Author: Kate Wilson

On the edge

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Bonnie and I went for a walk just by ourselves this morning. Usually I take Duna too but because of the ‘mala llet’ between them it isn’t the most relaxing of walks for any of us. I keep Duna on the lead and she gets frustrated while my arm gets tired.
So, just me and the little wolf.
We walked up past the hospital and over the top of the hill to the industrial estate beyond where suddenly Granollers ends and the countryside begins. We were aiming for the Miranda, the little arched folly that overlooks the town.
I love the edges of towns – the place where the urban landscape stops and the country begins. Sometimes it isn’t easy to spot and you find yourself out in nature without having passed consciously over the border. I used to look for it when I lived in London every time I drove out of the city. But it didn’t matter what direction I took, I never saw the edge of London.
Granollers is different and the edges are as clear as if they were city walls. The tarmac stops, a rough lane leads past olive groves. A stream trickles down through piles of rubbish and  after you jump across, you are in a newly ploughed field

We found this table and chairs beside a fire pit – would be a good place to come in the evening and watch the light change.
The almond blossom is in full bloom and smells of honey.
Here is the tree that grows by the railway station – glorious in its beauty in spite of the mulching of plastic cups and tin cans that surround it.

Today we walked through fields then followed a track that went under the main road, the busy artery that circles the town I think. Above the thunder of lorries and cars, never stopping. We passed beneath as if in another time and place, enfolded in the silence of the country lane and the peace of walking in nature with a beautiful dog companion.  Up to the Miranda d’en Puntes.

ONCE

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been fascinated for a long time by those little kiosks that look like Dr Who’s Tardis and that are all around Spain with the word ONCE written on top.
ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles ) is a large organisation which started in 1938 selling lottery tickets to raise money to provide services for blind people.  The people who work in the Kiosks are also usually blind or partially sighted.  The tickets are called Cupóns and are drawn daily for tax-free money prizes

There is one in our plaça Verdaguer and I pass it several times a day as I take the dogs to and fro. The woman who works there can’t get too bored as she always has visitors outside, chatting to her and smoking and watching the world go by.  She goes across the road to Manu cafe for lunch and sits with several friends talking and laughing at the top of her voice.  When it was very cold here I worried she would be freezing but was told they have heating and everything. 
Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ve caught the little van that comes round with two men who wash and polish the whole thing inside and out.


Sometimes you see people selling the tickets without the shelter of the little kiosk.
I’m working up the courage one day to go and buy a ticket. Why do these things seem so daunting?


The lovely woods

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

With three dogs, one of whom can’t walk far and who prefers flat paths without stones (it’s the paws)

 we have been looking for and discovering new places to explore

Here an unexpected wood, near Samalus, full of natural arches and interesting smells.

 ‘All experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades forever and forever when I move’   Alfred, Lord Tennyson’

I love walking the paths here where wild herbs are abundant. It reminds me I am in the Mediterranean!

‘There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance’

Going to the dentist in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

I finally got round to going to the dentist here. Funny how you put these things off when it all feels unfamiliar. But a crack in a crown forced me to phone up and I didn’t allow myself to speak English, only asking the receptionist to please speak slowly.  Unusually she responded in beautiful clear and slow Catalan.  This is not my normal experience as for some reason most people ignore my request for slow and only speak louder and, perhaps nervously, faster.
I had two appointments so was able to take full advantage of the incredible views over the Porxada

There were lovely bird drawing in the waiting room, done by the dentist himself, Snr Costa

These relaxed me before going ahead with the filling. Yes, a new filling as it turned out the crack was not a problem but the cavity next door needed seeing to.  They took out an ancient amalgam filling and replaced with the more healthy white kind.

It’s embarrassing seeing a dentist here – I feel I have to apologise for a ‘British’ mouth.  Apparently we are famous for having been subject to drill and fill, especially in the 1960’s which is when I used to go and see an enthusiastic but not highly skilled Mr Terrace.  I remember the sound of the drill, the flecks of dandruff on the top of his head which I focused on to distract myself from the pain. I’m not sure there were injections in those days, can that be true?
Sitting in the dentist chair must be one of the most intense and private experiences we have in public. You can’t speak, your mouth is open at the least attractive angle, a strong light is focussed on your face and there is no escape.  You are forced back inside yourself to seek comfort in whatever way you can.  I usually try to levitate to another astral plane.
But today I needed to keep some attention in the room.  He was speaking to me.

Surely this needs no translation?
Obri, una mica més. Ara tanqui…tanqui…..TANQUI……gràcies…..ara obri….més…més…més….molt bé.

A Flock of Sheep in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Un Ramat d’Ovelles en Granollers
Today I walked to the New Park as usual with Duna and Bonnie.
As we did some training of Wait and Sit / Espera y Seu  (it’s all bilingual) they both got very restless and I couldn’t see why

But their ears were better than mine and soon out of the distance came the sound of sheep bells and a shepherds call.
It was the flock of sheep that I sometimes see around this edge of Granollers.
They seem so incongruous against the urban backdrop but in fact it is the park and the buildings and the traffic and the rubbish that shouldn’t be there!  Granollers is in the countryside!

I filmed them passing while Duna watched intently

and Bonnie, forgetting her shepherd genes, got on with eating something horrible behind the wall!
If you are a Duna or Bonnie fan – wait till the end of the film and you’ll see them!


HERE it is  – apologies for any wiggling but Duna was on the other end of the lead.