Like the twisted trunk of this old tree Tom and I have re rooted ourselves and moved West to my old home house on the borders of Co. Fermanagh and Co. Donegal - we're a few miles from the Atlantic and in the county full of lakes, bogland and wide open spaces.
It's been a huge move emotionally and spiritually, totally apart from the physical upheaval. We were in our last house for 20 years and in that town for 30. There's a story I heard once
, that when a gypsy dies the rest of the tribe burn their caravan and all its contents. That's what I'm going to do if I ever have to move house again - OMG!!!! I'm sure you've all been through it at some point in your lives - where does all the stuff come from! We're here now 4 months and there's still things I can't find. I think that's the hardest part of moving - we lose the familiar - the things you knew exactly where to find them, the shops to go to to get a certain item, the friends to call for a coffee when you're bored or need a break.
And yet there's a lot that's familiar here - people I went to primary school with still live along the road and have been very kind both to my mother when she was alive and to us as we settle in. I remember faces although I can't always put a name to them yet, and down the years of spending holidays with mum we have kept a foot in this camp which is making the transition a lot easier.
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| Some brave souls going for a New Year's Dip on Lough Erne. |
So it's time now to get back into some old rhythms. I"m back to tour planning and have started work on a very long overdue songbook and I hope to start doing the occasional blog again. Tom is enjoying doing renovations to the house and we're both enjoying not driving anywhere for a while - the 210 mile round trip that we were doing sometimes twice a week in the last months of Mum's life, we are definitely not missing those. And the new will become familiar in time.
I hope you are all well - although I've not been posting, I have been popping in from time to time to read your blogs and catch up with you.
Mostly our lives have been led on Facebook and YouTube so if you fancy popping in there to say hello I'll be glad to see you.
Happy New Year - may this one bring a little bit of peace to the world.