Rain at last! Tomato relish and a Swiss chalet studio

It's been ages. Sorry about that. We've had three lots of visitors since mid-January. It's been fabulous! And I finally have a place to work. After much research and grinding of facts and figures I decided upon a cabin kit from Cabin Kits Galore which is actually a New South Wales company. I didn't want to give Hubby yet another job so I made sure the kit came with two blokes to put it up. Thanks guys! And they did a magnificent job. Took 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours from start to finish. It looks a bit like a Swiss chalet, doesn't it? The wood is Beech and comes from Lithuania. It's beautiful. The smell of it is fabulous, but to protect it I have to paint. The outside will be a creamy yellow, to go with the 'Deep Ocean' tin roof.

I have spent two weeks painting and finishing the inside, adding skirting boards etc and began moving stuff in and setting up my vision wall for my latest novel.
This consists of photos and sketches of characters and places and a plot schedule. This new book is about two sisters living on an island in Norway. One befriends a mermaid but she doesn't really understand the wild nature of these creatures. Because I myself lived on an island in Norway for a while in my childhood it's easy for me to access those memories, which adds depth and splendour and sharp senses to the writing. I have been dying to get back to this story.

So, the inside of the studio is a lovely dove-grey/blue called Chateau Grey, at quarter strength. I painted my first studio in this colour and I find it extremely restful and inspiring for my chaotic and cluttered mind. Everyone who comes in says they reckon they could move in and live there. That's what they said about my last studio in the Blue Mountains. And I had to say gently but firmly to them, as now, back off people! This is my work space. And we all laugh, but they look slightly scared at the wild and possessive look in my eye.

I jest.

It's lovely to look out over the garden and be in view of the house and driveway. Took me ages to figure out the best spot. And despite being near power lines the roof line is low so no problem. It's 20 square metres. Not a huge space, but I plan to use it wisely. And not just for writing!

So, today it's finally raining. Things were getting a bit dry around here. We've had lovely summery days, with no wind for weeks. Perfect. Our neighbour, June, brought round a huge bag of cherry tomatoes, so I made tomato relish today. Easy peasey! I found a recipe on a blog Pat Hogan's tomato relish. I used less sugar (200g less) and combined balsamic vinegar instead of just white vinegar. Didn't take long and its SCRUMPTIOUS! The spices really make it. I didn't leave the tomatoes to soak overnight. I was too impatient! And I put a corned beef in the slow cooker to have with the relish tonight. Can't wait!