A few home truths and wise wisdoms from a book I recently read: Alexander McCall Smith´s The Dog Who Came In From The Cold, from his Corduroy Mansions series. It´s a serial novel, written for the Telegraph, but also - in the same way Dickens used to publish his now famous novels - published as a book. (McCall Smith is also the writer of the No. 1 Ladies´Detective Agency series - very funny, too.) The book´s peopled with characters who are residents of Corduroy Mansions, a charmingly crumbly mansion block in London´s Pimlico, and they are, pleasantly pompous but intelligently funny, full of news, stories, and themselves. Oh, and there´s a dog in it, called Freddie de lay Hay, who ends up working for MI6...

´Time is relative,´said Terence [...] ´It´s a tyranny we invent for ourselves.´ (100)

´Most of us don´t really know what we want in this life, do we? We spend our time rushing around from here to there, and then back again. We have a very strong sense of forward motion.´(31)

´James had once telephoned Caroline to tell her that it was raining, and she, on looking out of the window, had confirmed that indeed it was true. To have such a pointless conversation with another and nevertheless feel that it was worthwhile showed a level of communication and empathy quite strong enough to sustain years and years of being together.´ (24)

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura. In the middle of the path through life I found myself in a dark wood. [...] Life seeped away ever more quickly the further along Dante´s path one went [...] just as water drained more quickly the emptier the bathtub became. When the plug was first pulled it all seemed so slow and then, towards the end, it rushed away in a tiny, feverish whirlpool. (204)

´Because, you see, that´s what home´s all about, isn´t it? Scones and singlets and everything the same as it always was. And if you get a dose of that - of all that familiar stuff that you thought you never wanted to see again - then it sorts everything out, it really does.´(239)

´We should all busy ourselves in being who we are, although many of us do not and spend so much time and energy being something else. We try to be what others want us to be, or what we ourselves want to be. And then suddenly we realise that our lives have shot past and we have not got round to being who we really are.´ (311)

Passed!

Yes! Anjes just got news: she has passed her final exam and has received the invitation for her graduation ceremony... Well-done Anjes, well done - so proud of you! The future lies ahead...

More rewards

And here are more rewards, Yarrow´s term results, equally fine. Excellent, Yarrow!

English 92% Pos in class 11th Grade A
Maths 68% 11th C
Science 75% 20th B
Geography 75% 7th B
Music 87% 5th B
Technology (Home Ec) 93% 1st A
Visual Arts 95% 7th A
Computer Tech 71% 14th C
Technology (Industrial arts) 86% 5th B
PD/H/PE grade only A

And the year adviser wrote "Yarrow has a very positive attitude towards all aspects of her school work and is always well behaved. This is a very good report Yarrow and reflects the fine effort you have made. Your result in Technology was particularly pleasing. Well done."

Anjes, in the meantime, is stil waiting for the result of her final exam ... hang in there.

Old and new

Tomorrow, 1 July, the lease FracasEnglish has on the Byron Bay studio runs out and, as some of you may remember from earlier posts, we´ve decided not to keep facilities in Byron but to ´hire and fire´ as required and, for the next project, establish resources in Sydney. For Phil and Sime this is certainly the end of an era as they have been working there for many more years, before FracasEnglish even started. Phil sent me this beautiful, atmospheric photo, made by his son Arlo. As Sime said in an email earlier today: ´Let the next era begin!´

Nice

Sitting outside in the garden in the UK countryside on a balmy June evening, with a cup of tea and a newspaper, while Niki is watching Portugal vs Spain. Have only recently realised she is an avid watcher, commiserator, moaner at missed opportunities ... but fortunately not a vuvuzela afficionado ... Ah, the holidays have finally started ...!

Off we go

And off we go ... off to Lisboa airport, to catch a plane to the UK and spend a few days with Peter and Ann, Niki´s parents, and Niki´s brother, wife and kids (Sam, Hermione, Toby, and Sophia who will be christened on Sunday). Looking forward to that, as well as the peace and quiet of the countryside. And then ...and then ... on Tuesday we board for Sydney...

The sun is out in blue skies, the house here has been tidied and cleaned, the suitcases packed and weighed and the moods calibrated to relaxation and holidays ... Off to the eatery across the road (which Anjes, Tess and Yarrow know - ´oito destas´) to have breakfast!

Rewards

All my girls have been doing exams or tests over the past few weeks. Anjes has one exam to go (tomorrow, Tuesday 29th) and she passed an important one last week. Well done and good luck for the last one...

Tess has had her term report and her results, he proudly quoted:

English 97% Pos in class 8 Grade A
Maths 74% 9th C
Science 75% 26th B
Australian History 75% 19th B
French 99% 2nd (!?) A
History 77% 15th B
Visual Arts 91% 8th A
PD/H/PE grade only A
++ on pleasant / polite / cooperative / enthusiastic etc
-- on Not handing assignments in on time and not doing homework/revision

Well done, Tess! Yarrow´s report is not in yet but when it comes I´ll be sure to, erm, report.

Lisboa Festas

It´s June in Lisbon, so the Festas are on. For weeks on end, people are out and about in the old streets of central Lisboa at night, after a hot day, to listen to music, eat sardines and be merry among colourful garlands. We went out with Tony, Rita and Maria last night to do the same. A few colourful, if wobbly, impressions of the oldest quarter of Lisbon, the Alfama: narrow streets, steep declines and ascents, and brimming with life and Fado music coming out of many a restaurant and cafe along the way. Tess, Yarrow and Anjes may remember going (nay, running) down these steps in January...

A little blurb from the World Events Guide:

On various dates throughout June, the city of Lisbon celebrates the Festas dos Santos Populares (Feast Days of the Popular Saints). The whole city is transformed into a carnival of colour with coloured lights, lanterns and decorations adorning many of the streets. The events take place on 12-13 June for Antonio, on 23-24 June for John and 28-29 June for Peter. The events are characterised by parades, live music, parties and feasting. One of the most popular events is the Feast of Antonio with the biggest party of the month taking place on and around Avenida da Liberdade on 12 June.

For those who´d like a bit more historical background, here you will find an interesting article from somebody experiencing the Festas.

A wobbly walk down the Alfama


A typical meal of caracoles (snails), sardinas, sangria and bifina (pork)

Palsying down

I think I´m in the lucky category of those people for whom Bell´s Palsy doesn´t last all that long. It´s now been almost 4 weeks and I can fortunately say that most of the effects have now worn off. A full on smile still feels a bit weird, as part of the face muscles are still reluctant, but I just realised I can wink again with my left eye, and the tear duct seems to be in good working order again as well. I still feel flutters and ripples all over the left side of my face, betraying neural recovery, but I´m definitely on the mend. Last night we went out into Lisbon with friends, and nobody felt that there was much untoward, really. The picture, by, the way, shows and through that explains, how it all works (and fails to work if the nerve going through the little holes in the skull get infected for some reason).

The facial nerve's nuclei are in the brain stem (they are represented in the diagram as a „θ“). Orange: nerves coming from the left hemisphere of the brain.　Yellow: nerves coming from the right hemisphere of the brain. Note that the forehead muscles receive innervation from both hemispheres of the brain (represented in yellow and orange).

Dawg...

Just a few days ago, Mieke posted some lovely photos of Chicco, our ageing canine, on her blog. I just melted when I saw the photos ... ain´t she cute? Needless to say, she was cold? Well, it is, after all, winter in Australia...

Winding down

And so, despite the fact that both Niki and I are working today, Saturday, to ´get things finished´ we are, slowly, winding down towards Tuesday. Last night, we booked the last of the the plane tickets, realizing that there were a few hauls we hadn´t yet catered for over the next 8 months. We´re all sorted now and ready to rock ... Now we just have to pack. Pack? Erm, yes, for that we have not yet had time. Harumpff.

Did you know that packing, these days, is - nay, should- be seen as ´a strategic exercise in maximizing space and minimizing wrinkles. You might already have a favorite packing system, but here are a few more tips and tricks to utilize all of your luggage space efficiently.´ In this world of ours where we translate every single action into steps and stages, and where every process needs a book, packing, too, is a skill. Read more here. It´s hilarious, really.

The long and short of it

Did you know that earlier this week, on 21 June ... it was both the longest and the shortest day of the year ... here in Europe it was the longest, down there in Australia, the shortest. For us, at the moment, the days can´t be short enough, because the sooner they are over, the sooner we can get on board them planes ...

For those of you who know but like to know again ...

What Is The Solstice?

A simplified view of the solar system says that the Earth revolves around the Sun, spinning on its axis with the equator pointing towards the Sun. This is why the equatorial regions are hotter than the polar ones - they are pointing directly at the sun.

The reality is somewhat more complex.The earth's rotational axis is actually tilted slightly. This means that as the Earth orbits the Sun, the nearest point actually shifts back and forwards slightly. This is what produces the varying length of the day during the year.

The apparent position of the Sun in the sky thus changes throughout the year. As seen from the Earth it appears that the noon position of the Sun moves back and forwards across the equator. It's a little as if the Sun were a pendulum swinging in the sky, taking a whole year to swing one way and back the other.

At the extreme points of its apparent motion, the Sun - like a pendulum - "stops" and changes direction. These points are the solstices. They mark the extremes of the Sun's apparent movement, which are called the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

The solstice days are thus those when the daylight hours are at their longest or shortest. When the Sun is over the northern Tropic of Cancer, the northern hemisphere experiences the longest day and shortest night. When it is over the southern Tropic of Capricorn, the northern hemisphere has its shortest day and longest night.

The exact solstice dates vary from year to year, in the northern hemisphere the longest day is usually June 21st and the shortest day December 21st. On the two days of the year when the sun is over the equator at noon, the Earth has days and nights of equal lengths - these are the equinoxes.

All new

Gosh, the things that happen when you´re not looking for a moment. A new Prime Minister in Australia. Poor Kevin ... I really liked him. What brought all this on? Here in Europe, and especially in the UK, she´s very much seen as that Girl from Wales who made it all the way to the top Down Under, see here, for instance. Why she is also referred to as Australia´s Mrs Thatcher, I don´t really know...

Art

Yarrow sent me this picture of an art piece she made for school, out of black bean pods and seeds. Nice, huh?

Smile back

This morning Niki beamed at me, saying ´Your smile is coming back!´ And, well, it is ... slowly, but it is, which is really nice to know, because I missed it. BP makes one very self-conscious, I can tell you. Anyway, quick update. Still slaving away at the hot stove of EFL, trying to stop those elusive deadlines from swishing past without me noticing. One more Realtime unit to go ... another smile there ... time to go and print those boarding cards and tickets ... almost ...

Small steps...

Have you ever been happy that you could voluntarily move your nostrils? Well, it´s an interesting experience - this morning I noticed, when I woke up, that I could and realised that I hadn´t been able to for a few weeks (due to BP): one side of my nose would, the other wouldn´t. A small step for a man, a giant leap for, erm, me and my nose ...

Other steps ...

• raising my left eyebrow somewhat (independent of the other one)
  

• re-inventing the wrinkles above said eyebrow

• curling up (rather than down) the left side of my mouth

Closing my left eyelid independent of the other one is still a way away, methinks ... Also, haven´t managed wiggling my ear yet - oh hold on, I couldn´t do that anyway ...

The Voyage

A recurrent strand in this blog has been the idea of a journey, a voyage, that my love and I, and those we love, are on. Soon another stage of the journey will begin, when we go back to Australia.

Yesterday, browsing the Internet, looking for sounds past and present in music, I came across one of the most beautiful songs ever, The Voyage. Originally written and performed by an Irish folk singer songwriter, Johnny Duhan, who plays an awesome rendition of his original song in the first video clip below, Christy Moore (one of Ireland´s most characteristic and long-lasting folk voices) took it on and made it famous.

Every night he sings it thousands sing along with the words and make it their own. (Apparently, in iTunes´s folk section it´s the number 1 download). It´s wonderful to see how two great artists each bring their own vocal interpretation of these beautiful words. (In the second clip Christy and Johnny sing it together). Sentimental, sure, but as Duhan says, ´some of the best poetry in the world has been sentimental´. All aboard ....?

Johnny Duhan sings The Voyage


Christy Moore and Johnny Duhan sing The Voyage

Counting the days...

Came across an old post (Ye Olde Poste) which I had started a few days ago, but not uploaded yet ... ´On my way back to my love from cloudy Amsterdam. Sunday - 2.5 weeks before we go to the UK; half a face to further recuperate; 4 Realtime units to edit; three Real English units to set up; some packing to do and, goodbyes to say and no doubt, a million smaller things to organise before we catch them jets to reunite with Tess, Yarrow and family! Thanks to everybody for taking care of me during my stay in Holland (mum, Denise, Jacomien, sisters).´

Since then, a few days have past: days of slow recovery from Bell´s (it is slow, but it is improving), days of Realtime units (one down, three to go), days of e-mail exchanges with Ton about interest rates and pension funds, days of us getting more excited by the day that in a short time we will actually ...

... fly up to the UK to be present at Niki´s niece´s christening and spend some time with Niki´s family and friends, and
... fly East to reunite with All Those Down Under!

As we do all this, the weather is balmy and lovely (despite flash floods in the south of France) and Portugal has gone soccer crazy (an apartment with Brazilians downstairs, OMG!).

I´ve reinstated the countdown clock (and set it to Aussie time)!

Amsterdam

Every single time I´m in Amsterdam I realise that this is just one of he nicest cities to be in. Just a pictorial impression of an afternoon´s walk in the sun, showing Central Station, Dam Square with the Palace (under wraps and in scaffolding), De Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), The Monument and an impromptu soccer beach for kids to contribute to World Cup madness. Later on I even ended up walking past Molsteeg (Mol´s Alley - I have my own street!). Also a nice photo of the inside of one of my favourite cafes, De Doelen: which looks out onto my favourite bridge (wrapped up at the moment).

The key to it all

This weekend I am minding YoYo, Denise´s cat. Sunday I´ll travel back to Lisbon and my love, to enter the final few weeks of our European stay!

Getting into Denise´s apartment proved a not undaunting exercise ... I traveled from Oma´s to Amsterdam by train, lugging my suitcase and bag along, in very slow and delayed fast trains, and was to pick up the keys to the apartment from the TomTom company in central Amsterdam. Denise´s friend Simone, who works at TomTom, and had minded the cat the days before, had left the keys to the apartment at reception. before going to London for the weekend.

Hot and bothered I managed, with a few detours, to get to the company which is in a new area just to the side of Central Station (but I had never been there...). It wasn´t until I arrived home I realised I had only one key ... and there was definitely a downstairs door to get through before arriving at Denise´s 7th floor penthouse.

I managed to slip in, in the wake of a kind lady who was entering a different area of the circular building and wriggle my way through gates to reach the floor and the door. It took the rest of the evening and morning, Denise´s neighbour whose husband wasn´t there and had taken her spare key, and their next-door neighbours (who happened to be ´famous´ Dutch actor Marnix Knappers and his partner) to get hold of an extra key allowing me out of the building by 11 a.m. on Saturday ... and then spent the afternoon visiting Waterstone´s bookshop and relaxing at Cafe de Doelen enjoying hot chocolate, tea, apple cake and chats with my friend Jacomien, who dropped round.

I was also planning to see my friend Bertie, and wanted to spend some time with my friend Peter, but unfortunately ran out of time. Next time! Early morning tomorrow to get to Schiphol airport...