I am happy to report that our house's snag lists is basically down to 2 snags - which is excellent! At bloody last they will all be out of my hair!! Well, I seriously hope so!? Our fish pond has eventually been fitted with a biological filter, which seems to work splendidly and I can now see the glowing globes of light rising towards my hand at feeding time in stead of the faint blobs floating around what used to look more like pea soup.
Progress is slow, but it's there. I have completed the tasks of replacing the topsoil for the front garden, trimmed the hedges and some lovely fresh beetroot, carrots and chervil are growing in the spaces between them, since the hedges will take a while to grow into all the space. The beans have all been munched by some garden critter :( ... so, no beans I guess. I've had a load of topdressing delivered and scattered on the lawn, some organic fertiliser added to those who need it most. Things have been happening :) Other than that the garden's looking rather blooming good for early winter.
So, my other plans for 2012 is to finally make a move to another job... hmmmm, easier said...
Our new mission, to chisel out the path to a new career, has been met with many obstacles rooted in the darned concept named Reality, a word I so despise, but have to learn to live with. I have been thinking very hard to try and find a solution that will reconcile my current position with the one I wish to see myself in. Somehow the math doesn't quite add up and there's no way I will be happy staying in the field I'm currently in, so... have to find greener pastures. But where? And how?
I've had the fantasy in my mind of starting up an organic veggie shop and pick-your own fruit, berries, herbs, veg & flowers setup on a farm close to our house, but I just don't see it being financially viable in this economic climate - very unfortunately. It has been hard to accept the fact that my little farming idea(l)s will not be practical and the little wooden hut I had in mind for the perfect site for our farm stall & coffee shop is on my route to work, so I pass it almost every day. Besides being tough it's also a little bit depressing to know how stunning the entire plan could be, but realising that we live in a harsh world and I just don't see myself making a suitable living from it.
The income part is not the biggest worry, it's the expense part that keeps me at bay: electricity, water, implements, staff, advertising, fertiliser. I have realised that it will be far more effort than I could ever anticipate and would rather save myself the even bigger disappointment of starting up and failing financially. So I gave up the idea. It is something after all that I have very limited experience with, growing organic crops, and at home my seedlings are dying from either getting too little water or the inevitable minor bug infestation, so perhaps I need some more practice before attempting such a big project?
Analysing the reasons why my fantasy would fail made me realise that in order to start a successful business I will require some unique niche market with fewer competitors and something involving some sort of skill I already have that puts me at an advantage over other individuals. If labour (especially essential labour/ key-personnel positions) can be limited that would also help me out a lot. At some stage my answer to all the particular hurdles, challenges and parameters was that I should do something where I can use my technical skills and scientific research background to chisel out a little project which could be expanded as time allows it. We considered starting a commercial business that involves scientific laboratory work and start-up of my own biotechnology business, but that plan has been canned and now we're goose-chasing! :) yeah!
Analysing the reasons why my fantasy would fail made me realise that in order to start a successful business I will require some unique niche market with fewer competitors and something involving some sort of skill I already have that puts me at an advantage over other individuals. If labour (especially essential labour/ key-personnel positions) can be limited that would also help me out a lot. At some stage my answer to all the particular hurdles, challenges and parameters was that I should do something where I can use my technical skills and scientific research background to chisel out a little project which could be expanded as time allows it. We considered starting a commercial business that involves scientific laboratory work and start-up of my own biotechnology business, but that plan has been canned and now we're goose-chasing! :) yeah!
We decided that to start up a biotech business will most likely be #1 A LOT of effort, #2 A LOT of risk, 3# Very time-consuming and stressful and 4# Not all that much fun after all ;) so... we're not going to do it. In stead of the opportunity cost we would most likely lose out on and the very realistic hazard of our sole client not delivering on their promise, we've decided that I might as well rather stay home and rekindle my talent for painting and artwork... and perhaps write a short novel if I felt inclined to do so? Even if I never sold a single painting it would probably be much more financially sound than our previous ideas, so I think it's a win-win situation. But we'll have to see...
I think that for the time being this is going to be the best solution and if that doesn't work I might as well resolve to becoming a spoilt housewife :P Anywhoo - my plan of action at the current moment is to continue my current job until the end of May and then become a semi-retired artist ;) cooool...
:/
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