Feeling a bit all at sea (no reference to Southsea)

I have had some slightly unsettling news. 

The landlords of my 'home from home', who live in the USA have apparently decided to sell up.  In all honesty it is no real surprise.  We have been here over five years and they have not really looked after the place. Last year, when we had ongoing roof leaking problems, the landlords brother, who happens to be a roofer, told me that he thought the house was 'running away with them'.  Old houses need tlc and this one hasn't had much. 

So I had an email from the letting agents yesterday telling me this. 

Now subconsciously I think I have been expecting this.  I have been very unsettled - you can probably tell from my random blog posts of late.  Not much art, just a lot of you tube browsing. There is more change at work - some of that in a good way and some perhaps a bit less positive - and I think as I get older I am becoming more unsettled by change. 

But hey ho - I must press on and get a grip. 

Now there are two things that might happen from this.  The first, and less appealing as I hate the driving, is that I will have to go back to my south coast base and work from there, but trek up and down the A34 (a nasty road for any foreign readers) to get to the office.  This is seriously going to sap my creative energies and creative time, diminish my quality of life somewhat and generally make things a bit grimmer. 

The second, and the company I work for has to agree to this, is that we find somewhere else.  Then my challenge will be to find a rental property that is dog friendly, affordable, suitable for surveyor training and has space to relocate my studio.  A challenge, but, on balance, a preferred option. 

So I think that today I will make a start to look around for somewhere else to stay up here and hope that the company agrees. 

Meanwhile, work does go on.

The peppers just need a bit of stitch and then they are finished.  The recipient has seen photos of the work in progress and said that she liked them, so that is good.  I bought frames in the week so plan to get those out of the door this weekend if I can. 

Secondly, I have volunteered to help with the CQ gallery this year at the Festival of Quilts.  I have to phone Christine today to see what is involved. 

Thirdly, I need to crack on with my own FOQ quilt - and possibly- quilts. 

So, no more feeling sorry for myself and onwards and upwards. 

And just to prove I have not been completely idle, here is a sketch book page plus some birthday cards I did this week.