Happy New Year!
I hope you had a good Christmas, as good as we can expect during these very odd times. At the beginning of December our lovely hamster, Nora Happy Paws died. She had been slowing down considerably and I was already had the talk with my children, that she might not last too much longer. The following week I noticed her legs weren't working. And the next day she had gone.
Even though she was only the size of my hand, she left a big paw print in our hearts. There has been much grief happening all over the globe for loved ones that have been lost, for the loss of our normal lives, for things we had taken for granted. One of the things which I have practiced for many years is gratitude. I'm thankful for what I have, for my health, abundance and opportunities. I was hoping that January would see me make a large dent in a new novel I want to write, but alas that did not happen. Sometimes us writers aren't superhuman and even with the best intentions we can't always get everything we want to done!
But I have been home schooling again and this time around it has been much better. We have an online platform provided by school called See Saw and it's interactive and all of the work is laid on on there. It means we have more of a routine. However, it's still very hard for me to get my writing done. I can work in small bursts, but writing something like a novel usually does take a lot of headspace. I'm sad that I haven't been able to go to Peter Pan Moat Brae as much as I had hoped not get the solitude I am craving. However, I am thankful that I have what I have. I did work in January on other smaller projects and I did two sensitivity reads which was very interesting. I read two books and then reported back if I felt there was unconscious racial bias, any negative or problematic stereotypes and offered my suggestions. I also edited a smaller book that I have coming out later in the year. Plus I have been working on some new BIG THINK stories and even wrote one about a vampire! I've never written a vampire story before so that was fun. But the end of the month felt heavy and with the Christmas decorations down, I made sure I kept adding pretty lights where I could to brighten up our living space. The longer days and more sunlight are coming our way.
Moat Brae is closed for the whole of January, but I hope I get to visit again soon in the coming months. Stay safe, stay well.