Saturday 27 January 2018

January: jeepers!

Not reached the end of January yet, but, well, jeepers!  Today is YET AGAIN WET, MUDDY, FOGGY and MISERABLE.

Dog walking has, at best, been a dodge between showers or a walk in the rain. Access to the cliff path has become impossible without gumboots, so we have been exploring the lanes behind the house.
We’ve managed not to get lost, despite our neighbour referring to the area as The Bermuda Triangle. He has a point, but we are definitely getting a feel for the Wrong Direction now and usually manage some pleasant circular rambles without wandering too far off track. Time, too, to stroll along the seaweed-strewn beaches, left ravaged by the storms. Vast swatches of sand have been washed out by fierce tides, exposing stripes of prehistoric peat or forgotten rocky slipways.

We have had this weather for at least a month now if not longer, interspersed by just a few drier days.

I can’t even say DRY, because they weren’t, really. Some cloud, a little sunshine at times, the days growing imperceptibly longer until now, more than a month after Christmas, Spring does indeed feel less far off than before. Daffodils have been blooming defiantly for some weeks, robins are making their presence known in the garden and, on the way home yesterday, a crowd of sparrows in a stand of bamboo sounded like a flock of weaver birds on their nests.

So, some hope of better weather, then. Today is foggy, but the log burner is lit and glowing, reminding me of Christmas.

We began the month with fierce thankfulness. Cat and Andy had left us the day before but we were SO glad to have had the gift of ten days with them over Christmas.

So we kept telling ourselves that.

Practising gratitude, holding the sorrow of parting in loose fingers.
Keeping busy – I was back at school (only two new initiatives so far this half term, another new one planned for March), Richard preoccupied with various home projects. (More of those later...)
Meeting friends. We hosted on half a dozen occasions; went out to dinner a few nights, catching up; got together for chats over tea. Precious relationships.
Mike and Clare came round to help us cook a special Indian meal, using spices from The Spicery, a mail order subscription spice kit which Cat gave Richard for his birthday... This one was BBQ India.


Dum Aloo

Homemade mango chutney



My signature naan breads.
Laughter and light and warmth in the darkness.

And some lovely moments. Possibly the best, for me, was a story from a friend who teaches some of the boys I had in my class a couple of years ago. The boy suddenly said, in the middle of a Maths lesson, “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Mrs Pollard!” (A good thing – he is glad to have passed his entrance exam and so was able to go on to the secondary part of our school.) Teaching is so strange... we pour ourselves out to the children we teach, year after year, enabling and equipping them to continue to grow and develop. Yet we rarely encounter them again and very, very rarely do we ever know the impact we have had. So many celebrities talk about the teacher who encouraged, challenged or inspired them to greater things, but for most of us, we never know what effect we have had.

On the home front, Richard has been delighted to have, he hopes, solved the problem of mould we have in our bedroom. Morningstar is a lovely warm house, made more so by the wood burner Richard installed shortly after we moved in. As a consequence, it is almost draught-free and so condensation has tended to develop on the window and wall of our north-facing bedroom, resulting in a little black mould which, left unchecked, threatened to spread to the ceiling and back of furniture.

Solution? A continuously running, low noise, efficient, extractor fan in the bathroom and some efficacious chemical to paint on the wall which has removed the mould completely and claims to seriously inhibit its return.
We shall see, but we hope so.

The other ongoing project has been the repair of the garage side door, which blew off in one of the many storms which have blown over our island in the last few weeks. The latch had been rather ‘iffy’ since we had to replace the lock in the summer (the lock had jammed shut, just a few days before we were due to go away) and so a strong gust caught the door one night and ripped it off its hinges.

Clever Richard has repaired the wood, turned the door upside down and is waiting for ‘outside working weather’ to finish re-installing it....

Add to that: fine-tuning our house listing on Airbnb ready for summer guests...




Tuesday 2 January 2018

2017: a brief round-up of our year...

On the move...and staying put.

Our year seems to have centred on the word HOME – in various guises. After settling on staying in Guernsey last year, we’ve been busy... settling in. Some decorating, some sorting, not enough decluttering, quite a lot of gardening; more DIY – mostly Richard; making Morningstar into our hereforeverhome.

And yet... ‘Home is where the heart is.’ Our hearts are not only in Guernsey but also very much with family and friends scattered around the world. We can’t be in two places at once, so we have relished opportunities to reconnect, whether locally with good friends, having friends and family to stay, or internationally: Skyping with Cat and Andy, Jonny and Adele and extended family, including Cat and Jonny’s ‘parents-in-law’;  visits from Tanzania, visits to Adele’s parents in Lincoln, dear friends in Shrewsbury and Lancashire...

School has also been an extension of home, though becoming, for Angie, less so: she continues to enjoy the children and their parents, but there have been many, many changes this year, not least the departure of a much-loved headteacher.

...and, of course, much time – three months total, in fact – has been spent in the motorhome visiting France: Brittany in February, the Loire valley at Easter, exploring the South of France in the summer. #justa2hourferryride.  The Dogkennel, as our vehicle is known because Pickle would spend all her time in there if she could, hosted quite a few friends: lunch picnics down at the beach over New Year; groups of family friends camping with us in France; a gathering of 9 of us for supper just before we all caught the ferry back home. It has been wonderful to have the flexibility and opportunity which the motorhome gives us to meet up with so many friends. While away, we have been able to have guests to stay in our house, through AirBnb. Preparing the house certainly ensures that it has an extremely thorough spring clean!

And I reflect: Jesus grew up in a home but, as an adult, had no home to call his own. When he was born, it was among strangers; his early years were spent as a refugee in Egypt. Cat and Andy are living their lives helping refugees and homeless people in Iraq, working with Medair. (Andy works to provide clean water and sanitation; Cat runs the logistics, finances and human resources for the medical teams. Their jobs are hugely demanding: we are in awe of the equanimity with which they face daily challenges.) Adele and Jonny are teaching in an independent school in Arusha, Tanzania: Jonny is loving being back in Africa, especially as they live near our long-time friends Byron and Lisa. In their free time, they volunteer to help train teachers in poorer schools, so that the poorest children can receive a better education. We are grateful for their work.

So, as we look back on this year, as I think about the children’s lives we have all, in our various ways, touched: I think of the future, and what 2018 might bring. What difference will we make this year? For all our efforts are nothing compared to the Gift of Jesus that we remember particularly at Christmas. Grateful for His gift, grateful for His grace.

Monday 1 January 2018

Definitely December

The last month of the year. Long awaited, because it heralded Cat and Andy's visit for Christmas. They had sent us a brief video, purporting to be booking Airbnb for the Christmas period... which then turned out to be our house. They had booked their flights and were coming for Christmas!  (They had previously checked that we had decided to stay in Guernsey; had debated arriving on the doorstep, dressed in Christmas wrapping paper; but decided to let us know by video link...)

To say we were thrilled, delighted, ecstatic...is an understatement. Sometimes, words just don't cut it....

Before their arrival, of course, there were three weeks filled with carol services and the necessary rehearsals; Christmas decorating, Christmas lunches, Christmas shopping...  Advent.
Market square, St Peter Port

Advent. This year, a daily blog reflection; contributing to some 'reverse Advent calendars', both at home and at school; opportunities, while teaching RE, to reflect on the Christmas story and Jesus's coming, and what that means to us.

And some lovely little films, helping explore the meaning of Christmas:




And, of course, my all-time favourite: An Unexpected Christmas:


After school ended, we took a break to stay on Lihou with friends for the night, enjoying the feeling of being castaways once the tide had come in and covered the causeway. Talking, catching up, playing 'Empires'.

And then... They Were Here!  (I managed to continue with my daily reflection even after Cat and Andy had arrived, though it seemed as if all December waited for them to step off the Aurigny jet on to Guernsey airport tarmac.)

Such, such fun. We hugged and laughed and chatted; we walked the cliff paths, along beaches, around Lihou headland; cycled in wind, sunshine and rain showers through St Peters and round to Cobo; got up early to watch the sunrise from Vale Castle with Mags and Louis; CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS together, Skyping with Jonny and Adele.

Opening stockings, exchanging wonderful Turkish and Iraqi gifts (beautifully patterned in blue and white), eating with friends; completing a 998 piece 'Where's Wally' jigsaw puzzle (yes, 2 pieces missing from the 1000 piece puzzle), playing countless games of Monopoly Deal #nowofficiallyhooked  #suchfun

Richard wearing a traditional Kurdish scarf - a keffiyeh (cemedani in Kurdish)




Pickle: not quite sure what to do with a pig's ear.

no caption needed!

Too cute.

Lihou headland



Lihou in the background - cut off by the tide


The Cobo Boxing Day swim
After the swim: Andy, Mags and Louis went in.

Walking from Jerbourg to Fermain, spotting a seal on the way. Then a picnic at Fermain Bay, watching gannets diving for fish.

Vale Castle

Sunrise at Vale Castle - no. 29 for Cat #30before30

breakfast

Looking south from the Vale




Watermill - Guernsey's only working mill.

#historic

Checking the surf at Vazon en route from Cobo tea rooms

Ronez quarry - nature walk around it

Le Trepied

#morehistory

From Le Trepied looking west towards Lihou

Windy walk at Port Grat

Ronez quarry

Nature walk around Ronez quarry

cuddle with Pickle

Little Chapel




Last day L'Ancresse walk



Monopoly deal... again!
The days seemed to stretch on endlessly... and then, suddenly, it was time for them to go. Not quite the 39 hour journey it took to get here, but, still, long. We wrote cards to tuck into their luggage and open at different stages along the way: prolonging the togetherness just a little bit....

And now: January, the 1st. A new year.
Separation is a sorrow, yet...
we resolutely choose joy and thankfulness for the year we have had and the times we have had together with those we love so much. We carry these words within us:

Mötas och skiljas är livets gÃ¥ng. Skiljas och mötas är hoppets sÃ¥ng. 
Nu skiljs vÃ¥ra vägar, nu säger vi farväl, men vi hoppas att vi ses igen.”
Loosely translated:
"Meeting and parting is the way life goes;
parting and meeting is the song of hope.
Now our ways separate; now we say goodbye
but our great hope is to meet again and say 'hi'."

This coming year will be 40 years since I first went to work in Sweden, and yet, the language is still deeply in my heart. Looking forward, looking back... what will January bring?
Looking forward to the future...