I am lying on the couch, near the burning wood fire, sipping on tea made of nettles, orange and sage ( if I'm correct ). All picked/foraged from the gardens below us, the day before yesterday.
It's a bit of a low energy day and has been raining almost non-stop.
I haven't felt at my best.
The sun hasn't shown her pretty face at all. And although it was supposed to be 11 Celsius, the high humidity made it feel quite chilly.
Clare is typing away on her laptop, at the kitchen table.
I wonder what she is writing about and will likely find out soon.
We enjoyed a cioccolata calda ( hot chocolate ) in a bar, this morning and a very nice super-rich vegetable soup that we - or mostly Clare - prepared yesterday.
Food often tastes (even) better on day 2.
We are invited to the house of friends/neighbors in less than an hour. It will be nice to catch up.
Clare has been busy today trying to go through and organize her sewing stuff, mainly fabrics. They are filling up the next room.
She really missed her creative space on our new land and is trying to get back into that mode again in her old house, where we are currently residing for a break of about a week.
We took some things back from the new land to here to create more space there and have more things for Clare here to work with.
Now I think of it, this is our first actual break from all the work we have been doing on our new land in almost half a year.
It was much needed...
but slowing down isn't easy when your mind is usually racing.
Writing helps.
Going back to the city comes with its advantages; more comfort and more of a social life, among other things. But it is also a lot easier to get into alcohol, sugar and caffeine, leading to temporary highs, followed by crashes and mood swings.
Comfort or familiar discomfort?
Clare just informed me that one of our neighbors isn't feeling well so our visit will be postponed until tomorrow.
I guess that means we will have a quiet night instead.
Not the worst.
FYI: These neighbors adopted one of Clare's three cats, Beniamino, a couple of months ago. This funny ginger tom cat visited us twice, both yesterday and today, and started eating our other cat's food and begging for more of our food.
Here is a pic of B. looking through the cat door at Fridha, yesterday night:..
They hadn't seen each other in quite a while and he has turned into more of a city cat while she has turned more into a wild/countryside cat.
They used to be pretty close though so all was mostly well.
Comunque/anyhow, just another caturday.
It's past sunset and time to slow down even more.
Luckily for us there is still some soup left and I am looking forward to Ntflx and chill.
Wishing you a relaxing remainder of the day, wherever you are!
Would the orange cat not have survived out in the country with you?
Enjoy the reprieve, those are needed just as much as work is.
And if your mind is racing too much you can always sketch out house plans, it's much easier to work out solutions to difficult problems when you're in a calmer state :)
The ginger cat is more of a lazy cat. He likes comfort, loads of eating and to keep a clean fur. The countryside life might be a bit too harsh for him. Plus his new owners treat him very well and even let him sleep in their bed.
We are sure making the best of our reprieve and are slowly gaining more perspective on what to do next.
Happy new year!
Aye, Beloved - I was thinking when we had our cioccolata calda today, that of all the things I'd miss if I never visited a cittá again, it'd be wee treats like that, in a cosy bar - even if I wouldn't miss the oltra bright lighting, too loud & obnoxious music, the passive smoking, and the general weird vibes of conventional culture.... The small perfections within the - as you say - familiar discomfort, still relatively valgono la pena 😊🤭😍🙏☕
Luckily there are also plenty of wee villages around (us), with bars serving nice treats, as well as the occasional restaurant with unexpected(ly good) food.
✨❤️🍴☕