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.

icing, no cake

I'm trying to make weekends different, which is tricky as I often have no idea what day it is. Full and frank discussion to start the day (hurumph), hoping meditation will reset the clock. Not off to see friends, which is disappointing, but prudent given the weather. Possibly may delve into the DVD collection and watch some old films. Must remember to be kind.

exposure

Finally, the snow gets here. We are lucky we don't have to go out or travel if we don't want to.  We were supposed to be visiting chums in London tomorrow but that looks unlikely now. Maybe weeks of the snow would drive us mad, but a few days is fine. We can investigate the freezer and hopefully find more than beetroot and runner beans. There are still some bottles of home made wine as well. I love the quiet and the white and will be happily sewing this afternoon looking out into the garden. I'm working on a submission for a charity show. No money, only kudos and exposure. Edward is stuck into writing his thriller - he's not letting me see any of it yet.

frozen ivy

Myrtle Towers registered minus 9 degrees this morning - well in the garden, not the house. But it's a beautiful sunny day and a good one on which to resume meditation. We've been given a book/CD on mindfulness which we've decided to follow - it's an eight week programme so I hope we can stick to it. We did meditation classes last year which weren't completely successful largely due to the venue, but I would so like it to be a daily practice. I need something to keep me focussed and also to calm me down. On more mundane matters, the kitty purse has £50 in it - this has to last until the end of January but that should be OK as the freezer I'm sure has lots of hidden treasures and we have beans, rice and lots of other staples. The £50 must also cover entertainment, but that's also OK as we have lots to keep us amused, including a cupboard full of classic board games. Evenings out these days are largely shared suppers, although we did manage a visit to the cinema (small, independent) last week. Edward needs a camera to replace the one he had which developed a fault. He tried to get it repaired - twice - and eventually sold it online for spares. It's central to his art practice, so we must get one. 

minus 6

The cold weather woke us up this morning. The House of Myrtle likes a lie-in, but today wasn't the day. Realising I am becoming obsessed with the weather, Edward has put a thermometer in the garden so I sallied forth to check. A beautiful frosty morning at an invigorating minus 6. Pause to dress in many layers. Today Edward plans to write and I'm going to carry on with some art work until the light goes. The weekly vat of soup has been made, taking care of lunch. Edward's found something for supper in the freezer. No chores I can think of, just a birthday present and card to finish for tomorrow. Have been musing about this blog and realise I need to do another for my art work. This blog will remain anonymous, but I need to be visible on an art blog, so I'm off to investigate the Artists Newsletter site where lots of artists have a blog so I will be in good company.

introduction

We are in our early fifties and live in a village in the south of England. We are both visual artists and Edward is also a writer. We will never be critically or financially successful through our art, but the practice is central to our lives. We live on a very low income which means we must spend more time than we would sometimes like on practical things but we also approach these creatively and enjoy being able to mend and make do. Dividing our time between house/garden things and art, plus all the other things we like to do, can be difficult. We want to make time to walk, meditate, make and listen to music, read, and make craft, but it is usual for some things to become squeezed out. We have experimented with different ways of dividing our day up to try to address this, but haven't quite got there yet.

I'm writing this blog so that I'm not carrying around more in my head than I need to. It's going to be about how we live, how we try to balance our lives and how we face the challenge of living on little money, and anything else that crops up.