The scent of burnt lavender, the itch of the cicada song and the gurgles of the pool.
![](https://whitmartlet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/starlit-vinyards-573x685.jpg)
Somewhat tongue in cheek, quirky and whimsical musings
The scent of burnt lavender, the itch of the cicada song and the gurgles of the pool.
Our feet sank into the sugary pinks sands, footprints immediately washed away by foaming shallow wavelets.
Extraordinary US never fails to surprise.
New Orleans assaults all senses including the sixth.
Pelting rain and violent thunderstorms- taking it easy in steamy New Orleans
A writers retreat in deepest Tennessee
Our literary tour starts…
Dreams, underwater wines inspired by shipwrecks and poetry.
Ours was a warm, still spring night with ‘no breezes from heaven blown.’ We stood instead in the dark, amongst the roses and their perfumed air, looking up into the olive grove with its shaggy grass and wild flowers hidden in the dark.
Bumping into world class Tuscan artists and the visceral sculpture of Paolo Pelosini
Don’t even think about it unless you are committed to the level of obsession.
Two philistines in La France Profonde
Can use of multiple flashbacks exhaust word budget and lead to writer’s block?
There is something lascivious about a Lucchese hot chocolate.
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Oscar Wilde
I love seaside resorts out of season. Glistening seas, bright sunshine and rows of umbrellas all have the  energy  youth and summer love but it is out of season that you see the bones, the face of resorts without makeup, …
Beloved Pisa
Pigs might fly
In 2009, in  the months before we met in person GS and I messaged by text. Somehow in that text environment we quickly became close, so close that I wasn’t sure if and when we actually met in  person, the …
I cannot speak for successful writers nor published authors as I am neither. I am though a committed amateur. Nothing makes me happier that wafting around vacantly, doodling and looking for the perfect word whilst eroding a track to the …
How does that happen? One second my baby was making a highly dramatic entry into the world, the next my Puffling is 21 years old! Unfortunately Mac couldn’t make it to Newcastle for celebrations, and was much missed, but BB …
After few lazy mornings enjoying the last of the sunshine and swatting mosquitos with The Bat of Death, we needed a mooch around Lucca.We usually park near the station and go in the Renaissance Porto San Pietro and are quickly …
It is still hot during the day, the sun bright and the skies blue. But the dews are becoming heavier, the forecast is for thunderstorms to roll in. It is time for The Last Swim of Summer. I feel cheated, …
Truth and lies
When pixels were tesserae
Finally, Â skin grey and hair stiff with dust as if we had been substituted hoover bags for pillows in a pillow fight GS and I took off in separate cars of the coast. Since we couldn’t find a hotel in …
So, in the months since GS and I were on our wonderful road trip to Puglia we have spent the dog days of the summer in emotional and physical awfulness. My beloved father died, and I could not write in …
We set off and crossed back over the border into Puglia, driving for hours until we crossed over into Molise. Â This was the stack of giant marshmallows and baby bottles which someone who shall remain nameless (GS) totally demolished. …
Trulli scrumptuous
Palm fan skies
Fighi d’india and watermelon fields
Taranto door knob
Fiat 500 up a staircase
The Bergamot, Rabatana, Tursi
Reception theatre The ‘Don’t Blink’ reception The Homage to Stephen King Our suite was every bit as quirky as we hoped it would be with antique furniture and unique touches. The signage outside seemed to indicate that it was part …
Wonderful Roma
Road trip! Woohoo!
May in the Tuscan hills
Shhhsh best kept secret on the south coast?
This is the family cat. Tiger
The quaint seaside town of Shoreham by Sea.
Old Shoreham, Shoreham by sea and Shoreham Beach Coat of arms in St Nicks, Old Shoreham Ginger and Dobbs for groceries, coffee pastries and assorted temptations in Shoreham by sea A rising cloud of seamews It was more by accident …
But for one mermaid it was baptism, time to dance with the high strong churning waves again. The first swim of summer.