Destination John O'Groats

A dearth of time and energy unfortunately prevented any creative input into recording this wonderful jounrney and discovery of  Scotland and achieving a life goal of visiting John O'Groats. 

Watch this space ..........

Leavin' old Durham town again

A lovely last day with my sister.  The wind was still blowi ng a gale across the valleys but the sun shone brightly never-the-less.  Had lunch at The George,a very olde worldly pub still with all the original fireplace and hardware.

Met Dee off the train at Durham and found our resting place for the night at St Chad's near the cathedral and university.  The down side was we had to park the car fifteen minutes away from the YHA and of course we got lost trying to find the place.

Had a pleasant walk on the way back and enjoyed beautiful views of the cathedral towers reflected in the the river which flows beneath.  What an amazing feat of engineering and architecture considering it is over 900 years old.


We have to back track to my sister's again tomorrow as I left my sneakers there then it's off north we go.  Hoping to get north of Edinburgh before it gets too late..

Tripping again

Biking wiith my cousin Jon

 Much has happened since I last wrote but since I have not been in much of a positive frame of mind I was not too motivated to write much.  However, as with all experiences, good or bad, we can choose to learn from them or not.  I learned a couple of things; one, that there are even more negative people around than I and; two, I need the social stimulation of other people around me.  I don't handle social isolation very well.  Maybe that is something I will have to deal with along the way.  Anyway, on a positive note I have a few pounds in the bank, so no gain without some pain.......alas!

Old friends with my cousin Jon centre 

Enjoyed time with old friends in Newcastle and as always reminiscing and laughing about the old days when we were young and daft.  Met my old aunt of 92 who is such an inspiration and still has all her marbles.  Such an encouragement when you hear so much about Alzheimer's disease.  You get to a stage of thinking it is an inevitable part of old age but happily it is not.  My cousin Jon took me on a long run on his Yamaha (he decided not to take me on his racing bike for a first run (thank you Jon). As he would say, it was hellish!

View from Carol's back door yesterday

Am currently at my sister's near Durham city.  The wind has been howling and screaming across the countryside here.  I think it is the tail end of hurricane Irene.  Hoping it will all blow over before Thursday when I head off to Scotland and John O' Groats.  I'm not too worried about the weather so long the Scottish mists behave and we can experience the glorious views of the Highlands.  We have six days to see as much as we can which doesn't seem much but I keep forgetting that it doesn't take long to travel anywhere in Britain.  I have to switch from my Oz time and distance mode of thinking.

Am looking forward to catching up with Dee tomorrow, who will be traveling with me, one of my work colleagues from last year.  Staying at St Chad's YHA in Durham tomorrow night, part of the Durham University campus.

St Chad's, YHA Durham

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Goodbye Birkenhead

I feel like a bird that has just flown out of the cage....freeeedom! Finally I am out of boot camp

I was on my way to the train station when the agency rang me to offer me work from the 3rd August.  I said, "Well hang on' I've got work here in Birkenhead on that date".   "Oh!" she said, "that was cancelled last night".  As I write no-one yet knows why I was cancelled.  It is a mystery! And I am so happy, happy, happy!  What a relief!  The night before I was to leave, one of the family called in armed with laminated lists of rules to stick on various walls around the house.  "Jo, this has nothing to do with you OK.....it is for the benefit of future carers OK".  Right...I don't think.  My heart slid into my shoes when I saw all these rules.  My first thought was "I'm out of here....three weeks more and that's it".  So Halleluliah! .no more Birkenhead.  If I can survive that I can survive anything.  Even my dear old client in Cambridge, with double incontinence, aggressive behaviour, dementia and night disturbances was easier than this lady.  It is sad 'cause it could have been so much more pleasant.

So here I am with Scott and Emma, and have enjoyed the leafy surrounds of Epping Forest for a couple of days.  Am off to Durham tomorrow via bus....six and a half hours! Twice the time on the train but half the price.

Ferry 'Cross the Mersey

Saturday afternoon was brilliant. After discussions with the agency about me having a adequate time off the family organised for me to have Saturday afternoon free.  Once my dear lady got over the trauma of me having all that time out of the house the daughter dropped me off at the ferry and I enjoyed the experience of the famous sixties song Ferry 'Cross the Mersey.....they even played the song onboard.  It took a whole 10 minutes to cross from the Birkenhead side to the Liverpool side.  Access from one side to the other is usually via the underground tunnel, apparently the first tunnel under water to be built worldwide.

My afternoon in the city was hardly earthshattering but it was great to do normal things and enjoy just being part of the city life. I ended up in a Rockerfellas hamburger bar ....was very 50's Happy Days style.  I kept wondering if the Fonz was going to pop out of the woodwork. 

Saturday afternoon in Liverpool is not much different from any other city in that there are absolutely crowds of people everywhere.  One would hardly think there was a recession on here with so many people in the shopping plaza but I suppose they could all be like me, only time to spend but not much else. 

It has come to light that I am dealing with someone who has obsessive compulsive tendencies....I knew there was something wierd going on.  It sort of helps to know there is a mental health issue and not just a personality clash.  I am afraid I am too old to be told constantly when I am not doing something the 'right' way or I should be doing something other than what I am doing.  The family seem to have complied with it all their lives and expect the us to do the same....all for the sake of peace!  I am starting to see that my ego is about the size of a battle ship and will take some battering before I submit to such pedantic requests.  What was the story of the little girl who when she was good she was really, really good, and when she was bad she was horrid......it is a bit like that but is actually quite sweet and lovely for a lot of the time.

Ten days to go and then two weeks off!

Mother Duck said...Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

I have been so tired by the time bed time finally comes round I haven't had the creative energy to write anything. It is now Sat 9^th July and as I write I keep getting a blog error coming up so goodness knows if this is going to complete. 

The neighbours across the road are at it again after another hot day so it looks like being another sleepless night.

Each day has been much the same, excruciatingly mundane; however, there was one bright spot this week when I went off to the park for a short break.  As I approached the park a mother duck waddled out with her four little ducklings.  She was trying to get back in through the fence but was too fat.  Another local lady had gone to the rescue but had a huge dalmation dog to contend with too....not a good combination with ducks. So it was left to me to try get mother duck back into the park.  No easy task!

After fruitless efforts trying to get back throught the fence she took off up the footpath with little ducklings falling over each other trying to keep up and headed straight across the road with kiddies in tow. So there was I on my eagerly looked forward to break holding up the traffic so mother duck could get across the road without being squished. Then it was round all the houses till she finally found her way back across the road again....this time I had to stop a bus which made the driver's day and with the help of a John Lennon speak guy and a young lad from the nearby garage we all finally get the family of five back into the park.....last seen waddling across the vast lawns.

Why am I here?

I have to keep reminding myself why I am here?  Money and traveling!!  First pay week tomorrow.  Two more to go then two weeks off. 

I had a serious thought today of quitting after I have my Scottish Highlands fling in September and head back to Aus via Canada and visit my sister there for a couple of weeks.  This is doing my head in.  I will give it my best shot to the end of these three weeks and see how it goes.  Apparently my saving grace is I am a marvelous cook....the best yet!....Sigh!  Pity my patience levels weren't as good. 

The weather has been really balmy for the last three days or so but cooler days ahead, surprise, surprise.  So warm in fact the neighbours across the road (imagine Coronation st) have been sitting at the front door step two nights in a row talking their heads off.  I couldnt stand it any longer last night and went to the door and asked them to turn it down.....a waste of time....called the police at 2 a.m. who were even less helpful.  So as far as I'm concerned the cooler weather cant come quick enough.  So far tonight it is peace and quiet. 

Hopefully I will be in a better frame of mind tomorrow after a good nights sleep.