Liverpool adios....return to Castlenel.
A wee recap
Since I left Castlenel in February I have been more than usually busy with my work. I have newish work with Kings Trust I have a lot more people to supervise ,95 percent of them leave me very tired.
I am always amazed and concerned at how much stress loss and grief people live with and still carry on.
Of course it is very dangerous to live that way and I imagine it is why Kings offer Supervision.
This reminds me of the story John often told on Stress Management courses.
A man was standing on the river bank watching a man on the opposite bank jumping into the river to save a man who was drowning. Every time he saved one man another came down the river and he kept jumping in to save them.... eventually he stopped jumping in and started running up the riverbank, the man who was observing shouted " why have you stopped there are more people drowning" the running shouted
" I am going up river to try to stop the son of a bitch who is throwing them in"
This is why John and I like to work with management as well as staff. Sadly it is my experience in Education and NHS and many other workplaces that people are still being thrown into the river.
I can only give a little bit of relief for one hour each month. People can discharge some of the top stress , it's not nothing, I can see and hear it does help. It is not enough though.
I am doing myself out of a job; two of my people have handed in their notice since I started to work with Kings about a year ago; they have come to understand the cost of the job and decided it is not worth it , another has gone off work and had the courage to have the doctor put on her sick note "work related stress". I wonder how long it will be until the organisation link my work with these peoples decisions.
Apart from work, I have been catching up with friends and family. I had a lovely read aloud evening for my dear friends Patsy and Kev in honour of their 80th birthday's this year. I had banners and sparklers and bubbles. Lovely food little gifts, Tony played a medley of Irish music and all the readings were beautiful.
The same week we had a celebration for Lucy's birthday. which was a lovely evening ending with Andrew making the pancakes for dessert ,this has become a family tradition on Lucy's birthday.
I had two mini breaks in Woolton while Andrew and Lucy were in Brugge for Lucy's birthday weekend then away snowboarding with friends.
I have had a new grand niece Maisie, and a new grand nephew James, this year.
I am going to Balloch in August for Sandra's 77th birthday( we will both be 77 for one month till I turn 78 in September. ) Sandra is my Irish Twin.
I hope to meet Maisie in August and see more of my brothers and sisters grand children. I would love to go to Brussels in September to meet James.
I have been very busy with work in the communal house. I organised Jimmy the painter to do the hallway. The front door to be maintained, then Jimmy came back to paint the door,.The lock on the front door broke so I had to get a lock smith to repair that. It all looks good, it is also a lot to do on top of my own things.
There is no one else here to do it so it lands on my shoulders. I have also been organising some painting and getting new blinds fitted in Castlenel. It is all done now, I am looking forward to seeing it all, and to having a more relaxing time in Castlenel this month.( Inshalla)
I had one afternoon at Fact to see the latest Elvis film. It was wonderful. It was filmed during his prime when he was beautiful and full of life and hope.
I enjoyed an afternoon at Woolton Cinema to see Back to the Future. I had seen Still on Andrew'sTV when I was in Woolton and was very touched by Michael J Fox.
That was why I chose this film. I was amazed at how good it was. I saw it with the boys decades ago but not since. I adored everything but especially the opening scenes and the ending. So good.......so good ...so good.
On Mother's Day I went to St George's Hall for A Night at the Opera.....sensational.
This is my favourite book so far this year I finished it yesterday.
Today is April 7th a day I have been looking forward to .I fly to Alicante this evening at 7.05 and Frank will be there to meet me and whisk me up to Castalla and lovely Castlenel.
April 8th
Castlenel.
LA
I had a fairly uneventful journey last night . It was great to see Frank waiting for me at Alicante Airport.
We had a lovely run up to Castalla .the roads were quiet and the lights from all the wee towns and villages were twinkling.
I love the moment when you can see the Castalla Castle in the distance it lifts my spirits, then the drive through Castalla late at night when no one is around. It feels quite magical to me.
Frank parked at the town hall and brought my case up to the house and took it straight up to my bedroom.
for me.
Sofia put the heating on in the kitchen the lounge and the bedroom for me yesterday afternoon and bought me some milk. I feel so blessed to have them here looking after Castlenel and looking out for me.
I then took my usual walk around the house looking in all the rooms, I was so happy when I saw the two green persianas one in the LA to replace the one that was ruined and one in Room of Requirement " Phil's old room" the room looks so fresh and clean now , its a very pale shade of grey, and looks well against the blue shutters the green persiana looks great too and give privacy in that room now.
The PJ2 bathroom still takes my breath away when I opened the door...and the new kitchen chairs look great too.
It was very late but I still opened the 3 euro sauv blanc and had a glass of wine on the balcony.
I heard midnight chiming twice...more magic.
I was full of life and energy I unpacked and wandered around the house some more.
I finally went to bed about 1.30 AM and slept till 6.30 AM I was wide awake so stayed up and brought out all my precious things ,angels, books pens and pads, jigsaws incense burners.etc.
I love unpacking my trunks and placing my things around the house.
Matthew the painter had put all the books and dvds from Phil's room into the lounge along with the curtain rail and curtains. I dealt with them as best I could but it is up to Andrew and Philip what they want to keep or give away.
Last autumn when I was here I took about thee bin bags of books to the library at the Casa de Cultura They might do that with Phil's books or they may prefer to keep them.
I told Matthew the painter not to put the shelves back, they were so old I brought them from Ireland so they could not go back in there.
I worked for an hour this morning before I went up to make a cup of tea which I had on the balcony.It was a warm beautiful morning. I listened to the church bells chiming 8.00 and 9.00 . Last time I rarely heard the bells because of the hight winds.
I then had a sort out of my summer clothes. I did my first laundry and hung it on the balcony in the warm sunshine. The second load is on while I am typing this.
The Mercadonna delivery came about 11 AM and the fridges are both full of my favourite things from the local supermarket...like Vishy Catalan, cartons of gazpacho which I have at breakfast time and local cheese.
I will go to the bank after lunch to get Matthew's money for his painting work and the money for Frank, he paid for the persianas.
PM
After my trip to the bank I went to Peuhen for a coffee and low and behold Matthew was there. I gave him his money and he gave me a hug. His girlfriend Valerie works there he was in having lunch and chatting to her.
I said I was still thinking about having the lounge done he said he meant to say I don't need to pay the VAT if I pay in cash which means it would bring the price down to 350 euro. He also mentioned he had noticed the cellar wall when he went dow to get Franks ladders.He thought it looked pretty bad, but as it is not a ( some kind of wall that is important) it is not urgent .He said I might get someone to look at it.I said many have then walked away and money is a issue.He thinks its a few days work and it could well be done for a few hundred euro he might know someone. I said to let me have his friends number and lets' get a quote for the to do list.
He came in this evening with Raol , he called first. ( not a builder but an older man who has a lot of experience ) they are going to do some research and ask other builders they know for their input...if all else fails they think are able to do something themselves . They seem to think it is connected to the rain getting in somewhere ; it has to be stripped back and some kind of waterproofing put in.....over time with the build up it could protrude again...no way of knowing.
I will reflect for a while before deciding about the LA and the cellar..
Two things happened today which surprised me.
I tried out the A/C unit in the bathroom to make sure it was working ,not because I needed it.
It did not come on. I quickly decided it was the control panel needed batteries. I found some in the coffee table in LA. I fitted them to no avail. I then called Susanna Vincete's wife to ask her if he could pop in to take a look before I leave in May, he had repaired the unit in January.
He arrived two hours later and identified that the batteries I put in were " caput" a word he likes. I brought up the bag of batteries from LA and he quickly told me a lot of them were also caput.He found two good ones put then in and hey presto the unit came to life. He told me which batteries to keep and which to throw away. I had no idea batteries have a shelf life. He did not charge me , he seemed quite tickled by the whole thing.
The next thing was the calor gas top yet again was not connected to the gas bottle. I did what Frank showed me to do last time but the gas did not come through; Frank was working late so Sofia came round with all the children just after Matthew and Raol left. She did what I did and no gaz came through ,the bottle had gas in it. We tried a third time and this time we waited longer and eventually the gas came through. We all cheered including Edith and Aaron.
I assume Maria disconnected the bottle after I left.
What is amazing to me is the speed which I got help about , the gas the a/c unit and the cellar.
People help me out of kindness not looking for money.
April 9
I had a wonderful sleep last night I did not waked till 9.20 AM. I usually don't sleep too well for a day or two around any travelling. I felt wonderful, it was a beautiful morning and no one was coming ... what bliss as yesterday it was like Sauchiehall Street in here.
I spent the first few hours tidying and sorting boxes of art things; cables; and some boxes in my window seat which are full of sentimental things I can't bear to part with.
A post card from my dad from Inveraray " sitting at the pier, wish you were here, mum and dad" in dad's writing. A box John made me in Inveraray covered with tartan paper at a time were were so broke we could not buy each other gifts. In that box and some silly but precious momentous including the keys to 21 Hope Street.
I noticed that the wee shoulder bag I keep the bank card and the key to the kitchen cabinet in was looking a bit " shilpit" old and shabby. I thought I will buy a new one in Hong Da; then I remembered I had noticed a bag of Phil's in the foyer on the coat stand. I went down and there it was, blue and grey with cool written on it in blue and orange. I went through it to make sure it was empty as I was going to wash it in the washing machine. I found tucked away in a corner Phil's ear plugs and somehow seeing them gave me a wee pang ,I felt sad.
A lot had happened in my first 36 hours; I am going to publish this; then probably weekly after that.
I am sitting in El Garret looking over the rooftops to the distant hills. It is a beautiful day.
I am happy.
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