You can read more about this in my new Break through the barriers of redundancy book; that will be available to buy on Amazon.
My second major significant breakthrough, was in 2012, when I took a year out of work, took control over my life, starting making a lot of my own decisions, and did a ton of courses of my choosing.
In that year, I got my PTTLS level 4 teacher/trainer qualification. That I now use to teach Blogging as an aid to recovery – How to start a WordPress.com blog, for the Recovery Learning Community. That is part of the NHS. I also got an Information, Advice and Guidance Diploma Level 4. I did 5 Adobe courses and attended my first business seminars in London. All of these together, were life changing, because I felt empowered to be happy being me and to pursue my own goals, ambitions and dreams. To believe in myself and know that whatever I set my mind to, I can accomplish. I made a lot of changes to myself, that I needed to make me happy. I realised how awesome it was to have an intelligent, quirky, creative mind. I became happy to be in my own company for the first time in my life, and I realised that my life would never be boring because I had me. I learned to love myself, who I am, and what I was born to be. No longer worrying about what others think, and wrapping myself in my quirky bubble for eternity.
My one piece of advice for you, if you are not already doing so; is to embrace your quirky, and to lead the quirky life that only you were born to lead. That’s what I do now and I am the happiest I have ever been.
My motto ’embrace your quirky’ is a system and philosophy, of a different way of life to the norm. That allows you to be your authentic self, and achieve greatness in your life, so you can become truly unstoppable. You can expect more posts about this, and all things quirky from me, in the future.
Until next time –
Embrace your quirky, stay strong, and keep believing in you.
Quirky Books 
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