The end

Well here we are, at the end. 1000 posts!

When I started this blog on 6th February 2010 it was all about the coffee plants, but of course since then, it has been about so much more than that. So much has changed... apart in some ways from the coffee plants themselves. They are still growing very slowly, no flowers, no beans and certainly no cup of coffee will be had for many, many years to come... if ever.

Among other things:

I got divorced and, in spite of my ex-husband having said he wanted to leave he thought he could still live in the house, I kicked him out. I found his idea of being a Buddhist included lying, stealing and cheating was hard to take and wasn't exactly what I thought Buddhism was about. My abiding memory is of when I challenged him about it  - i.e. the principles of Buddhism are right mind, right thought, right action, how could he call himself a Buddhist? And his answer?  - 'I never said I was a good Buddhist'. Well, it made me laugh!

I've also had the pleasure of training 3 Guide Dog puppies and boarded a whole lot more. It's been wonderful to have had the privilege of being part of something that I truly believe changes people's lives. And it's also  great that the people who've ended up with Odi and Vespa are still in touch with me, giving me updates about their exploits and how they're getting on. I do hope that Diesel can do well. That has to be seen, but as he's only 6 months old there's a long way to go.

I've travelled to Thailand, Bhutan, Nepal, South Africa, Australia and France (a couple just once, but most several times) and hopefully there'll be more travel to come. I'm off to Thailand in a couple of months for my annual stint there and have been invited to go back next year. I'm hopeful that the place in China that invited me will be open soon and I can go there in 2018, as well as work I've been offered in New Zealand. Lots of fun to be had methinks!

I've been through an earthquake and come out the other side, feeling blessed and lucky. Also, in a bizarre way, it was good to go through something that momentous, but that comes from the privilege of being able to leave Nepal and not have to live there to see the devastation to the economy and what's happened since. My friends there have all tried to leave to make new lives elsewhere. That does make me feel very lucky that I don't have to do that to live well.

I've published 2 books and had quite a few poems published. I've also written a play, a fact that I'm very proud of myself for doing, even if it wasn't exactly Shakespeare and won't win prizes. 

I've had a few dates since divorcing, but nothing much to write home about. In some ways I feel I'm better off on my own, though strangely I have actually met someone recently, but we're playing it gently and I'll have to see how that develops. You never know, but I'm quite happy with things the way they are. 

I've also been to Holy Isle, off Arran 8 times since I started this blog and I'm due to head off there tomorrow for my annual retreat, so I feel this is a fitting end to this blog.

So all that remains is for me to thank you for staying with me on this journey. And I thought it fitting to finish with a picture of my coffee plants, which are doing pretty well... for them. Still growing, still shedding leaves, still demanding light and water and still nothing to show for it!

Wishing you well.

Vee