A new job

It’s quite weird after 22 years in the industry to find myself working in another field, sort of still in the industry, but under a different capacity.

A few weeks ago my daughter sent me an advert looking for a manager of a residential home.

Initially I was like “oh no, not managerial ” but I applied as the position sounded quite interesting.

After 2 interviews with various managers of the complex, I start in my new position today 🤪

The downside of this job is the getting up early morning, and an hours bus ride.

But I have a book I’m reading, so I’ll make the most of the time.

Wish me luck 🤞🤞🤞

Feed the birds

This is my all-time favourite scene and song from a movie…EVER!!! Mary Poppins is my absolute favourite film, without a doubt its what inspired and delighted me in my first hours in England; the chimney pots, and prompted me to exclaim “I could live here” – I’d been in England for approximately 2 hours when I said that, and I’ve never looked back or changed my mind…except for occasionally threatening to move to Italy or Portugal on shitty weather days – like today 🤔 😅

I’ve sat on the steps of St Paul’s cathedral, in as close to this position as possible and had my hot chips, on one of my many forays into the city.
I can never get through listening to or singing this song without crying.
Even as I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes. And I’m not even sure why…coz I don’t like pigeons😳 😂😂😂

Feed the birds 🐦

The truth, unpalatable as it is

I 100% agree with Chris Packham, we are not using the right language. It is astonishing that we do live on this planet!! Breakdown. Destroyed. Extermination. He won’t be thanked for this. He will be derided. He will be criticised. He will be accused of doom and destruction. Governments don’t have the courage or determination to change the narrative. They have no will or stomach for it. And capitalism won’t allow it. There are too many countries that are hell-bent on destroying their neighbours, and there are too many destructive dictatorial Governments for us to turn this around. There are a lot of individuals and some organisations that do care, but its like the bat in the programme I was watching on BBC3 a couple of nights ago…’They’ are in the minority and will be overwhelmed. The only way this planet will recover and new species to develop is for humans to become extinct. And so far some individuals and Governments are making good progress on that front.

If you care to watch the brief reel. It’s on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/reel/3279537672344085?sfnsn=scwspmo

Europeans…

Sometimes (a lot of the time) being white British and European (as in white skin) really makes me feel ashamed. Europeans (as in people with white skin) really are just shit. Now I know that doesn’t apply to everyone, and I know a lot has changed in the last few decades, but Seriously…the way dark skinned people (of all races and cultures) have been and are treated is just utterly disgusting…Reading memoirs of world travellers is unsettling and paints a harsh picture of colonialism, racism and white ‘superiority’.

Be kind. Be grateful.

I met a man yesterday afternoon. A man who studied to be a solicitor. He worked for the UN. He worked to help refugees. He was articulate and intelligent, with way more qualifications than I. We chatted on our 30 minute journey to the station, and bemoaned the terrible reasons why people had to flee their homelands, reluctantly, with fear, and in the knowledge that they might never see their homes, homelands or families left behind, ever again. He has no family here.
He is a taxi driver. He has light brown skin. He is from Iraq. He has experienced horrible racism from British people, both white and coloured. He longs to be working in law again, but is unable to afford the fees required to study and pass the relevant exams etc.
So he drives people around, some of whom openly say “why do all these refugees keep coming here?”
I have no idea how to express my anger at people who live in what is currently a safe country, a wealthy country, a country that, along with many other European countries, which through colonialism, greed; acquisition of minerals, gold, oil and much more, have caused many of the problems in foreign lands from whence these refugees now flee – and still do.
The majority of refugees would rather have stayed in their country of birth, with their families, in their own homes and cultures.
If you can’t be kind, or understanding, then just shut up and don’t show your ignorance, lack of understanding or compassion.
Yes we have problems here, the cost of living is high, more children are living in poverty than is acceptable in a wealthy country, the government is hell-bent on destroying our NHS, we’re taxed into the ground, and have a party in control who are more interested in fleecing their citizens than ensuring their well-being BUT we’re not being persecuted for our religion, or restricted because we are women, hunted down for our sexual choices and killed for not being ‘straight’, or bombed out of our homes. Yet.
If you meet a refugee, try to remember how privileged you are, and be kind, because you have not walked in their shoes.

World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys

Good morning from a grey overcast Dover, Kent, England, UK 🇬🇧 😀 😉

Geez, I do wish this weather pattern would move on over now and we can finally get going with summer. It’s still very chilly with a sharp wind blowing, and feels more like autumn than spring/summer!

Last night, after my client had gone to bed, I watched a TV programme – for the first time in months!! ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’ on Channel 5. Its narrated by Bill Nighy who has such a beautiful voice.

I was so excited to see the route; the train left from Yorkshire and travelled through Durham and into Northumberland!!! It called in at some of the places where I stopped on my jaunt along the Northumberland Coast Path in 2021, albeit going from south to north, via Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and into Scotland and ending in Edinburgh.

It stopped in Craster and near Lindisfarne, and into Berwick-upon-Tweed.

I love the little snippets of history that they talk about and learned something last night….the expression ‘on tenterhooks’ comes from the fish industry and making kippers. The fish, crasters, are filleted and hung up on hooks before being hung up in a shed for smoking, and producing smoked kippers. Pretty neat eh! Never too old to learn something new 😉

It was thrilling to see all the places I had visited during my walk. Happy memories

Have a great day folks…

I’ve been away too long!

Time is such a weird construct! It feels like yesterday I posted my previous blog, but it’s been
absolutely months!!! It doesn’t feel that long, and yet so much has happened in the past 9
months that I can hardly comprehend it.
Starting with current events; my daughter’s father passed away on Saturday 20th and although he and
I have not been in a relationship for over 43 years, his death has raised all sorts of emotions. My
daughter is absolutely exhausted with crying and feels bereft at his loss. There are so many
emotions it’s difficult to untangle them all. Sadness because she hasn’t had a very long or close
relationship with him since they first met in 1995. Sadness because he lived in South Africa and
for the last 20 years she has lived in the UK with only the occassional trip back to SA to visit.
Sadness because he will now miss all his grandson’s life events…like first day at school.
Frustration and a bit of anger because he chose to not have treatment when cancer was
diagnosed. Although she obviously respected his decision, it was frustrating because he chose
some quackery treatment instead of treatment that could have given him many more years….or
maybe not. And there is the sliding door. We just don’t know. The grief of losing a parent, even if
they’re not close. The sudden realisation that one of her parents has died…it’s the next level.
Grandparents die and then parents. That raises all manner of fears.

We had a replica Spanish Galleon visit our little harbour recently. It is just magnificent and I was
really sad to see it go. We boarded for a visit and loved exploring. My grandson was full of
questions about everything and took it all in.

Just over 3 weeks ago I camped out on The Mall for my first ever coronation. Not that I am a
supporter of Charlie and his ex-mistress, but I am a fan of the British pomp and pageantry that
they do so well. Oh my gosh, those bands and the horses. Amazing. And the coach was fabulous.
I’ll do a blog on this fab fab event at a later stage.

I have two additional ‘grandson’s in the form of new kittens that my daughter and family have
adopted!! They are just so cute! One is ginger and the other pitch black. They are so cuddly and
my human grandson just loves them to bits.

I have just come through what has to be the most unbearable winter I have ever experienced. I
moved into a new flat last year in April and had the pleasure of enjoying summer and my
garden….although that didn’t last too well in the summer heat last year and much of it was obliterated in
the heat. The only saving grace I had is that I work away as a live-in Carer for 2 weeks of every
month…somehow that helped me to cope… by God it was cold. I spent most days in bed with
the electric blanket on just to get warm! Some days it was so cold that I could see my breath
even though I was in bed with the electric blanket on! I would not have coped if not for the
government handout for those awful 6 months. My flat is semi-basement and has little to no
insulation.

My daughter and I were in the papers…not national news, but a small article about having a
‘cheap as chips’ (my expression, not the reporters!) funeral plan. I had recently (last year)
decided that when I die I do not want a fancy smancy funeral that costs thousands of £s.

But wanted the cheapest possible exit. So to that end I did some research and discovered the
cheapest plan; what they refer to as a direct plan, and coincidentally a reporter was looking for
people who had decided on that route to interview. So I contacted her and we got our/my story
into the papers. Frankly I’d much rather my daughter got as much of my money as what I have
left, than it goes to a funeral home for what? flowers and a fancy coffin, hymns etc etc…no they
can have a private memorial service/get together/knees up Mother Brown type affair afterwards
if they wish. But no funeral. I can’t imagine anything worse!

The Queen died last year in September. It threw me into a massive spiral of grief. I attended her
lying in state to say my good byes and attended her funeral. The Queue as it became known was
incredible. The spirit of goodwill was impressive and made the hours of standing bearable.
Entering the Great Hall and seeing her coffin on the dias was almost overwhelming; the
atmosphere was reverent and respectful. Camping out on The Mall for the funeral was just
extraordinary, and when her coffin came past you could have heard a pin drop it was so hushed.

I’ve semi-retired myself now LOL and try to not work more than 2 weeks of each month but it
does require quite a lot of sacrifice…. like no long distance walks or spontaneous trips away. But
the upside is that I get to spend a lot more time with my grandson, and when I’m home, I have
him for the day on Monday and Thursday. I take him to his activities, and once a month, I take him
for horse-riding lessons. He loves them…and is so very confident on the horse, it’s an absolute
delight to see.

I’ve finally started writing my memoirs. This in itself has raised all manner of emotions that I’m
grappling with. I think it’s going to be a fairly long-term project, but after the death of my
daughter’s father, I feel the need to hurry it up. So to that end I’ve been writing away like mad, and the last few days I’ve been compiling a list of all my favourite songs from when I was about 9 years old, till more recently.

I’ve travelled to some amazing places in the last year for work and added to my growing list of
Domesday Book places visited. I’ll have to write a few blogs about these places for sure. Some of
them are so beautiful. I also had the joy of working in Richmond for 2 weeks. Although the job
itself was quite challenging, being able to take a long walk through Kew Gardens and along the
banks of the Thames from Kew to Rochmond was blissful. I used to love walking that route when
my daughter and I lived in Richmond….many years ago.

I’ve now completed 26 Conqueror Challenges and am slowly working my way through another 3.
It’s been more of a challenge lately due to my flat….having a place to call home has been so
amazing that I can hardly tear myself away, and my walking has fallen by the wayside.

Talking of home; I’ve taught my grandson how to make pancakes LOL and now whenever he
spends the day at my place, we have to make pancakes. He is so proud of himself for
remembering all the equipment and all the ingredients. It’s such fun!

So yeah, life has been both eventful and normal. The years are flying by and I’m 2 years closer to
70 than I was last year. Going forward, I had been planning on walking the Portuguese Coastal Camino
for a 2nd time in September with one of my younger sisters.

But…it seems that she may not be able to do it after all….even though we’ve been planning it for the last 2 years. So we shall have
to wait and see.
If however we do not walk it, I’m going to do the South Downs Way instead. My grandson starts
school this year (dear God, he’s far too young) and life is going to change quite a lot when he is
on a Monday to Friday schedule. I’m definitely going to keep his school breaks for planning trips
and adventures and have already diarised the whole school year’s trips into my diary.

I have a new computer now and hopefully once I get all my photos sorted (over 5,500 still on my
phone LOL) I’ll start blogging in earnest again.
Sorry I’ve been away so long, I truly do not know where the days go! and some days I think my
father was right….time goes quicker the older you get. Is it maybe something to do with our
mortality? We are racing towards the end of our time on this planet, and as the years go by, you
start to realise that actually….the sands of time are running out.

So hi 👋 ☺️ I’ll see you again soon 🤞🤞🤞

My Child Did Exist

I’ve seen so many posts recently on Instagram and Facebook of posts sharing the loss of a child, whether it’s pre-birth, still-birth (born sleeping) or from SIDS and various accidents or illness (an alarming number to cancer).

Each and every one is heart-breaking 🥺😢💔 and I can’t imagine the pain of that loss.

And yet, so often, folks are uncomfortable with listening to or hearing about that loss. They try to change the subject or say things like “oh you can try again ” as if you’ve bought a chicken from Tesco and it’s off…thrown in the trash. That’s such a horrible thing to say “you can try for another one”.

Just listen…loss is loss, no natter at what stage or age, and especially when it’s a baby or child.
It’s not something you ‘get over’. It’s a pain and trauma parents carry for the rest of their lives.

I know of a wee lassie, born sleeping in February; Maisie. I think about her often and about her Mama who is struggling so bravely. She shared her story on Facebook and its had the most incredible response, with people writing Maisie’s name in the sand at the beach and on mountain tops,  right around the world.
A small thing, but of great comfort to her mother. Support from around the world acknowledging that her little girl existed.

It’s also been a real eye-opener, quite shocking really, at how the medical profession, more often than not, are totally cold and uncaring and even brutal in how they manage miscarriage and death of tiny babies.
Some of the stories have reduced me to tears in their stark brutality…at the death of the parents hopes, and dreams. The forever “what ifs”.
This is such a beautiful quote I’d like to share.
I hope folks, especially mothers, can keep this in mind and just listen
It’s important.

Is it hot? Or is it 🥵 hot?

16th Century Houses

In my line of work I travel a lot and often get to stay in fabulous, centuries old houses in quirky villages, many of which are mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book.

I’m currently working and staying in this fabulous 16th century, listed house. The main part of the house is in this image; a quintessential English house. The rest of the house which leads off to the right is added onto and a converted barn.

A pretty little house

It’s a twisty, winding type of house with long passages and rooms leading off; the exterior replicates the original house. It’s just gorgeous

The village nearby is indeed a Domesday Book village with a fantastic old church that retains vestiges of the original medieval wall paintings/decorations.

The village of Stanford Dingley is a good walk through fields of long grass awash with buttercups, and along shady woodland lanes. The village is ever so pretty under normal circumstances, but look so gay and colourful with the Platinum Jubilee bunting and flags.

I love the plaque that’s been installed near the pub

Platinum Jubilee 2022