The seemly side

Sitting round a low table of sticky rice and hunks of fish piled high with friends.


Running into local people in the street you vaguely know and being invited back for tea (a good two hour affair)

Coffee out


Home-made, squishy flat bread with friends who are delighted to see you again.


Trying out Arabic and being both understood and laughed at!

Blue skies.


A town that comes alive after dark and the temperature is manageable, heaving with markets, shops spilling into the streets and scores of little street sellers with their wares laid out on the ground.


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The unseemly side

A pile of fish heads & a severed goat's trotter in the street.

Children throwing stones at us.

Being stared at, shouted at, honked at and leered over.



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Nothing unusual about that!

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What?

Today's funniest moment that is hard to translate but I will try anyway;...
H and I are going through some basic Arabic, testing each other and she asks me; 'what's taul' or so it sounded to me. So I think well it must begin with ط because of the somewhat swallowed vowel that sounds somewhere between a T and a D. It must be followed by و which is like a W sound and probably finishes with ل, an L sound. طول. I have no idea what this word is. I give up.
Then I see what she's looking at.
A towel.
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Classic Joy

Walking down the street this evening with a couple of local friends and I jokingly wolf whistle at the girl and ask if that's the same here as in England. Suddenly everyone is laughing. I'm like 'wha..?' There's a guy just off the pavement in some waste ground kneeling down. He's not praying. It's what they do here when they relieve themselves in public. Yup. And I just wolf whistled him!
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Oh yeah, I remember...

* the early call to prayer
* walking in the road more than the pavement because of the stuff everywhere
* the dryness desiccating your feet in minutes
* the 'koba' lorry making a right racket coming round with water
* 'draa' shops (traditional male dress)
* being stared at
* 'American? French?'
* chicken necks


New since last time;

* a bus service
* lots more building work
* a fountain on the roundabout by Las Dunas


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24 unusual hours.

15:15

Was I really in Birmingham this time yesterday?! I've smiled and laughed and cried and come to some peace in that time. Know what? All this is good.


I described my blog to someone the other day as a catalogue of scrapes I'd gotten myself into. Not to disappoint my fan base, I've already been told I can't get on a flight. Don't worry. I'm under favour so I refreshed THAT status and got them to change the name on my ticket and let me through without a charge. The only two blessings I requested!

Boom! That just happened!

Landed safely and with friend, chilling out with the fan on...

More soon

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3

Finally! My Myers-Briggs 'P' has come into force this morning - particularly the motivated by doing things at the last minute element.

Overnight hotel in Las Palmas now booked.

Someone to meet me at the airport sorted.

Ticket bought for onward flight to العيون

Pick up at Laayoune organised

Suppose I should think about packing. Not before a second coffee though, right?




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Days like these...

Phone call from mini-me checking to see how I'm doing. Got link to a pile of his artwork I'd not seen before



Ran into Tony B who recommended tk maxx for headphones

Bought very reasonably priced Skull Candy that have great volume and quality


Coffee with Vanessa

Bought pile of yoghurts so the yog-hog can pay back her debt to society and the Tull's fridge

Odds and ends of jobs

Tea chez Cook's. Got three cards, 1 each from the kids with Oscar signing his card as 'bum' because there wasn't enough space to write his name!!!

Did a bit of worship at a small group and got spontaneously swamped with prayer and love

Back home to find Kirsty had hung out my washing!

Dog hugs & sleep


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4

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The upside

Bedford - Laayoune


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5

What is this rain and cold?

OK, I'm ready to go!


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Conjecture

I wonder if when Jonah was off to catch his boat, all his mates thought he was getting the one to Nineveh but once they'd waved him off he jumped on a different one?

This is conjecture, of course, but there would have been boat schedules possibly or he would at least have know in advance of leaving that the date was drawing closer.

How inviting and straightforward must that boat to Tarshish have appeared? Maybe bigger and stronger looking than the one going in the opposite direction. How easy, when no one was looking anymore would it have been to sidle from one queue to another and blend in with the travellers and tourists?

I'm not seriously tempted to 'head to Tarshish' but there is an appeal in stopping in the canaries, deciding to stay to see mini-me through uni, deciding to stay in the UK and convince myself and others what I really need is just a little bit more training.

But Saturday it is and Nineveh it will be. I carry something too precious to be sacrificed for comfort and ease. The alternative is that I am sacrificed instead. So be it. I will leave with tears and come back rejoicing with sheaves.

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6

Six days 'til I head to the desert and I'm going to try and chronicle the countdown even though it might not fit the usual bill of 'lighter bites'

Woke this morning feeling sick with emotion and heavy with the weight if impending loss.

The sun is streaming through the window and there's not a cloud in the sky on a day that was forecast for rain. I take some comfort from that.


Jesus set his face resolutely as he faced the cross and I will imitate the master.

Today is my last Sunday at KA, my last Sunday hanging out with the dear Davies', my last Sunday.

This time next week I will be flying from the Canaries to العيون





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My charmed summer

Jumping in the river
Floating downstream
Learning to ride a motorbike
Creating art
Making small children giggle
Eating amazing food
Saying goodbye to family
Fishing
Entertaining
House-sitting
Dog-sitting
Cat-sitting
Kayaking
Friends, friends, friends
Composing
Walking
Swimming
Singing
Laughing
Crying



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Left and down a bit

Back in the Llanelli 'hood for a week. Oddly full of people who I don't know but will probably end up being go-to people in the future.

First off a meeting, totally unrelated to basket weaving, with a formality that made me want to sit in the back row and misbehave.

Grinned like a Cheshire Cat in wshp. The golden fortnight has been extended due to popular demand!




Happy to be back here for a few days. Plenty to look forward to going back to as well.

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Just for fun

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Pop

I just opened a bottle of champagne on the bus to Cambridge!

She's called Sylvia and I offered some of the sweets I had. She then exploded with rapid conversation about her love of the theatre and how she used to go to the old theatre on Ashburnham Road. When she was a small girl a man from a rep company knocked on the door asking for accommodation and they ended up meeting all the girls in the company who they took on the river where they all fell in and her mother ended up having a houseful of actresses knickers hanging out to dry!!!

What a firecracker!


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Honey-crusted spectacles

Now I may be viewing this place through rose-tinted croissants but this bakery on Wendover Drive is no ordinary bread & bun joint.
Reco-ed by local gourmets and foodie folks, Tim & Greta, I stumbled out of my house-sitting pad for a 10:30 breakfast.


I chose a few things from the cooked breakfast menu and sat outside in the sun. Mushrooms; generous, cooked to perfection, bacon; crispy but not burnt, hash browns; standard but good, sausage; average but no complaints. They could do with visiting Lingers Butchers but all in all a good breakfast with medium-strong coffee.
The Honey Crust Bakery is a full on Italian deli too and sells a modest range of cakes including the Bedfordshire speciality - chocolate toothpaste.

I shall return

One of two

First short, 'Between Heaven & Earth' was a German film based in Ivory Coast about two men trying to escape poverty by stowing away in the freezing hold of an aeroplane to Germany.


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Pictures new

Moved into a fab house this morning for a fortnight's cat-sitting. The place is dripping with creativity.


Spent the afternoon having a long overdue heart to heart with Lainey, reading, journaling, listening to music and starting to write a song together. Even wrote a quick prelude on the piano. A prelude to someone with musical talent I shall call it!

Now I'm at a shoeing of two films as part of the Bedford Film Festival.


A couple of world cinema things that sound sufficiently pretentious to catch my eye ;)

'Searching for Sugarman' & 'Between Heaven and Earth'







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30 years of jumping

In rivers.

I remember jumping in the brook and swimming alongside the water rats as a kid and I'm happy to say I never grew out of it.

Today I was back in again, more conscious of Weil's disease, drowning in the reeds and getting caught up in currents but no less gung-ho.


Bacon and egg butties, home-made hummus with crudités and nectarines. Not too shabby.

Annoyingly forgot to take my waterproof case for the phone so I could take pictures in the water...

Next time



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This is why...

...Elaine is a rock star;

I am sitting in her garden in one of her sun dresses drinking fresh coffee. I have been ordered not to move until breakfast is served. Last night I slept in her bed while she insisted on sleeping on the floor, watched a movie she paid to download and ate one of my favourite meals ever - pasta pesto with Eton Mess for dessert. My other favourite dinner is on the menu for later this weekend - bangers & mash.


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Discovery

Bircher (pronounced birker) muesli has just come into my line of view in the last 36 hours but I am already a convert. The inspired recipe of Swiss Dr Bircher.

I had a pot of it at EAT, the lunch place a bit like prêt à manger. It had mango sauce on top and was bloomin' lush. I looked up a recipe straight away and made it once I arrived at my folks.

If you don't know what it is, think of cold porridge with loads of really good yoghurt, fruit and seeds mixed in. It's like that but tastes 100 times better than it sounds.

And of course there's a great Anne story to go with it! Anne's father was operated on by Dr Bircher himself in Switzerland. He had to be brought down a mountain on a sledge (not even a skiing accident, just a bizarre set of circumstances designed to make for good reading) in order for Muesli-man to save his life.

So go ahead and soak yourself some oats in milk and honey overnight then stir in as many crazy nuts, seeds, fruit and yoghurt and think of the doc.


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Space/time continuum

In which I discover that a place can be both 2 hours away and 8.5 hours away at the same time.

Actually it's too dull to recall how my first bus arrived 45 minutes late making me miss my connection resulting in me having to wait an extra two hours to return in time for my bus that then ran an hour late making what would be a two hour car journey, an eight and a half hour marathon on public transport. No-one wants to hear that.

So instead, here's a picture of gorillas in Norwich;



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Animal Farm

As well as Monty the lurcher (permanent), Maggie the Italian Greyhound (leaving tonight after a week), Milly the spaniel (regular guest), other little shaggy labradoodle who came for a week & Foxy the Greyhound (arriving this evening for a week) two cats arrived to temporarily join the ranks today.




These two beauties were found dumped outside the Cats Protection charity shop this morning. The black and white one is a very soft long-haired kitten that I have named Malone. Thankfully we have someone coming this evening to see them and probably/hopefully take them.




Kirsty said it all earlier; "It's turning into more of an animal sanctuary than a home. Just how I like it"


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Feet

I used to stand, walk & run for hours when I worked for Waterstones and now I'm wiped after four hours!

I never planned on returning to retail after five and a half years of getting one day off for Christmas but last week I asked about the temporary work advertised in the window at Accessorize. Three weeks, part time. Perfect! Minimum wage? Not bothered!

So I've done 8 hours in the last 2 days. Pretty much got the hang of the till and certain replen lines.

Keeps me out of trouble eh?


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One day

A lone house on the side of a mountain with a sign outside. Neighbourhood Watch.

Loud chirping of young birds coming from a dry stone wall. Look in to see great tit chicks who hissed at us when got too close.

Took a picture of a very expensive shirt I liked. Jo says if it fits she'll buy it for me as a going away present. It fits!






Saw 4 Irish wolfhounds together in the same place



Accidentally came across a good collection of Irish literary artefacts such as first editions and original letters from the greats such as Beckett, Joyce, Swift, Synge & Wilde


Drove through miles of heather-covered mountains. Saw waterfalls, horses in fields of buttercups & monastic ruins



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NI

I'm here in Arrrland visiting my mate Johanne, who I stayed with in the desert last year. I've come to see what she's up to now she's back home.



I've been to a couple of English classes for refugees & asylum seekers; one chaotic, one well-organised. I've met many people with...names. Most of which I can't remember. I've been to churches, halls, houses, beaches, cliffs, government buildings, cafés, universities, parks, gardens and I'm now sat in bed writing this from sheltered accommodation!


I've been happily surprised at how much I've done that wasn't 'work'.
I've seen the Giant's Causeway,


had coffee in Queen's SU, walked through the botanical gardens


and spent a wonderful evening with a couple and 4 dogs living in a designer house by the beach.


My travel-bug-itch has been satisfied as I've been able to cover quite a lot of Ireland in our wanderings.


I've loved what I've seen of Belfast and I know there's tons I've not seen yet. I haven't been to the Titanic expo or visited the honesty café.


I've not been into the UL (though I did see a Dolorean outside it) and I've not met Seamus Heaney (though I met someone who has)


My visit has been more about the little people (insert your own Irish stereotype joke here) who are making a difference to the city;

Someone visiting an Arabic speaker's landlord to report a damp problem

People serving free hot drinks, juice and ice lollies from the street to passers by.

People taking non-residents out for dinner to help them learn English and feel comfortable in an alien culture.

People sitting and listening to those separated from children and partners by conflict.




Oh, you want to know why I've ended up in sheltered accommodation? It's got to be the cheapest place to stay in Dublin and if you know a certain 86 year old you get to stay in the guest room!

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Macari's

Just found a day old gelateria in Armargh so stopped for raspberry, pistachio and an americano.

Service a little clunky but staff tripping over themselves to help.

Having established first off that I could pay by card at the shop next door, I tucked in.

When I came to settle up I was told the shop was now shut. It must have been a first for them as I was led out the back, through the kitchen, out the back, into the closed shop on my own with the waiter and paid there before retracing my steps through the kitchen!

They may need to tweak that (!) but I think they'll do well. Keen to please and friendly. If there's a next time I'm trying the Ferrero Rocher...


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Arrrland

So far this week I have;

Taught English to Somalis
Sung with Liberians
Had tea with a Moroccan
Chatted to a Zambian
Greeted a Sudanese
Exchanged emails with a French Caribbean




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Rant

Just watched the highlights for Time for Change on the box. Lots of female artists celebrating those campaigning for women's rights. And only one performer wasn't wearing an undisputedly, highly sexualised outfit. The opening sentence of the programme immediately after the concert confirmed all my misgivings. The documentary about Beyoncé introduced her as the hottest singer...blah blah blah, frankly. The first adjective was used by a man to sum up her sex appeal. YAWN. It's so tired it should be tested for M.E.

I reckon I can unequivocally state that both the apostle Paul and Germaine Greer would agree with me when I suggest that if you want to be taken seriously as someone fighting for the rights of women, dancing on a stage, wearing leather shorts with your butt hanging out, is not the best approach.


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Holiday times

Considering we chose Harlech based on the fact that there was a song about it and the cottage looked nice online, we have truly struck gold with this place.




We didn't realise how close it was to Italiante village & setting of The Prisoner, Portmeirion.


We didn't realise we would haphazardly come across an open garden, 2 acres in size and full of waterfalls, ponds, ducks and winding pathways.



We didn't anticipate coming across a nature trail, deeply wooded and thick with bluebells.




We didn't expect 6 mile hikes in fabulous sunshine with breathtaking views.



We couldn't have anticipated finding dozens of common heart-shaped urchins washed up on the beach


We didn't think it was possible to get this close to sheep and be able to touch lambs over a dry-stone wall



We expected some rain, watching lots of films, drinking wine, eating chocolate, staying in bed late, reading, drawing and painting.


We got all that too!

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Portmeirion; place of prisoners and pottery

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