Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all 

Wow, its been almost six months since I last posted anything! Lots of excuses, but from April onwards, 2018 was an actual event filled whirlwind....

Firstly in April my beautiful 2 year old Granddaughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Leukodystrophy, and this diagnosis set the scene for the rest of the year. As a family we decided to move back from Wales to our home area so that all of the families could get to spend time with Zoey and get to know her as much as possible. So Arhosfa House and Arhosfa Cottage were put on the market and we began to search for houses in the Gloucester/South Gloucestershire areas, resulting in us finding a lovely little terraced cottage on the high street in Berkeley - a total change from being on the edge of the mountain in Wales but  perfect for our next new life.  

                            

With all my animals re-homed, I felt that when I moved I would need something to occupy my time, so between us me and my daughter Hayley concocted the idea of setting up a shop together. So we did! We now are the proud owners of LoobyLou Yarns and Mint Plants Wotton under Edge! We share the shop space and the odd sounding combination of house plants and yarn is actually working out really well. I have to say August, September and October were fairly stressful with lots of travelling between Wotton, Cardiff and our home in Wales - we were very glad once the house and shop had completed and we could all be in one place!

After spending nearly three months in a children's Hospice in Cardiff, Zoey is now at home with her family and has been stable for a few weeks now. We take each day as it comes and are thankful for each day as it ends. The shop is doing well, the house is getting straight and we are getting to relax a little bit....for now! In the space of a few months we have moved houses, moved businesses, travelled a million miles up and down the M4, and opened a shop - we are a bit tired out!
                                                                    

2018 was an awful year in a lot of ways - hearing the news that your grandchild will not live very long is a complete devastation, but we feel that we have made the best decisions for us as a family and there have been some highlights as well as really low times. We have definitely learned all about unconditional love, making the most of everything and how precious the good times are, no matter how small. Our dreams for a rural life working from home and looking after our animals has had to do a U turn but we have new focus and new ideas to look forward to in 2019, while also dreading what the coming year may bring us.
I really hope your 2018 was a lot less eventful (and stressful) than ours was, and also hope that your 2019 is a good one and treats you all kindly. My next blog posts will focus on the new shop and our visions for the future of this little venture.....exciting times ahead I think.

Happy New Year and lots of love from us all here at LoobyLou Yarns xxxx