Berlinfusion

Mentors Required... please!

Taking a break from daily life is always a good move. I should do it more often!

I'm referring to my recent trip to the UK here. Where technology doesn't work in the places I stay, so I'm forced to actually think!

So I think. And ponder. And evaluate. Then re-evaluate.

And work out which direction I want to go...

I have a couple of projects I am working on, but can't give my full attention to both at the same time. If I work on one, I feel guilty that I'm neglecting the other. Guilt is a pointless emotion and I don't want to experience it any more.

I have been studying graphic design for a while on a distance learning course. I'm finding it hard going because of time constraints and an almost vertical learning curve.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it immensely, but it's taking longer than anticipated to complete the course and it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. My brain is out of practice when it comes to learning. This course takes up a LOT of my brain space. I find it hard to disconnect from 'what I should be doing to complete the course asap' and this is affecting my ability to be creative.

As for the second project; I had an idea for a book to write about a year ago - did loads of research on the subject. But again, I haven't had time to get far with it. This is battling for brain-space with the graphic design course.

While I was away, I found I was far more inspired by the book project than the graphic design course.

So, after some very hard thinking, I have put the graphic design course on hold for a couple of weeks while I work on the book, in a different way.

Taking a break from the concentrated graphic design pressure I was putting myself under will be good as I will be able to return to it refreshed and raring to go. This is a good thing.

As for the book, well, that will come later. What I am doing instead is setting up a website based on the same subject.

I've had the domain names for a while now, I've just taken a crash course in Wordpress, created the site and am almost ready to launch it!

This week I've fried my remaining brain cells learning about SEO, Google Analytics, taxonomies and linear vs cascading 'chapters'. And my brain hurts.

I need to write a lot of content for the new site too, so this blog will definitely take a back seat now. Not that I've got anything remotely interesting to write about on here.

I feel more excited by this project than I have about anything for a long time. And also very nervous. It's hard to know if something will take off or flop when you've nobody to discuss it with. But I'm going for it in my usual gung-ho fashion and will hope for the best.

There are a few issues I'm not yet sure about.

For example, monetising the new site by way of sponsors and advertising and so on, but I'm still researching that.

If anyone has any hints and tips, or mentoring ideas (free of charge, please, I'm broke!) please do get in touch. I will need a lot of help in the way of spreading the word, marketing, social media advice. And probably a lot more besides.

Please watch this space! I'll let you all know when the site is properly launched in the next week or two.

Ultimately, I will be able to run both the new site and complete the graphic design course at the same time.

Onwards and, hopefully, upwards!

 

My Cat Hates Me :-(

Everyone has stories of being 'punished' by their cat after they've been away from home for a while. By all accounts this passes quite quickly.

But Raymi has never, ever done this to me. In the past we've been away for up to seven weeks at a time and he's always been loving on my return (he doesn't care too much for the other members of my family, but he adores me. Or did.).

He's always stayed in our home while we're away and is looked after by kind and caring neighbours.

This is how cute and adoring he was just before we went away, curled up beside me on my desk:

However, this time I returned home to a note from our neighbours that they hadn't seen Raymi at all, although his food was being eaten each night so they weren't too worried.

We arrived home on 1st August and I didn't see him at all for a couple of days. Yes, his food was being eaten, but he seemed to be living outside permanently.

A couple of days later he did grace me with his presence for a few moments and a day later I was allowed to cuddle him for a short while. I thought the issue had passed. But I was wrong.

We've been back for nearly a month now and he's pretty much refusing to acknowledge me at all. He comes in during the early hours for his food - and as I generally stay up late I have seen him come in - but as soon as he spots me he turns tail and disappears out of the catflap.

He's found a hidey hole in 'his' bedroom where he sleeps during the day. I leave him be as I don't want to disturb him.More often though, he's left before we get up or has found somewhere else to sleep that I haven't discovered yet.

At least someone else isn't trying to take him in - he comes home to eat and mostly to sleep.

We've progressed to him allowing me to stroke his head while he gobbles up his food, but as soon as I try to pick him up, the claws come out and he struggles free.

I've fed him fillet steak and tuna, his favourite treats and put catnip down. He takes it and buggers off again!

I haven't heard him purr for ages.

I thought there was a breakthrough a couple of nights ago. He actually came into the living room while everyone but me was in bed. He sat on the table staring at me. He wasn't relaxed, and if I looked at him he turned away! But before long, he'd disappeared again.

Surely this is taking my 'punishment' much too far?

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can repair my relationship with my cat?

 

The Long Drive Home

After just three weeks in the UK it was time to return home to Berlin.

We packed the car to bursting point with all kinds of goodies such as Tetley tea bags, really nice gluten-free bread and biscuits from Waitrose and various other necessities unavailable in Germany and set off at silly-o'clock one morning.

Our first stop was, of course, the Channel Tunnel where we managed to get an earlier train than the one we'd booked. I love this option! It makes perfect sense. You have to allow for potential traffic jams when you factor in your departure time, but if you make it around the M25 without incident it's wonderful to be able to catch an earlier train.

We had time to get enormous cups of coffee to go and off we went.

It's basically the reverse of the journey I mentioned here, but without the nice stops. We do it all in one go, with a small handful of comfort stops at service stations to let Kita stretch and drink.

Some of those service stations are quite an eye opener. At one, there was a massive field surrounded by a small woodland. It looked a perfect spot to take Kita for a decent walk. This field was some distance away from the shop and conveniences, and very quickly it became obvious that the trees were used as a toileting area for humans. The stench was appalling. And not only toilets - used condoms were littered everywhere. Ugh.

Unfortunately, there were lots of roadworks on the Autobahns so our journey wasn't as easy as before and we arrived home late at night and totally exhausted.

It took nearly 16 hours.

And we are not going to do it again.

 

New Forest County Show: Hearses, Bulls & an Extra Surprise.

Another day trip in the UK was to the New Forest Show in Hampshire.

Having grown up in the country, and having many farmers as friends, I adore a good agricultural show and haven't been to one since visiting the Devon County Show when Rhiannon was still pushchair-bound. 

We took Mum and Kita too.

It turned out to be the hottest day of the year. Which was nice, but forced me to buy a hat which I will not show you as it was a white, straw stetson. But it had to be done!

We left Mum in the art tent where she spent most of the day, and headed off to look at other things with plans to meet at a certain time and place.

Kita was not particularly happy - she was way too hot and a bit unnerved by the unbelievable array of strange scents assaulting her sensitive nose. She wasn't UNhappy as such, just quiet. Which was good, I guess - she wasn't leaping at people or dogs; she just ignored everyone. And it turns out she really dislikes horses and tries to hide from them.

Rhiannon was somewhat mystified by the whole concept and Tim liked seeing a Spitfire and spent most of the day sitting under tractors out of the sun with Kita. So it was up to me to educate my daughter in country ways. Mind you, the New Forest is a different sort of 'country' to the type I'm familiar with. Not many hot-tubs and fancy sheds required in the Welsh mountains...

I took Rhiannon to see the bulls as she's never seen one close up before. Her face was a picture!

She was happier with the Dexters. Especially the calves. And the goats. We avoided the rabbit tent as she's desperately wants a new pet, but it's a pretty daft idea to provide the dog with live food.

We also briefly saw a display of sheep - I thought it looked really interesting but I was in a minority of one, so carried on with the rest of the family.

Then Rhiannon and I went to the poultry tent. She ran in ahead of me before charging back out loudly exclaiming
"Mummmmmy, please can we have a DUCK?"

Yes, she was teasing me but it made the people around me laugh a lot.

She was mortified later when a man handed her a sticker for something, then said, "And here's one for your sister...!" Her shock and disbelief made me laugh a lot. She has a lot to learn about stuff like that.

A rather fascinating display of hearses caught my eye. Something a bit different to have on show, but I was impressed at the number of vehicles that can be employed for your last journey. Naturally, this was my favourite, being from Japan. We used to see them around quite a lot. Glamourous, isn't it?

We ate a lot of ice creams. It was so hot. But it could have been a lot worse bearing in mind the disgustingly wet weather in the preceding weeks.

Towards lunchtime, a little golf cart trundled past us. Lo and behold, it was Alan Titchmarsh!

I knew where he was heading as I'd done my homework based on a tweet I'd stumbled across. And this is why I chose that particular day to visit the show.

A helicopter swooped into a nearby field. A rather posh helicopter...

Before long, crowds had gathered and we met up with Mum who had found an empty place in the shade by an ice cream stall.

And we got the best view of the Queen and Prince Philip as they drove past within touching distance of me. It was the perfect end to the day.

Shame my photo didn't turn out well.

Here's a much better one from here.

 

Climbing the Walls

Not really a reflection of a mother's mood during the summer holidays!

No, this is about an indoor climbing centre in Exeter.

I don't do reviews on this blog, partly because I don't belong to the group of bloggers who get asked to do them and partly because I think uninvited reviews are much more honest and real.

So to review this place means that I was really impressed with it!

We heard about it from a friend and thought Rhiannon would like a go one rainy day. She's done a climbing course  before - at a small place in Tokyo called Peki Peki. She's a natural and really enjoys it.

The Quay Climbing Centre in Exeter is housed in a magnificent building that used to be the old Electricity Works building. Most of it contains first class 'grown-up' climbing walls of varying difficulties - described as "the South West's largest, dedicated indoor climbing wall".

For younger climbers, an incredible section called Clip N Climb is situated in the same building. And my, what a feast for the eyes!

 

Looking down from the balcony

Multicoloured sections leave the onlooker open-mouthed at the inventiveness of the set-up. Each section is cleverly designed to exercise different climbing skills.

 

Rhiannon ended up visiting pretty much every day of our stay in Exeter.

Professional, infinitely patient, and kind assistants were on hand at all times to advise and encourage.

Rhiannon's main ambition was to get to the top of these green pillars.

It took a few goes (apparently they wobble and make scary noises) but she made it in the end.

Then you just jump off!

This is a fabulous place and I can highly recommend a visit if you're ever in the Exeter area. Think of all the energy your kids will use up! Oh, and adults can use it too...

 

 

 

Dartmoor

As mentioned in my previous post, I grew up on the edge of the glorious wilderness that is Dartmoor.

We always make as many visits there as our time in Devon allows. This year, the weather was appalling, but we were graced by a couple of nice days.

Luckily, Dartmoor tends to drain it's rainwater off quite quickly, so the ground wasn't too boggy.

We had a great trip to Hound Tor, a very picturesque tor surrounded in legends and history.

Our hound liked Hound Tor...

Tim and Rhiannon went climbing. My days of clambering over rocks are sadly over following a nasty fall a year ago.

So I stayed below with Kita who had discovered her own interest: lovely, fresh sheep poo...

On another Dartmoor trip, this time in the Okehampton area at the base of Yes Tor, she found even more poo to roll in. This time it was a fresh cow pat which resulted in an emergency bath in the river.

And finally, a rather bad photo of the famous Dartmoor ponies. When I was a kid, my best friend and I used to tame these and take little rides on them. Obviously this is not recommended!

This year's visit to the UK brought back some wonderful memories for me. I'm not entirely sure why this particular trip was so poignant. I think it's because Rhiannon is at roughly the same age I was when I was constantly outside independently exploring this beautiful countryside. She doesn't have that option: we don't live there, obviously! And she doesn't have the fabulous older best friend I had, and still have.

I think I'm feeling old!

 

 

 

Okehampton Castle

I grew up in Okehampton, Devon.

My playground and 'back garden' was Dartmoor, the local woods and Okehampton Castle. This was in the good old days before mobile phones and generally over-protective parenting. I and my friends would be outside from dawn 'til dusk and we spent a lot of time at the castle.

Okehampton Castle

The custodian in those days was a lovely gentleman called Harry Palmer who let us in for free and taught us all about the history and told wonderful ghost stories. Much of our time was spent looking for the ghost of Lady Howard. In all my times there I'd never so much as felt the presence of a ghost, let alone see one.

Finding dog-friendly places in the UK is tricky. And confusing, especially as Britain is supposedly a nation of dog-lovers. We aren't allowed to take her on any beaches during the summer months and most other attractions forbid dogs.

Okehampton Castle is dog-friendly. So on this latest visit to the UK, we revisited my old stomping ground.

Little had changed in the intervening decades; some areas were railed off due to health and safety concerns, ancient brickwork had been made safe but otherwise, all was exactly as I recalled, of course.

Queen of the Castle

Intriguingly, there were two rooms that Kita absolutely refused to enter. Nothing would budge her, and if a Shiba doesn't want to do something, there's very little you can do about it.

But overall she loved the place.

 

Home Again

We're home in Berlin again!

Our trip back to the UK was so much shorter than previous years - just three weeks instead of the six we spent there last year.

This meant we couldn't meet up with so many people and I feel really bad about missing out on catching up properly with my friends. Most of my time was actually spent at opticians! More of that in another post, maybe.

As last year, we drove to and from the UK. It's one hell of a trip.

Germany
Driving through Germany is good.

The Autobahns are such fun! No speed limit. No worrying about speed cameras, no bunching up, no tailgating. Drivers drive properly, ie overtaking then pulling in as you are supposed to rather than sitting in the central or fast lane like the Brits do. Mind you, you would not want to stay on the outside lane for long as sports cars appearing out of nowhere at 200mph are a bit scary!

We stopped for a couple of breaks at the service stations. Germany is a very dog-friendly country and there are plenty of places to walk the dog during the stops. At one I found this gorgeous meadow behind the restaurant where Kita was able to stretch her legs to her heart's content.

We broke the journey at a hotel we discovered last year. After driving through the whole of Germany - which is a massive country - we stopped at the fabulous Hotel Sternzeit. It's a very dog-friendly place and Kita is welcomed in the rooms and restaurants. I can highly recommend this place and the food is amazing.

Tim had prepared a delightful surprise for me and secretly booked us a suite! It was wonderful; two rooms. I had the best night's sleep I've had in a long while.

After breakfast we prepared to leave, but Kita loved it so much she went into hiding. I think she wanted to stay there! I knew how she felt...

A quick detour to a village nearby so Tim could take a look at the house he lived in for a few of his childhood years then on to the next leg of the journey.

The Netherlands
Speed limits now. Need to keep an eye out for them.

It may be just the route we take but service stations are few and far between. But it's not long until the next border...

Very flat landscape, of course. In fact, the entire journey is across very flat land. Wind turbines are much in evidence; I like them so enjoy seeing them.

Belgium
Last year we got caught in a massive traffic jam in Antwerp. It was to get through a tunnel. So this year we made a detour to avoid it.

We have decided that Belgian drivers are nuts (with apologies to my Belgian friends and for the massive generalisation!). They pull out in front of other vehicles with no warning, swerve in and out as if they are driving in the States and are generally to be give a wide berth. Not easy.

France
Finally into France and to the Eurotunnel.

France is actually the prettiest country we drive through. And we take a much needed diversion to a beach near Calais before heading under the Channel. We discovered it last year when we were killing time before our allotted train time. The beach is huge and the sea is so far away we haven't actually seen it yet!

Eurotunnel
I am most impressed with this mode of transport - once I got over my fear of being under the water...

When you check in (automatically) you are offered the opportunity to catch an earlier train which saves so much waiting around.

Kita has to go to an animal check in place to have her microchip and passport checked, then there's just time for a comfort break, dog walk and a cup of coffee before driving onto the train.

England
After 35 minutes on the train journey we emerge into the grey light of England.

My first comment was "Hills! Proper hills!"

Yes, the English countryside is gorgeous, and it seemed that the endless rain had indeed emphasised this "green and pleasant land".

Then we had to negotiate the M25 and the appalling driving prevalent in Briatain.

Finally and very wearily we reached my Mum's house.