A stolen week...

We stole away to Tarzali for a week and it was gorgeous. Clear, crisp autumn days, wide blue skies with just a few fluffy clouds – and fabulous sunsets.

E took the photo here. Every evening was different and beautiful.

We laid paving stones, watered plants, harvested pumpkin and citrus fruit. I finished writing my Mother’s Day novella and I read another fabulous book – Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda.

This was one of those books I didn’t want to end, even though I still read rapaciously to get to the end. Isn’t it fabulous when you find a book like that – one that immerses you completely in the characters, draws you into its world and utterly entrances you? This book is set in Paris -- and the characters are all misfits and their story is difficult and simple, complex and romantic.

Tarzali was a little like that, too. We didn’t really want to come back. On the last night, we sat out under the stars to enjoy our pre-dinner drink and we put little coloured lanterns on the stones steps we’d made, and it was just magic.

That night I was so conscious of leaving – of blowing out the last candle on the veranda, of the last sip of wine, of the last track on the CD, which happened to be Shiver Me Timbers on a compilation one of my writing friends gave me.

But the next morning, as we were having breakfast, the builder the plumber and the electrician all arrived. Things were happening. At last! It was time to go!

Now, a little office tidying is in order, to get the feng shui right, before I start on a new writing project.