It's Monday

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments. I felt hugged and I was very grateful. 

The parking ticket has been sorted out and cancelled. Looking back, it only took a few minutes to take screen shots of my google maps and I didn't have to pay the £35. 

Bear is completely set up. He has now put a small folding table and chair up in the living room where there are no distractions and he has been working hard on revision. Today he didn't as he went to the revision class set up by the new college. 

Bear was a little bored as it was all stuff he knew, but he enjoyed himself and got free food. The commute was soooo much shorter but completely terrifying. The course was held near the White Rose Centre at the south edge of Leeds which meant the Ring Road. This road gets more like Mad Max every day and I really don't like it. What is worse - I have to change lanes. 

When it comes to driving, I am used to steep hills, blind corners, double parking, unexpected buses and some truly awful turns. This means that when it comes to dual carriageways, I'm out of my depth and I struggle. I was so relieved when I dropped bear off without too much trouble. Then I got lost in the car park. I mean, the car park at the White Rose Centre is massive and has all sorts of different zones and this morning I visited every single one of them.

I had quite a busy morning after that. Bear wanted some paper for his revision so when I called in to Marks and Spencer for DH's salad and fruit, I thought I would call in at the overpriced and intimidating WH Smiths, as I remembered there being one in the same shopping park as M&S. It had shut. However Wilkos did paper, of decent quality and no doubt a lot less expensive. Then I picked up the fruit and salad and headed to the park.  

I was determined to go for a walk. I've heard that it has real benefits to walk 30 minutes a day, and I was going to have a go. I did my usual little path at a brisk pace and it took about five minutes. This was something of a shock. When I first started walking there, it would absolutely have taken at least fifteen minutes. I spotted a sapling growing through ivy. I wonder if the park will let it grow there.

I did a quick turn around the grassy square, which, while being very dull, was a little longer than my usual path and I managed a grand total of around fifteen minutes brisk walk (plus a doggy cuddle, which is a bonus). 

Walking may need some work. I need to make sure that I fit it into the day. After the walk I headed to Aldi for pine nuts and cola, followed by Tesco for fizzy pop for bear, cheese for DH and crisps. I got home at midday and I'd already done 5k steps. 

I'm not sure how the steps match up with the brisk walk, so I think I'll aim for the walk regardless of where I shop. I'm moving a lot better than I was a few years ago, and I want to keep going. I made DH dinner to reheat as I wasn't sure that I'd get back in good time, had a 'proper' lunch which was eggy bread. It's not exactly the most healthy of meals, but it's better than crisps and chocolate. I managed a little writing stuff and then headed out along the scary scary ring road to pick up bear. 

Bear came home with papers, a folder, a book, a pencil, pen, sharpener, ruler and a feeling of frustration that it wasn't new stuff. I was a nervous wreck. At one point I was heading into a big junction governed by traffic lights. I was immediately behind a lorry as I entered the junction, but there were two cars between us as I exited as they cut in. It wasn't that big a junction, just a generously sized cross roads. 

I'm also over the 6k target as I nipped into Sainsburys to see if they had any gluten free bread, but they didn't have anything that looked as nice as Tesco's version so I gave it a miss. I need to get a load of housewifery done this evening but I'm not sure which disaster area I should pick first. 

Writing stuff - Invitation Accepted Chapter Eight is up and ready to read. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I'm already getting stuck in to Chapter Nine. 

Whisper in the Shadows is out now as an eBook and a paperback version will be out soon. The delay is entirely my fault. 

 

This is a huge weight off my shoulders. I'll be tidying up Dark Picture and Under Dark Hills and putting them out there as eBooks as well over the next few months. I don't know if anyone remembers the collection of stories that I put together as 'Across a Misty Bridge' which was the story of Steve Adderson and how he became part of the non normal world. It was a series that had grown from ideas, writing prompts and a sense of where it tied in with the Forgotten Village and Digging up the Past. It isn't available online anywhere at the moment and it turns out that I don't have a proper text document holding all those stories, so I'll have to do some reconstruction. What I found was some stories that I liked, but that dated back to 2013. My writing has improved immensely since then so I am tentatively planning to re-write the story and add it to the likely output of eBooks. I am absolutely not putting a deadline on that because every time I do that, it goes wrong. 

Hugs and good health to all.