For the past few years, I've been splitting my time between Cowra and Northcote. Cowra is a small, rural town in central western New South Wales. Northcote is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. I love both lifestyles - country and inner city. I have found that both have a great sense of community. In Cowra, it is from my long term friends and family - we go way back and don't have to fill in the gaps. In Northcote, the sense of community started at the local tram stop - stop 27 Route 11. There I met fellow commuters who lived in the same street or around the corner. We found interests in common and friendships grew and even led to my house sitting a beautiful home in Northcote for the past 12 months. Now that commitment has finished, I packed up an amazing amount of bits and bobs and moved back to live in Cowra full time.
The road trip up the Hume Highway gave me time to reflect on my time in Melbourne, the fabulous friends I have left in Melbourne and all the incredible Melbourne experiences that have enriched my life. So I started the trip with a feeling of regret about what I was leaving behind. I turned off the Hume at Coolac and enjoyed the countryside along the Old Gundagai Road. And at some point during the journey, I started to feel a spark of optimism. As I came closer to Cowra, I realised I had a feeling of belonging and of returning home.
I've been home for a week now and have had a job interview, unpacked all the boxes and started to sort out a plan for restyling the house.
A new project - the back room
My first project here will be to convert the back living room into a studio space. I have a living room at the front of the house so it seems to make sense to utilise the "back room" into a comfortable studio space for creative projects and for hopefully holding watercolour workshops in the future.
Before:
As you can see, there is some work to do and challenges to overcome. The windows are great for natural light but limit placement of furniture. There is no wall space at all as there are doors and/or windows in each wall. The room is open plan and moves into the dining room/kitchen and access from the back door also needs to be allowed for.
I am reading: Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
I just purchased this copy from a beautiful vintage and retro shop that has just opened in Cowra in Macquarie Street, Finds on Fitzroy (www.findsonfitzroy.com.au - I'm sorry, I still can't get links to work)!
One of my favourite books is Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and it is a long while since I have read another of her novels. Mary Anne is based on the life story of Mary Anne Clarke, an ancestor of Daphne du Maurier's who became the mistress of the Duke of York, the favourite son of King George III. So I think it comes under the genre of historical romance which usually isn't the first choice for my reading list. I'll let you know how it goes . . .