Nice, relaxing breakfast, and then I set to cleaning out the animals in the sunshine whilst listening to last week’s Desert Island Discs with Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter. I made lemonade from the kit that the Shaw’s gave me for Christmas and I finally got round to writing my review of Time Was Soft There which Helen gave me for my birthday. I mention this last act particularly because I wrote the review on my laptop, which whilst still being a little slow to open things (it is 4½ years old though!) was accessing the old t’internet with some degree of speed expected of it. Maybe whatever it was I did succeed in doing yesterday worked?

I’ve earthed up the potatoes this afternoon too, and read lots more of my book during the heat of the day – well I sure as hell ain’t getting hot and sticky vacumning when its already hot and sticky! Then I made dinner of mashed fish (really this is a dish that is a lot tastier than the name might suggest – I seem to have quite a few recipes in my repetoire that seem to fall into this category) and then we settled down to watch the new production of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood with an all-star, mostly Welsh cast. It was very interesting done, briliantly made in a way that completely highlighted the power of Dylan Thomas’ words…. but they cut it! It was only about an hour long which means they actually cut at least half an hour, maybe more. I would love to have seen this version but complete. Oh, why BBC, why did you deprive us so.

And now I’ve caught up with writing about my weekend in these pages. I used to write about my daily goings on so much more regularly than of late. I need to get back into the habit of it.

By the time Emma got back from work it was actually clearing up, but she came with to Launton and town anyway. I love it now, when I pitch up the butchers towards closing time on a Saturday, Lotte and John know in the butchers that I haven’t been in yet, and also what it is I’m likely to be wanting and so haven’t put it away yet.

Because it was getting late we got scrummy things for lunch Nash’s bakery, and had a late lunch. I wanted to spend time sorting out my novel for the unsolicited submission month at Jonathon Cape, and read some more of my book, but instead spent more time than is healthy for me trying to persuade my 4½-year old laptop to access the internet with the same speed that our Kindles do. I hate computers when they don’t do what I want them to do when I want them to. They are fantastic tools when they are doing the job in hand, but otherwise they are a pain in the bleedin’, soddin’ kneck… *mutter mutter grumble grumble*

I did do *something* to make the laptop situation improved, I think (maybe, possibly, in a fair wind…) so put it away (in possibly a small amount of a strop), made a nice pot of tea and sat out in the garden to read some of Alan Garner’s The Voice of Thunder. This is a book of essays/lectures he has given over the years about his writing, work, and research and is for the most part really accessible (I had been concerned that it might be, as sometimes his novels can be, although technically brilliant, a bit on the confusing side). I shall be reviewing this soon, maybe this week.

So dinner, spaghetti bolognaise – Emma’s favourite on-call meal – was a bit late. We caught up Friday’s Springwatch Unsprung, and Episodes, and that, was about it. So I did salvage something from a wet and frustrating day.

I think I’ve managed to lighten the load a bit though by doing all the cleaning, including under the sofa which I think we’ve neglected for a bit too long. I’ve also cleaned out all the animals and watered the garden, so hopefully when Emma does get home she will a) be able to eat ‘something’ if she’s not too tired, and/or b) go straight to bed without worrying about anything.

In amongst all the jobs and cleaning I have had a nice time sitting in the garden writing – yet more words done today. This evening was particularly pleasent. I believe that there was some football match or other on tonight – quite a big game apparently – well, the upshot is that it was so very, very peaceful and quiet in the late evening. Very nice.

28924 / 80000 words. 36% done!

Following a relaxing amble in the birdsong and sunshine we got stressed out and rudely woken back into the 21st century by a trp to B&Q – we were duped into believing they had affordable fire hearths, when in fact all they sold were cheap and nasty tacky things. Edit: expensive and tacky hearths. So we came home from via our own Homebase where we bought three pieces of Blue/Black Limestone (which we thought was actually slate) to make a hearth and a very large sheet of MDF make a backing for the fireplace. A sheet of MDF so large in fact that it wouldn’t fit in the car and I had to leave my driving license at the desk to be allowed to walk the wood home on the trolley round the ringroad!!

On Sunday, whilst Emma cleaned out the chickies and the bunny I worked on deconstructing the old fireplace and installing the new one, and it looks fab! So, so nice!

The old, an MDF Inca Mausoleum circa 2005…

The new, a 1920s wooden fireplace that cost £20 and a half a dozen eggs…

Emma’s been working this weekend and so by necessity we’ve not been able to go anywhere. Yesterday was a day of hibernation and hiding from the wild and wet weather as it stormed across the country. Luckily (although am I weird for also saying, disapointedly) we missed much of the worst of the weather. Still it gave me ample opportunity to get the house clean and tidy. I cooked a nice, easy meal last night – a Wanchai Ferry recipe kit that we got free and un-asked for with our Ocado order a few week’s back – and we snuggled in with Strictly Come Dancing and Merlin for company.

This morning, Emma had to go into work today, so I headed out in the garden whilst it was still calm and bright and sunny and dismantled the runner beans (a job that has been prowling on the edge of my mind for some time). There were some huge, fat beans still on the plants which I took indoors and podded. I now have a tub full of beans to add to salads and caseroles. Should be good.

Next up, I halfed and de-seeded the pumpkin and whacked it in the oven for later soup making. Having laid the pumpkin seeds out to dry I headed back outside to clean out the chickens and the bunnies. Emma got home and I finished off making the pumpkin soup for lunch. Then this afternoon we finally did our glass recycling and I dug out delicious and fragrant soil from compost bin #1 and dug it into the veg patch for the little wormies to feast on. Now my muscles feel pleasantly achey, the kind of achey that reaffirms how productive you’ve been.

Emma’s been called out to drip a dog now, and I’m getting the roast on. I bought a tub of goose fat at the butchers along with the pheasant the neck of lamb (for next week’s winter-warming hot pot) and ordered the Christmas turkey, and so I greased up the bird with goose fat like they did in the olden days. Lovely on the old hands is goose fat.

~ I have also put some shelves up in the understairs cupboard to house our copious amounts of jam.

~ Cooked a nice meal of fish and vegetables. Very yum.

~ In the afternoon we headed down to John Lewis to exchange our faulty lights from the kitchen, and then went for a nice walk in Burnham Beeches before going to Helen and Nick’s for dinner. Chinese soup, roast beef and pudding alll went down very well. A nice day.

Today we had a nice walk down at Ogdens along by the Latchmoor and picked sloes and blackberries before it started to drizzle lightly. Back at the cottage, Emma continued to pick the blackberries and we now have 3lb of sloes (for the gin) and 6lb of blackberries (for the jam) before it the drizzled worsened and lingered, perpetually.

We had a lazy afternoon, involving me rooting around through my old toy boxes up in the loft finding all kinds of things. Lovely! And we still have a bank holiday tomorrow to enjoy…

~ Egg‐citing developments were that Miss Guinevere laid her first egg. I have to say, its a funny old colour, sort of brown with a purple tinge to it.

~ And so to lunch time. We fetched our fresh‐baked bread and cheese and sat out on the patio and ate our lunch. It was possibly a little nippy, but very pleasant — and the first of the year! 🙂

~ In the afternoon we went and discussed wedding flowers with, it turns out, Em’s doctor’s wife! What a small world it is…

~ And now I’m shattered. But pleasantly shattered… 😉

We were able to go for a nice walk by the canal at Somerton amidst a picture perfect sunset before retiring to our lounge by the (fake) fire for my mum’s birthday cake and presents and then a roast dinner. All very nice and civilised and relaxed (and Barney wasn’t too disturbed by being in the house at the same time as five cats either!)

2. Today Em and I have been considering the house in Spruce Drive. We do like it, alot – which is a bit weird considering that its not the house in Stratton Audley and its a housing estate and not a village. We’ve been wondering if we like it just because there might be hope in The Alexander Plan that my house might get sold, but I don’t think so. It did genuinely feel homely. And it still has that garage that might double as my ‘Print Room’

3. Went for a nice cycle ride this afternoon, including a pint of cider at The Red Lion in Stratton Audley. Then we came home, and Em had a snooze whilst I planted up my runner beans. My garden is looking nice. I neglected it last year. I’m not going to let that happen again.

1. Got to Bicester Glass after remeasuring my bookshelves and managed to get the 6 doors trimmed down by 4 mm.

2. Driving back through Launton, I passed a little old guy selling plants from his front garden. Drawn to good quality, cheap plants I bought a large tray of petunias and some runner beans for six quid

3. Back home, I discovered – yay! – that the glass doors now fitted, perfectly. My Folio Society books are now Ronald-proof.

4. I then spent a happy few hours, planting out petunias into my pots, and tidying up the back garden, moving later to beginning an attack on the ground elder in the front. Its a long job, but I have made the path to front door more acceptable.

5. Em arrived for a quick lunch before we wandered around the corner to see House #1 in Spruce Drive. On paper, we weren’t too enthused about this house but its actually pretty nice. Three good size rooms with a spacious ground floor and large garden. Definitely in the top two or so, and not just because they are with the same agent as myself and Alexander’s have a plan. We then wandered home, and collected the car to head out to Langford Village for House #2 – a larger than average 2-bed house – actually the master bedroom is enormous, but the downstairs accommodation whilst nice is small, and it fronts onto a busy-ish road.

6. And so to Homebase. The plan was to buy (on my parentals instruction) my birthday present – a barbeque – sadly though the one we liked was out of stock, but they were able to put one by for me at their Aylesbury branch. Em did select and buy me a toolbox for my birthday. We then went on to the garden centre for fishweed, and I ended up buying compost, gravel, and birthday presents for Ben, and naming day presents for Jonas, and some nice wooden salad servers for myself.

7. After a dubious weather forecast for today, we’ve actually been really lucky, and the only rain to speak of came whilst we drove over to Aylesbury, and collected the barbeque and then drove home again.

8. I cooked a nice toad’n’the’hole meal using both meat and vegetarian ‘toads’ and then, had great fun arranging all my tools and screws and nails and stuff into my new toolbox. Oh what fun!

Well, it’s a bit late now for working on The Novel, so I think I may retire to bed. Here’s hoping for a stress free Monday for all concerned…

p.s.: Although we have uploaded the zip file and manifest file on the site, its still processing from there. We have attached the manifest file for you incase you require this.

Me: And why exactly would I require a god-forsaken manifest file in an email??!!! *hits head on desk repeatedly*

Dreadful Lizzy: My dear Thos – Knock that off, you’ll make a dent in the desk! You see, you do under-rate yourself. I haven’t the first foggy clue what a manifest file is, or why you wouldn’t want one. (Translation: better you than me, mate…)

Me: So anyway, whatcha up to this weekend? An exciting two days devoted to the creative word (as opposed to unoriginal rehashed astronomical gibberish…)?

Dreadful Lizzy: Going up to St. Andrews Saturday for a confab with my writer pals Debby (Deborah Turner Harris) and Bob (Robert J. Harris). Bob is a plot-factory, so I’m going to feed him a little background and see what he comes up with (I’m the world’s worst plotter). With any luck, something to send to my editor in NY! Sunday is housework, as my in-laws (who are in fact lovely people) are coming up for Thanksgiving, i.e. the weekend after this one. Gibber… hate housework but love a clean, tidy house. Go figure… How about you?

Me: A walk in autumnal woods if there’s any colour left after the wild winds and perpetual rain, and fixing up my novel. After today’s announcement getting published and becoming the next JK Rowling has got to be the best answer for sanity (yeah, I know I am being hopelessly unrealistic but hey, it’s Friday, and if you can’t dream on Friday when can you dream?!)

Dreadful Lizzy: >becoming the next JK Rowling Race ya?

Me: Well I’ve got the finished first draft, you’ve not even got yourself a plot! *grins* On your marks, get set…

Dreadful Lizzy: First one to get a contract wins! Size of advance does not matter. Existence of advance does!

Me: Does Macmillan New Writing count, where you don’t get an advance but just pitiful royalties?

Dreadful Lizzy: Dunno, will have to look at it! And royalties are always pitiful, didn’t anyone ever tell you that? Unless, of course, you’re the next JK Rowling – wait, isn’t this where we started this conversation?

And Bella and Arthur have had an enjoyment weekend too, unleashed and roaming mine and the neighbours garden. Of course keeping them in until they get access to the fabled cat flap is now going to be increasingly difficult now that they have tasted freedom.

In the morning, I headed off to Abingdon for a spot of swimming. I upped my lap total to 44 lengths in c. 50 minutes, swimming them in non-stop lenghts of 6, 4 (followed by a short rest due to stitch), 10, 12, and 12. I’ve never ever swum 10, let alone 12, lengths non-stop like that. I know it’s not much, but it’s a big achievement for me. Go me!!

I finished up, with a trip to the supermarket to get lots of lovely food.

Then in the afternoon, I headed off to the new Ikea in Milton Keynes (nice and near at only half an hour away) for bookends and shelving to cater for my growing library of books. Now I just have to get my drill and screws, and wall plugs and such out and put them up…

Went shopping in Salisbury on Saturday, a very agreeable ‘little’ city to shop in, and bought some new walking boots. My 20 year old pair that I bought up in Betys-y-coed one Easter have finally reached the end of the road, climbed their last mountains. The Brasher boots I bought in their place, were chosen instinctively; on sliding my foot into them, I knew. I also came away with a new top, which is agreeably cozy.

Other than that, I foraged for free food, with blackberries from the hedge, and sloes from which to make sloe gin, and crab apples from my folks’ tree for ye jelly.

Next week, it’s north again, to Derbyshire, to stay on Saturday night with some old friends on parents, and there to go on to Matlock Bath, and the christening of Rachel’s (she of my A-Level Art, English, and Sociology classes) second child.