Simply..today is the day....

..we were supposed to fly home from Venice. The flight was cancelled. We have another booked. Will it be cancelled? We don't know.

But, here we are!

I wake this morning feeling refreshed and contemplate the situation....

I've never lived in a house with shutters before. I open them and get back into bed.

I love the way the sun comes into this room, picking up the gilt on the picture frames. The tulips are long gone. You can't buy flowers now.

I listen. There's something about church bells in Italy...Two women neighbours have taken to talking in the mornings from their windows on either side of the canal. I have no idea what they are saying but I like hearing their loud voices. A dog barks. a distant voice shouts Basta! Ah! I know what that means, though the dog clearly doesn't and carries on barking for a bit.

I used to look over to the glassworks across the canal as they opened up for work,  watching barges deliver goods and hearing voices (the odd burst of song) and the occasional noise of metal being hammered by hand. It closed three days ago and the silence has been deafening.

So. here I am. I have coffee and ricotta dolce al limone with all the time in the world to savour it.

 I look at the weather forecast: sun all day and a temperature of 17 degrees will suit me just fine

It could be a lot worse!

 I am  grateful.


And I have an idea...