Blessed ...
Someone asked how I was this morning and, when I thought about it, I realised that I just feel blessed ... by the people I have in my life, by the beautiful things that are happening.
I've never used that word before but perhaps I should use it more often. Some magical things have been happening. Simple things perhaps but they have been filling me with joy ... and joy is something I've been missing these last few months. Maybe longer.
I'm walking a lot and losing weight like never before. I'm so relieved to feel my body growing strong after a horrible time with bad anemia last year. I really thought I was dying, as the palpitations were like nothing I had ever experienced before. And I was so weak. I only understand that now that I'm growing strong.
But one of the nicest things about the weight loss is that, back in Belgium at Christmas, I bought some black jeans that were the smallest I'd ever bought and I almost didn't because I wasn't sure I could carry them off however they were last pair of a style I loved. These days, they're becoming loose on me. I'm curious to see where this new way of living will take me, in terms of body strength and fitness, but I love that it's happening. It's long overdue.
My new desk arrived. My 'new' secondhand '6 foot by 3 foot pine dining table' desk arrived. I bought it via Preloved, from a lovely woman who was so patient as everything imaginable went wrong as I attempted to purchase it. I'm so grateful to her for believing it would happen.
I knew I would need a big desk because there are multiple projects beginning. Pictured is my first attempt at setting it up. And, for the moment, the few books I have with me are there at the back. At 1 pound per book, via the unimaginably superb secondhand bookshops here in England, there may a few more books on either side of my bed too...
Today I walked the 20 minutes into the village, to the place where the small community bus stops, and took a short ride to the next village where ... wonder of wonders, there is a Carluccio's restaurant. I couldn't believe it when I first realised.
I pottered about in town, as I had business at the bank and then ... I ventured into Waitrose for the first time ever. Ohmygoodness, what a place of wonder and delight. I love Sainsburys but if you want something a little upmarket or special, then Waitrose is the place to go. I picked up a jar of Jamie Oliver's tomato and red wine pasta sauce, and a bag of fresh pasta too. That makes, at least, 2 meals these days and so it's cost effective, I told myself.
I've discovered a rather superb wine shop on the main street and had myself signed up for their newsletters. A tasting might not be a bad idea, as ALL the wines I knew in Belgium and Italy are absent here in England and so I need to begin with finding a favourite (affordable) red wine again.
Then I quickly popped into Carluccio's ... just one espresso before racing off to search for a book or two. As I was crossing the road I noticed the lovely woman I had met on the village bus last week. She's 95 but you'd never guess. I simply adored her. I suspect everyone who meets her adores her though.
I sat down next to her and she was telling me that she had just cancelled her physiotherapy. She told them that she's 95 and doesn't need poked and prodded about anymore. She sparkles, really.
I had 11 minutes, before the bus arrived, to race into the shop and check the secondhand book selection. As always, there was quite the marvelous selection. Needing some fiction, while reading the big biography about Martha Gellhorn, I picked up Guernica by Dave Boling, and The Hours by Michael Cunningham (I've only seen the movie).
The bus driver ... there are two of them, was the lovely gentleman I had met last week. He had shown his photographer wife my website and she had liked it. And the other driver... it was good to see him again on the ride over, as his daughter had just arrived in New Zealand last week. I was curious to know how she was finding it. Now she has a job as a dentist in Auckland and she seems to be enjoying 'my people' :-)
I was gifted a dining table and 4 chairs by the loveliest family. The second dining table has become my work bench and storage/display shelf, with one chair remaining at it in case I want to eat there, or have guests. I'm using the second chair as my desk chair. And chairs 3 and 4 are my 'bedside tables', holding books and the lamp.
I still need a cupboard for my food and drawers for my clothes, and an armchair for reading in but nothing's vital now that I have my desk. I'm as snug as a wee bug in my new place. And I get to spend my days with lovely people. So yes, I'm feeling blessed.
Actually, there are more stories but for another time:-) I'm loving England. Thanks to Kim for convincing me to come this way. It was a good idea.
Later: apologies the massive edit required first time publishing. I was all bouncy when I arrived home and wrote from a sparkly happy place. Clearly not conducive to good writing :-)
The Simplest Things ...
I was playing one day ... with the camera, while Miss 11 blew bubbles.
And this happened.
That 7-Day Photography Challenge I Accepted ...
My friend, and much-published poet, Kay McKenzie Cooke, challenged me ... over on Facebook, to participate in a 7-day Nature photography challenge.
I knew I would have to begin with my 8,000+ selection of photographs taken when I wandered New Zealand, back in 2012.
I began with one where I had attempted to capture something of the beauty of the Lake Manapouri shoreline at sunset. I remember how I felt ... it was like opening my soul and letting the power of Nature pour in. I hope some of that feeling is here for others to see too.
Milestones ...
In this new life ... this English life, everyday seems to offer up the possibility of achieving some new milestone.
Today it was walking into the village to find the small bus that runs through the Surrey countryside, village to village. It was about finding it and getting to my Sainsburys Superstore of choice, and back. You're only halfway when you reach the top of that mountain and, as usual, I have no idea of my location here in this new world.
It ended up being such a lovely story though. I was jog/trotting towards the stop, unusually late, when I saw the bus driving towards me. I body-languaged, sadness and despair ... I may have waved and, much to my surprise, it stopped.
I was so grateful!! There was a lovely gentleman driving and I felt like I had stepped into a most marvelous English story as I boarded. He was dropping off two friendly older woman, who welcomed me to the village as they left the bus at the next stop.
And I traveled with that lovely man, as he picked up other customers, talking ... of course. Everyone chats on these buses (and so I've found a happy place). And honestly, the English just keep impressing me with how lovely they are.
I shopped, and felt so successful as I sourced the ingredients for my Slow Cooker Coq au Vin. I had bought the slow cooker, and a toastie pie maker/ meat griller too, as I settled into my new place. But then I found a most marvelous little oven, with hotplates on top, for 50 pounds and so I have all I need to cook. All and more:-)
I have a toaster. I don't have a Nepresso machine yet but I will have one day.
Soon I shall be back in that place where breakfast is my holy moment of the day.
I cooked Persian Chicken a few days ago. I was so rapt to create something familiar and known. I cooked rice too. The little oven/stove top (the size of a microwave) does all that I need but still, I found the slow cooker in the January sales over here ... I will use it too. Tomorrow.
I am settling in. Losing weight. Walking a lot.
I found a desk. It's so central to my life. I don't know if I realised how central until I tried to work. But that's a story for another day. The new desk, a huge pine table really, should be here at the weekend, all going well. I love the secondhand possibilities out here.
The photograph ... there were some dead roses and I asked if I might borrow them before they were thrown out. I quite like the result, then couldn't resist adding a border because ... you know. And the text too.
It's stormy here tonight. There are trees and woods around me. I walk to the village on a road that passes through the woods. There will be photographs. And I will get better at telling the stories from here. There have been so many.
There was a Sunday dash to London ... mostly because I'm never sure of how long it takes to walk to the train station or the village and so dash I do. I think I have it now. And seeing Lenn again. I did enjoy staying at his house these last few weeks. He's family now. I haven't told him.
For the first time in a long time I have almost all of my UK stuff in one location. I've been all over the place since leaving Belgium at the end of August. Portsmouth, Farnham, London ... Kim and Andy have been magnificent friends. I don't imagine I can ever capture all that they have done for me. It's been grand. And Lenn. And others too.
I was reunited with my digital radio at the weekend. I do love it. I wander between Planet Rock, and Magic - where lots of nostalgia is played.
I sleep in a beautifully comfortable king-sized bed. There's a pile of books on the empty side. I'm reading a biography about Martha Gellhorn, that magnificent journalist, who said Robert Capa was her true brother. And D. H. Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', at the same time. It works. And really enjoying the second after so many years of reading of him in relation to Katherine Mansfield, who was a friend of his.
And we're into the second book of the Inkheart series, MIss 11 and I, reading it via skype. We both love it, so much while we miss living together. But anyway ...
So that's me. More to follow as my camera comes out to play in this new world I'm discovering slowly.