On my desk is a scribbled contact note from the BBC. Journalist Emma rang me last week about the possibility of meeting up with my friend Jan to discuss possibility of participating in The Listening Project. I had emailed them about the process of applying but I hadn't truly anticipated there would be a swift reply from this brilliant collaboration between Radio 4, Wiltshire Sound and the British Library. I am pondering now, will anyone be interested in sharing our experience of being invited to a sunny yet remote hidden valley to look after a once upon a time donkey dwelling in Greece with no running water, electricity, telly, central heating, flushing loo or Wi-Fi, let alone Ocado delivery service. This remote house owned by friends, did include dogs and stalking wild princess cat called Mia, and the unwelcome visit of attacking wild boar, together with the water supplies delivery farmer Paniotis, whose commentary on the local community and badly behaved profiessional individuals, inspired further scribbly drawings and writings in my journal. Phone conversation on this cold UK September morning with friends involves discussing the art of caring for others, whilst maintaining well being for oneself. Well, at that time, we had both been in a bit of a wobbly place, and we were thrown out of our comfort zones, with the the challenge of daily survival, but the experience a deep tonic for body/mind & spirit and hugely beneficial to developing friendship. Hmm, surely we would all benefit from such a challenge now and then, time away from it all and totally off the grid!

*We discover a tiny blue bed and traces of a life once lived...*