Ah, Antonia. If I lived within a 100 miles of you I would suggest a weekly dinner or lunch half way in between.
It took my friendship group a long time to rebuild, and like you I experienced a lot of rejection at first. But all I a can say is that persistence pays off. Also I moved - and that might be an option. Or consider spending a summer in another place, although with pets that can be hard.
And yes, I heard a lot of praise, but not a lot of preparedness to spend time with me. Sadly a lot of married friends have a problem with a spare woman. Spare men get invited out a lot. I know because I shared a house for a very enjoyable period with three other really lovely people [another option] We had a huge house, and had all been in long term relationships, so we knew the territory, and never argued about the stupid stuff. Also we laughed a lot. So there were three rather beautiful women and a man. Great guy, but honestly, no Adonis. However, he was a hot property, but we got invited out a whole lot less. He is now in another [disastrous imo] relationship, and one of the women is getting married next week to a lovely guy.
I suspect that you may be living in a very small pool where you are a big fish. And your career may take you in another direction .... everything you are doing is preparing you fo rthe next bit of your life.
What I have also learnt is that when all doors appear closed, another one opens.
