A place to write, in the right place? by Debbie Bennett

So after May's post about conservatories and scaffolding, I can report that the new conservatory is rather impressive. Wickes had an offer on decking, so we did that at the same time too. Getting the glass roof in place required the help of a friend who had the sucky-pad things they use to handle glass (in return Andy fixed the electrics in his mobile chip van - the complexities of small village living in England!). Carpet went down last week and we've just ordered a small sofa bed, so finally we will have useable extra room with a nice view of the garden and somewhere to go with my laptop.

I've noticed over the past six months or so that I've stopped using my desktop pc completely. When we moved here, I couldn't contemplate not having my own desk, with my little supply of pens/stationery/desk tat. It was bad enough giving up my study. But then we had covid and we were all working from home, and even though I had a desk in the dining room end of the lounge, I ended up going into the office at least 50% of the time anyway - and then Andy retired, so on the days I still work from home, I've got our little 3rd bedroom to retreat to.

But buying my MacBook Air a year ago has changed the way I work. I tend to sit on the sofa now and I'm looking forward to furniture in the conservatory. So I'm thinking - gasp - I might do away with my desk altogether and stick my desktop pc in the loft. I've already started shifting bits of stationery upstairs. I wonder what I will do with my little laser printer, but then I realise I can't remember the last time I actually printed anything anyway, so it's really not going to matter if it's a bit harder to get at. And I'm only going to put the desk into storage so I can always reclaim it later.

Maybe it's a discipline thing - and God knows I have a distinct lack of it at the moment. Writing has been forced onto the back-burner with all the other stuff going on in my life. Social media is not the place to pontificate on the pros/cons and realities of sorting care homes for one's elderly parents, and I'm also having to manage my mum's house sale and move into sheltered accommodation. So while I'm still around online, I'm really only dealing with light-hearted stiff in silly Facebook groups and my private life is really not for public consumption. But discipline for writing is non-existent and I'm not sure when it will return.

Being kind to oneself works, I find. And somehow I think there will be more motivation in a nice garden room, or with my feet up on the sofa than sitting upright at a desk. And there are Netflix series to watch too ...

As Arnie would say: I'll be back!

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