NESTING TIME

We’ve had fog to start the day five days running, which I expect at this time of year because we’ve got the sea within a mile and a half of us on three sides of our house. Yes, we’re the not-posh Poole peninsula, and we’re all the better for it. Our bit of it is a working harbour, which means there’s always something happening. The fog doesn’t do my joints any good, but I know that it will pass, and I’m quite excessively smug that we haven’t had the heating on yet. I haven’t even needed a cardigan, and I’ve sat outside and daydreamed or sat and cross-stitched inside and also daydreamed and planned.

I’ve cleared all the stuff that wasn’t the me I’ve become and slaughtered dust bunnies mercilessly, so now it’s on to the next stage. I know I want it to have the feel of a holiday cottage, but that’s a pretty wide goal to aim at, isn’t it? Which is good, of course, because that ought to make it easier for me to hit it, so I looked at Pinterest and now have boards for seaside and hotel-style bedrooms that have helped me to refine my dream.

In my imagination, I want to go down the garden path, where flowers are in bloom for the insects, butterflies, moths and the good of my soul. I can tick that box because last year, I managed to have something that wasn’t a weed flowering every single day, and it’s on track to do that this year too. If I go down early to the bins or put the washing out early in the morning then I’ll see swans flying from Holes Bay to the lagoon in the park and the hedgehog who comes to tell me he’s very nice and very fond of mealworms if I have any spare, which I always do. The washing line is less romantic, unless, of course, like me, you like knowing that you’ve achieved something and that the clothes will smell gorgeous when you put them away and that you’ve helped the environment and your pocket.

Anyway, in my imagination, I’ve gone past the apple and cherry trees that we were given as a wedding present over forty years ago and have held the children’s swings, and seen the fallen apples, that the hedgehog loves. I’ve reached the beautiful old-fashioned gate that my husband designed and had commissioned. It has a lovely wrought iron lock and bolt on it and a round handle that lifts. Every time I touch it, I remember that engineers say I love you by making beautiful things. Then I open the gate, and in my imagination I’m at the Harbour. Here’s a picture to show you what I mean…

Only, of course, that means that I’d get even more fog and even more pain, which I can easily do without. Besides, I’ve just realised how much I love where I am, especially since it’s only half an hour’s walk away from the Harbour and the walk takes me past a lagoon with ducks and swans and all manner of winter visiting birds.

So I don’t need a sea view, which is good because I can’t have one. I did realise I needed some new duvet covers though, because the ones I have got faded and shabby while living got in the way, and there has to be a limit to how far shabby chic will cover things. Besides, these days I love the look of a pale coloured duvet with a quilt or blanket folded across the bottom of it. I love the comfy chair in the corner which I’ve set up as my sewing chair. I love a shawl round my shoulders for that elusive just the right amount of warmth. I love having quiet music playing in the background and candles and the diffuser running. I love the fleeces I’ve covered the wicker basket and blanket box with so the cats are comfortable, and they’re easy to keep clean. I can change them to match the seasons. I do the same with the silk flowers, so I’m well on my way…

A long term plan is making picture gallery walls with cross-stitch, pictures, some in frames and some in hoops, so I’m planning those at the moment. And then I’m happily replanning them, because I can and because I hope I’m going to change, because if I’m not, then I’m not growing. And all that shows you that I’ve been writing about a character who heals by controlling her surroundings even if she can’t control anything else. She’s got an advantage over me because she has access to the Reclaim Barn at Windy Bay, which, because I’m in charge, holds everything she needs, but I still love hunting for old things, don't you?

So, whatever you do this weekend, have a good one, and find some time to dream and maybe start a project. This back-to-school time’s ideal for that, isn’t it? If you don’t like your life, change it. If you don’t like what your house looks like, pass on all the stuff that isn’t you to a good cause and then find out who ‘you’ are now. I know that's easier said than done,, but when you look at is welcoming the person you are now and want to be then it becomes ‘a little bit closer to saying 'Yay Me!’ And Yay You as well, because you’re amazing and that's not just because 'The House of Happy Beginnings' comes out on Thursday.