Sparkles, sunshine, orchids, Paddy and book news.

Life in Fife continues to be delightful.
Despite getting an infected insect bite, (all healed now) it's been a lovely month.

I've created a new sparkly canvas to add a pop of colour in my new kitchen

We continue to be blessed with a very mild winter and some sunshine!

My darling hubby, instead of buying a bouquet of flowers to say get well soon, bought me some orchids

and throughout, I had a very attentive nurse. If I called for OH, Paddy would run and fetch him, barking all the while. He's a little treasure!

I am continuing to write "The House in the Leaves", book three of my Leaves Series. The editor and I have been conversing and we're getting it right! I hope to have it published sometime this year.

If you haven't seen the first two, look HERE

 

Snowy Lomonds, stunning skies and new gateways!

Here we are in February, we've been so busy, I'd almost forgotten my blogs!
We had a little dusting of snow over the Lomond Hills, enough to look pretty, but not enough to cause problems.

We've also had some gorgeous skies - and I've even seen the Northern Lights since we moved. The stars here are phenomenal  - well, they are full stop - but what I mean is the visibility here is so much better than we ever had in Essex. I'm a lover of stargazing, so this makes our move even more magical.
I haven't any star skies to show you, but a sunset - oh yes...

We had a couple of storms, where there were some gale force winds and they knocked our old driveway fence apart. We decided we'd replace them with wrought iron. The blacksmith came over to give us a quote, stayed for a coffee and a chat and when he returned with the gates, not only had he produced the driveway gates and fence, he'd given us a pedestrian gate for free! He told us it was because we were genuine folk. How lovely to meet such wonderful people.

and in book news, I am still writing "The House in the Leaves" and hope to finish sometime this year. All in the Leaves and Leaves for Chloe are available online, should you wish to read the first two in the series.

Catch up again, soon!

Paddy's Christmas and a new kitchen

Since we moved into the new house, we've had some work to do indoors, firstly a new kitchen!

I'm pleased to say that it's almost complete. We installed this ourselves and I'm delighted with how it's coming into shape. We're waiting for the sales to buy new flooring.

and little Paddy, like us, thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas in our new house!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas - and wish you all the best for the New Year.

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve- and the year has flown past!
Looking back, it's been a tough year and then, a beautiful one.
We have been through the mill with hubby and his workplace, but thanks to the kindness of the legal and medical professions, we have made it through -  and find ourselves in a much nicer place.

In the process we have lost some friends. Friends of the season, I like to think of them as. Farewell to you, at the end of this year, I wish you well for the future. As they have left, there has been room made for new friends. Hello and welcome to you all. I hope you prove to be friends of a lifetime.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that we have moved to the beautiful country of Scotland, where we have been welcomed with open arms.

You may also be wondering, what's happening with the storytelling? I can tell you, I have picked up the computer and the third in the Leaves Series is progressing well. I hope to bring you Anna and Chloe, Angus and Seamus in their new adventure, some time in the summer.

Paddy, our jack russell, adores his new lifestyle. The countryside he finds himself in is rich in smells and friends. We see him grow in confidence daily.

I'm all ready for Christmas, and this new chapter. I wish you the blessings of the season. See you in the New Year.

On my wall, the amazingly talented Kim!

Today I picked up a couple of paintings that I'd had professionally framed.
Do you remember when we were raising funds for Lottie to have a dance wheelchair? The amazingly talented Kim Lintern donated some of her paintings to help raise funds.
When I saw these two included in the sale, I had to have them.. and today they came back to me and are on my wall..

Trying to photograph them was proving tricky, due to reflections  -

So I popped them on the floor, on the patterned rug to give me contrast, then cropped the final picture..

So now you have a better idea of the beautiful work, hanging on my wall.

If you'd like to see more of Kim's art, you can visit here website HERE
or connect with her on Twitter  - @kimlinternart

An Announcement... of which I am immensely proud.

No sooner am I back on line, but I have an Announcement.

I am immensely proud of being awarded an Honorary Membership, in recognition of outstanding work in Advanced Reflexology.

This honour is in recognition of what I do for my "day job" - reflexology.
The number who are awarded "Hons" is very small - and I am proud to join their company.

Back online!

Good morning friends!

I am back online after a month away, following our house move!
We now reside in the beautiful Kingdom of Fife, Scotland.

The great outdoors is literally on our doorstep... here is our morning view, as we awake..

We've been out exploring while we were absent from our online world.. and Paddy really enjoyed it - as did we!

Around every corner, there is something new to see - and better views of the Lomond Hills to be had.
The land is farm, so it's like having a living tableau to view daily. The fields were ripe when we first arrived and within a couple of days had been harvested, hence the hay bales!   

It truly is a landscape painter's delight - and I am sure once the house is straight, you'll start to see some paintings of my new locale.