Valentina Expressions

Springtime, for me, is a time for renewal. It’s the time to shake away the chill of the winter, and not just from my bones – from my heart and soul too, as I find winter depressing and dreary. Not my favourite time of year at all, so the spring has always been for me a time when I take conscious action to renew myself and to ‘come alive’.

At the first signs of spring, I get to work, opening windows wide and letting the sun soak every nook and every cranny of my home, while I go through it with a fine comb, so to speak, to renew it from the inside out.

Starting from the inside, other than the much-needed spring cleaning, I always make sure to go through my wardrobe, giving away what is not needed. Next, I go through the books in my heaving bookcases. Thank goodness for the local library and the eager friends, who take the unwanted ones from my hands!

I believe in the Universal Law of Recycling, which says that if you create a vacuum in any physical space, the Universe will rush to fill it with something new. More often than not, people come with offerings shorty after I’ve given things away. Always makes me chuckle!

Other than cleaning the house and giving away what I don’t need, I also tidy up all living spaces from the clutter that tends to accumulate in the winter months. I find this helps to calm and clarify my overloaded mind, which tends to get worse when I see disarray and overstuffed corners, especially when it comes to paperwork in my study.

Tidying up and getting rid of unnecessary old papers do wonders for my sense of well-being and mental clarity.

All the above are indispensable procedures I follow religiously every spring.

But that’s not the fun part. The fun starts when I venture out to my balcony and garden… where my two fur babies daily offer me laughter and affection in abundance.

Meet Loulou (left) and her daughter, Sissi. They are both gentle souls, and the only cats I’ve ever had who’ve never clawed at me. I feel so lucky to have them, as they bring me untold joy, though I may occasionally feel otherwise – that is, whenever they bring up to the balcony birds of all kinds and sizes, mice, roaches, or lizards. I tend to like them a little less, just for a little while, as I clear up the carnage LOL.

Loulou and Sissi take great interest in my activities on the balcony and around the garden – when I replant pots or pick weeds or vegetables, for example. They tend to follow me around when I water too, making me laugh with their excited manner and meows. Every spring, especially, there is lots of that, because I tend to plant colourful flowers to place on the balcony. By miracle, Sissi, who is quite naughty, has never destroyed a single one of them, even though she tends to attack everything else!

Working from home, especially in the spring, has wonderful benefits. One of them is that I will occasionally take a small foldable table outside to sit with my laptop and work in the fresh air, sweet birdsong in my ears. Having beautiful blooms around certainly brightens my day even further.

I live in a small seaside town near Athens, which means I get to enjoy wonderful sea views during my walks along the seafront. There are beaches and a large marina with a string of cafes and eateries, and it’s all pretty idyllic.

This is one of my favorite spots for sitting to look out to sea (and the island of Salamina that’s opposite at a very short distance). Sitting on this bench, I love to empty my mind, and other times to plot my stories, or even to pray or meditate when I feel stuck mentally or emotionally. Sitting on this bench has often proved a lifesaver, my mind clearing and my heart lifting within a few minutes as if I’d been touched by a magic hand. In the spring, of course, this idle pastime serves to plan my summer vacations, too, or simply to dream endlessly about them!

Living near the sea is a huge blessing that adds fun and beauty to my days all year round. Enjoying swims daily is easy throughout the summer since the beach is only a five-minute drive away from home. My husband and I love to sit under a pine tree and enjoy a packed lunch (or a bought souvlaki!) sometimes after our swims with the cricket song in our ears. During the spring, picnics on the beach are just as precious and help to bring the summer a little closer. Personally, I start daydreaming about the summer at the first sign of spring, and it tends to offer new inspiration for new stories to write too. Blessings all around!

$1.99 on preorder. Clean romance short read (launches April 25)

Spyri never forgot that old summer in Corfu when she met Markos…

Spyri, a half-Greek restauranteur in her early thirties, is back on the island of Corfu, staying in her grandmother’s village home for a few days to decompress from her busy life in London. Her nostalgia for the good old summer days hit her upon her return.

When she hears that Markos, the one she never forgot, is staying at the village, she becomes excited. Sparks begin to fly when they meet, but Markos has his own hurts of the past to deal with…

VISIT AMAZON:  https://bit.ly/3pAP3rf

About the Author
Effrosyni Moschoudi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. As a child, she loved to sit alone in her garden scribbling rhymes about flowers, butterflies and ants. Today, she writes books for the romantic at heart. She lives in a quaint seaside town near Athens with a British husband, two naughty cats, and a staggering amount of books and DVDs. Her little town is heavenly enough, yet her mind forever drifts to her beloved island of Corfu.

The Ebb, her new adult romance that was inspired by her summers in Corfu in the 1980s, is an ABNA Q-Finalist. Her debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, won a silver medal in the 2017 book awards of Readers’ Favorite. Her ghost romance novella, The Boy on the Bridge, was a Top 10 winner in the “50 Best Indie Books” awards of Readfree.ly in 2021.

What others say about Effrosyni’s books:
“Effrosyni layers her words on the page like music.”
~Jackie Weger, author of The House on Persimmon Road

“Very few writers have such a gift for realism.”
~Kelly Smith Reviews

Go here to grab FREE books by this author: http://effrosyniwrites.com/free-stuff/

Visit her website for free excerpts, book trailers, her travel guide to Corfu, delicious Greek recipes, and to join her email list for her news and special offers: http://www.effrosyniwrites.com

Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoreffrosyni
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/effrosyni
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7362780.Effrosyni_Moschoudi

I remember my many visits to Greece and Corfu. It was easy to cross the sea with an overnight ferry from my native city of Bari when I lived there. I will never forget the blue-green transparent waters of Corfu and the food, of course, was delicious!
Good luck with your new launch on April 25th, I wish you much success with “My Corfu Love Story”
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Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble