I realise it has been a while since I've posted.
I've been so empty of words.
My cousin is staying. I adore my cousin, she's family, and I've been trying to make the most of her being here before she heads off to the Southern Hemisphere.
But before she leaves ... there will be Verona, Trieste, Lake Blad, maybe Senj, Budapest, and Vienna if there's time. Julie wanted to go wandering and it seemed like a very good idea.
There's a party coming up at our place, with 3 favourite friends staying over at the weekend. And there's an attendance at a Gregorian Chant performance in a couple of days. And the new Red Star Line Museum invited me in for a sneak preview this weekend.
I've been busy with ticking off my 'to-do' list. Catching up on long overdue emails. And I need to talk beer with these guys. To write a blog post for the Loving Genova people ... because I do love Genova, just in case you had missed that fact about me.
I have sent previous photography workshop photographs to the lovely baker in Genova, and an English menu off to my favourite pizzeria in the world. Photographs to the lovely Giulia, the results of asking if I might photograph her and her puppy while doing the aperitivo thing in Acqui Terme.
In-between times, I had the most incredible luck. I found a novel set in one of the places I lived in New Zealand. I've been reading that on the trams, in my bed, anyplace there's is space for a book. I wrote home to Manapouri and Te Anau, asking old friends if the book was as good as it seemed, only to discover that people I knew, or their family, were used as character inspiration for the writer.
I loved the book. I loved being home in New Zealand for the duration of the read.
Gert returns from Genova tomorrow. He's had a week out of the madness and chaos of here,. Actually he has been tormenting me a little, talking of temperatures I could barely imagine back here in Belgium, where autumn has arrived and I'm wearing boots and my polar fleece ... that is after weeks of glorious Italian sunshine and warmth.
I'm deep-cleaning the house, making sure all is ready for everyone and the weekend ahead. Stories may follow ...
I wonder if I sensed something about the road ahead of me after the workshop. I seem wary. This photograph, taken by Sandy during the workshop in Acqui Terme ... is me, responding with that discomfort that comes when I realise I am the 'subject' rather than the photographer.
An 'ohmygoodness' moment I think.
