I have just finished my busy weekend and am now chilling on my comfy sofa (which is also a spare bed!) on the balcony. I am tired but I am happy! It is pleasantly warm and there’s a cool breeze blowing and so I am very comfortable.  Eric Clapton unPlugged is playing in the background and I am, as always, fascinated and awed with my beautiful views. It’s 10pm on Sunday night and I am watching all the pretty twinkling lights and their reflections in the sea. I can see lights from Almyrida Bay on to Kalives and beyond to Souda Bay and Akotiri. The sky is huge and full of stars. I really love this place! I have created a wonderful home, both to live and work in.

The beautiful sunset view from my balcony

On Friday I was selling on Almyrida Bay, as is usual and was greatly relieved to see that all the seawater flooding had gone. The last 3 days have been so windy but at least today the sea wasn’t as rough. I finished a bit earlier, at 7.30pm and an hour or so later, went back to Almyrida for an evening out with the girls. This doesn’t happen very often in the summer, as we are all tied up with work commitments. But tonight we managed to catch up with all our news and swap tales of our lives on Crete. Before we knew it, it was after 1pm and we couldn’t believe how the time had flown!
I didn’t want a hangover on Saturday so I took two brufen before I went to bed. A brilliant way to prevent the onslaught of a hangover! I learned this from my sister, Karen, who having spent her career as a State Registered Nurse in many capacities, knows it works!

My good friend Paul stopped by this afternoon to bring me 200 more leaflets. Bless him! It is so good of him to give up so much of his time to print both sides and fold to make a third A4 leaflet – 200 times – it must have taken him hours! I would never be able to find the time to do them, much less the inclination! I started giving out these leaflets about 2 years ago and have never looked back. Time and again they have proved their worth and I get through about 800 a year. Paul was the one who came up with the idea and then went on to design and produce the digital artwork for it. He is such a love and I don’t know what I would do without him.

Reflecting on this past week’s sales, I realise it’s been a really good one! I have run out of certain seashell mosaics and collages and so I am very busy producing more of these on the days I’m not selling.

My little Seashell Mosaic Donkey – 20 x 20cms

There are never enough hours in a day for me, when it comes to making my pictures. But what a great job I have! I absolutely love producing them and never fail to get a kick out of selling them. I know that my pictures are hanging on the walls of people’s homes all over the world. Wow! This week I have sold to a Brazilian couple and a Slovenian couple, who are tourists you wouldn’t normally see in Almyrida.
Making my artworks through Nature is so satisfying and rewarding and I have received many congratulations for the creativity of the idea itself. I am thrilled to be working in such beautiful surroundings and living a full and happy life.

Traditional small Cretan Chapel – 18 x 24cms