A New Beginning.

I am on the verge of a new life.

For the last twenty four years I have gone out to work. Until six years ago it was full time work. None of it was easy and much of it was working to tight deadlines.

While living in Cardiff I left home at 8 am , either travelling by car (nightmare) or train and bus (different kind of nightmare). I would return home at 6.15pm to a family that needed sorting with homework, scouts, difficult friends, dinner to be cooked, gardening and once a month returning home for a weekend with parents (Father who had had a stroke and was totally disabled) then there were other serious health issues in the family. Not to mention the logistics of two children that had to have a weekend with their Dad in Worcester and two other children that needed to come to spend time with their Dad in Wales.

When we moved back to Worcester life was not much easier. The children, who hadn’t wanted to move to Wales, now didn’t want to be back in Worcester.

Unfortunate choices in boyfriends and girlfriends led to court appearances for stalking/assaulting partners and ineffectual court orders left us, bemused, tired, frightened and fearful.

The stalking girlfriend ended up in prison, where oddly she was able to ring us, even though she was in prison for doing that same thing (270 time in one day alone) and all the time I was working for a large company that allowed workplace bullying. No, I will correct that, encouraged workplace bullying.

This week some of the buildings from the company were demolished.! I don't think Mr Kay would have wanted his company to become such a blot on the landscape and a thorn in the side of so many.

I was signed off with stress for five weeks at that time and I was one of many in the company to be signed off with the same cause. I’d never heard of such a thing before.

Moving to work at school was a great relief but even that has become a stressful environment now.

It will be wonderful to not have to spend forty minutes travelling just over four miles. WORCESTER NEEDS ANOTHER RIVER BRIDGE!!!! And I won’t be a punch bag for children under the age of ten any more.

So, from the 1st of October, I shall be working from home and for the first time in a very long time I shall feel in control of my life. (I hope)

Two weeks ago I went for a weekend at The Mercian Gathering. A Pagan Festival. It was as Satanic as Morris Dancing or dancing round The Maypole.

 

There was some ritual stuff, which was to celebrate the old Gods but it was just dressing up and , well, it’s hard to describe but it was just about loving the earth and the way the earth provides for us.

Nothing sinister and the whole weekend was about peace and harmony and love for the world we live in and the people around us.

There were talks and workshops, where you could learn how to make things like garlands,

(Hair care didn't feature much over the weekend and all over baby wipes was the best alternative to the muddy showers.)

or instruments and different types of healing. There was the Healing Tent, where you could go for free treatments in Reiki. Spiritual Healing, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and probably other things that I have forgotten.

It rained most of the weekend apart from the time of the rituals.

Then it stopped raining half an hour before each event and started again soon after we finished. People said to us, "The Goddess won't let us down" and they were right, she didn't.

 

The rain and the mud didn’t spoil things at all. We just wore wellies and got on with it.

Saturday night was brilliant with two bands playing. Ehdless Knot were superb and I would definitely go to see them again. It was the first time I have ever spent the night dancing in my wellies. I had a fantastic time. Unfortunately Catherine was more tired than I was and she went to bed when the band had a short break at about 11.30. So when I went back to the tent at 12.30, she was fast asleep.

I then found I couldn’t remove my wellies!! Having worn them all day, they'd now become welded to my socks! No matter how I tried, they were stuck. I didn’t want to wake Catherine, as she was obviously tired and I seemed to be somewhat incapacitated by the wine I had drunk and the blackberry leaf cigarettes I’d smoked. Not quite sure why I did the latter, it just seemed a good idea at the time!!

So, at 1.15 am I was getting rather agitated about my still, tightly attached wellies and was getting a serious stich in my side from the contortions on the end of my camp bed. I had a pair of sharp scissors and was seriously thinking of cutting them off but as they were Hunter’s and cost £50, I was a bit loath to.

I then hit on the idea of kicking my heels viciously into the ground and thankfully they gradually they came free.

I had gone to the event with my sister, niece and daughter and we all agreed we had such a great time, we have to go again next year. Surely, if we could have a wonderful time in such appalling weather, it could only be better next year?

Last weekend was the annual Black Country Boating Festival and this year Mike was able to come with me. Again, like most things this summer, it was muddy underfoot but we still enjoyed it.

In the week we went toHergest Croft where they open their gardens daily to the public during the better months of the year (What are they please?) 

  Mike did an interview with the owner and we had a bit of a mooch around. They have a tearoom, where you can get a very nice cake…so we did.

I’m off to see my team, West Bromwich Albion, play Aston Villa tomorrow. There will be a huge crowd, as it’s a local Derby. Just hope it’s worth the petrol!!

 

PS Here's a wedding photo from my last entry.