TODAY'S PAINTING-' THE BLUES-'-----AND IT'S FEBRUARY!

Watercolour on cotton 16"x12" see website.

Did  I mention Spring yesterday?-I must have forgotten that it's February! I don't really understand what it is about this month but Im very aware of even my positive thinking friends veering round to a bit of negativity. -----You know what I mean?! The conversation begins to touch on topics of health, aches and pains, and even worse----'getting old'. Thank goodness for our morning visits to the coffee shop! If things begin to grow rather heavy, we quickly throw in some light banter, supplemented ofcourse by a touch of uplifting music. It usually works! Don't mistake me, ofcourse there are occasions when these themes have to be met and entered into, and then with realism, but I try constantly to find a counter balance with humour and a positive approach when I can;- just an effort to maintain an equilibrium so thatI am perhaps more able to lighten the load of others. ---- I just don't want to wallow in the darker side of life when it isn't necessary.

Maybe there is a tendency to feel a little low in february due to an ant-climax ,Post Christmas mood.All those bright New Year resolutions have lost some of their glittery appeal, and are becoming a little rusty and jaded, - a struggle really.-Indeed there is a glimpse of Springjust now   but one sunny day seems to be followed  here by an onslaught of weather that is cold wet windy and miserable. Add to this the fact that Ash Wednesday starts off Lent today, and a time of more sombre discipline,---  a tradition that lies deep in the psyche of  the Maltese and  so its probably understandable why february isn't the most popular month.

  That said, I still feel stirrings of Spring! The Winter Cherry IS shooting, so are other plants out on the terrace,----and if I need convincing, there are the NETTLES, making quite an energetic appearance among the flower tubs. Ofcourse, thinking positively we steamed them yesterday with the other vegetables--- and you know what?- They were good! Better than spinach I think!

                                                        Mo.

Positive anything is better than negative thinking.-----Elbert Hubbard.

    In the depth of winter I finally learned that there is an invincible summer.----Albert Camus.