Trying to make the diffcult decision about Venice I found myself looking for signs.  On the seat of the otherwise empty bus was a bottle of antibacterial hand gel which is in short supply in local shops! Was it a sign?

In the Burgh Hall was an exhibition by a Signwriter called Frank Carty and this one struck a chord.. Could it be a message?

I'm not really making light of it - people are dying and many thousands of lives are being affected - but 81% of people who test positive for the coronavirus do not need any treatment at all.....the death rate appears to be 1-2% and 0.1% of Italian towns are affected.

March is my writing month, and I can do this work anywhere. We have put off the decision until the last minute and are listening of course, to the advice from The Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

I read with interest this blog post and the two most recent posts on Venezia blog and the interview with Sars expert Dr Sarah Borwein, which encourages caution while warning against panic, and I've marvelled at live web cams of quiet Venice in the sunshine today.

Is anyone else having to reconisider their travel plans?

I am looking back at this post as I ponder the option of whether or not to go.


NB   I may not be blogging for a few days!

I want to work again but have I got time?

I have been rethinking some practical things which take up a lot of my time and energy.

I pay someone to cut the grass and hedges now. I have withdrawn from the Open Gardens scheme as I can no longer keep the garden to that high standard. I feed the birds with only one feeder fixed to the window. I pay to have the outside of the windows washed once a month.

My late hustband (first time I have used that phrase - he was actually never late!) did a lot around the place. He cooked, shopped when he went swimiming which was three times a week, he gardened and stacked wood and brought in logs and fixed things and set mouse traps and took things to the recycling. When I could no longer drive because of my eye condition he drove me to the ferry and was there to meet me when I came back, and willingly took me wherever I wanted to go, he delivered paintings to galleries and, and, and....

I now do the work of two people. I am not feeling sorry for myself I am just saying that's how it is. That's the reality.

These are the practicalities. I haven't mentioned the fun outings, the shared meals and coffee breaks, the conversations, the love and the laughter. But that's a whole other story.

The point I want to make is that Barry generously gave me time to paint and to write. I want to paint again and have committed myself to a solo exhibition, so I must figure out how to get back to work and keep the house and garden going.

Something will have to give.

When circumstances change we have to change too.

Barry would also have got rid of that dead mouse in the cupboard! And climbed into the loft to find the source of the mysterious stain on the bedroom ceiling.

Off to do it now!

Any practical tips from readers who have experienced big changes in their circumstances most welcome....it is truly amazing how adaptable we are, don't you think?

Chocolate and choolips.

Stock markets are tumbling, the retail sector here in uk is making huge losses, but Hotel Chocolat (a brand - not actually a hotel) are reporting increased chocolate sales of 15 per cent!!

Haven't resorted to chocolate myself yet, though if I lived nearer the shops I may have.

It's an ill wind as the saying goes..

What will be will be (thank you Google Translate).

Meanwhile the tulips delight the eye..

..of a fabulous Super-Healthy Family Feast which was everything I could have hoped for, I am trying not to think of the words Venice and coronavirus!

Hopefully, tomorrow we are having a family feast.
 
In the last hour we have had sunshine, rain, horizontal hailstones, lightning and the biggest rumble of thunder I have ever heard.  I do beleive the house shook. There is snow on the hills and the wind is 53mph.  But, weather permitting, almost the whole family will be here for dinner. There are lots of different dietary requirements and everyone is bringing something - their favourite Super-Healthy dish.

As a family we are pretty health conscious and we will be sharing our best tips and recipes. I am making soups, hot vienna bread and several big salads from my most used cook book. I think I will photgraph some pages from it to take to Venice with me.

The weather in Venice today - Full sun, 13 degrees, zero per cent likelihood of rain, and winds of between 1 and 4 mph....

Have a good weekend.

..to beauty.

I've indulged myself this dark month with lots of candles. On the breakfast table until bathtime.

I'm taking a few days blog break now. May you be watm and dry and virus free!

There are 13 short posts under this category (now 14) and I have just re-read them. (See sidebar)

 This one in particular holds true just now.

I see routines as a kind of scaffolding, holding me up as I rebuild myself from within.

This stormy, grey February has given me lots of time to think.

Over the next while I'll write about life after loss, living the dream, creating new dreams, having a vision, and such like....

Meanwhile, I am off to do Fly Lady's Home Blessing Hour.

Bless Fly Lady I say!

And bless you too. x 

I re-read all the comments on the old blog posts and am so touched that many of you are still here all these years later, still saying interesting and supportive things as true friends do.

..Well, not literally thank goodness! If you could choose what scary storm Dennis - or whatever wind is blowing in your part of the world - could blow away, what would it be?

I've just been out to blow away some cobwebs (sitting still far too long). It worked! Though I got back indoors and sat down again to write this!

But, I am going to bake, do some ironing and cleaning and some of the other plodding things which must be done, so that when the weather does improve I can be out in it getting some much needed exercise and vitamin D.

I would like storm Dennis to blow away my lethargy and low mood, all the flood waters, all lying politicians, all petty worries, all the junk lying along the motorway verges, all the misery of the people whose homes are flooded, all warmongers - I have no idea where it will all go but .....Blow yourself out Dennis! Unfortunately it is set to blow all night and all day tomorrow here.

I do hope you are not affected.

(February's not my best month. I expect you can tell?)

I did ask politely if the bright new health and safety notices could be on the other side of the poles?  Just a little bit lower so they were not visible from my windows? Maybe just below my hedge?

The two guys doing the job were very sympathetic 'They'll stick out like sore thumbs, won't they!' they said - which is the whole point I suppose. They explained the regulations patiently.

Rules is rules I guess.

..and listening. I have heard it maybe five times in the twenty years I have lived here: the great roar of the sixty-mile-an-hour west wind as it whooshes straight down the glen! A fear inducing sound. It's like some great dragon or lion.

In a great storm in the sixties many of the cedar shingle roofs of Swedish Houses, then owned by the Forestry Commission, were badly damaged. They were replaced with clay tiles which proved to be too heavy, pushing the walls outwards and tie beams were put into the loft space. Subsequently the roofs were replaced with corrugated metal which is how they are today,. So far so good!

This morning I was woken at 6am by incredibly loud hailstones on the bedroom window.

My sitting room window faces north and I can sit at the red desk there and watch the weather coming down the glen - the prevailing winds are westerly, though today they have veered right around to easterly bringing cold but some bright spells too.

I love watching it all pass by my window! It is said that we in Britain are obsessed with the weather but I find living in the country the weaher often dictates how I will spend my days, and it also affects my mood.


Something that affects my mood even more is exposure to The News.  If I watch too much of it (and we do have it 24/7 now which just may be having some influence on the crisis in mental health)  I find myself thinking I have no right to be happy - so much misery in the world. Not a healthy attitude - nor does it reduce the misery - so I have to remind myself that news is 'News' because it is not the norm! If it was the norm it wouldn't be 'News'......

I've had a few quiet days indoors. (Outdoors the noise of the wind is almost constant.)

What luxury to be able to stay home in the wild weather and for half a morning read Colette, browse my Matisse books and listen to Radio 3 - Pablo Casals and, new to me. Michael Nyman's The Garden is Becoming a Robe Room, while I watch the weather go by and eat pancakes (inspired by Julia!).

I am reminded of Vita Sackville West's diary entries Quiet  day at Sissinghurst.

Quiet day in Ardentinny

Feels like a blessing.

Here is a favourite sentence from Colette's Earthly Paradise

I did have - and still have - the habit of marvelling.

I could never tire of this book.

What would be your favourite book for a storm-bound day or three?

I marvelled that this blackbird sat on top of the hedge in the very teeth of the gale for fully five minutes!

Tough little bird.

Whyever not?

..about this blog.

Weebly has served me well but can I point out that the format doesn't always allow comments on comments to appear where I want them to? They can appear out of sequence - sorry about that!

I also can only reply to comments on a post for a day or at most two - I simply couldn't keep up otherwise.  I absolutely love your comments - they are what make this blog a conversation rather than a monologue. Thank you for brightening my day, every day! I also like that you communicate with each other here; after all, we have a lot in common.

I read a Wordpress blog recently and found ads in it - which It had never had before - and which the writer would never have chosen.  Has anyone ever seen an ad on my blog? I hope not but if you ever do you would let me know right away?

Am storm bound today and the noise of the wind is very distracting. I plan to stay home and cook and bake and juice and fill the freezer with good things.

Hope you are all warm and dry too, with lots of nice food in your cupboards and freezers.

..for four days.

Storm Ciara is making a lot of noise out there, but in here all is hygge.

Wherever you are I hope you are cosy and safe.

Golden in the kitchen.

Rosy in the bathroom.

And cool in the hall.

How does the morning light come into your house?

There is an art to stacking wood, and I clearly haven't mastered it.

..of the silvery moon..

I've joined a Pilates class - in a yurt - as part of my efforts to get stronger this year.

Love it!

Run by the excellent Hannah Louise, the setting adds to the pleasure. The yurt is heated by a woodburnr and lit by  candles and last week was so warm Hannah had to open the door even though there was snow on the ground!

I gave up on the last Pilates class I tried because the smell of cleaning fluids was overwhelming and the windows could not be opened, so this is much, much better and is three villages along the shore road, in the grounds of Old Kilmun House.

Here is Hannah's email if you are near enough to join her classes    [email protected]

Do you think the environment makes a difference to your attitude to exercise? (I have yet to see a gym I want to be in!)

At last!

I am remembering the sunshine this time last year in New Zealand! What a treat that was.

Maybe future Februaries should be spent somewhere sunny...

at dinner..

Well I have to counteract the gloom and storms outside with something!


Nobody used PhotoStick?

..st brekfast.

with a sweet message from my sister..

Has anyone used the PhotoStick I keep seeing advertised? Sounds like a very useful thing...

 ..I am ready for you!

Many of you will know my history with February (brief summary here - lots more in February each year on sidebar and under Simply Write).

This year I have moved my writing month to March and will be spending it working on my book in Venice (why not?), so February will be about preparing for the adventure!  I moved it because Carnivale is in February and that's not really the Venice I want to experience. March in Venice is still quite cheap (prices jump during Carnivale - aother reason for avoiding it). The weather is very variable - there can be aqua alta, wind and snow (I hope) and balmy spring days with some warmth in the sun. It is of course less crowded.

I enjoy this blog about Venice, and this post which I have linked to before, is my favourite.