France - part 2

H and I met Ewan and his Mum, Val at the port in St Malo - Ewan had spent 4 days running around with his Mum who is more active than he, they even managed a spot of country dancing - and there was H and I, the opposite end of the equation, trying our best to be as inactive and stationary as possible. So while Val and H headed back to Guernsey, Ewan and I headed off to Dinan for a spot of lunch...

...I am sure Val mentioned something about a lovely picnic in the park with a bottle of sparkles, well at least this is what i had in mind, nice picnic rug, lovely fresh French salad, sun overhead, flowers around us...hmm, one must learn never to have any expectation as we ended up - admittedly - in a park, but squashed to the side of the path sitting on roll mat between two benches with lots of caged birds and even deer within sight - Ewan tried to convince me that they were happy birds and deer but I don't think they looked really happy, more so bored to tears with the limited amount of space they had to move, let alone fly.

Being an increasingly strict vegetarian now on an increasingly ethical basis as much as the fact I don't like the taste and texture of meat, nor the energy of eating a dead animal/bird, I found the whole experience rather stressful, to say nothing of the fact that all the other visitors to the park were walking within 50 centimetres of where we sat and clearly thought us most crazy when there were benches either side (you daft English, why do you sit on the floor...) and stared at us eating our feeble attempt at a picnic. Still, on a positive note, the sun was shining, we were surrounded by trees and flowers and we were together, in France, hoorah!!

From Dinan and the not-quite-so-romantic-picnic (and yet it was in its own way, thank you darling...but what did happen to the bubbles???!!!)we laughed our way out of Brittany and into the wonderful Normandy, I love it over there, the light really is different, the clouds really are more magnificent and the green landscape is really rather beautiful. We stopped for a drink on the way, sitting outside a Tabac in a little village with traffic passing us by, the French really have done much to simplify life, it doesn't get much better than this. I am being serious.



Finally we made it to the Mason's farm, well Tessa and Carl's farm to be exact where they live with their lovely children, Evie (5), and Ollie (9). Ewan met Carl when they both studied arboriculture at college and they met Tessa around that time too. Tessa and Carl "opted out" of conventional living in Reading about 7 years ago and have been establishing their wonderful farm ever since. They now have a plethora of animals and really do live the back to basics good life. I have visited with Ewan a few times and absolutely love being there, it is always a totally grounding, relaxing and inspiring experience. The views are great and it is peaceful and natural.

We were visiting to celebrate Tessa's 40th birthday together with other friends and family but we were the first to arrive s took great delight in choosing our tent pitch with good views into the distance, flat ground and good feng shui, Ewan is a bit of a tent specialist and all aspects were considered before we actually hammered a tent peg into place! We were just finishing setting ourselves up when Nige, Ewan and Carl's other best friend (Nige also having trained as an arborist at college with them) arrived with his 3 children, Jacob (16), Ferg (14) and Millie (13).



The next day we were joined by Tessa's brother and sister with their respective families and by Kate and Andy, Ewan's sister and brother-in law, so the campsite began to fill up quite quickly. Very wisely - and because their drainage could not cope - Carl and Ewan had, a few weeks earlier, installed compost toilets for the campers and on that Friday when everyone was arriving we all helped to establish outdoor solar showers - basically a wooden structure with a plank of wood across the top on which sat a bucket with a black shower bag inside and a shower head dangling from it - the shower bag designed to heat the water by the sun...to an extent! All very clever really.

That same day the marquee, bar and dancing area were set-up with a music system and everything, nothing like living in the middle of nowhere and not really having to worry about disturbing neighbours with any loud late night music. I have to say it was impressive stuff, very organised, amazing how quickly it came together - the campsite, the facilities and a social area together like that. Well done guys, and indeed Tessa, much appreciated. Without realising it we had all helped in one way or another to establish our own little community and as we all know, community is the way forward in this disintegrated (and yet global) world we now live!



So with the majority of the campers present we spent Friday night testing the music system, catching up, drinking wine, eating food, the children playing on the trampoline...actually hang on a minute, even I managed to get on the trampoline although it was a touch scary as one of the sides of netting is broken and there was a moment when I was a touch concerned I may fall off the trampoline...or alternatively fall onto one of the children...incredible how one becomes a touch more fearful as one ages! And we danced too. Lots of dancing, bare foot, on the grass, there was even a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. We all love to dance.



Saturday was the day of the main party and Ewan and I set off early to go and pick up Charles, another of Ewan's friends, from a nearby train station, before stopping for a cup of tea at a local Tabac and then searching for a petrol station (why is it that when you desperately need petrol you can't find a petrol station) and stocking up on supplies at a local supermarket before heading back to the campsite.

A few hours later Ewan and I managed to sneak off to the local outdoor swimming pool for a much needed swim (the sun was intense those first few days and there was very little shade on the campsite!) and a much, much needed warm shower, not to say the campsite showers weren't up to scratch, just that you can't beat a proper shower from time to time!! Actually the camp site showers reminded me a little of Nepal. I gave up on the shower bag itself and opted for filling up 4 bottles of water from the outside tap and pouring them over me in the shower cubicle instead - actually washing my hair was easiest done by literally crouching down directly under the cold tap...like I used to do in Nepal!



So Saturday night was the main party night and we were joined by yet more people, I forget the term but a few English families who now live in France, plus some of Tessa and Carl's French friends and neighbours. A sheep had been slaughtered for the occasion (I chose to ignore this fact as I probably met that sheep last time I visited!) and was set to roast on the spit while yet more meat was cooked on the bbq. Tessa had very kindly prepared some vegetarian quiches and veggie kebabs with the veggies grown in her veggie garden for us veggies so all in all it was a bit of a feast.



It was a perfect night, the sun set was stunning and the clouds incredible, I even managed to capture this strange energy thing going on over the veggie patch, and the moon was 3 nights away from being full so it cast a lovely glow and I bored poor Millie with my tales of the moon's incredible feminine energy and the benefits of dancing naked in its glow, to say nothing of charging one's crystals and letting go of the old to make room for the new.



We danced for hours, Ewan was the main DJ and did a fantastic job, Millie and Jacob taught me many a dancing moves, they ar great groovers, barefoot dancing with the impending full moon, surrounded by friends, on a farm in rural France, I feel it is fair to say that Tessa thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party! As it happens Ewan and I managed to stay up with Carl and Tessa until 5.30am - see this is what drinking green tea all night does to you! I haven't ever done that before in my life and while it felt very strange going to bed when others are rising to meditate, it was a special time as it meant I not only got to see the moon rise but also set, the full cycle. If there is one thing I have learnt these last few months (and there have been many things believe me), flexibility is an important thing!



Sunday passed in a haze of tiredness yet we all managed a trip to the nearest beach an hour or so drive away for a much needed swim in the sea - there really is nothing like clearing your energy and waking yourself up than submerging yourself in sea water. It was warm too which is an absolute bonus! We even managed a game of beach cricket, I was useless and was out on my first bat but it was great fun all the same. We got some food on the way home and needless to say I was in bed rather early that night!!



Monday and our last day. After another lazy start we all headed off for a walk at the Little and Great Cascade, a local network of waterfalls, really beautiful and reminded me of walking through the jungle in Nepal, especially as Rhododendrons blossom in the Spring. From there we headed off to the local swimming pool where the majority of the group played a rather competitive game of water polo while I swam widths with a few of the women, great to submerge the body again!



Back at the farm I managed a Yoga practise while everyone else pottered. There is nothing quite like practising outside like this, reminds me again of Nepal when I lived in a rural village and every day would take my mat out onto the grassy patch below our guest house with views across the green valley and only the sound of nature filling my ears. Here too on the farm, looking across the valley and during the balancing poses focusing my eyes on a tree in the near distance, standing alone in the field as I too was doing, holding tree pose.

I have even mastered practising in the tent these days too, thankfully Ewan's tent is big enough for me to stand up and even stretch my arms up if I am practising sun salutations, amazing how we make do, even on the trek up to Everest Base camp I somehow managed to practise in the tiniest and coldest of places, dressed in my mountain gear, an altitude-induced headache banging my head, yet there is something so comforting about setting up one's mat, I guess it is the familiarity of it all, the fact that people leave you alone, the fact that you have come home, to this space, where you know all there is you need to know to feel safe and secure, in yourself. Hmm.



Anyhow our last night turned into a spontaneous 80s night. Another bbq (thank you to Andy for cooking Kate and I a much loved veggie dish on his camping stove), more music, more laughter, more trampolining and, I do believe, I even managed a game of snap with the children in the house (I gave up on the scrabble, I simply don't have the patience) and a huge amount of crazy dancing. Oh yes, we were all dancing queens that night, everyone let go to some well known and horrible enticing music, got to love it. I had to be encouraged to bed, once the dancing feet are out - and bearing in mind it was the night before the full moon thus everyone was a touch moon-wired - it is difficult to put them away to sleep!



Tuesday morning and time to take down the tent, packing up our stuff, a final trip to the compost toilet, lots of hugs and goodbyes, a few tears (I became rather attached to everyone and rather sad to leave as we really had a good go-with-the-flow energy going on out there) and talk of returning again soon, and then we were off, down the road to Mortain with Kate, Andy, Nige and his children, Charles, Ewan and I, for a quick cup of tea and a picnic in the park before heading the scenic way back to St Malo for our boat home.



All good times must come to an end, otherwise we'd take them foregranted and they would stop being anything other than ordinary...I have fantastic memories, fabulous photos (thank you Millie, Jacob and Ferg for taking some for me, you really captured the essence of the trip)and a sense that everything is okay, see, back to basics, living in the moment, day to day, surrounded by nature, with old and new friends who accept you just as you are...well this is the very essence of life surely.

xxxx

France - part one

Well I have just returned to Guernsey after an incredible 10 day holiday in France.

I spent the first 4 days with my friend H in Brittany, we took my car and drove to a campsite near Erquy, up on the coast. We managed to put the tent up within 20 minutes of arrival (no mean feat, helped of course by a glass of celebratory holiday sparkles) and were soon settled on our rug outside the tent, citronella burning and the stars overhead.

The weather was a touch temperamental but we managed an afternoon on the beach and another beside an estuary (note: do not bother attempting to swim in an estuary when the tide is going out as you can be walking for hours and still find that the water only comes up to knee height, plus the sludge under foot can be very sludgy and you never know what you may stand on next...not for the faint hearted!).

The rest of the time we just pottered around. The purpose of the trip was to completely relax and both of us found this rather more challenging than we expected - how difficult can it be to lie around reading books, eating salads, drinking tea(and indeed boiling the water on our little stove), chatting under the stars at night over a few glasses of sparkles, and sleep?

Well harder than you can imagine, especially the sleeping bit, I have a feeling we had the feng shui of the tent all wrong, we clearly should have given more thought to the placement of the door and the general slope of the ground as I am sure we would have slept better if we could have slept the other way around - head away from door and perhaps facing East - oh well never mind, we were just lucky (and I mean lucky as no thought went into it) that we pitched the tent under a tree, affording us some shade on the days that the sun blessed us with its presence.



Last time H and I travelled together with a car we drove along the Pacific Highway from San Francisco to LA and used the Sat Nav to find us Starbucks on route for our much needed tea fix. This time around we were using the Sat Nav to find us supermarkets, how times change. I find this difficult to admit but we actually spent over an hour looking for one particular supermarket as the Sat Nav, signage and indeed the detour around a particular town made it near on impossible to find it - and what a relief when we did, although I am not convinced it was ever worth the effort as it didn't sell humus! Ah the trials and tribulations of looking for a veggie-protein fix!

Still the whole trip was thoroughly enjoyable, the coastline around the area is stunning with all the different coloured ferns and there are lots of different coloured cows to look at too (you know me and my fascination with cows!), plus I always find you get this real sense of space driving around France, the clouds seem bigger and the light is different.



Camping is great fun too of course, offering a back to basics and an incredibly grounding experience, no electricity, no tables and chairs, just us, our tent, our blow-up mattresses, a rug, a cool bag and a little gas stove to make tea. I must admit we did get tent envy, it is quite incredible how much stuff people bring with them, and very clever too, hoovers and washing lines, let alone washing up bowls - now why did we not think of that, would have made the washing up far easier!

I like to think it was a restful break although H may disagree as I dropped her back at the boat looking more tired than when she arrived - a bout of my snoring (do I really snore?!) had kept her awake and when she had finally managed to get me to stop (I was oblivious, obviously!) she still couldn't sleep. Lucky old me though as I had a further 6 days of holiday to go...



Thank you H, great trip, just what I needed, hope you have caught up on your sleep since!!

xxxx

Our own Island - retreating on Lihou for a night

What better way to enjoy Friday the 13th then to spend the night on Lihou Island (http://www.lihouisland.com) singing songs and reading poetry around a blazing fire on the beach with friends, the moon shining in the background and the stars overhead.

There were 6 of us staying overnight, Ewan, his Mum, Val, Hayley, Carol, Mike and I and while we had not all spent time together before, it worked out very well. The tide covered the causeway about 5.45pm and we were then marooned, alone, on our very own Island for the night. I mean how many places in the world can you do that without it costing you an absolute fortune. Lucky us!



Ewan and I stayed on Lihou on our own in the winter of 2009, the same weekend that a snowy owl had taken up residence and we had such an incredible time, accidentally walking within a metre of the owl during one of our rambles and having the fortune to watch it flying away from us and sitting up on a rock at the far end of the Island.



This time there was no snowy owl but the Island was still as magical as ever. We cooked some food on the bbq and sat outside and shared salads too, views of Guernsey one way and the sun setting the other. We went for a walk and watched the seagulls flying off for the night before we settled on the beach at a spot chosen by Mike for our evening fire. Ewan, Mike and Val did a grand job of collecting driftwood and before long we were sitting together enjoying the heat, energy and light of a burning fire.



Mike made some improvised musical instruments by filling bottles with stones and knocking other stones together, we had a little sing song before we Hayley read us some of Hazif's poetry. The moon was shining in the background and we could see a cruise liner sailing past on the horizon.



I slept better than I have slept in a long time, there is something so relaxing about watching a fire, like tantrak, I guess it helps to release melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep. The tide was rising when we did wake up and it was raining and overcast, what a change form the day before. Still this did not deter us. Hayley and I practised Yoga together in the lounge with views of the sea and the Hanois lighthouse in the background, while Ewan and Mike cleared up the fire from the beach.



The 6 of us then sat around together in the conservatory eating breakfast, drinking tea and watching all the birds flying around and others resting on the rocks in front of us. The house does not have a TV and nor does it need one, there is nothing quite like watching nature, it is simply mesmerising.



Despite the rain Ewan and I went for a high tide swim and were amazed that the sea felt as warm as it did (as warm as the sea ever feels!). We were also amazed to find the beach littered with green pebbles, I have never seen pebbles that colour before, it must be a special Lihou thing. Warm sea or not, it was rather lovely to enjoy a warm shower afterwards!



After lunch we went for a walk. The Island is simply stunning, the grass is coated with tiny yellow, purple and pink flowers and there are birds everywhere. The light feels different somehow too, it really is a perfect place to connect with nature and retreat from the hectic pace of modern life. It was almost a little sad when the tide dropped and the causeway opened again and I was a little surprised how quickly people started waking across to visit what had been our own little Island!



Thank you to the Universe for making this such a magical 24 hours and thank you to Ewan, Val, Hayley, Carol and Mike for providing such great company with much laughter and merriment.



I am off to France with Hayley tomorrow for some camping fun and games before meeting Ewan on Thursday and heading to Tessa and Carl's farm in Normandy for Tessa's 40th birthday party - this is certainly an abundant Summer for us!

Simple August beauty

While it has been sunny on and off the last few days, I can't help feeling that autumn is in the air. There are berries everywhere and the hedgerows are particularly stunning. I have a particular favour, a very unassuming hedgerow in the lanes of St Andrew's that you could easily miss if you were in a hurry. Blackberries, red berries and honey suckle are all growing together around a cycling sign, a kind of back to nature combination, it made me smile and feel thankful for being alive...hoorah, it seems the darkness has finally lifted and I am noticing the simple beauty in life again.

Summer times

Ewan and I went to the Ivy Earth Fair on Saturday. It was so much fun and I was surprised that not more people had come to support the event. It was in a great location, an old castle with a moat and everything and had a really easy going and happy ambiance. Thank you to the flame throwers, great stuff, and to the bands and djs who had us dancing barefoot on the grass, the stars shining overhead. Love it!

On Sunday Ewan and I took the Trident over to Herm to meet Val, Ewan's Mum, who had been playing the organ in the church that morning. The weather improved throughout the afternoon and we enjoyed a sunny and rather warm walk through the new nature trail where we saw a green dragonfly and Ewan got to swing from a real tree vine (go see for yourself, it is fab, like walking through the jungle in Nepal, only on a much, much smaller scale!).

We popped into the tiny St Tugals church - go feel the vibration of the energy in the walls in there - and then investigated the campsite (wow what views from some of those pitches) and along the cliff back to the Mermaid for a cup of tea. Of course we managed a quick stop in the lovely Herm shops, one of them sells crystals at a really good price and the other shop offers some fab jewellery.

This week we have been rather busy helping out friends with gardening and tree work, all good fun, Ewan will make a gardener of me yet. Talking of which we pulled up some of our carrots and even though they look a little anemic, they didn't taste too bad for our first attempt!!



It has been a rather social week. One of my best friend's, Sam, has been visiting Guernsey from Canada with her beautiful 4 month old daughter, Rosie. Honestly she is the funniest little thing as she is very expressive...clearly going to take after Mum with her thinking! We have enjoyed a couple of afternoons sitting, chatting and holding Rosie at Grandes Rocques beach with Sam's other local friends and we were all really sad and tearful at the airport this afternoon when we said goodbye.

Ross, Star and Adena left on their European travels yesterday. I hope the weather improves for them, 5 weeks in a tent may be just as testing for them as sharing a room in India was earlier this year! Good luck guys.

My cousin Katherine is over with her husband, Detlev, and her beautiful children Abigail (also my goddaughter) and Colin for a few weeks. I visited for a drink with them this afternoon and Katherine and I took the dogs out for a walk around Fort Houmet headland - two labradors, one chocolate and the other one golden, such a handsome combination!

I even managed to visit another friend and her daughter who was one the other day. Never have I spent so much time with babies and young children as I have this week, quite funny how it all happens at once! What on earth is the Universe trying to tell me!! Well whatever it is I can't help thinking it has helped to make me feel a little more balanced and energised...hoorah, long may it last!!

We are off to Lihou for the night tomorrow and then off to France on Sunday, hoorah!

xxx

Happy times in Edinburgh

I had an incredibly lovely time in Edinburgh visiting mt best friend Lou, her husband, Dave, and her beautiful and wonderfully placid son, Ronan.

I must admit I felt a terrible friend. Ronan was born on my birthday in 2009 and while I flew up to see him for a mere 24 hours a few days after his birth, I have been too busy working(amazing how we get our priorities wrong sometimes!) to see him since then. I am so pleased I finally made the effort even if it was only for 48 hours this time.

Lou is looking rather radiant at the moment, she is 6 months pregnant and it suits her, and this despite looking after a 13-month old too! It hasn't been easy for Lou and her husband, Dave, the last few years; their first born son, Rudy, died in utero a few days before his due date in 2008, and then a few months later she sadly suffered a miscarriage. Thankfully Ronan arrived healthy and sleepy, in fact he virtually slept for his first 4 months!!

I know I am biased but he is truly beautiful and we had great fun playing with his toys and getting very excited at watching him take his first few steps. In fact it was fascinating watching him trying to walk. He kept putting his weight into his heels and would end up falling backwards onto his bum, but when he got the balance right between toes and heels, well he managed 7 steps all in one go!!!



We managed to get out into Edinburgh for the first day of the Edinburgh festival too. Lou and I took Ronan to a children's show, which was rather entertaining, before meeting up with Rach, Lou's younger sister and another good friend of mine, and Hayley who was up visiting Rach from her home in London. It is ages since the 4 of us have been together so we ate lunch together at a local Mosque kitchen before enjoying the festival ambiance and sharing a few glasses of wine (except Lou of course, she is on best wine behaviour at the moment!). Edinburgh is a beautiful city and really shines during the festival. Thank you girls for a fab time.



On my last morning we even managed to visit Lou's parents, who I call Mummy and Daddy Goulding on account of the fact I spent just as much time at their house as I did at my own during my late teens and early twenties. It was lovely to see them again and also to take the scenic route out of Edinburgh and around the coast to Haddington where they live - I am looking forward to visiting more of Scotland in the future as I have a feeling it offers some stunning scenery.

Of course it was sad leaving, the 48 hours passed very quickly. Despite everything Lou is an incredibly grounded, balanced and wise person and her energy and attitude towards life certainly helps to balance my own rather hectic approach a times! I never seem to relax as well as I do with Lou, in fact it was wonderful to spend the evenings chilling on the sofa (something I never manage to do on my own!) and getting much needed early nights...it was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning as I slept so well!!

Needless to say I have already booked my flights back up to Edinburgh in November so I can go and help Lou for a few days when she has given birth to her little daughter. I can't wait!!

Lots of love to you all up in Edinburgh and enjoy the rest of the festival.

xxx

Abundant August garden

Slipping down the stairs seemed to bring me back to earth a little and I finally managed to make a few decisions and get a few things off my chest...funny how we bottle things up without even realising it.

Ewan and I hosted our first bbq a week ago last Friday - no mean feat, we ended up with a guest list in excess of 35 - rather daunting considering we have only ever catered for 3 in the past, nothing like throwing ourselves in at the deep end!

So while Ewan ran around spending every spare moment trying to finish off jobs in the garden (well done lovely, looks much better now), I spent time liaising with the catering Guru, my wonderful Mum Jill, and endlessly shopping (or so it felt!) for supplies, plus of course getting the house prepared for the event.

On the actual evening Mum thankfully took control of the kitchen while super bbq-ers, my Dad Ron and brother Ross, took control of the 2 bbqs. We had tons of food, lots of meat for the meat eaters and lots of fish, salads and veggies for everyone else, plus of course lots of deserts (thank you Jo) so no one left hungry, all good stuff.

Needless to say we were all a little tired the next day, it is incredible how exhausting it can be entertaining others, plus of course clearing up afterwards. My poor parents and Ross had to do it all over again on Sunday with a bqq at my parents' house with all of Ross' friends - another great day, so much fun to see everyone especially Sam and Rosie all the way from Canada.

Ewan went to France on the Sunday to help Tessa and Carl set up some compost toilets for Tessa's party at the end of the month. I was hoping to retreat by myself for a few days but I have been busier than ever...makes me realise that I have still not learnt the art of saying no and honouring my own needs for quiet times and silence (never underestimate the healing power of silence) to really rest and allow the healing - trouble is when you look well, people forget that stuff is going on inside.

Still all good fun, I covered a Yoga class for Vicki last Monday night and was delighted to feel energised afterwards, I have done some much needed weeding in the garden which I find grounding - active meditation, I have practised Yoga both on my own and in class (thanks Sheila, loving the classes), walked along the cliffs and down to La Jaonnet with Sam and managed a swim across the bay (we resisted the nudest sunbathing like everyone else down there), caught up with othr friends and managed a few meals down at Mum and Dad's (thank you Mum and Ross).

I am off to Edinburgh on Thursday to visit my best friend and her baby son, Ronan and I can't wait.

xxxx