Reading Not Writing

I have just finished reading Restoring Grace by the wonderful Katie Fforde. I love her books and hate it when I finish them. This has been one of her best and I recommend it. And thank you to Debs for telling me how to get the image.

A proper post will follow soon. It might be a bit grim though as I woke this morning with the big grey cloud looming.

Minus Four! But no snow.

Jamie had his first appointment of the year today. We had to go to Holsworthy after school to see the eye lady. He did NOT want to co-operate. Every time she held up a card he looked everywhere else except at the card. He was totally in Jamie land. He can be so unpredictable. He was good, no paddying or stropping, he just smiled sweetly and looked the other way. Still she was reasonably happy and doesn't want to see him again until April.

On the way home the thermometer on the car said minus 4!!! This is Cornwall for goodness sake! Thank goodness they came and insulated the roof back in the autumn. All this cold and still no snow. Everyone else seems to be getting snow except me. I'm a big kid about snow, I love it. Mind you know I can drive I might not like it quite so much. We have had it a couple of times. The village is so beautiful in the now. It's been looking quite nice with all the frost, very Christmas cardy.

I've just been looking back over some older posts and I saw that I rashly promised myself I'd have the first draft of DV finished by my birthday, Hahahaha. Easter maybe. My birthday is six weeks(ish) away and I'm only just over half way. Still considering Mulberry Gin took several years, on and off, to finally get right I don't think I'm doing too bad. My diary says I started DV on 13th August '08 and I'm half way, not bad all things considered.

New years resolutions (!!)

Welcome 2009, please wipe you feet as I've just shampooed the carpet.

So is anyone making new years resolutions then? Every year I think about it, then decide not because I never stick to them. I thought I might try again this year. So here goes (if I make them public I might stick to them!!!).

Write more, and be more organised about it.

Get published if it kills me.

Be a better mum to Jamie.

Stop letting my own mother get to me so much.

Be calmer (when you suffer from anxiety disorder this is harder than it sounds).

Organise my time better.

Loose 2 stone (this has been on my list every year since I was 17!! never happened yet!).

Read all those books that sit there glaring at me, and don't buy anymore until I have.

No more fish tanks (3 is enough!). Although I'm with Bonnie on the Siamese fighters the house is not big enough!

Get a handle on Jamie's autism.


These are in no order of impotence. And I make no promises that in 12 months I won't be in exactly the same place I am now (oh God I hope not). But one thing the last four years had taught me is that you just don't know what is going to happen. I give you permission to nag and give me a kick up the bum now and then (just not too hard, I bruise easy).

It's nearly over!!

Well I have to say I'm glad 2008 is almost over. As I said in the last post it's a year not to be forgotten in a hurry. At the same time I have a lot to be thankful for. We finally got a new roof, so no more buckets in my office! And as a result of all the mess the builders made we had to decorate and have some new carpets ( the old ones came with the house 15 years ago and were put down in the '70's). We now have a home rather than a house, which makes such a difference.

The week of Richard's heart attack was probably the worst of my life. But it has made him slow down and make some much needed changes. The business is finally not his first priority. It also made me realise that perhaps I'm stronger than I thought I was.

Jamie had a good Christmas. He never takes much notice, and this year was no exception. No interest in the lights or decs etc. But he did help open his pressies this year, and play with one or tow instead of waving them bye bye and handing them back! He's still not speaking, but he has settled really well at school and has developed computer skills far beyond his years. I'm starting to think that maybe he'll be ok, in the short term anyway.

My writing has gone really well. As you will see from the word meter Digging for Victoria is just over half way (I'll refer to it as DV from now on I think). I only started it in the summer. Mulberry Gin is with an agent. I never thought I would get to the point of finishing anything let alone sending it out. It has sooo many rejections before someone took interest. I'm keeping everything crossed, touching wood etc that she says yes, please let her say yes! But even if she says no in the end, at least the experience had made me more determined to be a writer and write all the other novels that are queuing up.

Whatever you're doing have a good night tonight. I hope the new year brings you whatever it is you want from it. And I hope the old year doesn't leave too many scares.
Thanks for all you kind comments, and for making me smile with your own blogs. xx.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Ta Da!!

Finally got round to posting a pic of the tree, the lights are on but it was daytime so they don't show. The sleeping cat is Twinkle, her foot seems much better now.

Have spent the morning doing battle, no other word for it, around Sainsbury's. But it's all done, all bought. The door is shut and the world can go hang for a couple of days now! I shall spent tomorrow cooking for Cornwall, but I confess to quite liking that.

I had a nasty bought of something like flu over the weekend and was wiped out for two days. It's doing the rounds everywhere it seems. Had the saw throat from hell. But getting better now. And the wood burner id finally back in and working, so toasty fires over Christmas. There were times this year when I looked at this house and thought we were never going to be able to live in it again.

I think this year will go down as one never to be repeated. It started in January when the builders turned up to strip the old roof off and we moved out, and just snowballed. In February my mother (a very complicated relationship, best not to ask) announced that she didn't want the roof doing and we should wait until she was dead before we did it, never mind that this house is the only thing Jamie and I will have for our future, no as long as she wasn't inconvenienced in any way (bad). In April I finally passed my driving test (good). I finished my first novel and finally got it out on the rounds (good). In August Richard had a heart attack (v bad). In July we moved back in (good). In September one agent asked to have my manuscript (v good). Also in September Jamie started school (good/bad). In October he was diagnosed with Autism (?). Actually when you look at it it hasn't been such a crap year, just a very stressful one. But one that will stick with me.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The 7 things...

A few weeks ago now HelenHM tagged me because I have more than one cat (five at last count). This is my attemp to answer the 7 things list.

7 things I plan to do before I die: Get published. Write the other novels in my head. Get Jamie to speak. Be a size 12(!!). See more of the world. Be happy. Kill my daemons.

7 things I do now: Eat too much. Not sleep enough. Worry. Write. Look after Jamie. Don't look after myself. Dream.

7 things I won't do: Go on a cruise. Stress about stuff I can't change. Borrow money. Go on silly diets. Go jogging. Ride a horse. Anything illegal.

7 things that attract me in the opposite sex: Eyes. Hands. Humor. Kindness. Thoughtfulness. Voice. Fidelity.

7 celebrities that I admire: Virginia Woolfe. Stephen Fry. Katie Fforde. Nigella Lawson. Billy Conolly. Richard Hammond. Victoria Wood.

7 favorite foods: Chocolate. Earl Grey tea, KFC, Roast chicken, Prawns, Roast potatoes, home grown veg.

I think that's seven of everything! I tag anyone who bothers to read this who hasn't already done it.

The tree is up, the lights are on and it's starting to look very christmasy. Jamie's off school with a bad cold and a 'viral' rash that his teacher was sure was scarlet fever coupled with pneumonia!! They sent him home this morning and there was a bit of a panic until we saw the doc this afternoon. He was a bit cross that school went so over the top, but they have to be careful. There are one or two in Jamie's class that have quite severe disabilities, and to get ill would be really bad for them. But the panic didn't last and he's tucked up in bed with Pooh bear.

Richard had a hospital appointment in Barnstaple the other day. Everything was fine. But the fish shop is on the way home and guess what? Yes he came home with fish tank number three!! The excuse was that the goldfish had got too big for the smaller tank. Well they have grown at an alarming rate, but not quite that big. Ah well. I think I might set up the North Cornwall Aquarium and start charging!

I heard back from the agent who has Mulberry Gin. She was very apologetic and said she hadn't read it yet. So I have said she can keep it a few weeks longer. Well it wasn't a no, there is still hope. She wanted to keep it, so fingers crossed that's a good sign.

Holiday over, bring on Christmas!

Well that was over far to quickly! It was nice to get away and be just the three of us for a while. We spent some time with one of my best friends who lives near to where we stay. It's one of the reasons for going there. We were at college together, nearly twenty years ago now. I lover her to bits and I wish we lived closer. But her life took her to East Sussex and ours took us to Cornwall. But we try to catch up at least once a year. So far she had been pregnant almost every time we see her! She is twenty weeks with her forth. Her first baby was a lovely little girl who died within seconds of being born. Jamie was only a few months old at the time. She then went on to have two healthy boys within 18months of each other. And now, with the youngest only just turned 18 months, she's five months gone with baby number four. But when I visit them there are two beautifully framed poems dedicated to little Libby, and it makes me realise how grateful I am to have Jamie. With all his problems he is here.

So then. On my last blog I made a thing of saying how I was going to increase my word count on novel number two. Well, um.. how shall I put this? I didn't write anything all week. I took the lap top and notebooks, and lots of good intentions. Then everything else got in the way. So now I need to start again. Hopefully having a week off will be a good thing. I did think through a few things and decided a couple of scenes need reworking. So I shall set to work. Well I'll do as much as I can with Christmas and all that.

Can well all please take a moment to mourn the passing of Charlie. My parents were left in charge of the cats and fish while we were away. And under there care Charlie died. To be far I shouldn't think there would have been much they could have done. As Bonnie said about her own poor Gilbert, there aren't many fish doctors about. But that was not all. We had a call mid week to say they had to take Twinkle to the vets because she was limping. Twinkle is the prettiest little black cat you can imagine. She seems to be getting better now though. On the up side however out black and white Mollies have had babies! So we mush be doing something right. There are three tiny little fish swimming around, so cute!

Jamie loved his holiday, although he didn't sleep much. And he had started playing with 'proper' toys. Before we went he had taken an interest in his leap pad. But while we were away he started playing with a postman pat van belonging to Elizabeth's boys, and a singing IgglePiggle that we bought him in Brighton. He has taken IgglePiggle to bed, which I think might prove a mistake. I can foresee a night spent listening to him sing.