return

I was beginning to think that repetition of themes and motifs might not be a good thing, especially on a blog. But reading Virginia Woolf who returns over and again to London and Cornwall, waves, seas, rivers, lighthouses, flowers, books, tea-tables, train journeys, dusk, moths and butterflies, I see that there is a lot to be said for consistency, for limiting, choosing, revisiting, simplifying, and creating layers of returns.

I'm not looking for novelty or any changes of direction. I enjoy returning to well worn themes, favourite pastimes, much-loved places. There's still so much to be learned, so much to do in the areas that appeal to and interest me. My list of return-tos would include London and Suffolk, train journeys, books, baking, textiles, flowers and gardens, colours, patterns, textures, painting. These are what form consistent threads and themes that have been running through my life since I was very young. 

So it's Aldeburgh again, with pink and red valerian on the pebbly beach, ultra-fresh fish and chips, windy walks to the Scallop, soft white bread from the bakery, pretty garden paths lined with hollyhocks and day lilies, work to do, and the wonderful Aldeburgh Bookshop to distract me. And Virginia Woolf to set a good example.