Hello from Virginia

Welcome to you from paradise! Just starting my third full day, and I'm getting used to this completely different pace of work - being able to leave papers out and come back to them just as they are, not having to rush or be anywhere apart from at the desk, putting writing absolutely first. I only wish I hadn't discovered I could get the internet, but I'm going to restrict myself, and besides, I've been ridiculously homesick. It's nice to hear from family and friends. Emergency parcels are very welcome!

There are about eighteen of us here - a mix of writers, artists, photographers and musicians. As well as our bedrooms in the main house, we also get our own work studio. I was particularly excited to see the bed, because I like working in bed with my laptop:



Just a few steps outside, there is the most beautiful countryside. It's sunny here, which is unexpected, and the forecast is for it to get warmer:



And there is also the opportunity for serious object crush:



This thing of beauty belongs to one of the artists here. He has converted it to run on vegetable oil and it has a ship's wood burner inside. When I said how lovely it was, he replied, 'yep, everyone always likes my truck more than me.'

I'm working on my novel here, but somehow my shopping series of poems keeps popping up to the surface. Maybe it's because I'm such a long way from any shops...