“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.” ― Lemony Snicket

'It's has been said that in life, there are two types of people: those who look at the glass as half empty, and those who see it as half full. Ironically sometimes life influences our view and changes our perception.' 


Glass Half Full by Sarah Jane Butfield

Over the last six weeks I have been busy editing the prologue and first five chapters of Glass Half Full, which are available to read on authonomy. 

http://authonomy.com/books/52722/glass-half-full/

I have been overwhelmed by the positive and helpful advice, feedback and assistance from the readers and authors on the site. They have helped me add anecdotes and back-story to the first chapters to give my readers a more in-depth view of our journey.

I have now loaded a further two chapters called:-

'Educating Jaime in Alice Springs' and 'It’s Christmas, but not as we know it.'

As a sneak preview of things to come, I have posted some photographs and extracts from later in the book.

Thanks for reading and following my progress and feel free to leave a comment on the blog or on authonomy.


                         
                                          Chapter 8 - 'I do'

Our wedding day 14th August 2009
Gretna Green, Scotland.

Extract chapter 8

'The photographs and memories of our wedding in Gretna Green, and the UK holiday afterwards, will stay with us forever. It was a turning point for us, as we both realised that life has no guarantees, none of us know how long we have on this planet and we should live each day to the fullest. We decided that now was the time to say “I do” not only to each other but to life.'

                                      Chapter 11  Grieving Bushman

Millmerran,Queensland the perfect retreat for my grieving bushman Oct 2009

  Extract from chapter 11.

'For Nigel, living a solitary existence in the middle of rural Queensland, on our piece of woodland, would not only give him time to think, remember and evaluate, but also it would give him the perfect distraction. This piece of woodland was to be our future idyllic retreat. It needed him to spend time there; to get to know the land, the wildlife, the way the rain flows through the naturally formed tracks and importantly how to cope and find ways to live with the intense heat and humidity.'

                         Chapter 13 - New beginnings in Queensland

Extract from chapter 13

'Who would or could have known that what was to be the ultimate achievement of our Australian dream; to buy and renovate a house in Queensland, would be shaken to its core, before it had even begun. An attack of road rage, by a middle aged, impatient bogan, who rammed into the back of our hire car, on the fourth day of our visit, threatened to halt 

our plans in their tracks. With minor physical damage to the car, the physical and psychological impact of his actions on me, resulted in whiplash, post-traumatic stress disorder and driving anxiety; the latter of which I am still trying to combat today. This changed our plans, time-frames and me, as a nurse, mother and wife.' 

Our renovation house in Ipswich, Queensland 2010 before the floods

                                 Chapter 14 The Good Life

Pedigree cat walks into our 20 acres of woodland.

The Good Life - growing our own veg in the woods in rural Queensland

 Extract from chapter 14

'Living the good life, from our perspective on a practical level, meant aiming to live a simple existence. Therefore in a quest to fulfill another of our bucket list dreams, we wanted to pursue a version of The Good life, inspired by the 1970's UK sit com of the same name.

“The Good Life.” for those unfamiliar with its television origins, focused on a suburban couple, Tom and Barbara, who opted out of the traditional suburban lifestyle, which consisted of commuting, office work, and keeping up with the neighbours. They embarked on achieving self-sufficiency  by producing, growing and eating their own produce.' 

 

                           Chapter 18 - Restarting our Australian adventure  

Dave and Buster on their first camping expedition in Tasmania

Extract from chapter 18

'We took advantage of some of the many, free sight-seeing attractions including Snug falls – where Nigel took some amazing water fall photographs, Marion Bay, Wine glass Bay and Mayfield conservation reserve. Mayfield offers a free camp site, located adjacent to the beach. From here you can see seals and dolphins, when in season, from your tent or caravan door. Our boys, Dave and Buster, loved going camping there. It is dog friendly and the beach lends itself as a great area for dog exercising in specified areas to protect the wildlife' 

                           Chapter 20 Homesick - its decision time.

The view from Enzo's beach front cafe in Hervey Bay, Queensland - Valentines day 2012

Extract chapter 20

'What were we trying to achieve by staying in Australia? Were we trying to prove a point, that our initial decision to emigrate was justified, that we had made the right decision then? To us none of that mattered now. We had emigrated; we had achieved and experienced wonderful things during our four and half years in Australia, and we had experienced good and challenging times. Despite this we were a family unit; still together, still wanting more adventures, more challenges, but at this point in time we felt stifled, we felt trapped and the free spirit and unpredictability that was our life was tamed. We did not feel like we were the same people anymore.'