Winter musings

Yesterday I woke up to a  cold, grey morning with the mercury just hitting the 6°C mark and a strong wind blowing from the north/ north east. The Italians call it the bora and it is the coldest of cold winds that makes it to the central Mediterranean. It seems that winter has found us - for a few days. It won't last. By Thursday we will be back to normal 'winter temperatures' - somewhere in the 16°C range. It's been an even milder winter than usual this year and we even had several days in January and early February when the temperature rose above 20°C, and we've barely had any rain. Even our hibiscus plants are confused and we've had flowers in the middle of January when they are usually completely leafless and look entirely lifeless at this time of year. 

As I write this, I can hear the clock in our hallway ticking away and I very much fear that each passing minute is bringing me nearer to the demise of my laptop. It is now over 10 years old and it has served me well, with only one or two major problems during all these years. I am always loathe to upgrade to something new as I know there will be a learning curve and I am, sometimes (or most times), too impatient to read instructions or change the way I have to do things. So, fingers crossed that I can get some more life out of it. 

Thinking of friends, near and far

Today I received a lovely card pf a beautiful snowy scene from Jeanne. Jeanne and I have been sending postcards to and fro for a number of years now. Her beautiful cards, depicting the lovely Tahilla Farm and its surroundings that Jeanne calls home, are always a joy to receive. If you've never visited Jeanne's blog, I suggest you head over to Collage Of Life right now and subscribe. Jeanne writes about life in New Hampshire, her mischievous puppy Tani, and Tahilla Farm and garden. I always enjoy Jeanne's book recommendations (and have added several of the books she recommended  to my reading list), her tales of expat life and her coffee chats.

After an absence of  several years, Jane and Lance Hattatt are back to blogging. This lively English couple live in Budapest and, although they describe themselves as 'eclectic, eccentric and esoteric', their blog, aptly named Hattatt, is a pleasure to read, as I always discover a talented new artist that they have befriended or learn about some wonderful museum that they have visited. With travel restrictions still in place, it does me a world to expand my horizons. Perhaps they disagree, but I think that Jane and Lance would feel right at home during the period we now call the Belle Époque. Of course, writing about the  Hattatts has reminded me of my brief trip to Budapest in 2016. It is a lovely city that I hope to visit again someday. You may read my first impressions of this city in A Moment, In Budapest.

Sometimes I think I owe some of my sanity to my friend Lara, who made me laugh during some very dark days. We haven't met in what seems like forever but yesterday we chatted about an Instagram photo, as people sometimes do. It was a photo of a prinjolata, a traditional cake that's only made during carnival (thankfully so, as its calorific content is nothing to laugh about). As we chatted about this delectable dessert I realised it was time for us to meet up for a coffee or two and have a good laugh. Just like the old times.

Weekend plans

Most of my weekend plans these days usually involve an outing with my camera as I try to perfect my photography skills. I have finally 'graduated' to manual mode, only to discover that my bridge camera has some inherent technical limitations (that I won't bother you with) that, when using certain settings, result in photos that are not as sharp as I would like them to be. After spending several hours on YouTube, I think I have found a way to overcome this. Unfortunately, the solution involves a tripod that I am loathe to lug around. But, needs must. So we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I am quite enjoying the walks we (my husband is my partner in photographic crime) are going on and, although we haven't discovered any new places, it has been nice revisiting old ones and taking the time to spot details that we would otherwise have missed. I will share photos from some of our 'walkabouts' in future posts. The ones I'm sharing today were all taken in the town where we live and the countryside in its vicinity.

But back to this coming weekend ...

Our son has a rafting expedition with the Boy Scouts. No, it won't be white-water rafting as no such things as rivers or rapids exist here, but he and his friends will be required to build a raft (from scratch), pile their patrol on it and race it across Mistra Bay - all while hoping it won't sink. It will be fun for the boys and, hopefully, they won't get too wet.

In the meantime, there are two things that I would like my husband and I to do and I am going to have a hard time choosing between them.

We could go for a walk around Selmun Palace and Fort Campbell. I haven't been to Selmun since I was a teenager when we used to organise hikes and picnics in this area of Malta. I don't remember much about it except that the rugged terrain and the abandoned and now-derelict fort, that was built by the British just before WW2, will provide many good photo opportunities.

Or, we could visit the exhibition Darkness At Noon that is taking place at The Splendid in Valletta. Darkness At Noon features ceramist Paul Scerri, photographer Charles Balzan and painter Gabriel Buttigieg. Apart from the exhibition itself, what  is even more alluring is The Splendid itself. This old hotel, located in Valletta's former red light district, merits a visit all to itself. Since its interior has never been renovated, a visit to The Splendid will feel like a walk back in time. Naturally, I  find that very hard to resist.

So, what shall it be: a roam around our coastline before the harsh summer sun dries up every bit of vegetation or a wander around a building that has a rather lurid history? I'm sure I'll let you know in a future post.