My other half has decided to spend about three months this summer cruising in a small 32ft boat around the British Isles – some 2,500 miles. He has persuaded some other lunatics to join him at various points so he always has another person on board to help crew the vessel and to keep him company. I used to be a sailor but now I’m a landlubber so I am staying put and keeping the home fires burning – though this isn’t necessary as it’s one of the hottest, driest summers on record. The truth is – I’m working! I’m running the family business and also getting some writing done. I don’t have to produce daily meals and I don’t care if the house is untidy; I can eat and sleep as and when the mood takes me. Though I do feel somewhat solitary, I find it quite liberating to be on my own for a while. I even find time to do some gardening, and I am also doing some watercolour painting. 
Here is a one I did recently, which is my version of the famous painting of a gigantic Wave by the Japanese artist Hokusai and which depicts graphically a nightmare I occasionally have about my husband and his boat – all at sea.