There's a version of running a business and building something new that looks quite organised from the outside. Posts go out. Things get made. Plans get made. And sometimes, just sometimes, it feels like it might all be coming together.<\/p>
And then life reminds you who's actually in charge.<\/p>
This weekend Andrew and I made the journey down to see one of my oldest friends, Sammy. A rare thing \u2014 time away, a nice drive, good weather, a proper catch up in the garden. We were gone less than 24 hours. In that time Faith, our ten year old Leonberger, suffered a gastric torsion. An acute emergency. The kind that took one of our dogs before. The kind you don't always come back from.<\/p>
I was in a noisy pub with my phone in my bag.<\/p>
My kids \u2014 Curtis and Meg, Ruby, Wade, and Cole \u2014 handled everything. Ruby recognised it immediately. Curtis and Meg got Faith to the vets, Ruby by their side. The others held the fort. By the time I knew what was happening, Faith was already in surgery. I was four hours away, unable to drive, going round in circles in my head in the dark.<\/p>
She made it. She came home last night in Wade's vintage VW van \u2014 bright green, 45 years old, lovingly known as the Bogey. Still wobbly. Tail wagging. Talking, the way Leonbergers do.<\/p>
I haven't stopped adapting for as long as I can remember. To the body that doesn't always cooperate. To the business that needs everything I've got. To the animals, the family, the smallholding, the hundred things that need attending to all at once. You find a rhythm and then something shifts and you find a new one.<\/p>
I don't say this for sympathy. I say it because I suspect, no I KNOW I'm not alone. Because most people reading this are adapting too \u2014 quietly, constantly, without much acknowledgement.<\/p>
DUDS! came out of that. Out of the need to do something that was mine. Something made with my hands. Not a crisis. Not urgent. Not needing feeding or fixing or managing. Just mine.<\/p>
Faith is asleep on her bed as I write this. The scrambled eggs stayed down. The white fish is poaching.<\/p>
We keep going. That's all there is to it.<\/p>","urlTitle":"when-life-wont-wait","url":"\/blog\/when-life-wont-wait\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/when-life-wont-wait\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/rvsduds.co.uk\/blog\/when-life-wont-wait\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1776768386,"updatedAt":1776768922,"publishedAt":1776768921,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":431858,"name":"RVS Duds"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vws6k7ny4hqcpbt1esne8obotfpb48bjab7ziytev1eyylgk.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vws6k7ny4hqcpbt1esne8obotfpb48bjab7ziytev1eyylgk.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vws6k7ny4hqcpbt1esne8obotfpb48bjab7ziytev1eyylgk.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"When Life Won't Wait \u2014 RVS Duds Blog","metaDescription":"Faith came home last night in a bright green vintage VW van. She's asleep on her bed. The scrambled eggs stayed down. We keep going. That's all there is to it.","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":56009,"title":"RVS DUDS! - A Thread Worth Pulling.","url":"\/blog\/rvs-duds-a-thread-worth-pulling\/","urlTitle":"rvs-duds-a-thread-worth-pulling","division":431858,"description":"One woman, a growing pile of thrifted fabric, a cup of builder's tea and an unpicker. This is where DUDS! ORIGINALS begins. A Thread Worth Pulling \u2014 the RVS DUDS! blog.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/195yhsp0wdaocolxvgu3vb2hofvbo2fb5d3v4ocuwecu0az5.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/195yhsp0wdaocolxvgu3vb2hofvbo2fb5d3v4ocuwecu0az5.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55622,"title":"The Dud Dogs \u2014 Harley The one nobody asked for. The one nobody could live without.","url":"\/blog\/the-dud-dogs-harley-the-one-nobody-asked-for-the-one-nobody-could-live-without\/","urlTitle":"the-dud-dogs-harley-the-one-nobody-asked-for-the-one-nobody-could-live-without","division":431858,"description":"Meet Harley. 75kg of Leonberger, Deb's 50th birthday gift and the Gallimore family's unofficial Emotional Support Dog. He has no certificate. He doesn't need one. He just knows.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4tb8brda3tsoe1au5n6wuvrajlg7fyzuoby0qfocnsam3ndk.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4tb8brda3tsoe1au5n6wuvrajlg7fyzuoby0qfocnsam3ndk.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55768,"title":"Jed \u2014 Chief Ambassador. Available by Appointment to Ruby Only. RVS Duds Dud Dogs \u2014 No. 3","url":"\/blog\/jed-chief-ambassador-available-by-appointment-to-ruby-only-rvs-duds-dud-dogs-no-3\/","urlTitle":"jed-chief-ambassador-available-by-appointment-to-ruby-only-rvs-duds-dud-dogs-no-3","division":431858,"description":"If you've been following the Dud Dogs you'll already know Moose \u2014 Chief of Security, professional counter leaner, theoretical intimidator. And Harley \u2014 75kg of emotional support with no brakes and absolutely no concept of personal space. Now meet Jed","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ewzqopxchp8tuktfkmwgjaarw2yqrzfa9baxvnbwkrivtokt.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ewzqopxchp8tuktfkmwgjaarw2yqrzfa9baxvnbwkrivtokt.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}