Bella Terra: February 2014

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Comfort and Joy

So, Christmas flew by in a flurry of activity, friends, food and happiness. 2013 seems a distant memory, the year was one filled with hopes and disappointments, from which I have learned great things. I have realised life is not all or nothing, decisions are not black and white, my personality is not one thing or another, life is not simple or hard. Mostly our existence is a whole combination of good and bad, happy and sad, promise and loss. So I am trying to master the art of acceptance and settling for 'enough' and when we do achieve great things it is all the more joyful.

Contentment can be found in the simplest things, today I am ill, I didn't sleep and felt really sick throughout the day, but, even in this state of yuckyness I have found the 'good stuff'. Resigned to my bed I have thrown the windows open to let in the fresh February air, I have been soaking up the sounds of the countryside, the wind from the northern mountains rustling through the pine trees. The sound of the horses in the nearby stables, the relentlessly cheerful cockerel chiming through the minutes. Also, the scents of our home, the woodsmoke from a neighbors chimney, the damp mud recovering from the recent floods, the simmering garlic from a Tuscan kitchen somewhere in the hamlet, each of these make me feel safe, at home. So, today I will recover, sleep some, read some. My wonderful man has offered to make a pumpkin risotto for the girl, whilst the big-boy spends more time at Abetone skiing with his classmates, lucky chap. The rest of the month will be a fluctuation of work, travel, writing, home-making, nurturing, nourishing, plan-making, gardening, decorating, cooking, eating and just 'being' here in our small rustic home in Tuscany, and for that I am so grateful. Here are some winter pics from the last few weeks and months xxx