Her Own Robinson Crusoe

This is what I’m off to read in the garden under the umbrella of course. It’s still hot here in Warwickshire, but before long I’ll be taking the plane journey with Serena off to the Caribbean. Better get a cool drink to go with it. It’s in the shops today.

Sophie had good news today as well, she got her first swimming certificate. Well done, little swimmer and  hope it’s the first of many.

She looks as proud as Grandma with her books doesn’t she? Well done, Sophie.

 

 

 

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Catch Up with Patsy

It’s a real pleasure to welcome my writing chum to the blog today, and a job to catch Patsy, between travel trips and workshop days, so thanks for popping by for a bit of a gossip. I’ll put the kettle on and get you up to date with what’s been going on in my life lately and you wouldn’t believe it… but that can wait till later, how’s things with you?

The biscuit is just a starter, I knew you were coming so I baked a cake. And would you believe it I was in the middle of a good book – lots of short stories, oh, and one by the well known author, fancy that, it’s one of yours, Patsy. To be found here.

Now I happen to know you have a new collection of love stories recently published – With love and kisses I really love the cover and know your hubby Gary sometimes designs your covers – did he do this one? And this is the second love collection, with All that love stuff being the first. The cartoon images remind me of the LOVE IS, characters that were around in the 70’s.

That’s enough of me doing all the talking, over to you – Patsy… Have you nodded off? Patsy my blog followers are waiting to hear from you. She’ll be okay in a moment, it must have been that huge slice of cake making her sleepy. Patsy will be with you in a moment. Please check back soon:)

Thanks for inviting me over, Suzy.
No, I’ve not nodded off – just saving my strength ready to dive into that yummy looking cake. Looks like we’re going to need a whole pot of tea to get through that!
Mostly I’ve been writing short stories lately, although I have been thinking about the two novels I have on the go. One is a romance involving horses … Hmmm, that doesn’t sound quite right, does it? It’s humans who’re doing the romance stuff. And there are horses.
The other one is a cosy crime story. That’s if it still cosy is cosy when there’s blood. I’m better at writing them than explaining them, honest!
Come on then, slice up that cake…

Oh, what were you saying??? Sorry was I snoring? Aren’t these lazy Sunday afternoons divine? that’s really interesting, but you know how it is when you’ve eaten too much cake. So lovely having you over, Patsy. Let’s do it all again soon. Must get clicking and buying some of your stories, travel safe to your next destination. That crime novel sounds interesting. Toodles for now. xxx

 

Anyone for lettuce?

We’re fully stocked with salad leaves. At the moment it’s all year round lettuce, spinach and rocket leaves available in the kitchen garden. And growing on we have yellow courgettes, mini munch cucumber, tomatoes, money maker are my favourite variety. As well, we have normal cucumber, green courgettes, dwarf beans, and dwarf peas, lots of herbs and tons of strawberries with heaps of flowers on them as well.

Good job the garden is looking rosy as we’re having the house re-vamped and it’s going to be a bit of a building site during the summer months

Front border

 

In writing news, this will be available soon.

And I’m busy working on my next pocket novel, which is a romantic story set in the Caribbean, so off there now. So I’m going to have some chopped pineapple to eat while I’m sailing away… Up to chapter 6, and more news on that as it develops.

Enjoy the lighter nights and mornings. It’s getting light at half past four in the morning now when I go out to my cleaning job.

And the great thing is I’m all done by coffee time.

A crafty weekend

Hello, friendly bloggers, hope your weekend is going well. I’m catching up with writing and doing some knitting – making a tea cosy from some scraps of wool. Reason being, I’ve just finished reading this book.

It’s one my sister, lent to our mom, and she lent it to me. We all like knitting, so it’s been passed around like all good books should be.

If you like knitting, then I’m sure you’ll end up picking up some needles and making something. I’ve made up the pattern, but I’m sure it will end up resembling a tea cosy.

It’s got pale pink in there as well. When it’s finished I’ll add three colours of pom poms on top. It’ll be rather jolly to pop on the tea-pot don’t you think? I’m on chapter 9 of the rewrite, which I will have more news on later.

Today, Alan creosoted our front gate and two posts either side of it that had gone wobbly. Now they’re brand spanking new. I cleaned the windows in the greenhouse and sterilised it ready for putting plants and salad vegetables in. So far there are three scented geraniums, an orchid that may or may not pick up and a pink geranium that’s survived the winter and bushing out once more.

I have a story published on Kishboo magazine site. Snowdrops

If you read and like my story could you vote for it please? Good luck to my writing pals who also have stories and poems on there. A real coincidence is that I wrote the Snowdrops story a few years ago, and there’s a Hetty in it. One of the main characters in the knit off book is Hettie as well. It’s not even a name you hear much is it?

 

Have a great week. What crafts are you doing?

 

A jog with a view

I’ve been going to the gym most days over the last week. On Thursday, me and my gym buddy got to the reception. I’d love to blog about what happened next, but on a scale of 1 – 10 it comes around about 9 and a half, so I have to send it off to my favorite laughter pages of That’s Life. They seem to like my funnies and have printed quite a few so far and are always asking me for more. Seeing as they pay well, must give it a chance. He spent the next five minutes texting everyone to tell them about it. I couldn’t exercise for laughing either for quite a while.

His brother was one of the text recipients, and he happened to be going for a run on the same morning; outdoors around Torbay where he lives. This is the picture he sent me of early morning sun shining over my little Brixham bay.

 

The picture on the right was taken last September, looking across to where he took this one from.

It’s been a cold but fresh day here today, so I’ve been chopping up the wood from our old shed that’s been stored in the greenhouse. Now we’ve got tons of firesticks, and the greenhouse is a bit clearer than it was. Next I’m going to make a base for a half shed so that we can clear out the shed that’s so full you can’t get in it. And, we have a bathroom booked. It’ll be a while before the busy plumber can come and sort it all out, but it will be done some time before the summer. And I’ve made up two spring baskets. It was so chilly at tea time though, they’re in the greenhouse with the sticks until it warms up a bit.

Now I’m off for a cup of tea and to watch the voice. And I forgot to mention that I got head hunted the other day. I was about to start cleaning in one of the cabin offices at the building site when a man approached. I said, “Did  you want Ray, or Jim?”

He said, “Neither of them, you.” Oh, I had a quick think as to what I might have done wrong, like go the wrong way round the site, or not wearing my hard hat. Then he handed me a card and told me he needed good workers as he’s the director of a cleaning company. I started saying, “Oh, yes, I do this that and the other.”

He said, “I know, I’ve seen you.” Wonder if that was when I slopped water up my jeans, or did a twirl with the mop. Either way, I’ll keep the number handy.

Have a great rest of the weekend, and a good week ahead.

Happy New Year.

Happy new year to all my favourite followers, you know who you are. Yes, you.. and you and you of course. I’ve been a bit quiet lately, and thanks to those who noticed. One thing and another has kept me busy, and now I’m getting back to the writing. I’ve had a lovely diary from Alan, who knows how much I like jotting down little details that I find at a later date. I can tell you what the weather was like on this day in 2010, if you needed to know.

I found an old diary, and was about to de-clutter and throw it away, but there were such great ideas in there for stories, that I kept it. It’s time to clear out some of my old books though. Now I have a kindle, and my latest download is the one from Teresa, with the blue stockings on the front. It’s a great read, and I’m half way through it and if you want to read some classic Teresa’s go for it, you won’t be dissapointed.

Also, Suzanne Ross Jones has a story in this weeks People’s Friend that started off the week just right.

The giggle blog will be at the end of the month, as nothing is making me split my sides at the moment. Our daughter has moved in, and will be having our first grandchild in the near future. She’s busy finding out how sterelisers work, and how prams are assembled. I’m looking forward to getting back in the garden, though it doesn’t look like that at the moment. My early morning cleaning job started back up today, and now I’m in the library, catching up with my blog.

Also, I’m busy knitting and going to read some of those books that don’t go into the charity shop box.

Until next time, when I still have that interview with Sheila Crosby to come later in January.

New job, and temp job.

I’ve been to the gym today,

and spent some lovely time in the garden as well.

Now I’ve got a part-time job, yippee… that’s good news.

Things come together don’t they. First you have no job, then the temp agency say, ‘can you go and be a receptionist for a day at

the place you went last time. They asked for me again, so that was special. I said yes. That will be next Tuesday for the day.

Then I had an interview yesterday, and the lady rang me today to say, ‘we want to offer you the job.’ So I’m thrilled.

My new job is cleaning offices in a local town.

I go to the bosses house by seven o’clock in the morning, then we go out in a

van and clean all kinds of offices, like doctors’, call centre places, and others. I remember when I worked in the call centre, a group

of cleaners would be there early in the morning.

I sometimes used to think, wish I had that job, would be better than trying to fix

someone’s computer problem on the phone.’ So now I will be one of those… Normally at that time in a morning, I’m on the treadmill at

the gym, but will be exercising so can’t be bad.

Busy writing an article now for the Writing Magazine. I’ve also discovered a new writer. She writes the kind of stories I like, gossipy village stories. I’m reading Country Wives, and she is Rebecca Shaw

It’s one of the Barleybridge vets practice ones. The characters are good, and the story is lovely.

Have a good rest of the week, whatever you may be doing.

 

Tempting temping.

Temping week is over, and I had a great time. Really friendly people, and my own little office to answer the phone, and sort the post, tick off a register of who’s in, who’s out on business, and who’s on holidays.  Felt a bit like being the teacher, for a week. I’ve just got to know who is who, and I’ve left.

It made me quite hungry, as talk of food goes on all over the place. And, samples of food, piles of bacon sandwiches into the board room today, while I was at the coffee machine. The lady in the next office has foodie conversations all day long. A jolly, bubbly person, who laughs nearly all day as well, what a job! It was only by day 2 I realised I was putting my wooden spoons in the shredder, thinking it was a bin. It worked alright though, I know that as I had to go and shred a wad of paper today. Trouble is, when I’d finished, the machine didn’t want to stop. Someone passing didn’t know either, so he just switched it off…

So when I came home, me and Alan had bacon egg and chips, with some nice fresh bread from the bakery, there’s no hope for the diet much is there?

I’ve published a book of 20 poems here. Hope you enjoy reading them if you decide to download it. Some of them, you may have already seen, others you might not have.

Looks like the weather is going to be nice for the weekend, time for the garden again, hopefully.

Have a great weekend, whichever way you spend it.

 

 

The Glory of the Garden.

The Glory of the Garden

Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,

Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,

With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;

But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

Rudyard Kipling.

To read the rest of the poem visit my website.

Remember back in February when daughter Ann planted tomatoes and broccoli? This pot behind buddah is the broccoli, the tomatoes are in the black pots. Aren’t they doing well? The plants in the black box over on the bottom right are chard. You can eat them as salad leaves or stir fry them; versatile and grow quick as well.

I found the poem when I came in from the garden and sat down with a cup of tea to read the Collected poems of Rudyard Kipling. A library book, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lovely Abums.

Here’s some pictures of my lovely abums.  All through childhood I called all flowers abums.  Reason being that my Grandad and Grandma has a plant nursery, and the topics of conversation that I always overheard at this time of the year were ‘lovely chrysanthemums’  They grew fields full of beautiful blooms for market, or customers who called in at the nursery.  My main job was going round smelling these pretty flowers.  The smell is something wonderful, and I don’t know of any other British flower that is so beautiful.  The word chrysanthemums was a bit too long for me to comprehend, so it sounded to me like abums for short.

We’ve got lots of tomatoes turning red now, and those green ones are on the windowsill.  I plan to make some chutney soon, also looking forward to tomatoes on toast, tomatoes with cheese and home-grown tomatoes with everying.

As you see, the house next door is now sold.  I can’t help thinking it’s still belongs to the old lady who’s gone into a home.  She’s happy there though, and well cared for, so she’s better off.  She always passed us produce from her allotment over the wall, like marrows or courgettes.  She talked about how she was a wren in the war a lot as well.  I think the new people loved the abums so much they can’t wait to move in.  Wonder if they realise they’re moving next to the Abums family:))    The book I’m reading at the moment is ‘Little Stranger’ by Sarah Waters.  It’s gripping, set in Warwickshire in an old house where a family are trying to keep the house going but are struggling.  It’s such a good story that I don’t want to give anything away incase you may read it one day.