Less than 3 more weeks...

...until the big move. To-do list is complete so I'm actually ready to leave - apart from packing the allowed 20 kg of baggage.  

I got a lovely room that was actually my first choice since the moment I started looking for one. The landlord has dogs (which is a big plus for the dog person like myself), he seems extremely nice and the room itself seems big and has a view of the back garden so I suppose it's a quiet one. 

the room 

So the time has come to slowly say goodbye to my town, friends and family. Which brings me to my new obsession - taking photos whenever I'm out and about with my Brina. Every spot I've seen hundreds of times seems sort of magical in these autumn colours and I just can't help myself. How did we live without mobile phones?

 meadow at Marof

 Stojna in autumn colours

 our church

 the library

 Kočevje Lake

 a path through the woods

 trees in the morning fog

 river Rinža

local ski slope in Dolga vas 

I'm very sentimental and mushy these days. I'm trying to persuade myself I really shouldn't be, but the reason is one thing and the heart another. 

I invited some friends over for tomorrow evening so we can chat a little. I know there are skype, viber, facebook, whatsapp... I know it's easy to stay in touch these days, but still, that's not the same thing as going out with a friend, having a cup of coffee and a chat at the banks of the lake or in a town Cafe. 

I never had a lot of self-esteem and I worry I might be all alone and forgotten over the Channel. I feel physical pain in my stomach just imagining spending Christmas and my 40th birthday all alone over there. At the same time I try to be positive and I persuade myself I'm a nice person and there surely is at least one person in England that will like me for who I am and keep me company from time to time. Perhaps that person might even like my Balkan way of having coffee and a chat...

However I am excited at the same time. I can't wait to start working, getting to know new people, meeting my dear penpals, do some shopping. Things will be different, but I just have to stay positive and hope for the best.

To Do before I go...

My To Do list seems a bit harder to do than Pink Panther's though...

1. get birth certificate a
2. get marriage certificate a
3. get a new passport - ordered and I'm supposed to pick it up at the Minicipality Hall on 15 October
4. get a reference from my last employer a
5. get a second reference from another employer - contacted, but not yet received
6. accept the job offer a
7. get the current check from Disclosure and Barring Service a
8. get the check translated into English and verified r
9. find a room in this beautiful town (preferably in walking distance from the nursing home r

So much to do in so little time... I'm slowly starting panicking about the room.

The decision

About a month ago I was at the lowest point in my life and didn't know what to do about anything - job, marriage, money... It was one of those months when after sending out tens of job applications, I once again didn't hear from any of the employers. I hate such arrogance! Is it so hard to hit "reply" (or even "reply all") and write a single line: "We are sorry to inform you that a more suitable candidate was chosen for the position."? Or something along that line. 

As a consequence a little thought crept into my mind - what if I could get a job abroad? And I started looking in UK, Germany and Austria. I'm too old to find a job through Eures, so I just browsed ads on the internet. Then my dear Polish penpal told me about her friend who got a job at the nursing home in UK through a phone interview. So I asked my husband how he feels about the possibility of me leaving the country and of course him as well. Not really leave him, just not live with him anymore. He said he's OK with it and I should give it a try. So I wrote my CV, put together a cover letter and send it to the nursing home my penpal mentioned. To tell the truth, I didn't expect a reply at all because they didn't advertise any openings at that time. However I got a reply email rather quickly and it all went in warp speed from then on. A week later a phone interview was arranged and carried out on Wednesday (25 Sept.) At the end of it I was offered a job. Just like that - without knowing anyone, without any intimidation during the interview... just by being myself. So I'll be moving to England in November. 

I start working on 15 November but travelling to England a few days earlier. There are tons of papers I need to get and (after loosing 30 kilos in the last months) a lot of shopping to do because I can't wear most of the things I wore last winter. Not cheap!

I also have to find accommodation for myself and that is neither cheap nor easy over the internet because I'm a bit frightened of getting scammed.

Wish me luck!!! 

Jewellery for the local shop

During the last week or so I've been making jewellery for the local shop where they sell handmade itemsand traditional crafts. 

Here is what I made: 

 Some memory wire bracelets.

 Necklaces.

Different sets. 

Bracelets.

Some of the items have already been sold. :D

I discovered polymer clay

Actually, I already discovered polymer clay back in March, I just now really managed to make a few things decent enough to show off. 

Our craft store stopped selling Cernit brand so I managed to get a few packs rather cheaply and I used them for my first attempts. It's so much fun! And if you mess up you can just knead the clay and start over. However that's the reason for similar colours of these.

 

This one is my favourite by far. :)

 

Some jewellery from leftover beads

I made most of these sets with the leftover beads I had laying around and gifted them to my penpals who celebrated their birthday recently. 

This set I actually sold. :) Yey me!!!

Shamrock and jade pendant

I made this pendant for a pen pal who likes shamrocks. I used green jade beads, shamrock pendant (Tibetan silver) and some wire. I wasn't really sure what to do with the ends of the wire, but in the end I formed them into a little bow on the bottom. What do you think?

Bejewelled easter eggs - tutorial

This is not my idea. I found the tutorial in Slovenian craft magazine called Unikat, but I think it's quite interesting so I decided to try it out and translate it.

Things you will need: 

- 1 full box of 2,6 mm beads (the main colour)

- about 1/4 of a box of 2,6 mm beads in another colour

- Styrofoam egg (mine is 6 cm high and 4,5 cm at the widest part)

- beading needle (you can do it without the needle, but it's much easier with it)

- 0,25 or 0,30 mm fishing line

First tie one contrasted bead close to one end of the fishing line. 

Add 3 beads in main colour + 1 contrasted bead + 3 beads in main colour... Make sure you have odd number of 3 beads. I have 9 times 3 beads here. If it's a bit too short for your egg, add a few beads at the first and last row so you have 1 yellow + 5 red + 1 yellow + 3 red +1 yellow+ ... + 1 yellow + 5 red + 1 yellow bead

When your string of beads is long enough, remove the last yellow bead a bit and go through the first 3 red + second yellow bead. 

Tighten the line really well. Make sure the line is always tight or you will have gaps between the beads when you wrap the beaded net around the egg.

Add 3 red + 1 yellow + 3 red beads to the beading needle and go through the 4th yellow bead in the string. Tighten well and continue like this...

... until you get to the end of the string. 

Then you remove the last yellow bead a bit and go through the first 3 red + second yellow bead. 

Add 3 red + 1 yellow + 3 red beads to the beading needle and go through the 4th yellow bead in the string. Tighten well and continue like this until you can almost wrap the net around the egg. 

For the egg my size the net with 12 "tails" in both ends is just perfect.

Wrap the net around your egg...

... and guide the fishing line through all the yellow beads on top. 

Tighten the line well.

Go through the 3 red beads and the second yellow bead on the right.

Add 3 red bead to the needle, go across the gap in the net and through the 3rd yellow bead in the row. Tighten well.

Continue adding 3 red beads and stitching the gap.

When you add the last 3 red beads and go through the second yellow bead from the bottom, you actually go through the yellow and the last 3 red beads.

Tighten as much as you can. 

Guide the fishing line through all the yellow beads on the bottom, tie a knot and hide the fishing line tails into the beads.

And this is the finished egg:

It's best if you can work with long fishing line so that there are no unnecessary knots in the middle of the net (I used 2 m for one net). the line has to be really tight all the time so the knot could untie itself. 

Play with different colours of beads - use the leftovers and create lines. It's so easy and so much fun after you make the first one. Good luck!

I would love to hear some hones feedback about the tutorial as I have no idea if my ramblings can actually be understood well enough to successfully finish the project. I have to add that the tutorial in the magazine sounded horrible until I actually tried to do it. Then it was really easy and it made complete sense.