I am shamed into inviting you in for a quick vermut as my dear friend Kim over at The Bodhi Chicklet has been doing all the entertaining these past few weeks and although it’s late I don’t want to seem unwelcoming.  She very graciously always suggests you pop over here and what do you find most weeks? Not a glass in sight. Hardly even a cup of TickTock Tea.
Do go over and see what she is doing – she has a very light touch at the moment as she is transforming into a butterfly and only landing for the briefest moments of nourishment on the flowers in her life

Talking of tea we sorted out our tea shelf this week and now it is possible to reach up and find Earl Grey or Rooibosh or English Breakfast or even PG Tips without the whole lot crashing down on your head.
Out went the various bags of unidentified leaves.
‘When exactly did you get these? Four years ago?  Yes maybe they were a gift but how many guests want to drink something we don’t know what it is nor how long it’s been sitting around?’

How’s your drink?  Actually it isn’t a vermut tonight, its a sweet wine from Falset, the wine and olive region near Tarrogona. It’s one of the wonders of living here to be able to drink wines that are local, or at least not from across the sea.

Here’s a quick resume of my week:
More dog fights between Bonnie and Duna. Duna is the one who launches herself but I have to admit that Bonnie stares and does quiet growling which builds tension. It’s such a worry that I can’t bear to think about it too much.
The pigeon we have living up on the terrace continues to thrive but looks less and less likely to fly as her wing is too damaged. This is another thing to push to the back of my mind – what exactly ARE the alternatives?
Quick – another vi dolç!
Two people in this family went skiing today and another stayed at home to finish off the tortell de reis and look after the dogs!
Actually it was a nice day – it was a public holiday which meant hardly anyone on the streets and no need to do anything more than read and potter and eat cake.
I lay guilt free on the sofa reading PD James and listening to Radio 4.   Sometimes you just have to have surround English language to relax your brain.

I took each dog out individually and that was easier although more time consuming. It is a pleasure to walk along slowly with Blue, letting her find her own pace and I notice more details in the street than I normally would. Sometimes she stops and stares at a passerby, or starts to pull toward them as if she knows them already. This happens to me too – I observe strange things in the people I see, and I sometimes think I see someone I know from Penzance. The brain playing tricks on us. It’s good to know Blue and I share this reaction. Or I think we do!  The only difference is that I hide it while she is totally natural.
Now it’s after midnight and time to put the bottle away – I will try to be here next week with some more Virtual Vermut!

Today is the day to take down your Christmas decorations – usually I am really happy to do this as it makes the house feel so much clearer of clutter.
This year we only had some lights and a nativity scene – a pessebre.
I’ll be sad to see it go.
Look out for the caganer

And the little king I found yesterday in our tortell de reis – I like how he is so tiny compared to the others. Who wants a pessebre with everyone life like!

The piano tuner came today. He was here two and a half hours and it cost 100 euros. I thought that was quite expensive but perhaps comparing prices between Barcelona and Penzance is not a good plan!
We talked about humidity which I found funny as the piano has been in Lamorna for 17 years – I imagine it can cope with the humidity of Granollers.   But cold perhaps is an issue so I was advised to put some protection behind and underneath – we had a long conversation in Catalan as he tried to explain the material needed and in the end I think he suggested cork.

He explained that the piano’s pitch had gone down a lot and that it needed tuning up to get closer to the ideal which is 440.  But he would need to come back in the summer to complete this task as it had fallen so far it couldn’t be raised up all in one go.

I don’t think a piano tuner has ever explained the mechanics of it to me before. And this was in Catalan!
He is now off to Columbia where he spends the winter which led us to an interesting discussion about moving between different environments.  I have moved from a damp mild climate to a dry hot one which is dry and cold in winter. I have never felt so healthy as I am here – I hardly have asthma and my joints don’t ache. The piano tuner also has lung problems and he benefits from leaving wintry Catalunya to spend months in a Columbian summer.  Then there is Blue who seems to be benefiting already from her change of home – she fairly dances along the street and bounces up and down the stairs in a seemingly painfree bunny-hop.
We will see how the piano copes with its recent life change.

PS what was the first thing I played after he had left? 

As you may know I am in the middle of clearing out my home so that I can move more freely from Cornwall to Catalunya. The idea of carrying a lighter load in life appeals to me and I am in the right moment of life to let things go without too much trouble. I am selling and donating and giving and discarding and sorting and burning and deciding what I want to keep. It’s an interesting process and much more time-consuming that I expected. The house seems emptier but if I am honest it is also still far too full. Again and again I review decisions and whittle away at the edges of the mountain of stuff.

One of the hardest questions was  ‘what do you do with your old teddy bears?’

Looking around the house there are quite a lot of them and although I am happy to have a couple  of furry friends, I don’t really want to carry a sackload of them all the way to Catalunya.  I’m not a bear collector but someone I knew was and so I received more than my fair share of bears. I also had two or three from childhood and some others which were gifts along the way. Teddy bears don’t have the same popularity in Catalunya as they do in Britain so I have met some strange looks when I try to explain what they mean in my life.

The hardest ones to deal with are the childhood bears. They carry so many memories. They were animated into living beings and although they have sat ignored and neglected for years, when you think of getting rid of them it feels unthinkable. To be sent to a charity shop. To be stuffed in a bin bag?  Those sad faces!  Impossible!
When I told my sister I was thinking of getting rid of them she was horrified – Are you going mad?

So what to do? Should I keep them for ever because I can’t cope with the guilt of letting them go?

The drive to clear things is strong and I want to make space for the here and now so in spite of resistance I made a decision.  I would burn them. It seemed the only way to honour them and let them go and I thought of making it a proper ceremony. But – in case you are getting upset already – don’t worry, it didn’t happen. A friend rescued them and took them to live in a teddy bear museum.  They were welcomed there in spite of their aging growls, hairless tummys and wonky limbs. I suppose it was the best way.
Other bears with less personal shared history have been sold and several are awaiting their moment on ebay. I have to admit I don’t really like doing this – there is something demeaning for them in having to look their best to be sold

This is just one of the many challenges of house clearing!