Lady in Red in the style of the Sex Pistols

Glen returned to Borrowdale last week with tales of his travels, & a suntan definitely not belonging to the Lake District. He was telling us how the best thing about the Canary Islands was the oranges. "I've never tasted anything so good!" I immediately asked what they tasted of, and was somewhat disappointed when he replied, "erm.......oranges?!" I felt a little sorry for Glen when he found out that he was on an evening kitchen shift with me. But he was most grateful when I was able to offer him some expert culinary advice...."make sure you don't pour custard on the rice!" He looked rather bemused until I explained that that was something I might do by accident, and I didn't want him to suffer the same fate. The soundtrack to our evening was non other than Dolly Parton's greatest hits. I shared my interesting Dolly Parton fact with Glen...."Did you know that Dolly the sheep was so named because she was cloned from breast tissue?" 

"What?! They cloned a sheep from human breast tissue?" 

"No." 

Once we'd finished for the evening, we wandered through to reception where Tref sang Lady in Red to me, this time in the style of the Sex Pistols. 

One day when I was working a split shift I got out in the afternoon for a road/trail run & a skinny dip. It was a cold day, with the wind chill taking the temperature below zero. The water was so beautifully inviting though, & I swam about for a good few minutes. Running back to the hostel I saw a car that was clearly lost. As I stopped they wound down their window, & asked if I knew where the YHA was. "Funny you should ask that....!" & we struck up a bit of a conversation. He commented on the weather, & mentioned the colour of my legs being so red wearing shorts. 

"Oh yes...I've been swimming as well." 

"In the river?!" 

"Yes!"

"Oh! & I thought you looked really sensible!" 

He then started enquiring as to whether all the people who worked at the hostel were mad. 

"Yep! & they are all worse than me!" 

Cleaning is not everyone's favourite thing, but I usually find it pretty fun. Especially when good timing allows a real life 2 minute game of Hungry Hippos with Simon (usinf Henry the hoover, 1 & 2). It's a bit difficult to tell who the winner is, but it does result in an immaculate stretch of carpet in no time at all. Glen told me on one such cleaning shift that I was excessively happy. "I don't think you can have an excess of happiness.....although, there was an occasion in Scotland when I was cycling around Loch Leven, & I felt so happy I just had to stop and sit down for a while. & then, when I carried on, I saw a Billy Goat Gruff at the side of the road." Glen was pretty much lost for words, but that didn't stop him playing the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff on YouTube when we finished work.  

At the end of the week I headed over to Eskdale - Mick & Rachel were going away on holiday, and I had been drafted in to look after things (most especially the dog!). I'd been looking forward to it for a while, and not even Harry (from the Woolpack) suggesting that we would be going for a 25km trail run could dampen my enthusiasm. When I arrived on Saturday afternoon, it was to find that Rachel still hadn't done any packing. "I don't know whether I'll be allowed to take my binoculars in my carry on luggage, and I haven't really been able to get past that yet." Mick quietly asked what she would need binoculars for whilst on the aeroplane, to which Rachel muttered something in reply about wanting to see a whale.

60 minutes in Ireland, and a mechanical camel

One afternoon, a week ago now, Zach was telling us how he needed to take 5 different trains the following day in order to get to Holyhead for an interview. & one of those train changes only had a two minute connection. It's a not story which is mine to explain, but the reasons behind going for this particular interview were, to me, incredibly moving, honest, and good. "Well, you know, I'm not working tomorrow. You'll never make a connecting train in two minutes at Warrington, so I'll drive you down. How much do you like Chris de Burgh?!" And that was that - a road trip to Anglesey was organised. The adventure actually started even before it had really begun - it turned out that Zach had to get to Barrow that night, & so I arranged to pick him up from Lancaster train station in the morning. Before I left Borrowdale at 7am, we exchanged a brief WhatsApp conversation that went like this:

Zach:  Haha I think you could be on to something.... Perhaps harness a dozen pigeons and try and imitate the King of Christmas. 

K: Who the flip is the King of Christmas?!?!

Zach: Santa of course 

K: & he had lots of pigeons? 

Zach: Well.... That's how he started

K: I never knew that 

Zach: But the world grew fuller so he had to get himself bigger, more majestic creatures instead. 

And so the day began. 

After managing to negotiate the oneway system in Lancaster to find the train station (& Zach), we stopped at Lancaster service station because I needed a wee. "This is Trefor's favourite service station" I explained to Zach. "We had quite a long conversation about our favourite service stations last night. He really doesn't like Hamilton services though, apart from the time he stopped there as a student, and the whole coach load of them bought Mars Bars individually at the night-pay (back in the day)". It was about the time we left the M6 to join the M56 when little bits of hay appeared in the air, occasionally hitting the windscreen. Zach was wondering which vehicle it was coming from, but nothing was immediately apparent. It wasn't until we joined the slip road that it became blatantly obvious - "Oh look!" Said Zach. "There it is - we're now driving behind a giant mechanical camel!" The journey was going really smoothly, although I had a feeling that Zach was, on occasions, fancying his chances with the 5 trains more than my driving. Not my actual driving per se, but the moments when it seemed as likely that we could end up in Minehead as Holyhead. "I've been along this road so many times but I don't recognise it today. Is it the A55, Zach? Oh look, it must be...that's the sea, isn't it?!" Things, perhaps, got even 'worse' when Zach asked if we could make a quick stop off in Bangor. Heading back out of the city we came to a little roundabout. Zach told me to go straight over, but I promptly turned left into the train station carpark. "You didn't say turn left, did you? Sorry about that. But at least we get a quick tour of Bangor station." If Zach was at all bothered by any of this, he certainly didn't show it. In fact, he was incredibly gracious. "Well as we're here, I'm just going to take a quick photo of that taxi. Finest taxi I've seen in a long time." Remarkably, we made it to Holyhead with plenty of time to spare, including time for Zach to walk into McDonalds wearing jeans, & walk back out again in a suit. I dropped him off at the interview venue, & then headed off to South Stack. Rory (brother number 2) had told me what a lovely place it was, but hadn't warned me that it involved leaving Wales. I wandered along the cliff path when I received a text message welcoming me to Ireland. The mist was lifting, and I spent the next 60 minutes marvelling at the sea far below, the colours of the rocks, and how I'd ended up in three different countries in the space of a day (geographically accurate or otherwise). On the way back to the Lake District we stopped off at the Welsh train station with the longest place name in the U.K.  Zach asked me jokingly if I could pronounce it....."well, I pretty much can, actually!" Which was a bit of mistake, because over the next few days it was all I ever seemed to be asked...."can you say it again?!" 

It felt strange to think that I'd not actually been away for more than a day, and although I was tired from driving, the trip to Anglesey was utterly refreshing. In many ways, for me, it was an affirmation of freedom - a freedom not only to move from one place to another, but a freedom to choose goodness over inactivity or complacency. I'm not sure we always get that choice, or at least not presented in such an clear cut way. In recent times I have learned a hard, & most incredibly sad lesson. That sometimes a situation is beyond repair, and that the best you can do to make things right is simply to leave it, to walk away. & even that does not go any distance to making it right. You're left with this silence, and you realise then that some silences are never silent. They are filled with your doubts, inadequacies, and imagining others thinking badly of you. Letting go is not the same thing as giving up, and in letting go that does not stop us caring or being sorry for any hurt we've caused (nor feeling sorry for friendships lost).  

The following day a surprise package arrived in the post. A good friend of mine in Scotland had, most thoughtfully, sent a belated Haggis for all the staff! When I told Zach, his face lit up & it looked like all his Burns Nights had come at once! Thanks again David! The week continued in a fairly standard manner, including a 5 minute game of 'tell me what you like about this door wedge' with Dave, & watching Phantom of the Opera after work with Bianca (for the 3rd time) while trying to ignore her constant remarks about flaws in the script! Later that night, I stood outside for a few minutes with Tref as he pointed out various constellations to me. "Look at all the stars! There's the plough, and....and...that's the moon. At least I think it is. There only seems to be half of it. I think we should call the local police and inform them that someone has stolen part of it." I sure will miss him, & he will be greatly missed when he retires mid-late March. 

The weekend brought 250 runners to YHA Borrowdale - we were hosting the registration and post race food & drink for the Kong Adventure Mini Mountain Marathon event. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the hostel (if you discounted the scents of wet mud & smelly feet), and although it was a busy day at work (& meant double toilet & shower cleaning)- I absolutely loved it. I also managed to fit in some running of my own (shorter distances & much slower), & went skinny dipping at sunrise under the mountains. I have mentioned this before, and will undoubtedly do so again and again. I feel so incredibly lucky, blessed, fortunate, to live in a place like this & with these extraordinary people.