Quidditch, & pesky squirrels

This will no doubt be laboured and clumsy, such as it often is when starting again. Although I’ve been thinking about this for a little while now, the first words never came to mind. So I’ll just begin quite plainly, and hope that something more interesting comes to pass. I’m back working at the hostel in Borrowdale for a few months over winter, and as far as plans go I’m here until the beginning of March (just before the main season at Eskdale restarts). I arrived just after Christmas, having taken an extended break in Scotland and elsewhere. I really was glad to be back, refreshed after time away, and ready again for the structure/purpose that work brings. That in itself though isn’t half the joy - as I’ve often said it’s the people here (and of course the place)which make it the life it is. It was lovely to see Bianca, Glen, Chris, Rhys, Simon, and Ellie, as well as meeting new staff (here from other hostels like me). 

The initial few nights were spent in my van, and coming into work at 7am I was excitedly telling everyone that I felt like an arctic explorer because the water in my water bottle had frozen. It got even better though when on the 3rd night I fell asleep with the doors open, and woke up to find snow on my pillow! I thought moving into the staff house might seem a little dull in comparison, but the lure of not having to go outside in the middle of the night for a wee was too great to ignore.

One morning Rhys came into the staff lounge in a bit of a funk. “Those pesky squirrels, they gone off with my bird feeder again - I’ve looked everywhere but can’t find it this time!” This apparently had been a recurrent theme of the winter so far; a hostel under threat from ninja red squirrels. The downstairs window in the staff house is a great place to watch for wildlife as it looks out onto a steep wooded hillside. I was sat down there having a coffee a few weeks ago when I spotted something and sort of screeched at Glen to come and look. “I think it’s a white stoat Glen, if there is such a thing?!” We were transfixed for a good few minutes as it made its way across moss covered boulders and part way up tree trunks. Google confirmed my initial thoughts, but Glen looked a little put out as he was convinced that he had just seen the world’s smallest dog. 

Sunday 7th January was the date of this year’s King of the Castle time trial fell race. A short but demanding course starting from the hostel bar and finishing at the top of Castle Crag. Amongst the starters was the YHA’s very own CEO. James Blake, a keen runner and advocate of mental and physical health, was appointed to the role last year. Although we had previously ‘spoken’ on Twitter, this was the first time we’d actually met. Chris, hostel warden, excelled himself at slightly awkward introductions. “James, this is Kirsten....she’s special, a special character. She goes skinny dipping in all the rivers and lakes.” 

It was a beautiful day for the race, cold, clear, with some elusive winter sunshine. I was helping marshal the event, and I set off up the hill with a saucepan and wooden spoon (given to me by Chris to create a cowbell sound to cheer on the runners). I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and was even complimented on my gate holding open skills. I think perhaps the performance of the day had to go to Patrik (our volunteer from the Netherlands). Not only did he undoubtedly set the Dutch national record for the event, he stormed up wearing jeans, boots, and a thick woolly cardigan. 

Things were to get even more exciting the following week though....as I once again persuaded my colleagues to take part in a game of Quidditch. To be fair though, Bianca was as equally enthusiastic as me, and Simon & Rhys sourced an entire stash of brand new broomsticks (mop handles). Glen was also fuelling up for the event in order to maximise wizarding performance...”Is that blood on toast you’re eating, Glen?!” It was actually just regular jam. Unfortunately our internationally renown Quidditch referee, Tref Hughes, retired last year, but his place was admirably filled by Ellie Bray. As Zach is now in Shetland, the position of golden snitch was taken by Simon. With a vague nod to health & safety he even located a yellow construction hat to wear. We had representatives from Australia and France this year, but the secret weapon was undoubtedly Helen Sellers. To describe her as competitive might be a slight understatement, and at the end of the match she was quite insistent that we should enter a team into the Olympics. The rules and the refereeing could best be described as fluid, and as such it was little surprise that Ellie declared the end result to be a draw!