Singles Holidays in Greece and the UK

2012-01-29T14:45:00.000Z

THEY LEFT ME IN CHARGE OF THE ANIMALS....

Blackshaw Head is a tiny village almost on top of a moor just up from Hebden and Todmorden. I answered an ad in the 'HebWeb' for someone to rent part of a small-holding with a reduction in rent for any animal sitting - I couldn't believe my luck. Someone was going to PAY me for looking after animals!

So, my landlords are away in India for a month and I'm looking after a cat (Kitty - a boy), a dog (Tess - a girl), 2 goats - White Goat (pregnant) and Brown Goat (female, not pregnant), 6 sheep (ewes - all pregnant) and 2 lambs (females - nearly a year old).

Let the fun begin.....

Hay and Straw - There is a difference

Am I the only person on the planet who thought that these were the same thing? When Steve (my landlord) was going through my list of duties he said: 'Now, they get 2 to 3 wedges of hay a day and scatter the straw over the mucky bits in the pen' whilst pointing at two identical (or so they appeared at the time, obviously NOW I can not only tell the difference I can look back askance at my old self who didn't know -'what you seriously can't tell the difference?' I would say, sniffily) piles of vaguely yellowish/greenish/grassyish looking stuff.

'Righto', I said. 'Errm..... Which is which?'

All credit to him, Steve missed only the tiny weeniest beat and then explained that one was quite yellow looking and one was quite green looking and they had very different textures.

OBVIOUSLY.

The Sex-Change Cat

Kitty was a kitten when I first arrived. A she kitten (we thought). It was only on taking her to the vets to be 'done' that it was reported that she is a he, although now it is an it. My landlords were quite embarrassed that they'd not realised. I am taking some time getting used to calling her him.

If you see what I mean.

Coming Up:

Goat Escape

Goat Massage

Making Friends with Sheep (tricky business)

Her Limpiness Number 28 (of 8) - a sheep

Why Yorkshire?

Here I am in Yorkshire for the winter. I was born in Yorkshire and most of my family are from here but I've lived down South pretty much all my adult life. When I was in Greece in the summer (2011) I decided that I would move back up to Yorkshire for the winter, partly to be closer to my family and partly to be in the company of a like-minded community (Hebden Bridge is full of those living an 'alternative' lifestyle - so I reckoned they'd be an okay bunch).

I have landed on my feet.

Life in Yorkshire

2012-01-26T21:24:00.000Z

Right. decision made. I shall start sharing snippets of my time in Yorkshire (which is where I live in the winter). There is just so much to wonder at when you are cat, dog, sheep and goat sitting. Expect to hear about the following:

Goat Escape
Chicken Chase
Her Limpiness the Sheep
Kitty the Sex Change Cat
Shaun the Sheep(man)
Log Burning Fires v Burned Fingers
The Difference Between Hay and Straw
Appropriate Clothing for Distributing The Afore-Mentioned
Deer Stalker Hats, the value thereof
Mucky Mick the Farmer
Pubs That Have Closed But Are Open
Spotting Deer with Heart Singing
Local Picture Houses
The Amazing Kindness Of Strangers

I would start this tonight but I'm just toooo tired. All this animal care takes it out of you and I've got to be up with the larks to check on Her Limpiness.

#OccupyLSX

2011-11-21T18:44:00.001Z

There we were - a group of (frankly) middle aged, middle class women sitting around a table in Cyprus talking about the Occupy movement. I'm sure you've heard of it. The people who are squatting in St Paul's at the moment objecting to the corporate running of the country and whose aims (at the moment) seem unsure.

I was surprised (and delighted) to hear how much sympathy this band of folk was getting from our little group in Cyprus. Support to the extent that my guests wanted to know what they could do within the framework of their lives: their families, keeping house, being parents, paying the bills - what they could do to support the movement.

I cannot remember a time when the public seemed so galvanised to take action across the planet. And the extraordinary thing for me is that we don't REALLY know what we're taking action for. I mean, to date there is no agenda or consensus on how things need to be changed. But there is such a groundswell of awakening to the fact that SOMETHING needs to change.

At the moment being without an official 'agenda' seems immaterial.

It is incredible to be part of a time in history when people are getting organised, getting together, getting along without a real aim in mind and just with an intention to make things better for everyone (whatever that might mean and however it might look down the line) and a notion that things really REALLY need to change.

This is the advice I was given when asked how we can get involved if we live miles away or have families or commitments that prevent us from joining in ourselves:

"They can donate funds, find speakers/educators to attend and support, just spread a positive vibe"

Courtesy of the Twitterverse, hence the brevity. But that says it all really.

I shall be doing one or all of the above.

Times they are a-changing.

#OccupyLSX #OccupyLondon #BankofIdeas

Did I ever tell you about my other job?

2011-09-29T19:10:00.001+01:00

I ‘gave up’smoking once for 6 months when I was 30 (14 years ago).

I say ‘gaveup’ advisedly. I also ‘gave up’ sugar,salt, alcohol and wheat at the same time. One of my friends had died very unexpectedly in her sleep. She was only 34 and it saddened and terrifiedme. She was a hard drinking, hardsmoking type and I thought that I’d been given a warning so I gave everythingup.

We all knowthe problem with ‘giving up’ though. Themoment you start to think that something is forbidden or not allowed it becomesyour obsession, your desire, your true love, your one and only... Well, I had 5of them going on! But, of course, thenumber one ‘sacrifice’ that I made was smoking. Oh how I longed to be a smoker again. Smoking made my life so much better (I kept telling myself), my life ismore stressed without cigarettes, I can’t concentrate without them, I can’trelax properly and I sure as hell can’t have any fun unless I’m smoking(bearing in mind that I had pretty much cut any form of enjoyment entirely outof my life)..... Smoking would be the answer to all my accumulated woes. It would, really, it would. I haven’t smoked for 6 months. It was bloody hell stopping but I’m sure I’vegot it cracked now so I’ll just have one. Just one. It’ll be fine. I won’t get hooked again. I’m in control. I’ll just have one from time to time. When I’m out. Or when I’m stressed. Okay, wellsometimes I’ll have two. Or three. Oh, go on then I’ll have a packet of ten....

Fast forward17 years and I’m smoking 40 a day and hating every minute of it. Incidentally, the sugar, salt, alcohol andwheat all came back into my life once I’d started smoking again. Funny that.

Did itrelieve my stress, help me concentrate or relax? No, but I’d convinced myself that it did andI cannot even begin to describe the massive and crushing disappointment when Ihad that first puff of that first cigarette and realised the lie. I had lied to myself and once again smokinghad lied to me and I’d been sucked in. It tasted disgusting. Trulydisgusting.

I neverthought I’d be free of it. I certainlycouldn’t put myself through the pain of stopping again using my (nownon-existent) willpower. I was one ofthose people who said that they enjoyed smoking because the truth was that Ididn’t think that I could stop and I had to make it look as though it was mydecision to smoke. But of course, I wasn’tin control. Smoking controlled me – mademe worry about my health, hate the smell of my clothes, worry about the smellof my breath, embarrass me about the stains on my fingers and strip me of theability to save.

My bestfriend, Kate, sent me the Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking book because amutual friend of ours had stopped by reading it. I was really not happy that she’d sent it tome. But I read it to get her off myback. I didn’t stop smoking and I wasgutted.... But a process had started inmy head. I realised that everything inthe book was true, so I’d just missed something. Our friend had stopped and so could I. So I took myself off to a session in RaynesPark in August 2003.

I haven’tsmoked since.

This isremarkable. Why? Because I didn’t miss it, had no desire forit, no longer thought that it was a sacrifice, no longer believed that itrelieved my stress, helped me concentrate or helped me relax. In fact I truly understood that the reversewas true. So, if it didn’t do any ofthose things why on earth was I doing it and what was enjoyable about it?Nothing! And so if there was nothing tomiss why would I have ‘cravings’ or find it difficult? I wouldn’t – and didn’t! I had two questions pinging round my head:

What’s thepoint in smoking.... Errrrm... None

How will itbenefit my life in this moment if I have a cigarette right now?... Errm... Itwon’t.

Right. So I didn’t bother. And haven’t ever since.

I made theworld’s biggest nuisance of myself with the Allen Carr Head Office so that Icould get an interview to be a therapist. After all, if I could stop smoking then anyone could.

I’ve been atherapist now for 7 years. I still get athrill when I leave sessions and know that my clients have ‘got it’. What a gift to both give and receive.

Gratefuldoesn’t even begin to cover it......

Things I love about human beingism

2011-09-10T09:41:00.000+01:00

People moving to allow ambulances to go through..
People standing to allow others less able to sit in their seats
People being FUNNY especially on Twitter. I follow the Queen. Of course.
Rainbows, being witness to them. And dolphins. And turtles. And cats and kittens. And dogs (this list could get quite long).

Getting lost in the mountains and just not being worried (well, the Alps would worry me a bit. Or the Himalayas. Or the Andes).

Knowing sneaky back streets

Discovering that my happiness, peace and contentment is not dependent on another human being

Sunsets that turn mountains red and the sea pink

Laughter. The international language (especially when watching this)

Going for a walk this morning and having a dog tag along the whole way - just tagging along.... just tagging along....

The kindness of strangers

Disaster averted (Manolis nearly put us to our death this morning by setting the local cafe on fire) with humour

Air-conditioning when it's 32 degrees in your bedroom at night

The Stars of the Show - My Guests

2011-05-17T16:22:00.000+01:00

We had a drawing course last week at Serenity Retreat. This week we have a painting course. I have been amazed by my guests.

One in particular who has chosen to do the painting course because she's aware that perfectionism is a problem she has and so she wants to do something that she knows she can never be 'perfect' at. How can you be perfect at art when it's so very subjective?

All the people on the drawing and painting courses have completely given themselves over to the process. They support each other, constructively critique each other, cheer each other on and are generally having fun (there may be a little bit of regressing going on as the favourite bit so far has also been the messiest bit.......!).

How marvellous to be surrounded by people who are open to change and to challenging themselves! How privileged I feel to be with this eclectic bunch of people who all have something very special at their hearts - the desire to love life and to live it fully.

I am in awe.

I get to spend my whole summer with people like this. Wow.

Half and Half Syndrome

2011-04-10T21:37:00.000+01:00

I'm suffering with Half and Half Syndrome. Yikes.

See, I'm neither fully in the UK nor am I fully in Greece (as is evident owing to the distinct lack of good quality feta and watery tomatoes).

All the wisdom in the world tells me to stay with the moment, fully embrace the here and now.... and yet......

I keep catching myself doing mental packing (as in having the images in my head prior to the event rather than any other, although D Day will see a fairly large amount of the other). I rewrite lists of what I need to buy. I keep imagining how I'm going to be feeling as I'm driving through France and Italy (I'm v much looking forward to it). I am having pidgin Greek conversations in my head (my grammar is perfect when I converse with myself) and lying on beaches... and drying wild oregano..... and.... and.....!

Don't get me wrong. I am incredibly happy to be in the UK. I had forgotten how amazing it is to be here in Spring, which is ridiculous as I've had 43 of them. Weird how it always surprises me still. I was driving to work this morning (other work) and was loving the burgeoning fullness of everything. I was looking at the countryside as if I were a Greek who had grown up with olive trees and cypresses and thinking about how gorgeous our trees are, how verdant our countryside is. It really is truly amazing and yet I still have the urge to think ahead, to wish the time away, to plan and plot.

I know (theoretically) better. Not enjoying the moment and fast forwarding to the next event - not great. I know that.

Maybe it's just a question of old-fashioned acceptance. Maybe not only do I have Half and Half Syndrome, but also Extreme Humanism....

Sigh....

Ah well, only 2 weeks and 3 days until I goooooooo....

To VA or not To VA (Virtual Assistant for the uninitiated)

2011-03-28T17:34:00.001+01:00

I’ve had a right old battle going on in my head for the last few weeks/months/years.

It’s the guilt, you see – the guilt of thinking that I ought to be able to do everything admin related, enjoy it and be good at it. Well, the truth of the matter is that I CAN do it, but I don’t ENJOY doing it.

I am not a natural i dotter and t crosser. It’s just not how I roll (!).

For some time I have been realising that there are a myriad of small tasks that need doing that I don’t want to do. They’re the type of tasks that are a bit like ironing. I hate ironing. I hate the thought of ironing and I hate the act of ironing. The amount of stress I put myself under about the flaming ironing is ridiculous. So now I am just very careful about how I hang things (I last ironed something back in October).

Well I've finally worked out what needs to happen with these admin tasks – I just need to trust someone else who is a genuine i dotter and t crosser (such people do exist, amazingly).

I love putting together the holidays and planning the courses and the trips – love it, love it, love it. I also love actually being with my guests. It’s the best part of the job. What I’m not so keen on is having to chase people for flight details and make sure that all the bookings are on the database and all that kind of faffy type thing. It does my head in.

I was looking for a Virtual PA for a friend of mine when I came upon Tracy. She suggested that my friend keep a diary of what he’s doing and then to score it in terms of whether or not he actually needed to do it or if it could be something that could be farmed out. As she was speaking I was thinking about my to-do list that had 43 items on it – some of them half day tasks.

Within hours I decided that this was the way forward – I persuaded myself that I couldn’t carry on without her - never mind my friend! She was so confident on the phone and matter of fact that I felt the stress seep away just by talking to her. So I have handed over some jobs. We’ll go through the details today and get a system up and running, but let me tell you how much less stressed I am already... I have already started plans to get on with the stuff I actually enjoy – the writing, the answering enquiries, the people aspects.

Yes, I’m sure there are people out there who manage to wear all the different hats all of the time and get on very nicely. But I’m just not one of those people.

The interesting thing is how difficult I found it to admit to myself that I don’t like doing admin. To see how guilty I was feeling at not being an all-singing and all-dancing business owner - to admit ‘weakness’, to own up to being ‘less than perfect’. But what sweet relief to have finally surrendered and stopped trying to push a boulder up a hill. What joy to just accept my limitations and to go with the flow. How liberating to stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

How many times do we try to be all things to all people? Constantly feeling that we’re not living up to expectation or the ridiculously high standards we set for ourselves? How lovely just to acknowledge that we’re doing our best and that we need help...

Liberation indeed!

Zen and Serenity

2011-03-16T19:05:00.000Z

I have been on two Zen silent meditation retreats in the last 5 weeks both of which were 5 days long in duration. The experiences were amazing. Awe-inspiringly so.

4 days back from my last retreat and I'm hankering after aspects that I thought I would hate but in fact have realised are important to me and to how I live:

1. Routine
Getting up at 5am was a bit of a shock to the system, that's for sure - but once I'd stopped fighting it (this is a theme, me stopping fighting stuff) it was very welcome - another set of decisions that I didn't have to consider or worry about.

2. Silence
I am a chatterbox. One of my friends suggested that he'd happily sponsor me to maintain the silence for another week (I have such lovely friends).
However, the silence was a joy. I hadn't realised how welcome it was to relieve myself of the automatic social obligation of smiling at people all the time, or 'being considerate of others' aka being a control freak. It was just great to be in the company of people who were pulling in the same direction, but doing it silently.

3. Meditation
There's an awful lot of meditation that goes on. I know that this shouldn't really have been a surprise, but it was somehow. In Zen there's a lot of sitting. I struggled with the physical aspects of it to begin with but finally settled down and got into the rhythm of it. The teachers are great and give you pointers all the way through the process. But very importantly, the whole process gave me the chance to distance my thinking from all the distractions of my 'normal' life and to simply be. Admittedly it was only for seconds at a time, most of the time - but I still had some amazing experiences that have shifted the way that the rest of life will be lived.

4. Community
It was a revelation to me to see how close you could feel toward people that you didn't speak to. In the second retreat there was an element of speaking (it was a Western Zen Retreat) but it wasn't small talk or chit chat, no social niceties - just all of us doing our best. Of course, in some ways it's easier to like people you don't have to speak to but this was more a feeling of inclusion, of realising that you were with a group of people who were trying to look for answers to their questions, a group of people who were prepared to commit themselves to a process in order to improve their passage through their lives. Inspiring people, amazing people and then realising that I'm one of them ;-)

I know that silent meditation retreats are not for everyone but it suddenly struck me that the things I hanker after with the Zen retreats are the things that I love about Serenity Retreat - although not in quite the same way, of course:

Routine - changing our routine is so important to shift ourselves if we feel 'stuck', having a routine that involves the sun can only be a good thing!
Silence - join in as much or as little as you like. If you want to hole up in your accommodation for the entire break - that's fine... We also have short specific times dedicated to silence for those who want to indulge.
Meditation - we have guided meditations for you to dip into.
Community.- whether you engage fully or not, you will know that you're part of a community, the extent to which you're involved is always up to you.

And so I'm just very grateful that I have a job, a career, a life that speaks to me in terms that matter to me. And it's available to all of us. We just have to get focused, keep determined and let it all flow......

Today I Nearly Died

2011-01-07T18:13:00.000Z

Nothing like a dramatic headline.

But today I literally came a hair's breadth from saying 'tally ho' and disappearing down a very very steep ravine into some (admittedly very gorgeous) forest.

You don't really expect a hailstorm at the top of a Cypriot mountain. And certainly not a furiously persistent, windscreen wiper defying, 'let's make like cannon balls' type of hail. That just goes on and on.

Of course the thing with hail (for me), is that in the UK it's so innocuous. 'Pish' we say, in the face of hail - is that the best you can do? We know it'll pass, we know it's nothing to worry about (or at least this has always been MY way of dealing with hail - maybe this is where I've been going wrong....).

But Cypriot hail, up a mountain, in a tiny rental car, miles and miles and miles away from anything/one else is a different story. Cypriot hail carpeting the windy, hairpin bends of the mountains is a walk in the park until the first time you put your foot on the brakes to take a corner (that they warn you to take at 20kph - so you can imagine how tight it is) and you start to skid..... I have no idea why my head didn't treat this half inch frosting of hail in the same way it would respect a half inch of snow on the roads in the UK, but for some reason, my bad weather guidance system switched itself off when I got to Cyprus.

So there I was, sliding across the road (thankfully TOWARD the mountain, I would not be writing this if the opposite had been the case) and all of a sudden the world shrinks into that very second, that very moment. I am heart-stoppingly aware of the car, the skid, the mountain, the road and of course - my inability to do anything other than pray.

And did I pray. Because it didn't end with that skid. Every time the road (and we're talking mountains here) went uphill, the car would skid and misbehave. I would try and persevere in second gear but kept having to come back down into first. And this gear changing was accompanied by:

'Please God, let this hail stop now. Please. Let it stop. Let it stop. I'm really scared now. Please let it stop.'. This was said with a lot of heart and the occasional swear word. But I was pretty single-minded about what it was that I wanted.

And it stopped.

And then (chancing my arm a bit but with equal zeal):

'Just some rain, lots and lots of rain, please, to wash all this hail away and melt it forever. I would be incredibly happy for some torrentially bonkers rain. Very happy. Or some sun. Some lovely sun. Or just for the temperature to rise a couple of degrees very suddenly. Please God, please just keep me safe until I get home. Please keep me safe. Please keep me safe'.

Then I kept having flashbacks to my friend, Janine, and her ever-cautious parents warning about snow shovels and drinks and sandwiches and wondering if I had had a moment of precognisance because for the first time in many many ...well... years I suppose, I'd organised myself to the degree that I had a third of a bottle of water with me, 2 mandarins and my kagool. Proper preparation for treacherous weather, by any standards, I'm sure you'll agree.

I vowed that if getting the next 40 kilometres home would mean doing it in first gear - then that's what I would do. (Anyone who knows me knows that things must have been bad if I was happy to be in first gear for longer than 0.2 seconds).

On I went, 10 kph, praying non stop when all of a sudden I noticed that the road was not quite so white, the hail seemed to be getting more shallow. I wasn't crunching down on it any longer, it was becoming more and more and more...... like...... RAIN underfoot (well undertyre). HALLELUJAH! I didn't stop holding my breath though, in case it was just a hail type trick and that I'd turn another corner and it would be back to its slippy slidey best....

But no. The hail was gone, the roads were beautifully and gloriously and simply WET. Hurray!!!!

And so I pelted it down the mountain-side (pelted being a relative term - I made it into third gear) and enjoyed every single drop of rain that came down. Every drop.

There have been very few times in my life when I have been truly terrified. This was one of them. And whether you believe in God (and the word itself evokes enough debate, never mind the concept) or not, it's very comforting to have something to DO when you're stuck up there, on the top of a mountain in the hail miles away from anything and anybody.

I have decided (incidentally) that I need to spend the remainder of my time in Cyprus getting more of a feel for the area that my clients will be staying in. This area is on a beautiful hill (note - HILL) with magnificent views of the National Park, the coast and the mountains. Looking at them (the mountains) will do from now on.

PS. I dedicate this blog to God, who did a very neat job of keeping me safe, for which I'm very grateful. I dedicate everything else to you too, in fact. But this blog really does have your name on it. Thank you.

What is Love?

2010-12-26T15:37:00.008Z

Christmas and New Year, the time of peace on earth and goodwill to all men (and women!).

I thought it would be nice to reflect on the one thing that none of us can ever have enough of... love... and what it might mean (this post definitely falls under the heading of 'Kim Is Being A Hippy Today')

These reflections are 'borrowed', details further down.

"Love:

is the will to promote new life and growth in me and in another.
is personal, a sacred trust of living things
is freeing, acknowledging a separateness and treasuring the uniqueness of another.
it calls for willing sacrifice, to empty itself in nurture of the one who’s loved.
it respects the value of another
it demands both patience and discretion, both tact and understanding.
it seeks to learn and listen to another
it is a true equality, an equal-sided valuation and respect
it is tenderness, selfless, caring and essential
it is unconditional

And we each need to give and to receive it".

Where were these lovely words taken from?

I asked a Quaker friend of mine (thanks Keith!) to send them to me, they are gleaned from the Quaker Handbook of Faith and Practise (Chapter 22).

Hope you enjoyed them.

Happy New Year everyone, may it be filled with love.....

Exciting Things in the Pipeline for 2011

2010-11-24T17:49:00.003Z

We have so much stuff scheduled for next year.

Firstly we have a UK VENUE - so we'll be putting on residential courses at Easter, Christmas and New Year for our solo travellers.

We will also be in CYPRUS for October and November 2011.

At Easter we'll be offering a 4 night residential in the heart of leafy Buckinghamshire. We will be focusing on the joy of Spring and its representation of renewal and fresh beginnings. We’ll be offering a variety of workshops for you to dip into all aimed at clearing the past, looking forward and tapping our internal creativity. If you’d like us to tell you when the ink is dry on all the associated paperwork you can leave your email or postal address here.

We have a whole host of new courses on offer for Greece and Cyprus:

Louise Hay Courses - this year a Beginners and an Advanced
Writing Your Truth
Mindfulness and Loving Kindness
Healing through Meditation using Mindfulness and Loving Kindness
Art Journalling
Drama for Its Own Sake - Drama workshops
Art to Express Your Highest Self
Life Life, LOVE work
Kick-start Your Writing
Freedom from Within - an experiential workshop for mind, body and soul

We're still mulling over the details, but we'll be in GREECE from 7th May to 25th September and for 2011 in CYPRUS for October and November - the weather there is gorgeous in those months.

If you want to leave your email address or postal address to be informed of when all the nitty gritty has been sorted out, please do so here

And owing to popular request we'll be having a solos Christmas and New Year in 2011.....

It's just sooo exciting.

Random the Chicken

2010-07-11T11:06:00.005+01:00

I live about 20 metres from a chicken run that is a free range home to 12 chickens. Very happy chaps and chapettes they are too. Apart from Random. Random is so named because I thought that I was witnessing the act of random chickens on a regular basis, but no, it’s the same chicken doing the same thing, so I named him Random for no very good reason.

So this is what Random does. Not every day, from time to time.

He/she (haven’t made my mind up and don’t have my ‘Discerning Sexuality of Chickens Handbook' with me) we’ll call him he because he seems to have pretty nifty wobbly bits on the top of his head and under his chin.

Anyway, sometimes he decides that he has had enough of the chicken coop and so he clambers up a bit of wood (have you seen chickens climbing – bless ‘em) and then he kind of flies (have you ever seen chickens FLYING?) to the top of the fence and makes a very successful bid for freedom.

Several chickens try to emulate his endeavour, but fail at the clambering stage.

He then proceeds to shake his booty in the general vicinity of the coop. There’s a main road (by Greek standards) about 15 metres away – he never gets that far. He scratches and potters about within about a 5 metre radius of home.

Some nights he puts himself back into the hen house in the same way, clamber, fly (I’m being kind when I say fly) and back inside. Some nights he spends the entire night out on the town (well the veg patch).

The other amazing thing is that all the chickens live in complete harmony with the feral cats. I go and check them out regularly (you can see that July is quiet for me) and often one of the cats is lying under a tree INSIDE the chicken coop. And not one of the chickens bothers Random when he’s out on the razz.

I am greatly admiring of Random, the chicken. I admire his tenacity to get out and explore, I admire his self knowledge of how far it’s safe for him to go, and I admire his ability to know when he’s had enough and he choses to go back to some safety, security and company. Of course, I’m not saying that he consciously knows all this stuff, but who knows?

A chicken who understands his boundaries but is not necessarily limited by them.

My hero.

Sometimes it's hard to see the sun...

2010-07-01T17:05:00.001+01:00

Sometimes the sun just doesn’t shine

It’s interesting. Last week we had an (uncharacteristically) part rainy week. 3 days of very off and on rain interspersed with sunshine and clouds. Didn’t matter how hard I tried to make the sun shine, it was simply beyond my abilities (for now!).

I had a friend over last week. She was remarkably philosophical about it. “Well”, she said, “it gives me an opportunity to do things I might not have done if I’d been on the beach all day”. Great attitude. And you know something, there are LOADS of things to do when the weather is misbehaving. It’s just a question of changing your perspective slightly. After all:

· You can still have a fab time

· You can still eat your bodyweight in baklava (I have been practising)

· You can still eat without having to wash up

· You can still sleep any time day or night (or day and night)

· You can still relax in beautiful surroundings

· You can still daydream (I’m a queen in this department)

· You’re still NOT at work

· You’re still NOT having to do the housework and change the sheets

All these things are true.

It’s just a question of attitude. And 9 times out of 10, the things that you came to sort out (am realising that everyone who comes on holiday has SOMETHING to sort out) get sorted out in your mind. Realisations are made, plans are cemented, decisions are arrived at.

I’m beginning to understand that when people say they want a holiday to lie in the sun and forget stuff that this isn’t always the case. Some people just need some distance (mentally and physically) from their lives at home in order to get some objectivity and you don’t necessarily need the sun to do this. Of course, it’s great when the sun shines and you ARE lying on a beach. But rain does not preclude a good time, neither do clouds. As unexpected as they may be, they offer hidden gifts and insights, we just have to open to them.

How many times have we believed that a certain set of circumstances is necessary in order for us to move forward and we await a ‘perfect’ opportunity? When in fact, sometimes we just need to make the most of now and find the opportunity in the circumstances that exist...

The obvious and rather parmesan flavoured comment to make about the (let me reiterate UNCHARACTERISTICALLY) unsettled weather is that it makes you relish the sun when it does make an appearance.

Rather than taking it for granted, it’s a gift.

Bit like life.

Enjoy.

Ode to a washing machine

2010-06-24T15:26:00.000+01:00

I have a washing machine in my new apartment. It’s a tiny 3kg very VERY basic effort.

I am in love.

Never before have I been quite so in love with an inanimate object. Henry the hoover is probably the closest I have been to being quite so in love. Well there was my 40^th birthday present bed too. Hmm, quite a lot of things now I put my mind to it.

Anyway I digress.

My washing machine is the envy of many (well at least two). Although this is all slightly previous as it hasn’t yet completed its first load. It’s not new, just new to me. In true Greek fashion it’s been plumbed into the bathroom - Health and Safety would have a fit. It is currently doing its thing with my test load (towels and a couple of bikinis). It’s reassuringly noisy and is letting me know exactly how hard its working. I can live with that if it means no hand washing (who am I kidding… prior to this I was down the laundry at an extortionate 10 euros a pop).

Hang on, I’m going to check progress.

Well, it’s whipping round the cycle at a rate of knots and I’ve only just realized that there’s no spin cycle. Ah well. I am no less in love with my washing machine. Labour saving devices rule… Oh and I just heard a rumble of thunder. Of course. I would expect no less….

The Searing Honesty of Children.....

2010-06-16T12:19:00.004+01:00

I had an interesting lesson in honesty this afternoon. I was at one of my favourite beaches. I know the owner, his wife and their daughter quite well. Their daughter is 11 and we teach each other the odd word in our native languages. She in Greek and me in English.

She pretty much rattled off 1 to 30 for me in English and I was about to go when she demanded that I do the same for her in Greek.

And so I started.

To my complete and utter horror (initally) she pegged her fingers and thumb over her nose as I was speaking to her (I was about a foot away).

There was no disguising what she was doing.

Clearly my breath had not had the benefit of anything remotely minty or fresh smelling. No the reverse was true... Kremithi? I asked her (onions for the non Greek speaking ones amongst you) – I had literally JUST guzzled down an enormous oniony Greek salad. Yes, she said. Phew, thinks me. I mean Good Lord, what if she’d said NO... What if I really had horrible non oniony but something equally horribly smelling breath (or maybe it was onions AND horribly smelling breath...... hold up, I could get seriously paranoid – my oral hygiene is fine, relax Kimbo......).

Anyway, back to the story... Yes, she said.

So I regaled my Greek 1 – 30 from a safe distance of some feet and she stopped holding her nose.

It’s the same when I try to speak Greek to the kids. None of your smiling politely when you inadvertently accuse the moon of being traffic lights (fegari/fanari – it’s an easy mistake to make). Oh no. The kids correct you immediately. No embarrassment, no shame, no inhibitions, they just let rip. How fabulous. Because when it comes from kids it’s just exactly what it is – you made a mistake, they’re correcting you. Just as they would be corrected. No agenda. No ulterior desire to feel superior. No being embarrassed at the prospect of embarrassing YOU. Nope. Just straight forward correcting. Very refreshing. I can’t help but think that there might be one or two lessons in here somewhere.

It’s way too cheesy to say that kids have a lot to teach us. But they DO. The older I get the more I see it.

And it got me thinking about intention. The kids (or at least the ones that correct me) if anything find it hysterically funny when I mispronounce something or make a mistake. They laugh and correct me. What a beautiful way to learn. With joy. With laughter. No malice intended. Just an amusement at unwittingly pronounced words. I think that’s pretty cool. No malice intended either when Nicoletta held her nose to escape my onion breath. Just an acknowledgement of how it was for her. Can you imagine if we were all so searingly honest? I wonder how different the world would look....

Well, society says we can’t do that. We can’t go around telling people that they have bad breath even if we’re in danger of being knocked out by it. But we can consider our intentions when we deal with other people. We can consider our motivations for the things we say. Is it genuinely to help the other person or to signal our discomfort or are we coming from a place of superiority or criticism (which pretty much amounts to the same thing in my book)? Is our intention to help others with humour and compassion? I wish I could say that this were always the case for me, but I’m a human being. Certainly not perfect.

So my goal this week is to check my motivation and my intention when I’m passing information on. If it’s not coming from an entirely wholesome place, I’ll ask myself what lies beneath it (generally for me it’s insecurity). If I catch my behaviour I have half a chance of correcting it (with the same humour and compassion that I would pass to anyone else).

Let the week commence (so what if it’s Wednesday......)!

It's all about the journey - but the destination's quite cool...

2010-05-13T22:04:00.000+01:00

I'm in Greece!

It's very weird though, I was so fired up for the journey (driving from the UK to Greece via ferry, road, train, road, ferry and road) that I hadn't given much thought to the destination.

I was working like a demon the last month before I got here. Trying to get the minutiae of life sorted out before I left - proxy vote, postal redirection all that kind of stuff as well as the delegating of my other business to very capable hands. Oddly, making sure that I had time to see everyone before I went also took on a bit of a mission type quality... Lovely to do, but had a mental ticklist of who I could get seen at what time and where. More pressure, pressure, pressure...

So I was really looking forward to giving myself over to the journey. Just going with the flow, not having to be at the beck and call of the computer or the phone. Just taking it easy.

And it was easy.

Perfect.

A joy.

Even the bad back after the 18 hour train journey couldn't dampen my spirits.

Or driving the wrong way up a one way street in Venice (much to the hilarity of the locals).

One of the advantages of getting older is that I'd allowed plenty of time for mistakes, for traffic jams, for most conceivable obstacles (I left on the day that The Cloud came to town.... couldn't have second guessed that one). So I just gave myself over to the whole thing.

So many people had said to me before leaving - "What you're driving to Greece? On your OWN? Ooh, you are brave".

But it's just not like that in my head. I was organised, I knew what I was doing. I speak a smattering of French, German and Greek and my gesticulating is Olympic standard. So what possible problem could I have. All the sleeping arrangements were made so that you were either alone or with someone of the same sex or a couple. It was all fine.

25 hours on a ferry coming from Venice to mainland Greece? Fine, loved it.

What I HADN'T anticipated, however, was how I was going to feel as I was disembarking the ferry knowing that in 1.5 hours I'd be at my destination.

I WAS COMPLETEY TERRIFIED.

Granted, it was momentary - well, about 20 minutes. But it's not a feeling I'm very au fait with. Generally, I just get on with stuff.

So, it came as quite a shock to feel scared. I sat with it for some time. I texted some close friends and told them how I felt. I realised that all that I'd been talking about for the last two years, all that I'd been planning was about to become a living breathing reality. And it was scary. The What If Monster started trying to take hold, but I have some experience with that particular creature. What if, what shmiff. Just get the hell on with it, Kimbo.

And that's exactly what I did.

Had a lovely text from one friend who said that he was proud of me and that of course I'd be okay because I'm strong. He's right, I am strong. But sometimes I'm not. Feel the fear and do it anyway (I think there might be a book in there somewhere....) is how I become strong. But I start from a position of fear. Am not cowed by it. Accept that it's part of my human beingness and then just get on with it.

I roll up a couple of hours later at my new home. Collapse into bed.

Wake up in paradise.

I am so so happy. I am 20 metres from the beach. I know that I've made the right decision regarding venue. I know that the people I'm working with are fab. The weather's gorgeous. Bookings are coming in.

I am truly blessed.

And of course, this destination is a just a waymarker on the bigger journey... It just gets better and better.

Live adventurously, one and all.

Greece - still a viable holiday option?

2010-03-24T19:34:00.000Z

Yes, yes and yes again

We know that there are problems:

The economy is not in the greatest shape it's ever been (I am Queen of Understatement)

The advent of the Euro means it's not as cheap as it was with the Drachma

We're all skint

But let's look at what Greece DOES have to offer.

Hospitality beyond measure.

The Greeks are fantastic at hospitality. For the greater part it's not that creepy, gushy, worrying kind of hospitality - it's a genuine desire to give great service so that you'll return to their bar/shop/restaurant. Fabulously, however, it's coupled with that laid back Mediterranean attitude.

That laid back attitude

It's a funny one. When we arrive in the country we're still really full of 'now, now, now' - it takes a couple of days to slow right down and realise that everything can wait and that there's no pressure to be somewhere or doing something or meeting someone. We're on HOLIDAY after all.

The food

The gloriously politically incorrect fruit and vegetables. They would be passed over by most supermarkets in the UK for 'not conforming' but are embraced in Greece. The joy of knowing that (on the island of Lefkada at least), the chances are that it has been gathered from just down the road. Not transported miles and miles. And, let me tell you, at the moment the courgettes and cherry tomatoes are to die for.....

The weather

The joy of waking up every day and the sun shining... There is no better mood shifter than a drop of sun. Of course, it's not guaranteed and of course there are days when it's overcast and sometimes it even RAINS but you know that the sun is just round the corner. It makes a world of difference knowing that bad weather is NOT the norm (unlike some countries I could mention).

Economic climate does not a nation make

Yes, we know it's not so great right now, either here or there. But the Greek people haven't changed. They're still fantastic and warm and kind and generous. Let's not judge a country's people because of their and the rest of the world's appallingly bad past leadership. Let's not get sucked into scaremongering. We're all on limited budgets, but why risk going further afield when we have a tried and trusted holiday destination on our doorstep - Greece!

See you there.....

What shall I take on holiday?

2010-03-23T11:01:00.000Z

It's such a minefield

Is packing 3 pairs of knickers a day (just to be safe) going a little overboard?

Will I really want to handwash bikinis and cozzies or do I just buy loads of cheap ones from Asda (tricky one)

Do I have my eyelashes dyed before I go or take the trusty mascara or both (some of you chaps might not have this problem - there again....)

Please please let this holiday mean that I don't need to use an iron (casual and slightly creased is actually on trend for the summer in Lefkada

Can I trust that the teabags over there will be up to the job (generally speaking - no, not if you're big into Builder's tea. However, lots of lovely herbal teas and the local Mountain Tea available for your delight and delectation)

How much money do I need for food ?(a perennial problem go here for a fuller answer but I'm pretty nifty on the whole 'Greece on a budget' way of living. If you need a pointer, email me kim@serenityretreat.co.uk or call me 07921 520166).

And that's before we even start on whether we need long trousers for the evening or fleeces or ball gowns or a tux etc etc (incidentally - definitely don't need the ball gowns or tux).

We'll all so DIFFERENT. I'd never leave home without a minimum of one book a day to read (email me for details of what I'm holding in the library to save you carrying lots of books).

Some people will bring a change of clothes for every day, some will wear t shirt and shorts all week (or two) some will look like Ivana Trump every evening at dinner.

It doesn't matter. Within no time at all we'll be able to look beyond what our holiday friends are doing or wearing and start to learn about each other and who we truly are. I know for a fact that it will be beautiful.

Green Blogging

2010-03-19T16:42:00.000Z

How cool is green blogging? With one swift copy and one quick paste I can have a tree planted to offset my blog. Fab.

Why Lefkada?

2010-03-15T19:44:00.000Z

Recently I was asked why I chose Lefkada to become the home of Serenity Retreat.

Could it be the magnificent award winning beaches?
The ridiculously 'have they digitally enhanced it?' turquoise blue sea of the West Coast?
The delicious Mediterranean food - all that fruit and veg that would have been spurned by the supermarkets over here for being unattractive but it tastes oooh soo good? (Is there a lesson in there somewhere....?)
The amazing hospitality of the Greeks? I mean come on, economic crisis or not, the Greeks are just born hosts and the small matter of looming national bankruptcy can do little to dampen their energy and enthusiasm when it comes to making you feel at home.

Well, yes, of course in part it was all of these things. But really the things that truly grabbed me are beyond words.

You know when you're in a place and you see a view and it feels like your whole body just relaxes all in one out breath because of its sheer beauty?

When you suddenly catch yourself stopping and just 'being' because all of a sudden you realise that you have just this moment and how glorious it is to be in it?

When you gaze into the middle distance as you're lying on a beach reading your book and realising that it's fine just to do that. Just to stop. Just to wander off and daydream about nothing and everything?

That precious moment when you get an insight to peace?

The joy of being. A remembrance of how truly liberating it is to enjoy a simple life. A reconnecting to who you REALLY are.

These are the things that made me settle on bringing Serenity Retreat to Lefkada....

I felt completely At Home and I want you to know that feeling too.

Join us!

Getting it all together

2010-03-05T12:40:00.000Z

Today has been a day of organising. There are many logistics to be considered when you decide to start up a holiday company and head off to (Greek) foreign parts! Thankfully all the holiday company stuff has been done, it's just the personal (and faffy) bits and pieces that need doing

Who should I donate my hoover to? (My sister)

Who'll look after my desktop pc? (Erik)

How many books can I fit into my Corsa to take for the Serenity Retreat Library (put it this way, clothes are getting deprioritised)

Do I REALLY need to take my quilt when it's going to be 30 degrees C (hmm, not a tricky one after all)

When can I get to the Sunglass Hut to get my new pair of sunglasses (I'm so NOT a designer chick, but it's the one weakness I have)

And the list goes on.

Add to that I'm running a half marathon this week for Macmillan in Bath - my first ever. What was I thinking? I must have been on the receiving end of a hallucinogenic baked bean when I made THAT decision.

But part of me can't wait. It's another dream I get to realise.

Actually small faffy things are a gift. It means I'm taking action. It represents my striking out into the world and following my heart. Whether it's organising contracts with the hotels on the island in Greece or organising my hoover's new home - each task is as special and important as the one before and the one coming. Because they represent LIVING. Taking a deep breath and going for it.

What a gift that is.

Come visit me in Greece at Serenity Retreat!