Or whoever else might be reading this….
I’m missing the regularity of honest blogging. The WW blog needs to be slightly sanitised, well OK a lot sanitised and so much new stuff is happening these days it’s odd not to be spewing it all out somewhere.
So -Â a quick catch up on what happened since I last blogged in October when we had decided to leave Rum for the winter and head to Glastonbury first…
We spent the last few weeks on Rum saying goodbye – privately to animals, to the croft and to our favourite places on the island and more publically to friends on Rum and in the wider community. It was exciting, daunting and slightly odd because we didn’t really know how long we were going for or precisely where.
We left Rum on 16th November. We’d had a proper goodbye party in the hall the weekend before and various people came to wave us off at the ferry on the day we left. Lesley cried, Jed looked very sad. It was quite a tough day. I sniffled a bit in the loo having watched the people left on the island get tinier and tinier as the ferry moved away. The kids sat downstairs, Ady and I sat with Steve the Man upstairs chatting. A massive cloud of rain chased us across the sea and as we pulled into Mallaig so there was a huge rainbow. It felt a bit symbolic!
We spent the first night in Fort William. Ady and I had a meal in the pub below the Travelodge and Bad Neil came along for a drink too which was good as I’d not said goodbye to him before we left. The next morning we all had dentist appointments and then finally we were on our way to Sussex. It was a really long day – it was already dark before we’d left Scotland. I think we arrived at my parents around 1am. Mad!
We had the weekend there with them and saw Frazer, Kat & Robin before heading down to Glastonbury on the Monday.
Glastonbury was everything we expected it might be. We had a lovely cottage, worked ridiculously hard and had very little time to ourselves. Jill and Johnny were both incredibly generous, very demanding and both easy and tricky to be with. We got to know the new staff, reacquainted ourselves with the old ones and it was a full on but overall good few weeks. We were there for Scarlett’s birthday and had a day at Bristol zoo for that which was ace. I went to Bath Spa with Jill, we got treated to so many lunches and dinners out I lost count. We were there for the staff Christmas party, the Christmas open house, a late night shopping farm shop opening event… we celebrated the Solstice with Sam-next-door in his garden and a bonfire. We all got ill with a cold. We went to a zombie flashmob, the Frost fayre, Christmas shopping, a pub decorated as a gingerbread house, the poshest houseparty I’ve ever been to, a pub beer garden in the freezing cold. We never went swimming! Ady and Scarlett had horse riding lessons.
We had Paul & Carol over for lunch, Steve & Sarah for lunch, Heather & Derek for dinner, Jim to stay the night, Mum & Dad visited for a weekend, Naomi Lock & her kids came over several times. We went to Heather & Derek’s for dinner and met all their friends at their local pub.
We went back to Sussex for Christmas & new year. We visited Osborne Drive, met the tenants, got our old roof box back. Saw loads of Frazer, Kat & Robin, had a visit from my step-grandmother, met a friend Helen, saw Jay & Maisie, Saw Ali & Freya, had dinner at Mike & Rose’s, got an Alexa! Spent hours and hours in Sainsburys! Went to Worthing town centre and did Christmas shopping, enjoyed queuing in Argos! Went out for lunches and dinners. Got really into the darts championship. Dashed up to the top of the hill across the road to watch the new years fireworks, made my parents repeat their wedding vows to each other. Had a very lovely chat with my Dad which I’ll remember and treasure forever about how important we are to each other.
Left Sussex and went to Manchester for a few hours with Lynda and Stuart. Spent a night in Holyhead followed by a ridiculously long and super stressful day and night of travelling across the sea and down Ireland thanks to disrupted ferries from storm Eleanor.
Arrived here in Ireland. If I’m honest slightly disappointed at the house. It has masses of quirky charm, is definitely better than a caravan in January but is not quite the cosy winter hideout I had hoped for. It is lacking in furniture and furnishings, it is not super warm, the internet is getting used up way quicker than I anticipated. I could compile a list of things I’d change but that would be dwelling on the negatives rather than accentuating the positives…. 😉 There is much here to fall in love with, there is much here to learn, there is much here to look back on.
We’ve been to Galway, to Sligo, to Castlebar. We spend a lot of time in Claremorris which definitely now feels like home. We have a loyalty card for Supervalu the local supermarket. We know where to get rid of rubbish and recycling and snaffle free wifi. We know what time to go to Tesco for reduced to clear, we know many people called Joe and someone called Eamon.
We’ve had seaweed baths and drunk (yes, we know now you are not supposed to!) holy water at Knock Shrine. We drove at speed through Tuam and were ripped off for ten euro at the tip. If we don’t lose a tyre to the dreadful potholes in the roads round here we’ll be doing bloody well.
Clare and Elinor visited, next weekend we’re off to visit them and spend some time in Northern Ireland. We had a few places and experiences left on our list of things to do here which we should tick off before we go.
We’ve decided to leave early although we’ve not told the landlords. We are supposed to be here til the end of March. For various reasons – them not being fantastic landlords, the house not being quite what we expected included, along with having decided we’re going back to Rum and wanting to get back and start getting on with things, we are going back at the end of February. This does mean breaking our contract and we may lose our desposit in lieu of the last months rent which we’ll not be paying as we’ll not be here. We will see what happens with that but while I hope we get at least some of it back I am also accepting of us not doing so should the landlord be arsey with us.
Davies and I are continuing to study. We are still slightly ahead. In our first assessments Davies got 50%, well over the pass mark of 40% and I got 79%. I was marked down for getting one question only partly right, Davies got one wrong. We have already submitted our second assessments and are hoping for improvements on our first scores. We’re both enjoying the subject matter. Davies finds the assessments trickier which is understandable having never done anything like it before ever, but he has a good relationship with his tutor and is really interested in the psychology and child psychology modules of the unit so is still thinking he will continue and start a degree in that area. I am undecided about further study for myself. I can think of many better uses of my time but am also finding doing well quite enjoyable and curious to know how I would do with further study so am still looking at further courses to see if anything captures my interest.
Davies’ current plan is to finish his access course, sign up for the first bit of a degree course and carry on with that. He wants to pass his driving test this year, plan some travel for next year and look at part time job opportunities on Rum to earn some money and get some work experience. I miss the little boy he used to be. I love the young man he has become.
Scarlett is steadfastly refusing to move any further with literacy. This worries Ady and mostly does not bother me. She navigates her way through any literacy challenges she faces with her usual capable manner and mix of tricks to find ways round things. I am mostly of the opinion that this is a more admirable and useful skill than the reading and writing! She is very close to her Irish friend E, speaking to her daily. This is a good thing for her as she has not managed to stay so close to previous friends as their interests and lifestyles have moved far away from hers and the common threads have stretched too fine to keep them in touch. I hope this friendship endures and grows but even if it does not she is getting so much from it. She is wanting to expand on her cake making and decorating this year. She could do with some attention from me I think, must find a way to make that happen.
Well that’s a bit of a catch up. A starting point at least. I’ll see how I get on with coming back for more.