Flurries of snow meant that work stopped early today.

I have very mixed emotions as having spent the past week emptying the dining room at Bellaugello Gay Guest House, putting the ornaments and furniture into storage, we this morning started work on constructing a new bathroom and modifying the kitchen space.

It seems so strange to be again moving furniture, storing bric-a-brac, taking pictures off the walls, something I had not imagined doing just so soon, and an experience that I  don’t really like.

Whilst I recognise the potential requirement for a guest bathroom for diners and guys who have late departures and even those guests at the pool who do not want to always have go to their suites, it will be a useful facility, however it does mean taking space from what to me is a perfectly proportioned room, a room I adore.  At the same time my wonderful kitchen space is being altered to make storage space and a staff bathroom.  I suppose both alterations will make things better but they do involve a great deal of work and change to the spaces involved, change that I have found difficult to accept.

We carried down stanchions sheets of plasterboard, sound proofing, insulation and fixers just before the snow started and the guys decided to return to base as they did not fancy spending the night trapped in the sauna.  Then of course the sun came out, blue skies, peace, tranquillity and as I listened to the lunchtime news on the BBC the world shattering report came out of the Vatican of the retirement of the Pope.

Now as I sit at my laptop it is dark outside, the wind that this morning was nowhere to be seen, has picked up to gale force, and the rain is drumming hard on the windows, the lights flash on and off, drips are appearing from the window, trickling onto the floor, it is really wild and Wagnerian outside.

I am reconciled to the alterations here at Bellaugello, and really trying to find the positives which in reality I know are many, once the dining room is put back together it will look really splendid and the facilities will be a great improvement.  Let us hope that today a day of change, is a day for significant, positive, inclusive and splendid beginnings for all.