Sorry I’ve been off the radar for a while. We’ve sadly moved off the boat in Rome, due to work commitments, and moved into a beautiful house beside Lake Maggiore, near Milan. We moved at the beginning of April and we’re finally starting to settle in. Although I’m sorely missing the boat, I’m also enjoying the perks of living on land. The main plus is having my very own office that doesn’t double up as anything else, it even has a door to shut out distractions! The novelty of having a washing machine under the same roof is a luxury too and definitely hasn’t worn off yet.

There are quite a few downsides, however, to land-lubbing. There’s been so much to sort out with utilities and paperwork. Getting the water and gas connected has cost a small fortune and has been both time consuming and complicated since we’re both doing it for the first time here in Italy. We’ve also had to deal with translating and understanding various other contracts that seem to be never ending. On the boat we’re so much more self sufficient and we’re both missing the simplicity of life afloat. We have three weeks off soon though and we’ll be heading back to the boat in June. We’re also getting a new Border Collie puppy at the beginning of June so things are very exciting.

Now we’re more or less settled, I’ll be posting more regularly. I’m really enjoying my Masters degree which has really opened my mind to different techniques and styles of writing. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot already, which is promising. There’s a lot of required reading for the course, as you might expect. Lots of the reading material is so pompously academic, that I have to keep reminding myself to pay attention to what is actually being said. I’ve found Stein’s ‘Solutions for Writers’ an enjoyable and useful read though. I’ve got lots of other new books to review and recommend soon.

Wishing you all Sandy Toes and no Writer Woes!