Happy September times on Guernsey
Friday evening Ewan and I decided to make a spontaneous visit to the Bella Luce to listen to the live music - David Fuller - and ended up staying for dinner. It has such a lovely ambiance up there, they have this chill out lounge at the back of the bar which is really comfortable and cosy. We had a great night - thank you JKT for the tip, spontaneous evenings tend to be the best!
Saturday morning I taught Yoga before meeting Ewan's sister and brother-in-law for hot drinks at Costa, followed by shopping, picking blackberries from the brambles in the lanes down the road and cleaning the house. I guess it must have been one of those Autumnal days, it was certainly colder, as I ended up baking a banana and walnut loaf too. Well done me, it is not everyday I turn my hand to baking but I do rather enjoy it. I even made a tofu and vegetable Thai curry for dinner while Ewan and Chris popped out for a drink.
We then chilled out with a DVD and managed to get to bed at an early hour, only that we were just falling asleep when we could hear the cat crying at the front door. Being that I am becoming increasingly attached to the cat (which is the next door neighbour's and not ours, although they do know that she has been hanging out at ours and are apparently okay about the situation) I couldn't resist letting her in. She is a such a cheeky cat, within minutes of being in the house she was lying on the bed cleaning herself.
Ewan pretended to be a little unhappy about the situation and put her out on the landing but he didn't close the door and so she came straight in again...so he put her out again and I guess she got the message as she went and slept on the spare bed instead! As we don't have a capflap (obviously, being that this is not our cat, well technically) we have to leave a window open for her and Ewan seems to think she leaves about 5am every day as she is not usually around when we wake...but does re-appear a couple of hours later.
Anyhow Sunday dawned crisp and bright. Ewan went and bought the Sunday papers and breakfast from M&S and the three of us (Chris included) sat and chatted and read the papers rather sedately. I do love Sundays when they start like this! I drove down to my parents' house and spent 30 minutes picking beans and tomatoes in the greenhouse and collecting cooking apples from the tree outside. Mum and Dad have an industrial sized greenhouse and grow an incredible range of fruits and vegetables. They also have quite a few abundant apple trees outside. We really are spoilt.
I stopped at the beach on the way home, the tide was going down, not a all tempting me for a swim, and I ended up sitting in the steam room in the Grande mare instead and enjoying a warm swim in the pool, it was quiet too, clearly Sunday lunchtime is the best time to attend! Back at home I managed a restorative Yoga practice, I have done something to my neck and I am trying to breathe it out...or rest it out, honour it, rather than trying to push through it as I would have done in the past.
Ewan collected his Mum, Val, and we met Ross and Star for a walk over to Lihou Island. I love it! I feel the light at this time of year makes everything look clearer somehow, and almost brighter, I am not sure what it is, perhaps the combination of colours of Autumn, all those reds and oranges and browns, very stunning at times. It was busy on Lihou, the house was open and we stopped for a cup of tea and sat on the decking in the sun, very warming for a Sunday afternoon. We passed some great daisies growing in a field on the way back to the car.
The McInnes family came around for dinner on Sunday night to celebrate Ewan's sister's birthday. Ewan's brother-in-law prepared the meat and fish and I roasted some root vegetables with fresh Rosemary from the garden and made an apple and blackberry crumble with an oat topping. It was a good evening, Ewan's younger brother and sister-in-law brought their 18 month old son with them who entertained us all. Needless to say the cat stayed well away!
Monday morning and I helped Ewan with some gardening work, not only the usual clearing up but I also got to prune this time too! I was rather intrigued by the rotting cherry tree base and the compartmentalisation which had taken place further up the trunk - this is a concept Ewan has talked about many times in the past and now here I get to see it in action. Another lovely Autumnal day, a joy to be working outside, doesn't feel like your normal Monday morning!
In fact it dawned on me how lucky I am. Abundance comes in so many different forms and it is easy to get hung up on it manifesting itself financially when actually you can't put a price on time and freedom. As I got rather depressed when I was sick with glandular fever I was put on a computer based cognitive behavioural therapy course and I have to say that while I am only 2 weeks into it I am beginning to realise how much time I have spent in the past forcing myself to do things I don't want to do (and often don't need to do but feel I should do) rather than doing things I enjoy. So now I am enjoying doing things I enjoy and not feeling guilty for enjoying myself!!
In the evening we went around to my parents for a Despres meal. I was meant to be helping Ross but he had done most of it by the time I arrived and actually carried on creating this wonderful Thai dinner all on his own, he is particularly gifted at cooking, thank you Ross, it was lovely! We managed to catch a wonderful sunset too, really bright oranges, pinks and purple too, all very exciting, perfect Autumnal evening.
Ewan and I did not sleep at all last night, it was the weirdest thing, Ewan is not sleeping great at the moment in any event, he is off travelling for about 3.5 months and I guess he is constantly running through it in his head. I have been sleeping much better recently, all that Yin Yoga, but not last night. We wonder if it was something we ate, or perhaps too much fresh air and branch shifting! 3.5 months without Ewan on the Island is going to be a touch testing. I am seeking clarity of what is next for me. Trouble is, I really should be focusing on living in the present, everything happens for a reason and the clarity does appear eventually...here is hoping!
So another beautiful day today. Teaching for me and catching up on administration, Ross and Star leave on Thursday so we are building up to yet more change.
Hope you are enjoying the week too.
xxxx