The compound where we live is lovely, a piece of
heaven. When you enter it you are met with soft grass and high trees on one
side and a pond with ducks and even a heron on the other. Town houses of
various sizes stretch around a ring of tarmac (which we are not sure we need to
drive clockwise or anti-clockwise as there are no signs and people go both ways
causing puzzlement when two cars meet face to face). In the centre there is a
garden patch beautifully kept. It’s peaceful and environment friendly, as we
all have biomass central heating and low electricity lights around the compound
(which means it’s pretty dark at night).
The other environment friendly thing I wish to
mention is the amazing recycling centre we have in Woking. It was our most
visited spot for about two-three weeks after the move (though we kept so much
we also threw away big amounts of cardboard, plastic, soil, wood, electrics,
etc.). it’s a big recycling place you can drive around and stop near the
section you need. There is not only plastic, glass and paper, it’s much more
detailed and has furniture, paint, foil, mobile phones, carpets, printer cartridges,
tapes and discs or bathroom suite posts. An ideal place for a committed
recycling person like me.
Though the village where we live is small, we are
lucky we have all we need: a church, GP, dentist, pharmacy and post office.
There are also a few nice shops, restaurants and two supermarkets.
Our first concern was to register with the GP,
mainly because I take regular medication and needed some checks. The other
concern was about my autistic daughter Valentina, she needed CAMHS referral as
her meds can’t be prescribed by a GP. The checks with the GP left me puzzled, I
was definitely fatter and shorter than I remembered and my blood tests were not
completely right. But never mind, I tell myself it must be the effect of
ageing, which is natural.
We all had appointments at the dentist’s as well,
which resulted in investing a significant amount of our monthly income in tooth
saving and maintenance. It’s a sort of annual taxation I have to come to terms
with, bad teeth need to be taken care of without a doubt.
My daughter and I couldn’t help visiting all the
shops in the main street and buy a few more clothes to update our wardrobe. The
two woman clothes shops are interesting; one is more casual-smart, the other has
more formal kind of clothes. Both have good quality articles and, if you are
lucky, bargains.
I also had a haircut in a hair studio which
satisfied me as never before since I moved to England. The fact is that I am so
used to Italian style cuts and am in general very picky about haircuts, so it’s
difficult to please me. But this time I was definitely happy.
The church is a beautiful Norman building dedicated
to St. Lawrence. It has chalk pillars and Norman arcades on the south aisle
while elegant capitals engraved with grapes and leaves embellish the columns on
the opposite side. The pews are decorated with symbols linked to the origins or
interests of parishioners like a cradle, a map of Devon and Cornwall, shamrock
and dolphins, croquet and dogs, a loaf of bread, a sheaf of corn, Scottish flag
and thistle and so on. The tower was built in 1400 and has an unusual
herringbone spire, a remarkable church I think I am going to visit again.
At the Phoenix centre in Woking the stanza group
meets once a month; it is a group linked to the National Poetry Society and for
me it is an opportunity to meet people who love, write and enjoy reading poetry
whilst inspiring each other. I happily joined them hoping to carry on writing
in spite of all my working commitments. It’s hard but possible if I keep
organized, dedicating all the time I need to my job (which is mainly preparing
lessons and meetings), then switch off for a while and devote my soul and heart
to art. As I am a teacher, one activity nurtures the other in some way. I
haven’t got much time for proper leisure activities at the moment but doing
what I like is a kind of leisure.
Last but not least, in Knaphill there is a huge
Sainsbury’s I adore. For a busy working woman having a place where you can find
everything (from de-ionized water to towels, shoes and all kinds of food,
drinks and vegetables) is the ideal thing. More shops are in Woking of course;
two shopping centres, theatres and cinemas which is just fifteen minutes drive
from where we live. For charity shops, Aldershot in Hampshire is the place to
go, where we did lots of shopping for my daughter Valentina, who still enjoys
ripping her clothes.
After all of this, I now feel I’m settling very well
in my new environment.
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