Personal Reflections

November 30th – a little bit mystical

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

I went to the gym!  At last!
I have been planning to go ever since arriving in Cornwall and today finally made it there  for the first time. Then I went for a swim in the pool.
I thought I needed to relax a bit as this intense time here draws to a close and I need to find a way to sleep for more than 5 hours a night.
We’ll see how it worked tomorrow.

I forgot to take my ipod so was left with my thoughts as I ran and cycled and cross-trained. Mostly my brain was leaping around from one subject to the next without pausing to breath. But what I love about training is the way it sends waves of energy throughout your being which sometimes result in problem solving or interesting ideas.
So…..
I realised that on Christmas day I don’t have to leave the dogs alone in a strange house only one week after arriving in Catalunya. We will go to eat with the family and it means a minimum of two but more likely three hours away. Suddenly on the running machine I realised I can take them along in my van and go out to check on them every hour.  They will be happy sleeping in the familiar smells of my camper and I can relax eating dinner.
Then……in the swimming pool…….
I was thinking about 11.11 again and how since that date I have been noticing these numbers more and more. In the van the milometer was on 1111xx for all the period around the 11th November 2011. The clock is often just clicking onto 11.11 when I look at it. And when I was running I decided to check my heart rate and it was 111. It stayed there exactly on that number for a few minutes.
I grabbed the only empty locker by my cubicle by the pool and when I looked at the key it was 222. I know that is stretching it a bit but it was still interesting.
Anyway, by now you must be thinking I am crazy but when I was swimming I thought about how strange it is when predictions come true. It reminded me of the concept of ‘proof of existence’ which I think means just that something proves to you that there is more to life than meets the eye.  I think my mother first told me about ‘proof of existence’ as she had an uncle who was a spiritualist and who was always seeking out proof that there is more to life than what we see on the surface.  If you go to see a medium they don’t need to tell you something new – it is more important that they tell you something you know to be true but you can’t find an explanation for how THEY know it. This gives you proof of existence.
Anyway, in a long roundabout way this led me to thinking about two predictions I’ve had about my life. The first was that I would live in a foreign country ……..and the second was that the second half of my life would be happier than the first.
So, for me this is proof of something and even if it is just that if you believe something then it will be more likely to happen, then, let’s believe in miracles!
Does anyone else notice 11.11 or have you had predictions that came true?

Goodbye

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

Today is a very sad day. My old cat – a beautiful ginger angel called Dandelion – died. It was sudden, or rather it wasn’t expected. He was over 17 but a gentle giant with a huge heart and still totally in charge of the house and gardens. Only last week he saw off a neighbours cat with fierce yowls and a commanding presence. He died today after only 24 hours of seeming poorly. He had rarely been off the land, always protecting his family and his patch and perhaps twice taking the trip to Penzance to the vet where he behaved with impeccable manners as always. He was the sort of cat who would open his mouth for pills if they were deemed necessary. He never used a litter tray in his life preferring to go outside whatever the weather and however he might be feeling.
He arrived here 15 years ago on a stormy night in November. Blue was a puppy and she sounded the alarm – CAT IN DISTRESS!!!   Outside high in the branches of a hawthorn tree was perched a ginger cat meowing for help. Once inside the house he quickly settled down to eat and sleep and never left again.
Many people have known and loved him, seen him for the special soul that he was and come to pay homage. One friend named him the Dalai De Mandolin. Like all beloved creatures he had many secret names, whispered into his soft red fur as he purred his pleasure and gave back love.
He never scratched or hurt a human. He could attack an invading dog or cat but when two new kittens joined the household 12 years ago he allowed himself one soft growl and then took them under his wing. He had always been a rabbit hunter and with two more mouths to feed and young ones to initiate, his daily kills trebled in number. We had to fit new doors to the porch to avoid waking every morning to more gory gifts.
Today he lay in peaceful calm and took his last journey asking only for our companionship. He didn’t need help – he knew what to do and a couple of hours after padding into a dark and cool clothes cupboard, he was gone.
A writer called Derek Tangye used to live near my house in Cornwall and he once told me that when big changes are happening in your life, sometimes your animals chose not to come with you along the new road. He believed that they know when is the time to arrive and when to leave. and if we trust them and don’t get in their way, they will follow their instincts quite naturally.

So here I am, in my empty zen house, preparing to move my life south to Catalunya, and saying goodbye and thank you to a great lion of a cat whose spirit is now roaming free.  Who knows where he will turn up next or who he will be? Dandelion – I will be looking out for you.

A mixture

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

My furniture arrived.

Safely.

It took several hours to unload as they had only sent ONE MAN!   Luckily we were able to supply another!

2011-7 remouvals 003

The police were also in evidence due to traffic control. When all was unpacked the van wouldn’t start and the first police had to call for back up to come with jump leads!  Tea was served. And now the piano is sitting in place waiting to be retuned. What a change from the damp atmosphere of Cornwall.

2011-7 remouvals 004
Meanwhile here is a picture of the walk I took with Bonnie yesterday in the beautiful sunshine down by Lamorna Cove. It was a great distraction from all the worries of moving house.

……..and another of the cows crossing the road from dairy to field on my way down to Lamorna.  Never forget the life of these dairy cattle – their fully stretched udders from over production of milk and their lameness as they slowly and painfully walk the short distance from the yard to the grass. This herd is very well looked after – the farmers don’t shout or hit them, they walk beside them with a gentle hand resting on the back of the last and most crippled one to cross the road. But it is not an easy life for these animals as they provide us with our milk.
I always watch with sadness at the same time as pleasure at the old fashioned scene.

Duna the seasoned traveller

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Duna has left Cornwall and is much missed by me, less so by Blue and not at all by Bonnie!
She arrived safely in Roscoff early this morning after sailing across from Plymouth and she would like to say that it was not the best way to travel. Brittany Ferries have several options for dogs going abroad – kennels, cabin or car. It depends which route you take and as the Plymouth – Santander route stops at the end of October, Duna went to Roscoff on the night ferry. She passed through the check-in easily with only a quick scan of her microchip, and then had to spend the ten hour trip in the car on the car deck. She could have slept through most of it except for the idiots who had forgotten to switch off their car alarms so the night was one long neek-neek, bee-bah bee-bah, nyang nyang nyang nyang.
But she is a seasoned traveller now and emerged this morning to have a pee and a potter on French soil before setting off on the long trip south.

Meanwhile back in Dolphin Cottage – floors and windows to varnish, boxes to pack, things to sort and furniture to move. Hoping that the log book of the van will come back in time for us to set off well before Christmas. The house still looks pretty full of STUFF !
I am missing my companions and now must seriously get on with the move.

The Dark Moon

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

I don’t like to do a post without a photo or a drawing but there really isn’t the time at the moment to do it.

Moving house is stressful and trying to do it from one country to another with dogs and a piano is even more so.

Added to which is the weirdness of spending almost every waking hour doing construction work on the place I want to leave my furniture – what is left of it after selling or giving away so much!

What I did today – or part of it!

*took van for MOT which could be the last one if I manage to get it registered in Spain when I get there
*trip round builders merchants looking for Allen Keys (to dismantle IKEA chairs which I can’t get out of the house whole) and a nail punch for the new wooden floor which is being laid
*pause in Newlyn to buy fruit and vegetables as we must stop eating so many cakes and biscuits and eating out all the time as we are too tired to cook
*phone calls to BT, chimney sweep, banks,window cleaners, letting agents etc blah blah blah
*make tea for the workers
*play with the three dogs trying to stop the very hormonal Duna (3)  humping poor bemused Blue (15) and growling at nervous confused Bonnie
*sell my old iMac
*research international removal companies
*research hiring vans for DIY removals
*frighten myself silly over the risks of moving your own piano
*fight off phone calls from various currency brokers who are responding to my enquiries about how to send money to Catalunya without paying huge charges
*make tea for the workers
*try to get bloodstains from chair cushions after Duna sat on them. (Reconsider the Catalan belief that dogs shouldn’t sit on chairs….perhaps they have a point?)
*drive to the village of Paul to buy several jars of marmalade. How many exactly will I need to get me through a whole year?  I wish I could find Seville oranges in Granollers.
*in the midst of a happy moment watching a friend hang the new door on our cabin I am told it must be stained NOW, TODAY!  So I made my third trip to the builders merchants in Penzance to buy woodstain.
*there is a beautiful sunset as I work quickly to get the stain on before we lose the light in the ‘new’ building. We are still only getting electricity from one extension lead that snakes down the field to the main house and the days are getting shorter.

I expect you are tired reading this. It’s good to write it down as I can see I am doing a lot although many days seem to pass without too much being visibly accomplished. But little by little I am sure things are falling into place. Only I need to trust.  And to enjoy the process.

Photos or pictures next time, I promise.