Thin Place

 I've been having a rough year. 

WELL , not compared with people of Somalia , Nigeria , Yemen and South Sudan , who come top in some charts for Famine . WELL , not compared with people in constant pain, WELL not compared with people relying on Foodbanks in the UK, victims of crime, lonely people, you may think of dozens more situations, you may be really having your own rough times. It is relative. 

I am just venting .

I am in need of a change of scenery. Dont get me wrong! I had 3 great days away at Wydale in January when No 1 Daughter came and stayed here  with her DAD so I could recharge . I also loved my day out to Wharren Percy in May.

7 months later I'm in need of another change of scenery.

I love my days out to Kingston upon Hull on the train to accompany my sister to the Eye Hospital for her injections, I loved going with beloved to Holy Nativity Eastfield to a day with the wonderful Bishop of Wellington and his wife talking about New Monasticism . I love my Sanctuary Space OKA my allotment. I love Monday evenings and cant wait for Only Connect to come round again. I love my afternoons upstairs with my latest Library book as Beloved watches something in black and white on Talking PicturesTV.

I am yearning to go back to Iona . I want to stay in the B and B on the Machair overlooking the Bay at the Back of the Ocean. I want  to watch the Spouting Cave , and look for pebbles of Green Marble, and get to the Quarry . The grass is always greener on the other side. Last time on Iona we had a plague of flies in the bedrooms from the seaweed being tractored from the beach to the gardens in the houses facing the sound of Mull. IT RAINED mostly  for 4 1/2 of the 5 days we were there, and the sea was so rough the ferries were cancelled. I'm only remembering the Langoustines, the rainbows and the quiet, aside for the fantastic SKY TVs in our rooms and real sighting of Corncrakes. (I like a thin place for most of the day only.)

Ive learned a lesson today. I went to the quiet 10am Celtic Morning Prayer in St Oswalds, using the Northumberland Community liturgy. Angela and Paul read the devotion from the book and guess what , It was about Iona !

I was in Iona ,  I remembered scenes from all my the visits , with beloved, with sisters, with aged parent in wheelchair. 

It's all there in my wonderfully created God given brain. And Ive got all the pictures.

And the lesson is this , in Psalm 139

Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! 

Wydale and Why Not

 

Filey daughter is holding the fort at home. She is letting spouse have fish and chips from the Brown Room today, she will encourage him to take a walk out to the chemist and back , and will accompany him. His walker frame is a Godsend literally, and we often think of all our relations in past years who would have loved one, but had to use old pushchairs and Sholleys to give them support and security or never went out at all. Leaving home for a  short walk to the shops or to look at the sea from the end of the road  is acknowledged to be good for not only mental health but a positive step to delay Dementia , along with Wordle and Sudoku.

For carers, the facility to have 2 nights away from home , with all meals provided , no chores, and lovely weather despite the BBC's forecasts is essential to maintain their well being  and the mindset to carry on , to be thankful for small things , and to recharge the brain from the stupor of tedium and repetition.  I only need a couple of nights occasionally in a stimulating but yet restful place.

What I love about Wydale  is that it is only a 13 mile  journey from home ,is in an idyllic rural setting reflecting gracious living of Edwardian gentry, so ticks all the boxes , rare trees,  beautiful vistas , short walks  , spacious public rooms, and really great food.  

I walked as far as the Sweet Chestnut tree today. I knew it was the right tree as the leaves had remained where they had dropped. It was a good walking day , a thick frost , bright sunshine , slight breeze. 

The view in winter shows the hall in the distance,no new

Road Kill

 

Daughters friend celebrates the Seasonal festive meal every year with what I presume is a roast pheasant. 

I’m told she has roadkill ,but can’t imagine there are any chickens on the rural ride following the Gypsey Race to Duggleby barrow from Boythorpe. Very occasionally one sees a badger or a fox, more often it is a pheasant, which straight after the kill is easily recognised by the tail feathers 90 degrees to the tarmac. 

I’m thankful for our turkey with legs from Adrian Colling, I do not have to draw and pluck it , as I used to watch my mother do with one of Mr Bastons chickens, or the pigeons and squabs (from Mr Christopher, ) often  still replete with shot. A couple of years ago I was offered a couple of hares, but couldn’t face skinning and drawing them, even though I know I could do it.These days I only dress Crabs, and even that pleasure is denied me now that our Filey fishmonger has closed his doors.

Mr Christopher 1961 Sutton in Holderness

I remembered to look through the jpegs of  the 35mm slides I digitalised years ago, throwing away hundreds and just keeping some family milestones. My father took hundreds of slides, and yet 60years on , the interesting ones are of people and buildings. Our education often consisted of talks on why Agfa was better than Kodak or Ektachrome, and years later as the Agfa slides are all blue, and the Kodak are all red, I know the use of photo editing software would have improved many an evening round the fire with the screen and projector. We were allowed to comment and criticise but father could not improve on his work, and used to bore us talking about fstops and timings. My sisters will remember all the times we stood on a ladder with our head in the Cherry Trees for him whilst he took ages to adjust his light meter.

He never took a photograph of Mr Baston whose smallholding backed our land. Infact I think Mr Baston sold us the acre near the road , of which we had one third, Mr Bruin one third and Mr Kirby the other third.  Mr Baston came up from the village every day to his pigs and chickens, and often the field was pasture  as well for the bullocks of the nearby farm .We loved being allowed to see the piglets when a sow had farrowed, after strict warnings about her demeanour. Here I record that Mr Christopher was a retired policeman , and came every week to cut the grass and tend the  large garden. He used to shoot , and bring us his surplus game. I rarely buy rabbit now after the memory of it .

I cooked our turkey Breast down as always, then turned over for the last hour. Family commented on how moist it was. I am writing my notes for next year in my Christmas book, almost 50 years of shopping lists and to do lists. 

The most useful page is the what to do next year list.

It says 

• do not  make much bread sauce as only Colin loves it
• do not buy any chocolate biscuits
• do not buy many "nibbles"
• Buy plenty of roasted pistachios in their shells however
• only 3 of us like Sprouts
• cooked red cabbage with Cyder Vinegar next year not balsamic, was much better

I leave you with a prospect of May , my first photo being December , views of my beloved Yorkshire Wolds.