Shropshire?

After a difficult week on our return from Scotland, we've shifted our interest back to Shropshire. I've loved Shropshire since visits in the 1970s and it's always been there in my mind to go back. An added bonus would be that Birmingham with its art and music wouldn't be far away. Usual internal debates about urban vs. rural. Meanwhile we have been glavanised into cleaning and decorating, with yet more sorting. The TV has gone, which has had quite a liberating effect, plus the darn things are plain ugly. The house is beginning to look good. All those jobs which we should have been on top of over the years are being addressed. Clean painted walls, simplified rooms, crap got rid of. Trouble is it is starting to look like a very nice place to live. I must remember my thirst for culture and how I can't get what I want here. Plus we want the change in landscape and some opportunity for adventures - the Midlands, Wales, east coast, anywhere north, all become so much more accessible. But we also need work.

forays to Forres

Been to Scotland to see some properties. Fell in love with the place again and had a fab few days but the reality (and expense) of a move of over 600 miles and the vagaries of the Scottish legal system are conspiring against us living there. Some tough times when we got back trying to piece together what we want out of a move (anywhere), what we are about, what we can afford... Not easy. Finally come to the inevitable conclusion we must find some income and use our savings as more of a buffer than ekeing out a living. Neither of us wants to work to enable us to spend time on our creative work but we have to bite the bullet. It's not going to be easy to find work at our age and living here. We still want to move - Shropshire now seems back in consideration.

windy city

Disturbing times at Myrtle Towers with the high winds and rain. But it's not only the weather. The immediate neighbours in the next terrace are moving out tomorrow, so we are waiting to see who's moving in. We've heard they are going to be gutting the house and remodelling. Although we are not joined house-wise, our gardens are, so we might have to have some dealings over fences and such like. Desperately hoping they haven't got noisy children! Our actual neighbours are more of a worry. Domestic disturbances involving the police and ambulances have been happening a bit too often for comfort. We hear they are trying to get a house exchange which is good, but again, who will we get instead? Partly spurred on by this, things are coming to a head about our own moving. We've decided to take a week away in Scotland looking at areas and properties, but also to re-affirm the desire to move. Will it still have the same allure?

tartan barmy

Hilarious Burns Night last night - dedicated to George Burns but we did the traditional Ode to the Haggis and the toasts and everything. Our guests turned up wearing tartan, one of them with a cardboard sporran which had a life of its own. Too much whisky, much laughing. Today the sun is streaming through the windows and I'm sitting here staring at my sketch book trying to move things on a bit, musing about some sewn text pieces for the group submission. Edward filming upstairs - props include one of my skirts and some sash cord...

routines

Have been thinking that a quiet home-based Christmas/New Year followed by the bad weather seems to have galvanised us into rearranging our daily routine to include a few things we've been meaning to stick at. The latest idea is to sleep with the curtains open so that we wake naturally with the day. We tried it last night but alas scuppered by the revving of an engine - a neighbour stuck in the snow for a few days needed to get out. Mustn't give up, though! Meditation before breakfast and around the bewitching hour of six o'clock seems to be working. I'm tackling the food thing. We are both doing some work. We have loads to do in the house and garden if we are to sell in the spring, but DIY is on hold at the moment after a good effort in the kitchen which was the main thing on the list. I'm thinking a bit of painting in the hall and on the stairs, and a few patches here and there, plus garden gates and fences will spruce it up. What to do with the studio? A bit of a daunting prospect. However I think my drip-drip on simplified living and selling/giving away what we don't need or want has worked. The house feels much less cluttered and will be less of a challenge when it comes to moving. We've decided to cut back on the veg gardening this year to give us the time to do the DIY, although financially we could use as much from the garden as we can get. Need a fair bit of shopping this week, may just get in under budget.

north west or south west?

Another housebound day, if you don't count feeding the birds and checking on the thermometer. It strikes me that this will be the norm in winter if we move to Scotland. Thinking about how I feel about that - certainly not being able to get out to walk would become an issue after a while. Although we'd pretty much decided that NW Scotland was the place, Cornwall has popped up again. Climate, creative contacts, not having to brave the Scottish legal system to buy. It's a difficult one.

hot tub

Lovely bath whilst watching the snow contimue to fall, preceded by meditation, so feeling very calm. We opened the bedroom window to listen to the landscape (whilst keeping an eye on the cat who, in turn, was keeping an eye on the birds). Another quiet day planned for Myrtle Towers. Love to hear Edward practising the keyboard upstairs whilst I am sewing. Nudged the work on a bit in my head, I think. Got a meeting with the group on Tuesday, if we can get there, so would be good to have some ideas to chew over with them.