It's Still Life

1.
Grateful that we waited to buy travel and medical insurance for our Christmas trip to Bogotá because we received a 25% discount voucher. The early bird doesn’t always catch the worm.

2.
The start of a new Six Sentence Story series for Brigid. Thankful for the opportunity to stretch my writing beyond poetry with very talented writers.

3.
Only a few autumn leaves still remaining. An overnight storm blew them away somewhere — I don’t know where — but they’re gone, and now they’re someone else’s problem.

4.
A floriography posy: primrose (gratitude); red cyclamen (sincerity); fern (bonds & honesty); sage (wisdom & spiritual grounding); African blue basil (good wishes & protection); baby’s breath (the touch that binds). 

5.
The mint that died by my rule of thumb: if it can’t survive a drought, it’s not meant to be in my garden, has sprung back to life and it’s growing like a weed — which, if it were planted in the border would, yes, be a weed.

6.
The variegated holly is setting berries. Winter is around the corner, and although I’m not thankful for winter, I am thankful that spring follows winter.

7.
A new journal to write in. I love this one because you can add pages to it; an elasticised band holds new inserts of 50 pages each. 

8.
A quick appointment in London, and a walk along the Thames afterward (and a mug of hot chocolate in an outdoor cafe).