I am going mad

 I am going mad.  I thought I had a holiday booked for the weekend of April 21st, for four days.  I thought I had bought the train tickets after booking the accomodation.  

Then I was asked to dog sit,  in Croatia, so not a holiday, but I agreed provided I could get home in time to recover long enough to go on my holiday, only now I have discovered I have not booked my holiday accomodation.  I am going mad..  Had I known this I could have stayed longer in Croatia.  

So now the question is do I still try and go on my holiday, in which case I will have to book some accomodation except that it has gone up in price, or do I just resign myself to loosing the train trips!

Meanwhile, it might seem like I am already on holiday as I am enjoying the sunshine in Croatia, but really it is just dog sitting but with the great joy of doing it here :)

 

The Cheats Route to Santiago De Compostela - fly there. I know not very green.

Thinking I was about to get a dog, I thought I must have a quick holiday before they arrive, where have I always wanted to go to and the answer was Galicia, with a focus on Santiago de Compostela.  I first heard of Galicia in my teens when my Dad explained they were blue eyed and dark haired, which appealed to me (now I did not even notice) and then on various trips to Spain The Camino became almost mythical.  So I can now claim to have wondered all the streets and all the streets again. I even went to the Palm Sunday service, which i enoyed I understood the word for word for example,  and the welcome to Pilgrims and for reasons I do not fully understand it just felt right to be there.  It then felt right to sit in the sun and have Sunday dinner and though the next two days were cold I managed to dip in very briefly to La or A Coruna which I studied in the Penisular Wars and most importantly enjoyed sitting in bars having coffee or wine and just relaxed.      And I was definitely a little envious of the people with their back packs who had the satisfaction of knowing that they, unlike me, had walked there.   I need to get fitter. 

La Coruna

Highly recommended the Galician Museum. 

                                                                                                                 

The Beginning of Holy Week, masked penitents. 

The Cathedral. 

A Yak in the Classroom and Women in Revolt.

 Have finally seen the film " The Yak in the Classroom." Of course it is lovely to see Bhutan and to hear Dzongka spoken, but the subject just also took me back to the village I worked in in Kyrgystan 10 years ago.  My village was not as basic, but the humanity and love of music and animals was so similar.  Heartfelt. 

Years ago at Tribal Earth, one of the other gate people was a woman called Christine, who said she had no claim to fame.  Which given that it turned out that she was a well known naturist artist was not quite true. Interestingly several august art institutes have been looking at women's recent activist art so her art has suddenly been on show at the Barbican, Tate and at the William Morris museum.  I did not get to see the latter exbition ,but went to the first over Christmas and have just got to the Tate this week.  Luckily I went with a friend who was much more active in the women's movement than I was and she knew lots of the people represented and had met some of them too.   One of the art works featured Cherry Groce, whose shooting set off the Brixton Rights.  Her brother is now called Mooji and this week my son is back with him on security duty,  is that life imitating art?  

Tate a Tate Trees

The end of a long walk!

 Many moons ago, before I was ill I was part of a community tow path walking group.  We did bits of the walk from Cambridge to Kings Lynn every few weeks going up by railway and walking the next chunk to the next station. We  had almost got to Lynn when I became ill so I have always wanted to complete the walk, but on my own and now useless at walking I really did not know how to do it.  In the last few years I have researched the route and pondered doing it, but even though it was only about another 7 miles that needed doing, it felt like a huge mountain to climb.  And then I suddenly found a solution.  I found a B and B half way down the route and that gave me the confidence ot do it and of course in the end, even though I am tired this week, I did it despite the rain and I did it much more quickly than I could have ever imagined.

It does not mean I am about to become a major long distance walker, but it gives me hope.  

I hope we did you proud.

Very grateful to have so many people come to the funeral and the party afterwards was a proper celebration.  

Seemed strange to be able to go into Durham and Bishop because I had time to go there and come back and then not to be able to share with Dad, the things he would have enjoyed.  

The family pulled together to do the funeral, especially the food and everything, but some things not as one would like.   But mostly it was a celebration. 

Definitely the end of an era and probably the end of an era.

When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions”

Dad, Jeff, who was really struggling when seen at Christmas, lost his appetite and therefore had nothing to sustain him.  I did not know how to respond,  I was away, and perhaps stupidly didn't rush up there immediately, instead planning to get up north mid week but by then it was too late. I am glad to say he was not alone though at the end.  Thank you to my sister for making his last few years so positive and being there throughout his recent and more serious illness.        

Dad, ,he insisted I call him that, was not always the easiest of people to live with, but I owe him my life. Much as I love and loved my real Dad, he was not the person who spent a lifetime looking after me, my brother and my son.   Jeff, took us on,  he helped educate us,  cloth us, holiday us, treat us, stimulate us, everything.  There is nothing one can say that can say how much value one places on that.  I am very very very glad we had good times together,  for example on lovely trips to Lille, Portugal and Carcassonne, or when I saw him sing with his choir,  or just go up on the moors for a ride.  I am very glad that he went up and stayed with my sister because of the pandemic and had a family life again in his declining years.  

I had gone away because I knew that there were hard times to come, they just came sooner and perhaps ended sooner than expected. But other worrying things are going on too and sadly that means fewer visits to the coast at present.  I have been very very sad before when things have gone wrong in other people's relationship,  but on top of Dad's death, the blows have come heavier even than normal.    However, in the weekend before everything fell apart I was just blissfully ignorant in the Cotswolds enjoying good food and good company on a walking holiday with HF.  I was also having a mini challenge walking across a very muddy field, hoping I was going in the right direction and then falling over just as I got to my destination - Batsford Arboretum. .   There was something so calming walking amongst the giant trees and sitting in the winter sun with the valley stretched out in front of one. 

Bourton on Water

Everything Christmas Should Be and a lovely NYE.

 I am definitely feeling bluesy this second of January but that is mostly because it has just been so nice being with everyone over Christmas.  Even though it sometimes meant clearing up poo or having a very very smelly dog all was good.  H and R excelled themselves with food from the first night Christmas Eve, Eve, party to the final get together. H also had games for us and in between we all went to the panto, most went to the light show,  I went to the cinema with N, N and R for my first in cinema experience of anime.  And N and I went up to Lindisfarne and Bamburgh Castle our last day together.  Bliss.   And then amazingly a good train journey despite the badish weather predictions and onto Maylandsea for a great couple of days watching good movies including Killers of the Flower Moon,  having a few drinks and laughs and walks. Lovely.   

Bradwell - early Christian Church

Sadly and terribly ironic really, Christmas was cancelled in Bethlehem this year.   And now Japan is struggling with yet another earthquake.  We never know when we will go.  J has hung on till Christmas and is if anything better than before, but over Christmas another art club member died and tragically so did a young friend.   It is against such sadness that the joys are to be so grateful for. 

Bamburgh Castle Christmas display

Lindisfarne Island