30 days in pisticci, part one

I am feeling a bit guilty about not writing  in this blog, but I have another bit of work going on just now which is taking up some time. . I am enjoying living in my studio and tomorrow it will be the end of my first week
I love being my own boss. I am in charge of the heating. So I am warm and no one is there to complain. I have some little routines, like making a coffee for my self and then working on my other project first thing in the morning. I bought a coffee grinder and am making my own peanut butter. Yum!

I have discovered how much I need to get out and see people and how little I miss the TV. ( that has surprised me) I love living in this area . I have always wondered what it would be like to be a person who lived in Dirupo and now I am having a taste of it. It would admittedly be very different in the summer and a lot more  friendly with people sitting outside in the streets chatting, but I am here. now.
I have not so far been as sociable as I had planned or done remotely as much work but I  should have time.
I have coped with my phone not working from the day I arrived . And the times when I am tired and feel very alone.
But most of the time I feel like I have been given a gift  and I dont intend to waste it.
So this week I am picking some photos  to post which I have taken recently, out on walks and around my studio , and one of my door, which is now stripped of parcel tape , painted white(ish) and resealed with masking tape.
And Teddy says "hello".

A month in my studio

At the end of next week I will (all being well) be starting my month living in my studio in town. I will have to go feed the cats in the country but basically I will be living in town.
I am part excited and part nervous. I have planned an impossible amount of work so that I never need sit there and think, "Oh dear I am all alone in a foreign country, woe is me!!" I know that is not going to work all the time as there are bound to be times when I remember that I am thousands of miles from my family and friends and start putting my teddy bear on the other chair when I have lunch and speaking to myself and walking up the street saying "Ciao" to strangers.  But am hoping that these times will be infrequent. Though actually having my bear on the other chair sounds quite a nice idea.
So I have spent the last few weeks inbetween  Christmas and New Year getting my studio draught proof (parcel taped all round the windows and door),  organised, ( all my painting stuff to hand  and found lots I had forgotten about,) and the lighting improved by buying an enornous energy saving bulb (about 25cms long) which makes the studio look like its sunny when its not.
I really want to make the most of my time and at the top of my to do list is to get out and speak much more Italian. Not that I will have a lot of choice as hardly anyone speaks english . I want to go places on buses. (need to speak Italian), write an extensive journal and possibly illustrate it,  try several different mediums, possibly making art cards, rent dvds from the shop in town, get an online shop started, do a 2 day market in Pisticci , do a portrait commission, make net curtains for my windows, tidy out all my cupboards, join an art association online, go for a coffee every day, learn new vocabulary every day, do yoga every second day etc etc....
That is not of course taking into account going for walks and taking photos when its good weather , like today. And do as much painting as possible of new subjects that appeal to me.
Naturally , this being real life and Italy , none of this might happen, but I like making plans.