THE JOY OF GUERNSEY
It has taken me a few years to make peace with Guernsey again, I am not sure why I stopped liking the place but I did, possibly because I loathed working in the finance industry and could see no other way to live here. But of course I have found another way and thankfully something I absolutely love doing, that I am passionate about in fact, and so living on Guernsey is now hugely enjoyable.
Moving - finally - into my own place after 4 years of living on and off with may parents (which I actually really enjoyed and I am hugely grateful to them for providing me with the opportunity to do what I have done and if truth be told I rather love their house and what they have created with the open outdoor space and the industrial-sized greenhouse where they grow an incredible amount of organic vegetables and fruit that keeps family and friends going through the summer and into the winter)has made a huge difference in terms of finally standing on my own two feet over here.
And to be honest I love living in St Andrews. I have had it in mind these last few days that I would only feel happy living at Pleinmont or Rocquaine as I love the energy at that end of the Island, but actually St Andrews is a fantastic Parish. I love the fact I wake with the mail plane sometime before 7am, with the sound of the birds in the background reminding me of life in Nepal, and in plenty of time to see the sky changing colour from my bedroom window as the sun rises in the East. Fab.
Admittedly there are still aspects to life over here that I find challenging - the traffic and the lack of anonymity, but I have discovered that there are certain parts of the day when I can go out to Pleinmont (my most favourite place) during the day and be the only person out there, enjoying the energy of the Fairy Ring on my own and beachcombing down on the beach around there (I found a witch's broom last week - or so I like to think!)where the pebbles are badly scarred form the incredibly rough seas and tidal movement by the Hanois.
But on the whole there is very little to moan about. This morning I was on the telephone to my brother in Australia and was commenting on the fact I could only see trees through my kitchen window and the sun rising in the background, and why would I want to be anywhere else - and we commented on the fact that actually, if you are happy within yourself and with where you are at with your life, then you can see the beauty in everything, regardless of your location. Who knows. Long may it last. Maybe more freezing weather will make me re-address my satisfaction with life over here!!
But the thing is, at the moment it is great. It is like starting all over again. last week Ewan and I went for a walk through the St Andrews lane and happened upon the Last Post. We decided to go for a drink and it was so refreshing as I have never been there, knew no one in there and I could have been anywhere, and we had a great time. And then yesterday I went for an afternoon walk through the St Andrews lanes with Sam and again, new perspectives of the Island I have never seen, and so many cows, and I love Guernsey cows - strange perhaps, but I do have such a fascination with these wonderful creatures.
Today was beautiful, winter sunshine, Mum and Dad came around to me and we walked through yet more lanes, some I have never walked through before, little green lanes, all the way to Petit Bot, we saw very few cars and even fewer people and were surrounded by nature, everything is so wet and yet green reminding us of Nepal, you know the whole getting off the beaten track (but yes Mum, quite right, no donkeys!), fab. More cows too, in fact tons of cows. I believe the essence of cows is their warmth, generosity, stolidity and sense of peaceful contemplation, and you can't beat the Guernsey cow - "golden".
So all is well, life is good, I am gracious and indeed thankful to have the opportunity to live here again on Guernsey, there is just so much to do and see, and places to simply be.