So I'm in Italy...

Well I'm in Italy, not much to write at this point so mostly photos. It's misty and rainy and cold here but sessions start this morning and there is a heated indoor pool I may try after. 

...And breakfast. 

Enjoy! 

Why I love Tits.

I love Tits because they are a feature of the British countryside, little blue and yellow flags that say you're home.
Some would say I love them because I'm a closet lesbian. To those people I say: STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT!
Anyway, I love them so much I decided to draw one, I will include for you my complete bird series in chronological order so you can best ascertain how I ended up as a Tit artist.
Finches next!

Anonymouse comments!

Mice have been leaving comments on my blog! Sometimes they forget they are anonymice and don't sign their names! If you are an anonymouse commenter, please sign your name so I know who to thank! Also, I now know how to reply to comments (and I was doing it right, but there was a glitch in the app). For those of you who don't know, I replied to almost every comment I received on my blog while in NZ, but they weren't getting published.
So I can now reply to your comments!
Will blog later, I have much to say! ...maybe.
Love you,
Anonymouse blogger x
(Marla says "I can has anonymice?")

I was going to..

...Write a witty blog post about something interesting, but instead I am posting this drawing of a tumbleweed. Enjoy!

Leaving so soon?

Well yes actually, I am. In fact, I've already left. "Where are you?" I hear you cry! "Why have you left us so soon!" I hear you exclaim! "Where are my bloody Cookies?" I hear you grumble. Quieten down, you'll get your Cookies.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.
This morning I was enjoying the knowledge that all I had on my agenda was visiting a friend and baking said Cookies. Then I found out Sore Fingers was starting, TODAY. I rang a bunch of different numbers and eventually managed to book myself a place. Now I am poorer and somehow even more scared (I know, I didn't think it could get much scarier either!) and wondering if I have made a decision based on complete and fleeting insanity. I am sitting in my DORM room at a boarding school in the Cotswolds, I am literally living at Hogwarts for a week. Okay, well it's nothing like Hogwarts except for the great hall which looks a little like a smaller and less enchanted version of the one in Hogwarts. I am hoping tomorrow I will be sorted into my house by a talking hat before heating to 'defence against the dark arts' but my timetable just says breakfast, assembly and classroom tuition so probably not.
I also have a lanyard with my name and dietary preference on it (vegetarian), i am somewhat affronted to find I am the only person with 'late' written at the bottom of theirs. Nah, I'm just kidding, it makes me feel special. So far I get introduced to new people like this "This is Hannah" *hand shake* "she only found out about it this morning and still managed to come." I will probably be known as "that girl who was late". It is bedtime now, but Sore Fingers is the school that never sleeps, and as such the students all head out the the bar (yes, it has a bar) and then congregate into groups in the canteen/hall/bathroom/dorm/garden/car to jam into the small hours (really small apparently, like, 4AM).
But for me it IS bedtime, night night sensible people, have a carefree sleep and enjoy your pain free fingers.

Love what you have THEN have what you love.

Hello again dearest readers, I wanted to thank you all for your answers to my question the other day. I was very happy to find the wealth of different opinions and ideas that people had. Although I can't say I shared everybody's views, I was so happy that people answered! Cookies for you all!! My star bakers (that's what I'm calling you guys) were Sue Oldrieve and Lisa Miller, both of you hit the metaphorical nail on it's proverbial head! I will personally ensure you get your cookies! ("You'll get your Cookies" I quite like that as a new idiom...)
Anyway, my point is to give you all my own views on the matter.
I can make this as personal as I want, mostly because I am the guardian of the cookies and normal rules don't apply to me.
I believe that, in my case at least, I must learn to love what I have. Now I can't speak for all of you, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this applies to others, not just me. I think I expect to much of both myself and of the world around me. Too often I aim too high or don't aim at all due to fear things will not be good enough. I need to learn to love each thing, each person and each experience based on what they are, not on my hopes and fears. Like a child, no one bases their love of their child on what their child is like, people love their children regardless of their victories or problems. All life would be better enjoyed this way, otherwise I set myself up to fail, and no amount of searching will find me perfection. I need to learn acceptance because by accepting both the good and bad in life I will be able to better deal with my achievements and loses. Without this, my expectation will always get in the way of my happiness. However, once I have learnt how to accept and appreciate things for what they are, there is nothing to stop me enjoying whatever else I aim for.
I feel I haven't done a very good job of explaining my thoughts on this, so to sum it up, my personal opinion is you need to love what you have before you can have what you love.
Final note, kudos to Dad whose opinion was the funniest!

Home.

I will not reflect on what it's like being home, there has been no shortage of bad news. But I will say I truly knew I was home when Marla crashed into my room this morning with no thought of my jet lag and scratched at my face until I let her in my bed. Apparently I slept through her crying by my door which is a small mercy. I was overjoyed. May she crash into my room and scratch my face EVERY morning, I feel blessed!
New Zealand was a wonderful experience omitting and ignoring all the parts I didn't enjoy! (isn't that what we do?) I am home and ready to put on my rose tinted goggles and daydream about how much better it is over on the other side of the world. I jest, but in honesty, I don't know how I could have coped with the feeling of being torn in two directions I felt at leaving Wellington if I hadn't promised myself I would go back soon. Because now I am home I can admit, I had grown rather fond of Wellington, and I don't admit that lightly. It takes a lot for me to say that, just typing it makes me feel vulnerable, like admitting I may actually like something will see it torn away from me at the first opportunity. There are things I want to do now I'm back in Britain, but you will have to wait for those. Which brings me to point two, my Blog, if there are those among you who would keep reading, I will keep writing. I can't guarantee it will be full of the exciting lion taming and bus catching thrills of my experience in New Zealand, but I find I have a lot to say (who knew!!) so I have an outlet to document, question, analyse and proclaim the events and thoughts of my everyday life, which I hope will only grow from here. I am already planning future travels, and I promise if things get boring I will throw in a car chase or mud wrestle to keep everyone sweet. How does that sound? I I will stay, if you'll have me?
Hope you are all well, believe it or not, I have a lot of love for those wonderful people who have kept me going with their comments since I've been away, you don't know how many times you guys have brightened my day or pulled me out of the gloom. I love you all, each one of you!!
Now listening to: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours. (I know all these songs? Was I brainwashed subconsciously as a child?!)