Jackie is still with us and remains my faithful companion, although the walks are getting shorter and less frequent. Dennis and Zara still disappear every morning to be fed at a neighbour, only to return as darkness falls, to sleep in the boiler room where it is nice and warm. I would put pictures up of the two of them but I don’t have a lens with a wide enough angle! Let’s just say the neighbour spoils them, despite her denials that she feeds then at all.
They are free, fat and happy, so I don’t plan to change things.
Despite my love of dogs the house is now overrun by cats, three of them, Bubbles, Whitey and Marshmallow (English translations). We do have a forth, a tom called Borris who lives in the barn, but his habits are far from polite and he is kept outside when he visits the house for food. I don’t think he actually does much as his figure is much the same as Dennis and Zaras, but on the odd occasion that he wants to play, when I’m in the barn, I’m sure to wear gauntlets. He has been known to kill the rabbits we keep so his death grip is strong. In fact of all the animals we have he is probably the most dangerous!





We had a few volunteers again this last year through the Workaway program, but the numbers and applications were notably down due to Covid and the two couples who stayed were already in Poland.
One couple in particular really gelled well with the family and as we do with a few other past volunteers, we have kept in touch. Not only is it great for me to have an extra pair of hands, we also get to meet a variety of people who share their experiences and culture, something that I hope may help the kids to think a little differently in the future. After all its not every day that you meet someone who has climbed mountains in the Himalayas, rafted in South America, spent weeks in silent meditation or simply come from somewhere other than Poland or the UK.
So that’s it, I have written a post, who would have thought, thank you Pete for nudging me once again. Hopefully this will also prompt me to write a few emails that I have put off for far too long with old friends and if I manage that then maybe I’ll start keeping a record of our slow lifestyle again.
Thanks for sticking with me and the family and a Happy New Year to you all.