genealogy

It is my passion and my biggest frustration. Now I live in France it is more difficult to access records, but this year I will be back in UK and Dublin and County Mayo, seeking new leads and particularly in Mayo for my dad, to find out about and experience his homeland

what was I saying…..?

Winter is back, sleet, a wood fire again, wet sheets on the line now the sun has gone in….

end of Winter

Finally we are doing without a wood fire today for first time. It’s sunny and although cold not that cold. It’s nice to not have the work and mess involved in the fire. Maybe we will have it back another day who knows

bills paid…

been out today to pay a bill and now will go again in another direction to pay another, at least we get a beer this time and the sure knowledge of bills paid.

beacon of light

We, Nigel and I, came here to Couffy almost three years ago to bring light to the world as it approaches the 2012 phenomenon. We are both Reiki Masters, from differing disciplines, and we have other healing energies to hand including, Cranio-Sacral work, Crystal work and Lemurian Light Energy. In December 2008 I was given a new healing energy, Ionian Light Circle Energy, channelled to me by a group spiritual entity from an ancient culture based in Ionia formerly Smyrna. This group consists of monks who supported the Amazon Queen Smyrna, whose time is now, as we approach 2012 with the advent of a new feminine era. The Ionian Light Energy is a sixth dimensional force which supports all other energetic dimensions, and enables them to resonate at an even greater level for the times ahead. I have attuned two people to this light energy in the last 18 months and now is the time to open myself and the world to prepare it for the new phase in its development. We and this place, this magical place, are ready to be the beacon of light we are meant to be.

bear interviews

Today has seen me drafting a set of questions for tomorrow, to be asked of two US Gay Bear Comedians. This is for an article for daddylovers.com, a website for which I regularly contribute copy. It’s great to be able to give something back to my community and I also get to talk to great interesting folks. A few weeks ago I interviewed Joe Mannetti, the Mr International Bear winner for 2009, a fascinating man and great gay fundraiser. Watch this space for future features.

Torrents

a constant flow of water is falling from our roof, through the broken gutter and the facing stone above the window, It’s been like it for years now and sometime soon it will be fixed. We expect to sort the house out very soon. We also expect Spring and a period of no rain, where we can get out into the garden and start prepping it for the Summertime.

gentle support

Many of us ex-pats know that, the assumption made by those we have left behind in the UK, which has us living it up with never a dull moment in our new homeland, is not completely true. Of course the pros mostly outweigh the cons, but when it comes to some things there has to be a massive emotional shift in order to cope with all the changes occasioned by living in a foreign country. I found at a time after the death of my father that I needed some counselling which in the UK it would have been easy to organise especially face to face. I am a creative thinker though and had sometimes thought that telephone or skype counselling could be a useful thing in the absense of local English speaking counsellors. In our case this difficulty in locating a counsellor is compounded by the fact that we live in deepest rural France surrounded by practical farmers and their families and with a French accent and language akin to one from Glasgow or Newcastle, for us southern British types.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across David Cypher at Helios Therapies. I was a little anxious about phone therapy having had one session with another ex-pat here in France. That session was good but I missed the face to face contact, to be able to read the counsellor’s responses. I was thrilled when David told me that he operated on skype as well as this meant I would be able to see him whilst we talked. This initial flexibility on his part reassured me and made for a brilliant counselling relationship for the duration of my sessions with David.

David’s approach to the counselling process is perfect in that he works intuitively and from a background of multiple disciplines. He had me talk about the past, a useful therapeutic tool and yet also pushed me to work on the present and into the future, with a variety of homeworks and techniques. The overiding positive thing for me during the time we spent working together was one of humour, something I needed so desperately following the events of my father’s death and my then current ex-pat situation. He is a star in my view and I strongly recommend him and his techniques to anyone be they an ex-pat or UK citizen.

If you need a little help with life’s vagaries and upsets contact David at helios7therapies@googlemail.com

staircase of heaven

Finally five years later we have found a great staircase for our barn/mezzanine. It is perfect and will fit beautifully with our barn and the 1904 ceramic tiles we have for the floor. It is a thrilling time

New journey

I tried to change my lifestyle with a yoga which injured me and now I am back on the journey of spirituality with meditation practice instead. I am beginning to feel more in touch with myself and life is unfolding, for me, for us and for our little cradle. My meditation practice is going very well and my healing is a palpable feeling.