Wolf Hall

I don't know about you, but I have a list of books I want to read and a list of books I feel I should read.

Wolf Hall has been at the top of the second pile for, well, actually it seems like forever.

But it's such a big book that its one I didn't want to have to cart around with me, so I've been putting it off.

It's been jeering at me from the top of the pile, even more so since Hilary Mantell won a second Booker prize for its sequel.

So, finally, I decided to take the plunge.

Wolf Hall is set during Henry VIII's reign in the period where he was trying to get his marriage to Katherine of Aragon annuled so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. It's a period of history I'm particularly interested in, so in theory it should be an engaging read.

But I have to confess, I'm struggling. I'm now at page 350 of this 600 page book and it has been an arduous journey. Perhaps I'm not literary enough but I find it hard to follow as it keeps jumping from present to the past and then back again and by the time I've worked out where I am, it's jumped again. The cast of characters is extensive and they too constantly change, or sometimes are called by their actual names and sometimes by the titles the King has given them in his court.

One of my favourite authors is Philippa Gregory and I never have a problem keeping up with her books, set in a similar period (as well as others). In fact I become so engrossed in them I can't put them down. But it's just not happening here, so perhaps its me.

I'm disappointed because I really wanted to like this book and keep hoping that I will get into it; that the second half will be better. But I'm beginning to doubt that it will happen.

Fingers crossed, but I'm determined to get to the end. I've invested so much time in it already, and I don't like being a quitter. But I am looking forward to reading something else. I think I'll chose something a lot lighter for my next read.

Silence Really Is Golden

Over the weekend a friend's children came to stay, a boy aged 11 and a girl of 7. They are lovely, lovely children and at the moment their mum is in hospital and has been for several weeks. My heart went out to them because they are so obviously missing her and needed lots of attention, which I was more than happy to give.

But it's amazing what a difference two extra bodies can make to a house, it seemed to shrink to the size of a matchbox and by the time they left I was exhausted and my ears were buzzing.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, my lovely husband took my eldest to his football and made the youngest go and watch too. After clearing up, I sat down and started to read a copy of Writer's Forum amidst the beautiful sound of silence in my house.

It felt like heaven and really recharged my batteries.

When You Can Deny It No Longer

Christmas is coming. It's a fact, and one I try to deny every year. Until it creeps up on me and I realise I need to do something about it. Pronto. Sighs.


I don't want to be bah humbug but I can think of a lot more useful things to be doing with my time than trawling around the shops or the internet, looking for things to buy that I can't actually really afford - especially not this year.

And then just when you think you've got it in the bag you think of someone else you need to buy for.

So every year I put it even thinking about it for as long as possible and then get really annoyed by the smug people who, in mid-November, smile and say,

'Oh Christmas shopping, I've finished mine.

Grinds teeth to a fine powder.

So today I'm going to bite the bullet and get started on my Christmas card list. If I can get all the ones I need to post out of the way, I might feel some small sense of satisfaction.

And then I can get on and do something that I actually want to do.

Bad, Bad Blogger

I've been meaning to post for a while now - honest guv! But of course the longer you leave it, the more there is to write, and the longer it will take, so I kept putting it off!

 

So, what have I been up to?  Well for a start we went away for half term - yeh!  Ten days in Lanzarote.  It was quite a small all-inclusive complex in Costa Teguise, which meant the boys could have a bit more independence, make new friends, and I could read - and yes, write!

 

I took my trusty Kindle with me, which has been collecting books and free downloads for a while now, and I managed to spend some time idyling in the minds of my favourite authors, while lying in the sun - in October - what more can you ask for? We certainly needed the break I can tell you.

But now it seems like it was a long time ago - even if it was only a few weeks ago - but I've been a busy bunny since I've been back.

 

Of course there has been the usual post holiday washing and ironing - yuck - although ironing does give me a chance to catch up on all the TV programmes I've recorded - the freeview box was nearly full (ouch).  We also had a 31 October deadline for applying for a high school for my eldest - it was a bit of tricky dilemma.

 

I've also done a few short story courses recently - one online and one in Leeds last weekend, more of that later, I've done some freelance work and I've signed up for NaNoWriMo.

 

Readers of this blog will know that I've completed NaNo twice, the challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I didn't do it last year and I really missed it, so I decided to go for it this year, even though I had so much on before and during this month.

Well, I started off really badly, in fact I didn't even start until 3rd November, and I've been playing catch up ever since. There have been days when I haven't been able to write at all and days when I've written a lot, but despite that I was still behind. Yesterday, though, I managed to catch up. The stats on the website are brilliant, and I have to admit to becoming a little obsessed with them. When you update your word count, it averages your daily word count, estimates how many words you will have to write each day to finish on time, what day you will finish if you continue writing at the current speed - I've gone from 6 December to 29 November yeh! And there's even a graph showing where you are and where you need to be! Oh I love it. My aim was to hit the line on the graph and yesterday I did it! I'm now at 28,700 words and one the homeward run, trouble is I'm running out of plot. 30,000 - 40,000 are always the hardest to write so I'll have to hope I come up with some inspiration, otherwise I'll be writing complete nonsense! Who's says I'm not anway.

So, in a nutshell, that's what I've been up to lately. And now that I'm catching up a bit, I'm hoping to be able to blog a bit more frequently - I also need to catch up on the blogs I haven't had chance to read yet as well!

I don't know if any of you remember, but before I went away I found a cat in the road. In the dark it looked as though the cat had had a injury behind it's ear and by the way it was behaving it was obviously not quite right. It turned out that the thing behind the ear was a massive tumour - poor thing. A note that I put up in the local post office, managed to locate the owner, but when they contacted the vet, they decided that the poor thing was too ill to go on and so she was put to sleep. I was saddened to think that the poor little thing is no more, but can only console myself that she is no longer in pain. And it was a much more dignified ending than being hit by a car.

On that note I'll go now, but I'm hoping to be back soon. Watch this space!

Linda

You Just Never Know

One of the frightening things about life is that you never know what's round the corner. Then again, I supose that if you did, it would be even more frightening.

Last week, it was my niece's birthday, she was eleven, the same age as my eldest.  On Sunday my brother and his wife were preparing a family party for her.

My brother took his beloved dog for a walk to the local river where she loved to swim.  She jumped in but couldn't get back out.  My brother jumped in after her, and managed to get her out, but it was too late, even though he tried to resussitate her.

People who don't have pets, don't really understand what a big part of your lives they become.  She was a member of our family and she is going to leave a big hole in our lives.  Particularly my brother.  The words if only are the saddest two words in the English language.

When I got home it was dark, there was a cat sitting in the middle of the road.  It wouldn't move, even when  I got out of the car and tried to shoo it to safety.  It was obviously distressed but even though I eventually managed to get it off the road, it went back on it again.  It looked terrified, was crying, and there was a dark patch by it's ear.  My vet lives nearby so I asked for his advice and then with my husband, managed to get a now very disturbed cat into a cat box and took it to him.  She is now a resident at the vets. She's very old and doesn't has a chip, and although she has a collar there is no tag.  

I've put a poster in the local post office, but apart from that there's nothing I can do, if she's not claimed then she will end up at the RSPCA.  I know alot of the cats in the neighbourhodd by sight but she's not familiar.  I wonder how far she might have travelled.  Is there a family out there, wondering if she will come back but she won't be able to find her way home because she is at the vets, albeit being looked after.  Does anyone know if there is a missing cats website?

In hindsight I wonder if I did the right thing, but I dread to think what might have happened if I'd left her in the road.

So you never know do you?

Sorry to be so downbeat.

The Big Declutter

The last few weeks have been rather strange.

Leaving the job I've been at for the last eight years was a poignant experience.  I started there when my youngest was a baby and now he's in junior school - how the time has flown and how much things have changed since I first started.

My redundancy had been looming for so long that I was almost at the stage of just wishing it was over, but everyone gave me a good send off and so I ended up feeling rather sad.

And since then, have I had all the time in the world to get stuck into my wrting?  The short answer is a resounding no.

We go on holiday next week, which I'm really looking forward to - we didn't go away in the summer so we all deserve a good break.  We're off to Lanzarote so I'm hoping for some serious sunshine, swimming and some reading and writing.

But before all that I have to get rid of eight years of clutter.   We have a family of four coming to stay while we are  away, staying on until after we get back, and looking af the house, I was struggling to work out where we were all going to sleep.

We moved into this house eight years ago too - that was a busy year - and since then we have collected all sorts of clutter as the boys have grown and their bedrooms were a disgrace. 

So I spent the whole of last week sifting through lego, plastic toys, marbles, jigsaw pieces and a wool mill full of stray socks under beds.  The bedrooms now look sparkling and woe betide anyone if they mess them up again. 

This week I started on the spare bedroom and tomorrow - wish me luck - its the turn of the kitchen.

I did think that once I finished work I would be able to concentrate on builing up a business and doing some serious writing, but it seems that the house has taken over. 

And that's before I start packing.

I know its only been a week and a half but I don't think I could be a permanant housewife, and I'm hoping all this work now will free me up to do the things I want to do. 

One thing is for sure, once I get settled back after my holiday, I'm going to get myself into a routine.  Because I don't honestly see how writer's can write unless they are in a good routine.  I know this writer can't.

So its going to be a case of learning to switch off housework head and velcro my bum to my desk chair!

Wish me luck.

Linda

No Let Up

You would think that now I have finally finished work, life would be a bit easier but I'm still in catch up mode.

Its been a hectic few weekends what with the "Birthday" and going to Leeds for the weekend.

That was brilliant actually.  My boys support Leeds because they are following in their dad's footsteps who, although Chester born and bred, has supported them since he was young when they were at their best.

When they were little I thought they might be taken the mic out of for following a team that wasn't part of the trend, but now I'm really proud of them, because they are not just following the team who is most popular at the moment.

Because there are only a few supporters in this area though, and no shops selling the kit, it was an uplifiting experience to be walking to the ground with hoards of fellow fans all wearing the same colours. 

We had seats in the family area which was great, and right where most of the action was for a large part of the game so we had a bird's eye view.

And Leeds won, which gave us all a happy feeling.

In the evening we found a World Buffet restaurant to eat in.  To be honest,  I wasn't too impressed at first, it felt a bit like a rugby scrum trying to get your food, but actually it turned out to be really good.  The buffet consisted of Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Sushi, and good old English carvery and practically every food you could possibly think of.  Everyone was catered for without any fuss, and although I'm not a dessert person, the puddings were to die for.

After a drink in the bar we retired to bed and the comfiest bed I have ever slept in.  I would defintiely recommend the Novotel Leeds City Centre hotel. 

The next morning we work up to the 11th birthday - where did that time go?  After a hearty breakfast we visited the Eland Road store to bujy the birthday present - latest kit and then drove home.  Another football match and then tea with friends to celebrate the birthday.

I always worry because I want to make the big day really special, but I think on this occassion we can truly say we did him proud.  And that was before the party.

The week that's followed has been really hectic, but that's the contents of another blog.

I promise to be back shortly.