books

Starting the New Year!

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

I am adrift with the blog – not from lack of ideas or energy but somehow I feel I’ve lost direction.
Sin rumbo!
‘What’s it all about, Alfie? ‘
So here are some photos from my week with just a few words….

Reading too many books
But enjoying them all!

‘How to speak so your children listen and how to listen so they speak’ is wonderful!’
My hairdresser recommended it  one day when he noticed how sad and tired I was. Nice man!
Ken Follett. No words can describe how much I enjoyed this book. Finished it this morning.

In the Garlic is written by two women who live in Spain/Catalunya. Written in dictionary form it is funny and informative. E.g. about the endless bureaucracy here, there is the law of Falta Uno. This means whatever papers you bring there is always one missing!
On the Kindle I am reading Caroline Myss – Sacred Contracts. Fantastic!

I really enjoyed the first essay in Matthew Trees book about how to explain this country to foreigners. He is dedicated to spreading the word about Catalunya and writes very well. I find it good to read Catalan written by a British writer. He thinks in a familiar way which makes it easier for me.
I’ve had this Derek Jarman diary for years and never picked it up. Now I am dipping in every day and loving it. The sort of person it would be great to know. The diary is a mix of gardening and poetry, poems, landscape and practicalities.
How does he know so much about plants and herbs and history in those days before the internet?
I’ve known people like that and envied them. He was alone in Prospect Cottage, writing and gardening and looking out over his life.  At times he seems to be grieving, at others, deeply content and at peace.

Looking out over life!!!
I am making roses from the ribbon reels that fill the shelves in the backroom. It’s easy and very satisfying but I have no idea what to do with them!

Catching water in Santa Fe – No! No! that is a reverse translation from Catalan – Going to get water from the fountain in the woods. Now we have a full cellar.

Starting my new vegetarian life – just like the old one that I strayed from 10 or so years ago but in a more challenging environment and with more flexibility when necessary. One of my goals is to be visible in restaurants and not just eat the bits I can, timidly accepting the meaty menus that dominate in Catalunya. In a typically traditional Catalan country restaurant I ordered the side dishes and it made a lovely lunch. Chips, white beans and samfaina!

The Kings are coming!  Tomorrow I am going to see them in Barcelona when they arrive by boat.

And all through the week and the weeks before – my lovely dog – Bonnie. What a friend!

El Clåssic

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Today was quite intense.
The streets are full of Catalan flags and stalls selling books and roses for Sant Jordi.
Actually it isn’t really Sant Jordi (Saint George) until Monday but as it falls on a Monday they have decided to spread the celebrations over three days

This gives us more time to chose our book which this year will be another one in Catalan, this time by a woman, and if possible not about the Civil War or Medieval Barcelona.
We will read it together, mostly out loud, as we have been doing for the past two years.
It really helps with learning the language.
Duna came to help  and almost came to blows in the bookshop with another dog who was also doing his book shopping

Then there was also the football match between Barça and Madrid. At 8pm the streets were almost empty even though the shops were still open. We went to the Toy Bar which was full of people but were still able to get a small table although the extremely large man in front of us kept standing up in his excitement and blocking all view of the game

Tiny Buddha

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

Isn’t it lovely to get a parcel in the post?

Here is the book I ordered from Amazon in Spain

It took a while to arrive so when I opened it I couldn’t remember what made me want it in the first place.
For a few moments I thought – oh no, another self help book to sit on the shelf and gather dust!
But then I started to read and it is a little gem.

One of those books where you think – OH YES!  every few sentences.
Or I do anyway!

I grew up feeling always a bit unhappy inside.  I felt different and out of step with other people, especially those in my own family. I looked different, I thought different things and I seemed to feel things too much. I tried asking other people if they felt like this and for years, it seemed that they always answered ‘No, not really, not like that’
Of course there were some who knew what I meant. I was always lucky enough to find some kindred spirits.  But I still struggled to find a peaceful happy place inside me. I couldn’t find the magic formula that others seemed to take for granted.

When I discovered the internet it opened up a huge new world of people who could perhaps explain to me why I felt like an extra terrestrial. I sometimes have googled questions like ‘why am I unhappy?’ or  ‘how can I deal with this pain?’ or ‘what should I do?’
Cries from the heart.

Really – of course I always knew that no-one out there would have an answer especially for me but sometimes when you are desperate you just have to reach out and ask.
And the most incredible thing about the internet is that you discover there are hundreds, thousands, millions of other people asking the same questions.
So you don’t feel alone.
In this little red book, the author did something like that – she used Twitter and Facebook and a web site and connected with other people feeling depressed and lonely and lacking self confidence and she started researching big questions about the Meaning of Life  and why we suffer and how to find happiness.
And this book is the story of what happened.
It is uplifting and very wise.
Great stuff.  If you read this and know what I am talking about then I think you could enjoy this book.
If you are in the ‘No, not really, I don’t know what you mean’ group then just ignore me and my next post will be about something different…..probably:)

Here’s a quote that I liked today
‘It’s only in finding the courage to admit our pain that we can lean on each other….why should we shroud ourselves in shame simply for being human?’                        Lori Deschene    Tiny Buddha

A week in my life

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

It’s been a good week with lots of movement – various aspects of life evolving and changing although, on the surface, everything is more or less the same.

You know the sort of week – time goes by, things happen, some days are better than others?
First – I finally went and had my hair cut in Granollers

 I had been putting it off.   Fear. Timidity.  But I am pleased with it and feel so much better, bouncier, lighter.   I managed perfectly well to explain what I wanted – in Catalan – and when the woman was washing my hair I did my usual MMMMMMmmmmm to show that I like having my head massaged (some people don’t!) and she continued to spend about 10 minutes massaging my whole scalp. I fell asleep – it was incredible.

The weather has been cold – today -4. But the sun still shines and it’s lovely during the day to be out and feel the warmth on your cheeks – it’s not hot but strengthening every day

We went for a walk up on the hills behind Mataro

Blue managed to walk all the way up to the top where we found an abandoned masia and dreamed of buying it and making it our home

It is so wonderful to be out in the countryside, to walk without traffic or people, to hear birds and see the sea in the distance

This week I have been practising Castellano as I realised it is getting harder and harder to speak it now that Catalan is dominant in the foreign language department of my brain. I have switched back to Spanish National Radio 3 to practise listening. On Saturday they played this song which I think would be lovely to dance tango to. But on the Catalan side of things I am feeling happy that we have almost finished the book we bought last year, Les Veus del Pamano. It feels like a big achievement and I understood almost every word.
On Saturday there was a class of Contact improvisation here in Llancadora.  It helped me relax after these two weeks of pain and at last I felt myself coming back into my body after the double shock of hurting both hands so badly.
On Sunday we had the tango class here again but for the last time as the teacher can’t afford to pay rent for the space!  It was 15 euros but he didn’t have enough people.  It’s been great to do some leading again as there were more women than men and all of them happy to practise with me. I am beginning to miss teaching tango so perhaps sometime I’ll start it up again and perhaps combine with English practice!

Today was my drawing class and tonight is the first meditation group at Tiffanys house.
New beginnings.

I feel that Spring is just around the corner – as if the seeds that are buried deep in the dark frozen ground are beginning to come to life. Something inside is shifting and wakening. We’ll see. For the moment – here is the cake that I brought home for tea, to celebrate the first day of my hands feeling better!

My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

So it’s Sant Jordi again – the year has turned full cycle since the last time when the streets of Granollers were filled with stalls selling red roses and books. By the afternoon the sun had broken through the clouds and so we didn’t have to walk under umbrellas or worry about the rain spoiling the whole event.
This year is a little strange as Sant Jordi is the day before Easter. I wonder how often that happens? Or if it ever falls on Easter Sunday?
There were all the stalls selling books in the Porxada and surrounding streets. This year I woke up to the fact that most places had exactly the same books – hardbacks especially published to coincide with this day.  So it was hard to find the right book – for the right price. The Catalan version of the one we wanted was 21 euros. I wonder why books are so much cheaper in the UK?

Then we looked at the roses – 5 euros each and all wrapped in what seemed identical plastic  covers. They looked nice but I did begin to wonder why some enterprising seller doesn’t start to do it in a different way? Perhaps with a pretty paper wrapping?

We had our usual conversation about the commercialism of most of the main festes here and I do begin to see what he means. Everything ends up being marketed and sold at an inflated price and without much creative imagination. Oh dear – I am feeling a bit jaded perhaps.
The sardanes in front of the Ajuntament were good to watch and I even saw a couple of young men – 17 years old? – dancing with spiky hair and smiley faces. The average age of dancers is around 65 I would say. The music lets you know when to raise and drop the arms! Everyone does little tiny pointy steps without moving very far and then suddenly it all gets faster – but still tiny – and then it slows down. It’s very subtle and because it was banned during times of repression of Catalan culture it is full of more emotion and significance than is obvious on the surface. Something further away from a flamenco you cannot imagine!

The shops are full of Mones de Pasqua – the cakes that are traditionally eaten on Easter Monday and which symbolise the end of the abstinence of Lent

On the way home we got some take-away orxata – the drink that when I first tasted it in Barcelona seemed like nectar from heaven. By this time the clouds were returning and it was too chilly to drink it on the street.