Today the postman called out as usual, “Signora Anna!”

As usual I was upstairs reading after lunch.

Shouting, ” I’m  on my way” I managed to drop through the attic trapdoor, stumble down the misshapen steps and arrived breathless at the door.

It was a letter.

I could feel my heart beating faster. What kind of bill could it be. Telling myself I have money,  I ripped it open to see that it was in English.

It was a letter from the DWP dated 2nd of March giving notice that my pension was going to increase..

Oh, how life has changed.

For years I dreaded the post. I still don’t look in my post box at the weekends or in the evening as I reckon I can deal with things better during the week and in the mornings.

It wasn’t all bad before. Not at all. It was quite exciting to earn just enough to pay most of the bills .(mostly much less than in the UK.) The sun still shone, people were funny and kind, lots of nice things happened.I learned how clever I was and made lots of things I didn’t know I could. I painted my house with everything I wanted and laughed. I learned to paint better because I had to and I painted things I’d never dreamed of.   I considered myself very fortunate.

But, oh dear, I remembered briefly today how it felt when a strange letter looking like a bill arrived!

Other than that I enjoyed a walk up town and nice sociable bit of shopping.

My desk is now perched on 4 half bricks which I painted to match the floor.

I love that my desk has such a history .

This afternoon I spent time looking for reference photos of people to use in paintings.

Tomorrow I’ve got plans to do some painting and editing.

But for now it’s  wine time.

Cheers🍷🍷