I am enjoying a combination of many wonderful things this week – decided to share just in case anyone feels there is no life after redundancy!

I have never been happier!

On Sunday I drove a group of friends to La Foce for their guide Sybilla, to show us around the marvellous gardens there – next week I go back with another group and Dr Katie Campbell as our guide.

So pleased I managed to catch them all with their Halos shining in this photo!

I enjoyed a fascinating two days of lectures on women artists working the cloisters at a Conference on Friday and Saturday, squeezing in a short interview with Penny Smith and Paul Ross on the early Radio London talk show on Friday morning.

Monday night I joined a Writers workshop with the Cultural Association at St Mark’s English Church with a fun lecture on writing about the Brontes and the Shelleys – and the thirty boxes of research material generated on the Shelleys alone.

The lecture was given by Janice Graham (aka Juliet Gael) and introduced by Lisa Clifford .

Janice brought us hard copies of her book, personally delivered by her friend arriving from America, that cost less than half the cost of postage for my copy to be delivered to the UK through Amazon – maybe I should have waited,  but I was pleased to have already read most of the book – it is so good – and now I want to re-read all the novels by the brave Bronte girls!

Tonight I took a bus up the Via Bolognese for a Lecture on Michelangelo and Masculine Love at La Pietra.

The lecture was given by Michael Rocke author of Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance – more of that tomorrow!

Looking forward – some my angels photographed above have a Tuscan Cookery Class tomorrow – we are making fresh pasta ravioli stuffed with a yummy pear and gorgonzola mixture, followed by lamb with artichokes and the ever popular melting Chocolatissimo – none of which would be possible without the wonderful Personal Chef Lisa Banchieri,

Thursday afternoon I am joining another event sponsored by AWAF on at the Church of Santa Croce just before Glynis Barnes Mellish arrives to take us through a three day Watercolour workshop, with another seven

students and as our model , the inimitable Victor Caulfield, shown below with a painting of himself by George William Clark, a student at Charles H. Cecil’s studio.

Victor regularly models for art students in Florence and also generously allows us to use his current residence at Casa Guidi for our classes,

On the Saturday Husband and friends arrive and we are having a party, so to make sure that the house is ready for such a thing I am working with another, professional, friend on a spot of redecoration – only a little worried that we will be finished in time so I am doing the skirting boards tonight!

Well , as I always say if I wasn’t me I would be terribly jealous of myself – I mean what a lot of fun and variety I have in this beautiful place?

Goodnight from Florence! x