Ghost Village


I couldn't settle last night.
I don't watch football and I already spent much of the day baking in readiness for my sister Ann's open garden day on Sunday, so It was time to get out of the cottage to do something else constructive and useful.
Trelawnyd was a ghost town after 7pm -The Croatia game was on so everyone but me was glued to their TV sets like limpets- so unseen I ambled my way up to the village green with a broom and hoe to remove a ton of weeds from the lavender paths.
It was gentle and untaxing work. ( I listened to The Archers and podcasts of I'm sorry I haven't a clue as I cleared and tidied) and to be honest I enjoyed the time out in the cool evening air.
I think I'll organise another village 1 hour tidy up enterprise for next month.
I'll provide the cream cakes and tea again

In a decade I've supported and eventually ran the village flower show, held four Open allotment/ village fete days, cleaned the Church more times that I care to remember,  was an active member of the community council ( and brief member of the new Community Association) supported the conservation group , lectured at the friendship group, held two six week a how to look after chicken courses at the village hall. Sang carols at the village carol service every Christmas, attended 13 funerals ( and catered for two funeral teas) and picked up the affable despot's girls from school whenever needed. I've sent flowers to unhappy villagers and have received gifts of flowers and cakes and scones in return. I have let my more practical farmer type friends to supervise pig culling and fence erecting and I have eaten some dreadful meals at Mrs Trellis' dinner table and have been helped out of several scrapes by a village elder called Islwyn.
I have attended and enjoyed  10 male voice choir summer concerts,delivered a thousand eggs to forty houses,  gave a lesson on blogging etiquette to the village school children and have developed a village history blog that has been archived by the National Library of Wales.
I've done my bit

But I shall also miss paying things back to a village I have called home for the past twelve years.

.

115 comments:

  1. The village will miss you too. I suspect you will find a new 'village' to give and receive goodness from. It seems to be part of who you are. Community minded at its best.

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    1. The one thing ( and it is a valuable one) that I have learned from Trelawnyd is that I can live anywhere and find a community and friends.

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    2. A wonderful thing to learn, and an impressive skill set.

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    3. That is indeed a valuable lesson. And friendly people always find friends as they move forward through life.

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    4. My husband and I enjoyed traveling when he was working and when he retired we couldn’t wait to get moving!
      We sold our house.
      We decided to move somewhere really really different so we moved to Buenos Aires, bought a home and settled in .
      We never expected to do anything like this when he retired.
      We almost just let things happen and we were very happy.
      I think it’s great for a relationship to shake things up and get out of that rut .. even if the rut is pleasant.
      I hope you two have the same sort of new chapter in your lives together
      I always thought that suddenly being in a new place with new people around you makes the closeness between you and your loved one even better.
      I am excited for you:)

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  2. Not sure if I missed a post somewhere, but have you found a place to move to? A plan for where you guys and all the animals will end up? Home is where you make it John and you'll make a new fab one wherever y'all end up.

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    1. Watch this space my friend ..........not yet

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  3. So hard. Change is so hard. But you have made a difference where you have lived and that is what is important.

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    1. Life has to be seen as an adventure

      And I'm sticking to that absurd notion xx

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  4. Sometimes the most mundane and basic work puts me in the quiet zone.
    The village will be sad when you go.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. I'm conceited enough to agree with you x

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  5. I love they way you build and foster community. I shall miss all the old friends and can’t wait to meet the new ones.

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    1. I'll miss Trendy carol, villager elder Islwyn, sailor John and happy Mandy, animal helper Pat, the teenage boffin called Cameron and the affable despot family.......oh and Auntie Glad, mrs Trellis, gaynor the mad organist , old Stan, The sweet natured Ann and the friendly Cameron family with those big hearts........I could go on and on

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  6. That lavender walkway is gorgeous!! Your time seems to have been well spent and I wish you the best on your new adventure! xo

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    1. Thank you, but I only weeded the lavender it was planted by the conservation group

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  7. Good luck to you and the changes ahead. It is always hard to leave a place, but that just means a new adventure is about to begin. I have lived in three places in the last four years...and for me change was good.

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    1. Yes mike....change is not always bad or wrong

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  8. Anonymous2:56 am

    Change is a given so we might as well get good at it!

    You have done heaps for your community, if only everyone would do half as much, the world would be a different place

    Kylie

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    1. You could see what my sister did for her community! She won a BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL for it

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    2. I remember that, somebody taught you both well!

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  9. Hopefully in time you will find new characters to fill the voids. It will be interesting to see if there is a "trendy Carol" and an "affable despot" in different community. Even perhaps a new "Red Faced Welsh Farmer". Change is not easy, moreso for some than others. You are experiencing two big life changes at once. Don't you find weeding therapeutic? Getting lost in your thoughts while picking away at the minutiae until you're done and it looks so much better. Take care. -Jenn

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    1. Yes I did ...especially as I got a few dirty looks by a villager who doesn't like me at all

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  10. I wish I could say that I didn't watch the football; but I did. On reflection I would have preferred a bit of weeding. Far less stressful.

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  11. There is nothing so constant as change, it took me a long time to understand that gem. I bet the lavender smelled divine as you tidied a round it.

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  12. Good luck finding a new home John. Your future neighbours/community will be very lucky to have you.

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  13. You are what they called years ago 'a pillar of the community' hope your village carries on after you go. Sure there is something biblical to quote, but then I don't know my bible ;)

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  14. change is more difficult as we grow older. but don't fear it. you have us to listen to your stories.

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    1. That's the sweetest thing , thank you

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    2. Yes, that is the lovely thing about the internet...wherever you go...we’re here:)

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  15. And how could you not miss it? But look at it this way -- you're off to new adventures, right? You can certainly contribute wherever you go. And I'm sure you'll stay in touch with all the folks in Trelawnyd.

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  16. I’m leaving my island after 12 years too. It’s time.
    We’re moving to Cheshire. Couldn’t be more different.
    But that’s the point isn’t it...

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    1. Middle of the country. Easy access to everywhere. And everyTHING. I’ve done windswept and interesting now....

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    2. Perhaps we could meet!

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    3. We ought to hadn’t we... :-)

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  17. People, places and new esperiences make you rich; you are a wealthy man John.
    Greetings Maria x

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  18. Yes, you'll miss it - and be missed. I think the village has learned a lot from you, and perhaps you've inspired a few others to get involved in things. I look forward to reading about your new adventures, and new friends.

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  19. Ever considered to stay in your current town or is that just no option?
    Nevertheless you'll find a new community and blend in very well.
    Good luck with the sale.
    https://ruraltownliving.blogspot.com

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  20. The lavender path looks lovely. Sorry about England losing to Croatia. I had to google the results. I've tuned out the World Cup this year after finding out that Russia was hosting. Still, "Congrats Croatia! Best of luck on the Cinderella run!" I love a good underdog story. I hope this one has a happy ending...Sorry, England.

    You've made an impact on your village, and it has made an impact on you. You both leave each other wiser, more beautiful, and changed for the better. It is a lovely and wonderful community of friends and family you will be leaving, but love and true friendship reach across all distances and lasts for all time. You will have new adventures, and you will survive and thrive in your new home, just as you had blossomed in your current and old homes.

    Life is what you make it. So I hope you make the most of yours and do the things that make you happy and spend time with the people, friends, and family that you love.

    Cheers.

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  21. This is why I've been in our house for 34 years !!! ....... I'm too scared to move and don't like change ! You'll be fine though and a fabulous new life awaits with more friends to be made and more committees to officiate at. I looked out of the window at half time and not one car went by. Hertfordshire and the outskirts of London are football mad ! XXXX

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  22. If you could stay, I really think you could open the cottage up as a B & B (if you have an extra bedroom that is!) write a book, do book signings, be in a documentary about community life in a village; As a B & B owner you would make the perfect host and tour guide too. Who wouldn't want to stay in place with fresh flowers daily, home cooked fare, beautiful china and freshly laundered tea cloths? We'll ignore William's poop up the fridge door and Winnie's slipper fetish. Would you ever consider running a guest house?

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    1. I'd go and stay in a blink

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    2. A lovely thought but in a matchbox? I need a sugar mummy or daddy to buy me a delightful old farmhouse

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  23. We had to make a huge change when we left a beautiful village in Spain to live in England but it's something I have never regretted.
    I hope you find a wonderful new home and enjoy making new friends, you will bring joy to their lives x

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  24. I sat outside in the silence watching MR BH trying to do his fishing hooks , he wont accept any help because i do it wrong lol..it takes him forever with much swearing now his hands are so shaky

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  25. Do you have any firm plans about relocation? I have lived in this place for over 27 years and H.I. for 47, and we have never met a single neighbour, let alone had any social impact on the surrounding as you have.

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    1. Dearest Tom, you have never met a single neighbour in 27 years? That's amazing, for reasons I shall not explore - not so much because I promised John to keep the peace but because it's so easy to break yours.

      At least we have established that I am not one of your neighbours. No escape from me. Need a fiver, a cup of sugar at an ungodly hour, an ad hoc babysitter? I am all yours. Because that is what good (!) neighbours are for. But first you need to make yourself known.

      Don't be angry at me (and the above). You never know when you may need me despite yourself. :)

      U

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    2. We’ve lived on this road for 30 years and remember the names of only one neighbor. I did know the name of our next door neighbor, but she recently died. I stop and chat with dog walkers, but that’s not the same. There are only 10 homes on our road. We built our house in the middle of our 24 acres and enjoy the solitude. We are obviously introverts. We both have friends in town, but not on our road.

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    3. Tom . No plans as yet....no plans

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    4. weavinfool I too have a similiar circumstance and I think in part it is living in a distant rural community. People live on their acres to get away from other people to enjoy the peace and as my son put it (who has recently purchased a property of 100acres) "just want to NOT hear the next door neighbour flush his loo or his dammed lawn mower outside the bedroom window on a Sunday".
      I have lived in three rural communities and none of them were particularly close knit. We built up the Progress Associaton and the Volunteer Fire Brigade had a Christmas get together and that is the total sum of interaction! When I was leaving one place of 25years duration a rarely seen neighbour claimed we lived in a 'community of hermits and thats the way people here like it'
      I think John your village sounds charming and you have contributed not doubt enormously to its social success and the villagers have in turn risen to the occasions you have championed - win, win and a lot of hard work thrown in. I think also in part it is Pride of Place as much as self respect... as long as both of those ideals are practiced and we all care enough for it to matter - all will continue on the better for everyones efforts even if it is just a Christmas bash. Well done Ellexx

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  26. Village life is different, but it's so enjoyable, the positives always out weigh any negatives. I would not move back to city, and would think twice before moving from our bit of heaven.

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  27. John, love. Moving on is very difficult but you will create a wonderful home and new life wherever you go... Be it town, village or city. New horizons await for you to conquer. Just don't leave us all behind. Take us all with you.

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  28. You are SO the person to land on his feet amongst friends.
    I was in the West End last night to see the show 'Everyone's talking about Jamie'. The theatre was half empty and my daughter had taken my husband's ticket so he could watch the football.

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    1. Was it a good play , I've heard good things

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  29. Dreadful meals at Mrs Trellis's dinner table? What an outrageous slur on Mrs Trellis's culinary skills! Perhaps your palette is too unsophisticated to appreciate Mrs Trellis's haute cuisine.

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  30. You've more than done your bit for the village. I echo the comment above that says you would have been called 'a pillar of the community' in days gone by.

    Trelawnyd won't disappear without you ... but it will be a completely different and somewhat sadder place.

    But life is a big adventure and you might be stepping into a whole other chapter of yours ❤

    Have dogs will travel ☺

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  31. We will miss the village and locals there too.

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  32. You will be missed, you fit there, because your did you bit. Moving is an adventure, I have lived in 5 states, 16 different homes or apartments - and you can see how I turned our!

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  33. John you are part and parcel to the village and a part of its heart will leave with you. You seem so very down these days. When will your Prof return? You should not be this long alone.

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  34. You will leave a void in this little village lost in time it seems. You are a much loved friend and neighbor.

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  35. You will be gone but not ever forgotten in your lovely village. You have made your mark on the town and in the hearts of Trelawynd’s people. I know you will continue to do that elsewhere.

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  36. If everyone gave back to their community the way you do, this world would be a better place, that's for sure.

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  37. Such a special 12 years. I’ve never been in one place that long. I’m sure you’ll pay it back in your next place, too. Can’t wait to follow you.

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    1. Going gently is twelve years old too x

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  38. John, you have set a precedent in Trelawnyd......big shoes to fill but someone will continue where you left off. they know and appreciate the mark you have left.

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  39. OMG - you will miss them but imagine how much they will miss you John!

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  40. Caring about “community” . . . you have it!

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  41. I imagine the village is going to miss you very much, maybe even more than you miss them.

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  42. I am very curious about the "Trellis Table". Bad ingredients? Bad cooking? Is she the queen of ready meals? My kids call my "dear" mother Aunt Bessie as everything she cooks comes out of a packet or the freezer. Grim. x

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    1. I remember one particularly bad cauliflower soup experience

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  43. It's hard to imagine what this blog will be like without Trelawnyd. In fact, when I first started reading, I thought you lived here all your life (I also mistakenly, stupidly, and with a certain North America-centrism thought it was in England, not Wales, but let's not go there.) Tell me, are you going to be taking some of those pictures of Trelawnyd down in the sidebar?

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    1. No Kirk, I shall leave Going Gently entirely and will start up,a new blog with new photos and new memories

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  44. I came back to ask, "How's Irene? Still romping freely with the horses? Do the horses think one of her as one of the herd now? Or has she been rounded up and relocated to her new home?"


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    1. The bugger is still over at the stables , !,!!!!

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  45. I don't know how you keep up the pace. I'd be shattered in a week.

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    1. I've just shampooed all of the carpets in the house

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  46. Timothy's mummy in ''Sorry''is a strange cook & also the lady on the committee in ''The Vicar of Dibley''.I think that whilst living in the village John you have -embraced & had experiences many people wouldn't have living their whole lives in one place.More fun somewhere new how exciting x

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  47. You have helped the village to grow in its understanding of others and of itself and its abilities. Likewise, the village has given you the gift of knowing and understanding a different depth of life and people. That knowledge will go with you no matter where you go. It is part of you now and will forever be with you in your heart.

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    1. I may quote your lovely quote again bonnie , you got it in one xx

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  48. You will miss the village and the village will miss you. I think we will all miss the comings and goings of all in Trelawnynd. All the best.

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    1. We all have comings and goings you just need to look for them Jane

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  49. I so understand that. You will find a new corner to clean. I used to take a very active part in our small part of town including drawing fun maps that anyone could color in. I miss it. Then again, a lady at the pool today asked me if I had been on the Planning Board. It took me a minute to remember, but yes that was one of the things I had done. I think you will find your village will find you where ever you go.

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  50. I was very unhappy that England lost to Croatia. I was very much hoping for an England/France battle this weekend. Reading your tales of village life and o the characters you encounter and the animals you cared for has brought me such joy. I know you will get yourself involved in whatever new community you move to. You probably can't help it as you seem to be such a natural giver! One chapter is coming to an end and a new one shall begin. Thank you for sharing your chapters with us.

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  51. I am starting to get Separation Anxiety :(

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  52. You leave Trelawnyd a better place and yourself a better man for the joint experience. On to the next.

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  53. Whilst you are leaving Trelawnyd, Trelawynd is losing you. I think, whether we realise it or not we meet people and leave an impression on them as an impression of them is left on us, so we go and take and we go and leave. It is the moving on that is courageous, all those people left behind are friends who will remember the impact you had on the village and them. Good luck for the future John, you haven't been yourself at all lately, I sincerely hope you find yourself again and the new move brings all that you want and desire. I look forward to the new adventure with you and your furbabies and thank you for the laughs and joy you have given me since I found your lovely village blog.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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  55. The village will miss you John but no matter where you go I have no doubt that you will make a ton of friends. Thank you for taking us along on your next chapter.

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  56. Thank you for sharing your little village with us, it's afforded me a visit "home" over the years, and I'm most grateful.
    You are a kind and compassionate man, to both animal and human.
    I have laughed and cried at your posts over the years, and hope wherever you hang your hat next, you will be so kind as to let us tag along.
    Love,
    Jo

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  57. The village losing you must be on a par with them losing Auntie Glad. Very, very poignant time for you too, John. I still wish I could give you a hug x

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  58. The village will surely miss your presence. I hope you find somewhere new that you love. Looking forward to hearing about it.

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  59. There's always the option of staying John, there are many in the village who would like you to.

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  60. Oh, I hadn’t realized you were moving from this delightful village. I always looked at moving as an opportunity to meet new people — an adventure. You seem like the kind of person who will thrive on any change, those in the new location will soon discover what a treasure you will be in their community. Wishing you only the best and will look forward to your new blog. Life is about adaptation for survival itbseems.

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