Road hog!

Never a dull day! I started the day crushing eggshells for the chickens. Lord Meath cracked a joke about me possibly having to sleep in the kitchens, as the lock and door handle had been removed for repair. I love encounters with him. I grabbed a bowl and headed off to the walled garden to pick raspberries. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

The trouble is that I'd already picked all the easy ones! The central row of bushes remained. It was suggested that I use a walking stick or umbrella to pull the branches towards me for picking. Great idea... if I had either of those items. Never one to let a bush get me down, I decided to go into the bushes. Again... sounds easy, right? They're as tall as me and planted really close together. I now know were to hide if I want to disappear from society! Oh... and I got my first horsefly bite today... ungrateful little beast. I was gently trying to shoo it off too. I don't swat and kill like everyone else does. Hmph!

My next task was to fill the honesty box (basket, really). I was commended for the good job I did with it yesterday - throwing in a little idle boasting, though it's really not much to boast about.

It's basically a basket with pickings from the walled garden that people can take and pay what they feel it's worth. Have I mentioned before how wonderful it is to see your 'food' through from the planting to the harvesting and cooking?

Back to our road hog... While I was busy picking beetroot for the basket, Jurgis let me know that it was time to move the pigs. They love beetroot leaves (normally) and could I pick some to help lure them. They've been in the pig 'maternity ward' up to now - the sheds - and it was time to put them back into their paddock... a separate one from where the piglets are currently frolicking. Maeve first, as she was the one most likely to give us strife. And did she give us strife?! She saw her opening and trotted off. It was just Jurgis, Sayo and myself, feebly waving our beetroot around that Maeve decided to totally ignore. Out she went... on the road to the shop, which is where the public come in for their very dignified visit to Killruddery. I freaked! I had visions of mommies with babies in prams seeing this huge tonnage of road hog advancing on them. That Maeve is friendly and is only enjoying an outing would not occur to them, I'm sure. I called for help and was told, "Don't worry. Maeve knows her way around." Only later did I learn that it wasn't her first time out. We eventually headed her off. That was after she took a roadside mud bath (try ushering a mud-coated pig along) and managed to get me shoved into a nettle patch, at which point my thoughts towards her turned as muddy as she was. We finally got her to her paddock and went to let Lisa out - this time, making sure all escape routes were secure. We were busy letting Lisa out when Maeve strolled up to see what was happening. They discovered the pile of discarded feed off to one side and nothing we did would move them until they were good 'n ready. I personally think they were just putting us in our place. *Mentally adds pigs to the list of fairly uncontrollable animals along with goats, sheep and cattle* I think that's what makes them so interesting though :)

After spending a while watching Sophie and her piglets, we went off for some lunch, which turned out to be a serving of popcorn each washed down with Coke. Uh huh... yes... healthy, I know...

I was weeding under the mustard after lunch. Now let me get it down for the record. If it were up to me, I'd buy my mustard, decently packed in a little metal tin or bottled. Them seed pods are sticky and reaching in among them did nothing for my glorious hair do - which needs help on the best of days. I was fully sporting the highland beast look by the time I was done.

Dinner tonight was a delicious concoction of fresh garden peas, fresh garden courgettes, fresh garden garlic (getting tired of the freshness yet?), onion and not-so-fresh supermarket chicken over pasta. It was yummy. I washed it down with the last of my South African wine. Now that was good!

Wreathed in mists

As I gaze out at the Little Sugarloaf over the quiet gardens, I see the 'ghosts' of yesterday's children laughing and frolicking on the lawn. Time (and weather) is a fleeting thing, is it not?

It was a glorious day yesterday. One father was rolling down the hills with his little ones. He looked bashful when he caught me watching. I commented that every garden needs a hill...and it does!

Walking through the veggie garden, the bees and bumble bees making the most of the sunny weather, I could almost See the peas growing fatter. I gave the chickens their treat and went on to the pigs. The piglets were out romping. We can't get enough of watching them. Rough-'n-tumble play in the mud. They're just kids really. It's remarkable to think they're only a little over two weeks old.

Ah.... we're in such a beautiful place and truly happy. I love my work, the people, the place. I go for walks in the forest and forage for the most fascinating mushrooms. We can walk the same path five times a day and see something new every time.

The mists of our lives, so far, have been fickle. Perhaps, just this time, the mists will clear to find us still here, happy in our new reality where the sun shines from within the soul even when the skies are grey.

In defence of praise

Who doesn't like being praised for their work? Is it an area exclusively reserved for bosses? What is it about praise that makes people so uncomfortable?

It's something I started noticing when I passed my colleagues doing what I thought was a spectacular job. I told them so and got a response that implied that they thought I was mocking them. I definitely wasn't. I was genuinely impressed with their work.

I praised my husband for the excellent job he did for me (a small, but, for me, important task). He thought I was being sarcastic. I now wonder if it's the way I say it...

Telling my boss that her organisation of an event was very impressive ended up looking as though I was 'sucking up'.

Is there no easy way to praise? I know I'm guilty of not always accepting praise with grace. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all accept praise with a simple and gracious, "Why, thank you!"

A blog worth reading on the Power of Praise can be found here.

Hmmm... The smell of oranges bring peeled in a room must be one of lives pleasures!

*Sneaks in and waves*

Hi everyone! So so sorry I abandoned you! Well, I didn't really abandon you. It's just that our internet has been down a lot and I'm not often home at the computer and when I am, I share the pc with Jurgis.

I've had so much to post! I spend a lot of my day thinking of things to write about, but never get around to it. Unlike when I was in Sao Paulo, I don't carry writing materials with me. No sit down on a metro to write happening here.

Christmas is done and gone. Our tree was a gorgeous moss-covered branch on which I hung the most sentimental ornaments we'd brought along. It was pretty. Tatiana was here with us, which was wonderful! The photo up top is of her and Jurgis messing around. It was good to see =) She's gone back to work now and I miss her, but at least we're in the same time zone. We had such fun together. She's so easy to laugh with.

I thought of trying to catch up and fill everyone in on life here, but didn't know where to start, as there's been SO much I've missed blogging, so what I'll do as I think of it is post a photo or two and blog around that. Seems easier. It may be sporadic though. I've decided firmly that when we next get our own place, if anyone suggests we get wifi, I may have to shoot them.

Hmm... what should I blog about first? Ah well... I'm here to say hello and let everyone know I'm still alive and thinking of you all. Yes, indeed I do!

Christmas 2011

A touching father and daughter scene :)

The rest is still unwritten

Not my photo

I'm sorry. I know you've all been wondering where I am and how we're getting along. Some gave up and left completely, I see. No problem... it's to be expected. Thank you sooo much to those of you who hunted me down! I could fill pages and pages with our experiences. I've missed sharing so much.... I hope to try to share at least a bit, but first, for a few of my closest friends... here's what my story's about.

The short version of why I haven't blogged is that we're often without internet and when we do have internet, Jurgis is often on the only pc we have. When I've had time to get online, it's for checking mail, very brief appearances in social realms and then falling into bed. And then there have been the times when I simply didn't have the heart to post.

When we first arrived here, there were a few people who made comments about "when reality hits". 'Reality' hit almost right away, but not in the way those negative comments implied. I expected that there would be parts of our new life that would not be perfect and I expected that some parts may even rankle. That's life. You take the good and the bad. This place is the paradise I'd dreamed of - barring the mud. Oooooooooooh the mud! *laughing* I could write odes to mud.

Reality check: No snow!!! The sprinkling we had the one day doesn't count. I had that in South Africa. Where's the snow I ordered??????

To understand the rest, you need to know the background of why and how we got here...

About a year and a half ago, I decided to stop waiting for life to help us leave Brazil and take things into my own hands. I posted on the internet that we were looking for work in the UK. Almost immediately, C contacted me. We, as a couple, were a perfect fit for what they needed. Now those who know me well will react the way I did when I saw the 'job'.... estatic. It's the life we were looking for... and if things went wrong, it didn't need to be permanent. I had visualised this place long before I heard from C - right down to the type of grass, a type I'd never seen before! The ravine with the river, the walks, the hills, the trees, even the log cabin. Ask those who know... they had to listen to my ravings =Þ

So the good side is... this is a paradise. I love Wales and the Welsh people in general. Like all nations, there are oddballs, but that comes with the turf, as always.

Reality check: We work very long hours and work very hard - certainly far too hard for the pittance we get paid. We don't say anything because we're not meant to be working or earning, but there it is. Jurgis does just about everything outside on the farm. No job is too menial or tough. The poor man is half his original size... he's lost so much weight. We start before sun-up and seldom finish before 6pm with snatched lunch breaks. We work a minimum of 6 days a week and often put in time on a Sunday too. It is, after all, a farm and life happens here. I do a wide variety of work. I thought my main task would be to take care of the kids, but I don't often deal with them on the basis I thought I would. I clean 3 large triple-storey houses, top to bottom. There's the main farmhouse and the two holiday cottages. Ok, I lied... the one cottage only has two floors, but I can't be bothered changing the sentence. The holiday cottages get, quite literally, spring-cleaned before any new guests come in, around twice a week. Aside from that, I'm cook, seamstress (C doesn't touch needles), webmaster, social network manager (or whatever you'd call that), goatherd (the one job I like lol), gardener. Both Jurgis and I pretty much turn our hands to whatever is needed.

Where is this going? The whole idea is to not be an ocean away from Tatiana (yay! Got that covered!) and to be closer to the Lithuanian embassy, so Jurgis can get his Lithuanian citizenship, which, according to the embassy, is one of the most straightforward cases they have seen. The problem now is just that we're that much too far from London. It's a mission to get in. But... we've made a start.

So there you have it... the (very) long and the short of it. I'm not unhappy. I adore the kids and get on well with C. I can't stand her husband, but hey... I don't have to like everyone, right? The less I say about him, the better. I avoid him now and he keeps out of my way. I think I'm the first person in years to stand up to him. Everyone tiptoes around him. He's rude and treats the people around him like dirt - unless they're customers bearing money. Now, if I can ignore his existance, life is peachy =) If I can't ignore him, I do deep breathing exercises and imagine putting itching powder in his undies drawer.

What does that have to do with the title? I've started a new chapter in my life. The page is unwritten. It's up to me to create this chapter and creating I am! I'm keeping an eye open for jobs, particularly in southern Ireland. There are plenty I could fill, the challenge being that if I were accepted, I'd need to go in for an interview, so I'm holding off for now.

Anyhow... enough waffle. If you're still reading, you need a Noddy badge... honestly! Once again, thanks for still being there and for all the unstinting support!

Where did the time go?

I promised to come online and post volumes describing our experience in Wales, but I've only had time online in 10 minute snatches. The computer is down in the main house. In a couple of hours, the family will be back and we'll be offline - at least, until we can get a laptop or something up in the cabin. I'll catch up properly then.

Thinking of you all and missing you. Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement through this rather dramatic change in our lives!

We see stars!! Many stars!! Clear, dark skies!!

Coity Bach

Here I am in the beautiful Brecon Beacons. This is a really quick post with no photos. I have to figure out how to get my photos into my blogs without installing software on this pc.

We're on our own here now. The family have gone on their holidays. The sun is still shining... that cold front that was promised hasn't hit us yet, which is something of a relief. As I sit here, the birds are fluttering around the feeders outside my window. I've done the milking and taken the goats to the top field. There's SO much to do! But it's all good. Our cabin is just that... a cabin. It's tiny, but as it will be used, quite literally, just for flopping exhausted into bed at night, all's good.

Thank you Soooooooo much to Kippy for the awesome, amazing, splendiferous box!! It goes well in the cabin and the box has proven invaluable in there too. Oh... and Tat got her portion *laugh* Katey, thank you for the sugar overload. We needed it to stay awake and it helped. It was warming too for the cooler nights. Please thank your mom for me. I assume she did the knitting. Those gloves are going to be Well Used! They're perfect! The card was sweet too.

In all, the Welsh people are wonderful... so, so friendly. Everyone, wherever we go, is ready for a chat. They're open, helpful, friendly, smiley... what's not to like?

Coity Bach, the farm, has two holiday cottages. They're part of my duties here. We have people in both cottages. Oh they're lovely! If you ever come to Wales, you must stay in the cottages! The walks are delightful and the scenery spectacular. We have our own Black Mountain, Table Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain. I'm inundated with new names. The goats... charming creatures ('cept when Lilly kicked the bucket of milk over me), the pigs, the horses (Tat's in horse-heaven), the geese, chickens, peacocks - yes, even the peacocks are charming. I don't know why people complain about them.

Anyway... got to dash. I'll try and get back on here as soon as I can to catch up with everyone and post photos. Missing you all!

Last post in Brazil

Oooh! That sounded good!

I get a daily post with new Portuguese vocabulary to learn. Yesterday's word was paciencia (patience). Very appropriate! I wondered if they're snooping *looks around for hidden cameras* Today's got even better!


Ah... that about says it, right? We leave home in about an hour. This is it!

Pizza on paper plates

I forgot we had paper plates. How nice! Paper plates are super rare here. They usually use plastic plates. I found paper plates once and bought a huge quantity... just because. I hate eating off plastic plates. Paper plates take me back to braai's and picnics, an essential for any event, from school fétes to camps.

Tonight's grandiose supper is pizza... on paper plates... with cheap, fizzy wine, what they call a 'frizzante'. Food fit for a king *laugh* Just before we leave, we have finally found the perfect pizzaria. Thick, soft, light bases with a filled border and Loaded with topping... super fresh and a quick delivery. Typical.

We're all packed. At least... what we can take is packed. Funny thing about possessions. I keep hearing things like... you can't take it with you when you die anyway. Trouble is, many possessions are tied up with experiences and memories. Sure, you can take a photo or three and sure you can remember, but it's somehow not the same. I learned that once before, a truly tough lesson. I'm doing it again. This will be the last time I ever do something like that. Never again. Ever.

But... we're packed! What a relief! Now we can relax a bit, though at 8pm, I'm yawning my head off. Weather here right now is 29ºC (can't be bothered to convert - just believe me, it's hot!) and tomorrow's going to be hot too and raining. It was raining here this afternoon. Many parts of the city are flooded. Thank goodness we weren't flooded for a change. The pizza delivery boy managed to come! London will apparently be cool and... guess what.... wet! Brecon's the same. We'll be going to the airport laden with warm clothes. The trip should be fun.

This will be my last post on this end of the Atlantic. I'll see you all on the flip side. I don't know what our access to the internet will be like on the other side. I'll go online with my mobile, though, depending on connectivity. Thank you all so, so much for your support through all this!! You will never know how much it's meant to me!

Data backups interfere with social life. Scientific study concluded.

Going North!!!

Start:	Oct 9, '11 3:30p
End:	Oct 10, '11
Location:	Guarulhos to Heathrow

Well, north-east(ish) =)

Sharing the mood

*****
Yes, we can!

Weeeeeeeeee!!

I changed my address details on ebay this morning, so that I could buy and ship a couple of adapter plugs (ah... small things) and got a message from ebay: "Congratulations on your move to the UK!" Got all jumpity, skippity excited *happy grins*

I shed a few tears when I said goodbye to the kidlets this week. Little Zara has started walking. Her mom was so excited to show me. When she has her walking harness on, she holds the 'leash' out in front of her (alone) and walks. She won't walk without it. She just needs the feeling of the harness around her chest to feel secure enough to take those steps. I think she's much like many of us... we need to *feel* as though we're being helped/supported to progress, even if the help or support is an illusion. I was so happy for them though. This child is special and any progress is a miracle. When I arrive, she demands her 'lesson'. Too cute.

Right now, I have two cases packed and sooo much more to organise. The weather has been agonisingly hot with temps sitting around 35ºC. Today, the sky pulled over. 3pm was dark outside with a deep purple sky. Apparently we're heading into a wet week. I'm so glad I'm not teaching!

*yawns* Think a cup of coffee and some biscuits are a good idea....

"A better world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing" Arundhati Roy

Finally!

I write daily, sometimes a little... sometimes pages full. I carry a little notebook around with me for just that purpose. The trouble is that much of my writing lately has been about something I couldn't share... yet. Jurgis made me 'sign' a pact of silence until we had confirmation. We've had too many false alarms in the past.

We've, once again, been in a mess of paperwork. I applied for a visa and was rejected. I can't tell you what a blow that was. I went around for a day quite literally not able to breathe. It seemed as though I was doomed to spend my life dreading red tape of any sort.

Being stubborn and determined, I reapplied. Until the moment the passport and related visa was in our hands, I had no idea if I was approved or not and we were running out of time. It was monumental. I had to take the risk and buy our tickets in advance (what if I wasn't approved??). I had to prove conclusively that I had no intention of living illegally in England. That is not as easy as it sounds when you have no 'real' job and no real family ties to keep you in a country. Luckily, my wonderful students came through for me with letters of reference and confirmation of my work - some were even really flattering. I'm saving them all, of course! Some are in a position to pack quite a political punch.. whew! They were brilliant! I will miss them terribly. Just when I had the nicest group of students a teacher could wish for, I'm moving on.

I've been approved! The visa arrived today, delivered by DHL. Thank goodness the crowd at the British consulate used their heads. We've been terrified, as the local postal service has been on strike for more than a month now and the visa... with all my original documents... had to be shipped from Rio de Janeiro. Talk about nail-biting. To get to Rio, 6 hours drive away, took more than 2 weeks and our flight is booked for next week!

We're going up to the UK, specifically Wales. Yes, I imagine we'll spend quite a while trying to pronounce the place we're in. The farm is in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. Green. We'll be surrounded by green and we laugh that the worst traffic we'll have to deal with is a tractor blocking the road. Ah bliss!! The photos above are taken from the farm house. We'll be in a log cabin near the farm house. It's brand spanking new. We've watched the building in photos. Those who've known me long will know my longing to live in a log cabin.

Tatiana has taken some time off and will be with us for the first 10 days of our stay there. I'm beyond excited. I've missed that girl so, so much!!! We'll be together at Christmas too... and New Year... and... I'm getting all worked up again!

So... we fly on Sunday, October 9th. Our trip is already planned down to the last detail... except for the piles. I'm surrounded by piles of STUFF. Where did all this stuff come from??? We have a couple of cases packed. This weekend, we'll finish packing. This week is my last week teaching before I go. I'm excited beyond words... but at the same time a little heart-sore. As I said, my current students are amazing. I'll miss them. I hope they'll stick around as friends. I have an idea they might just do that. For now, I go down streets and think, "This is the last time I'll.... "

Ends and beginnings... changes...

"Remember that to a drowning man, treading water is success! But how much more successful if every kick takes you a little closer to shore?" ~ Jim Bouchard

Lost in translation

My shadow in the river canal.
The sharp mid-morning light shows it as clean, which is nice. I cropped a good deal of over-exposed concrete wall from the top of the picture.
This is to give you an idea of how deep it is.
When it rains, it overflows and floods the highway running alongside.
Sunday morning and I'm sitting watching Youtube videos with no inclination whatsoever to attend to the pile of dishes, pile of ironing, pile of laundry, pile of papers, pile of... well, you know...

It started with me briefly visiting the social network sites to see if anything new was happening. Facebook - check. G+ - check. Twitter - ... oh wait... huge miscommunication! Twitter in English is bad enough. I usually only follow people who at least attempt complete sentences. Thing is, I do know some Brazilians and they're there too. My Portuguese is stellar, of course *koff* but my Portuguese in Twitter unspeak? Ha! A guy posted that I had 'accepted' his story and I haven't even spoken to him in a few months. I responded, thinking he had a bit of a cheek mentioning me that way. Turns out he was just rejoicing that a magazine had published his story and was sharing his joy. Oh... Oops! What a difference a tilde makes! A tilde, by the way, is a common part of Portuguese, like the ã in São, for those who are wondering.

Then a colleague posted this video. It's hilarious! Welcome to my world! Note, it is adult humour for the most part, so I wouldn't watch it with the little ones, though they wouldn't understand it anyway.

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And then I watched this... also funny and So true!

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Ooh! And on the subject of language, I wanted to show you the latest gem I found in one of the clothing chains here. If it weren't for the sequins, I swear I'd buy it to befuddle the world (outside of Brazil, that is).