Tonight I am tired – it’s been an early start (5.30am when my alarm went off), a long day (I’ve just finished my work at 8pm here in Spain), I’ve been on my feet for most of the day and now I have to go out to find some vegetarian food in a heavily meat-orientated culture.

I’ve popped back to my room in the hotel (delightful it is too) to send some work emails and to phone DM to arrange the time and place where we will be reunited (if only for a couple of days). I must say though that despite the pain of parting, when we meet again we are delivered the sweetest and most wonderful of times for us. Perhaps it’s a reflection of how precious we both regard the moment is when we know each time we are back together that it is only for a few days at a time these days.

When I got into my room, I noticed this cute little heart, which switches on and off the lamp on the work desk. It sums up how I feel completely.

Tiredness and loneliness makes me feel like my own heart is on a wire just like this one so its symbolism was perfect for my photo today. Tomorrow I will post a shot that is more about looking out than introspection but for tonight, another time zone and 700 miles separates me from the things that matter to me.

It is a constant mystery to me that it is possible to feel so crushingly lonely when surrounded by people I like and respect. Some might argue that being away from home releases the pressure of ‘real life’ and even that genteel conversation among friends and colleagues could have some advantages over trying to decide what to cook for supper when the fridge has only half a mouldy carrot and a red pepper to offer!!!!! I don’t share that view. For me, being away from David, Rosie and Archie just makes me want to have that dilemma so badly – right now, I’d give anything to be tucked up on my own sofa with a little black bullet of a dog depositing a tennis ball in my lap or trying to get her bony little bottom squished in beside me for a cuddle. I’d give anything to have the comfort that Arch is ‘guarding’ us all and making sure we come to no harm. Most of all, I’d give anything to be climbing into my own bed with DM.

Absence makes this heart grow fonder – so much fonder it might just burst one of these days. Oh and yeah, yeah, I know – pass the sick bucket!!!!

I was reflecting on simple pleasures last year...and the year before we were welcoming the other Louise to the team and boy how happy I am to know her now!