I Can Hear the Cuckoo: Life in the Wilds of Wales

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a b Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Vol.3 and 4. Rowman and Littlefield. pp.61–62. ISBN 978-1-4422-5449-7. Kiran lived in London and she recounts the horrific experience of losing her Mum to whom she was very close. After an initial period of mourning she and her partner went on holiday to “the Wilds of Wales”. After a while they decide to relocate to “the wilds of Wales.” This philosophical nature memoir is about landscape and people, of friendship and love, of faith, healing and hope. It is about respecting the rhythms and wonder of the earth and gives truth to a connection of something much bigger than we ever individually could be. Hamish Henderson recorded Willie Mathieson from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, singing The Evening Meeting in 1952. [19]

Kiran sidhu is clearly an accomplished and skilled writer,who gives poetic and insightful thoughts,letting you into her life and what it is like to live and breath in the country.For me this is a book that gives hope,it casts acceptance we’re there is dark and like a breeze in any season,the story whaffs over you in subtle and meaningful ways,and brings new thoughts to life,thoughts and feelings that have simmered over time, come to the surface.From the writer of The New Yorker short film, Heart Valley– WINNER OF 2023 BAFTA CYMRU AWARDS FOR BEST SHORT FILM I wondered what I missed in life by thinking that the wisdom of others whose lives were different to mine could not have any bearing on my life. How wrong I had been.” It started off well, the author's mother dies and she moves away from London to the Welsh hills to flee her toxic constrained family. And so we get lovely descriptions of the Welsh countryside, the lovely Welsh people, lovely Welsh kindness, the lovely Welsh animals, the lovely Welsh seasons (do you see a pattern here?!) And yet it's not enough. It's difficult to tell at first whether Kiran is living in Wales properly as she initially mentions spending only weekends there. Presumably then she moves there full time, who knows? The pain of her mother's death is terrible and she can't stop ruminating on her mother's illness, death and her family's treatment of her after her mum's death. Without wanting to sound heartless, we get it! Death is shit, losing a parent is shit, grieving is shit, families are shit. Writing a book that sounds whiny, whimsical and childishly naive is shit! There is a connection to strangers, philosophy and faith, and we realise the full extent of how much Piari’s death affected Kiran, and how the move to this Welsh valley has helped to heal some of her hurt and allowed her to breathe a little easier once more.

This is a community of neighbours who rally together, show kindness, and each of them give something to Kiran’s healing that is special and unique. The people make the place and the place makes the people. One woman's journey to the Welsh Valley, and how she heals a fractured past and discovers a sense of belonging through the community she finds there Many times throughout the book, Kiran describes how Wilf quietly opens her eyes to the beauty of nature in the valley which is ‘cut in the shape of his heart’. I don’t think there is a more beautiful way of describing a person’s love for their home. She chooses to watch a pig slaughter, swims for the first time in a cold Welsh sea, clips a goat’s hooves, feeds an orphaned lamb, partakes in the rescuing of a red kite. I enjoyed reading this book,I am a slow reader,but with the chapters being short,it was easy to dip in and out at my own pace and perfect for a break.The book starts with some pictures,which entice you in and help you relate to the book as you go along.I found this book a nice surprise, it is not a bells and whistles book ,it is about living in the country ,it has depth,humour,and an honesty that you don’t often hear,that weaves it way through the book.

Kiran found that there were other neighbours, too, who could offer her life lessons. ‘They were very open to life, to the simplicity of it. Sometimes participating in life means simply to stand still in it.’ Karen Millen, creator of the eponymous fashion brand has created a new collection over 40-years after she set up her first shop. She sold the business in 2004, but in later years she filed for bankruptcy. Now aged 61, Millen is returning to designing clothes. She joins Anita to talk about the highs and lows of her life so far, and starting over.

Wilf goes on to explain how the routine of his days near the village of Cellan extends to the meals he eats, enjoying ‘the same supper for 10 years, even on Christmas Day: two pieces of fish, one big onion, an egg, baked beans and a few biscuits at the end.’ False Hearted Lover". The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. Missouri State University . Retrieved 19 April 2017. Max Hunter recorded Olivia Hauser of Fayetteville, Arkansas, singing False Hearted Lover in 1961. [21] Meanwhile, tonight, her friend Wilf Davies will eat his usual supper, in his usual way. And he will be content with this. Britton, Wesley (2012-02-26). "Music Review: Big Brother and the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin - Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968". seattlepi.com . Retrieved 2020-10-13.When I started reading it, I found it quite hard - not because the writing was bad, but because the words were trying to tap into something in me that I had suppressed - a connection to a palate of emotions that, largely because of my focus on work, that I had learned to ignore. It is a brave write and heartbreaking to read, the emotions stifled in the heavy air which cloaked the hospital room. Goldsmith, Thomas (6 February 2005). "The beauty and mystery of ballads". The Raleigh News & Observer. p.G5. Max Hunter recorded Mrs Norma Kisner of Springdale Arkansas, singing a fragment of Unconstant Lover in 1960. [20]

Kiran Sidhu never thought she could leave London, but when her mother passes away, she knows she has to walk out of her old life and leave her toxic family behind. She chooses fresh air, an auditorium of silence and the purity of the natural world – and soon arrives in Cellan, a small, remote village nestled in the Welsh valleys. We may think of the countryside as quiet, but Kiran rightly points out, ‘the countryside has its own voice’. Human population density may be much less here than in London, but her new home is never ever silent. I read this book when I was on a “micro sabbatical” from work. I couldn’t decide whether to buy the book or not, but something inside me told me that I should. I wouldn’t regret it. The song ends in a sad verse about emigration. There is a fine recording of this song from Luke Kelly of The Dubliners. Grafham Water SSSI - Loaded with spring delights, including the melodic song of the nightingale and the spring chorus of the garden warbler and nightcap. Also making use of the reservoir includes the common sandpiper, greenshank and the rare red-throated diver. With nine miles of shoreline, and around 170 species of bird recorded each year, there is always something to see.

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Reading this book I felt wrapped and held in the unfolding story,while been given the space to explore,what is being offered in relation to my own journey,side by side.small things in life matter and I am grateful this book has been firmly planted in wales,with a little help from a cukoo. Kiran is a self-confessed city girl, brown in a valley of white, and she questions her Indian heritage and culture. She is challenged by the concept of home, looks to hiraeth and, rather bravely, leans into country living full throttle as she searches for the answers. Kiran wants to experience life again, but from a different viewpoint.