Hanging on to Knitting

Knitting keeps me calm. Well, unless I drop stitches or something, and even then I can usually find some peace as I sort things out. Today, it's been useful. It's the only pic I took today, showing the progress of the shawl. Yesterday it looked like this.

And right now it looks like this.

DH managed to get off work a little early so I spent a little longer than normal, hanging out with him and knitting. I was glad of the calm.

There was a little external excitement today. The police were banging on the door of next door but one. I stuck my head out of the door to see what was going on, as they officers were being emphatic, but apparently they didn't catch anyone home. The officers knocked on my door later, and I had to tell them that I hadn't seen anyone living there since the woman with the untrained dogs moved out. When I told DH about the minor excitement, he said that he had seen some signs of life, but it hadn't affected us, so we couldn't help the police much at all. I'm absolutely agog to know what's going on, but I doubt that I'll ever find out. I shall have to do better as a nosy neighbour.

Writing stuff - I've had to unpublish Further Tales from the White Hart as issues with the cover, Amazon's rules, the previous edition, and the amount of content have caused problems. I may need to write another 30,000 words for it. This is why I need knitting. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

The Triangular Shawl Strikes Again

Sometimes, the need to knit a triangular shawl calls to me like a siren. Who am I to resist? I dug out some yarn that I was supposed to be saving for scarves, but I was rethinking my choice, grabbed some needles with a long cable and started off.

It's been wonderfully soothing to knit, and I needed it. 

The first bit of excitement was the discovery that it's the time of year when gluten free groceries get discounted. Anyone who has to follow a gluten free diet knows that you practically never get a sale on gluten free stuff, especially not the supermarket own brand version. I keep an eye out for it every year, and when it comes round, I commit. I go in hard. For example, at Tesco, 500g of gluten free pasta is currently 60p instead of 75p, which is only a 15p saving. However, we can go through five or six bags per month when bear is home, and at least four bags, or 2kg per month when he isn't, and I have no shame in buying a year's supply when the sale is on. If I allow for four bags per month, which is around the minimum, that's £7.20 saved, and with today's food inflation, that's not to be sniffed at. 

I need to be picky. There's the jars of pesto that DH likes, that have around a two year shelf life, and he gets through maybe three per month. They're currently 25p cheaper, so that's around £9 saved for a year's supply. I'll probably get four or five tubs of the gluten free gravy granules as well. They have over a year shelf life, and we get through at least one tub per month, more if bear is home and they're 30p cheaper. 

Food isn't likely to get less expensive for the next year, so I'm happy to stock up, but only things that we absolutely will use and that have long shelf lives. Besides, it gives me an interest. Both Tesco and Morrisons are running deals, and at first glance, some regular items are a penny or two cheaper at Tesco and some are pennies cheaper at Morrisons. In the grand scheme of things, it's pretty unimportant. But in terms of a challenge, well, challenge accepted! I'll probably save less than £30, but it will be better off in my pocket than that of the supermarket.

The other issue today has been the car. 

That's a pic from 2022 when Gladys was considerably larger and Red, the car, was a great deal newer. 

We're getting 'oil check' notifications, but only for a few moments. Then it goes back to normal. I thought that I'd check with our favourite garage, and when I spoke to them on the phone, they said that it sounded like a 'wet belt' problem and that it would likely be around £1,000 to fix it, and that they couldn't do the work as it was an engine strip down and they didn't have the gear. 

I've spent most of today ringing around trying to find someone local who would be able to deal with it and who was unlikely to overcharge. DH was also on the mission and he got told that our model of car doesn't actually have a 'wet belt'. I got back to our favourite mechanics, and they said, "Oh yes! I didn't realise it was that model. Come in on Friday. But don't drive before then because you may irreparably break the engine. No stress."

This is why I needed to knit the triangular shawl. And why saving £30 on groceries over a year has its attraction, because every penny really does count!

Writing stuff - Further Tales from the White Hart is now live here.

It's currently just the ebook, but the paperback should be available soon. 

If all goes well, and we all know that I'm risking things by stating what I'm planning, Back at the White Hart, which is the recent arc of stories from my blog, and Stories from the White Hart which is a collection of short stories that have cropped up from time to time, and which are separate from the ongoing stories, should, theoretically, probably, hopefully, be available by the end of the month, fingers crossed. 

Hugs and good health to all

I Threw Out the Duvet Covers

I'm sorry that I've been away. As far as I can tell, I've sort of been shut down with all sorts of blocks. For example, I had three dusty and crumpled duvet covers, one of which absolutely needed a wash. They literally blocked off my room, but I avoided dealing with them because I knew that I'd need to wash, dry and iron them and I was dithering between that and prioritising other washing, and I was pretty much at a standstill over it. Because I needed to wash clothes, some stuff that had been stacked and got damp, and the general day to day stuff, but the duvets were always lurking there, and I knew that I'd struggle to iron them because I struggle to stand, so even if I washed them, they'd probably just transfer to another dusty heap, possibly less crumpled if I folded them right. But I couldn't take them to a charity shop like that, and I definitely couldn't pass them on unless they looked good. I tied myself up into knots about the dratted things, then decided that the world wouldn't end if I didn't donate or reuse them, and threw them out. 

I haven't posted on here because I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't done anything in the garden. In my defence, moving is interesting as I've done something different to my back, but I still feel in knots. I need to find the equivalent of throwing out the duvets. Right now, the garden is so overgrown that I feel that I could find a lost tribe, a secret temple and King Solomon's Mines in the tiny square outside my house. 

One thing that has brought me joy - I used a book to bring my monitor up to a sensible height. 

Yes, it's a real book. It's the old Gazatteer and I intend to access it regularly, just for fun!

Bear had a good holiday, and seems to be doing okay. I'm putting together another parcel for him, which I hope that he'll enjoy as he's got to the 'neck deep in exams' part of the university year. It's just bits like hot chocolate, biscuits and some hot sauce that he likes. 

The rest of the post is about writing, so feel free to skip it.

Another block that I've had is that I wanted to do the proper thing and publish the novels from the White Hart at monthly intervals with all the ARC reading and publicity. I got myself tied up in knots there as well, and I decided that the equivalent of throwing out the duvet covers was just getting the dratted things published. I've paid out for new covers, the first two are current on Amazon, and I should have the lot of them out there by the end of the month. I need to do the updated links on my blog, but here is Tales from the White Hart

Tales from the White Hart

And More Tales from the White Hart

More Tales from the White Hart

About Publishing - If you read a lot, and indulge in indie authors, this may explain why books are now not always available in the same way. 

If I keep my ebooks on Amazon only, I can use Amazon Kindle Unlimited, and I can get more royalties that way. In fact, it's the biggest source of the very small income that I make. However, not everyone likes Amazon, and up to now, I could publish paperbacks on Draft2Digital. They would distribute to places like Walmart and Waterstones if my books were requested, together with all sorts of independent bookstores and libraries. Up until recently, it was free to publish. Now, however, Draft2Digital are charging $12 per year to any author who doesn't make more than $100 in royalties. Apparently, this is to weed out the AI books that are less than stellar quality and clogging up the bookstores.

By the way, that $100 doesn't mean the sum total of the costs of the books sold. It means the percentage paid out to the author as their cut. If you look at Cats in the Bible, the buyer pays $5.99, but I get $0.06, and it's the total of those $0.06 that needs to add up to $100 or I have to pay $12. My total of royalties, including stuff that goes back a few years, comes to $1.80. 

I know there's a lot of chatter about it in author circles, and I suspect that quite a few are removing their titles. Now, as long as I earn more than $12, it should be good, right? I'll still have to pay, but I'll get more than I pay and I'll be able to offer the books to those who don't want to shop at Amazon. But on top of that, I'm having a bear of a time trying to get Tales from the White Hart uploaded there. I'm still thinking about it. Is it worth my time? Or is it just the equivalent of dusty and crumpled duvet covers?

Hopefully I get past all those discarded duvet covers and get back here with something a little more fun.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Feeling Off Track

I don't seem to be connecting with any of the usual rhythms in life, including blogs. I'm writing this tired, but if I don't get something down, then I never will. I keep thinking I'll do it in a minute and that minute never comes. Anyway...

The problematic trellis is down and DH is ready to do battle once more and get it back up, this time with sweet peas. He has scheduled this weekend for Father and Son versus the garden time. 

Bear is currently away with some friends. Apparently they're planning hikes. He's close enough for me to drive to if he's stuck, though it would take a few hours. We've got almost a full tank, and Red is an economical car to drive, so I'm not worried about that. I shouldn't think like that. Bear is a sensible young man and a legal adult, but I can't help the direction my mind wanders. 

The sofa was demolished and, with one thing and another, DH made three trips to the tip. Red isn't a huge car, but each time she was packed. It's looking strangely sparse, and I've got a desk set up in the sofa's place so that I can carry on working even if bear is home from uni. 

I gave up reading romances for Lent. I wasn't as mindful as I wanted, but at least I stuck to that. I've been making up for the lost time over the last few days by happily working through Lynne Graham's back catalogue. She's been a favourite of mine for years and it's been a blast. So many billionaires and none of them Batman.

Writing stuff - I'm too tired to do links, I'll do those tomorrow, but GetCovers came through with a proper, relevent, vibrant design for the cover for Tales from the White Hart which should be coming out in the next few weeks. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Missed Tuesday

Bear has started on the honeysuckle.

Compared to

I wish that I had a better pic. This is the trellis when it was down.

Which gives some idea. I think that bear has worked wonders. 

He broke the garden fork when he tried to dig out the honeysuckle roots. I can see that it will be a problem. While he was at it, he also removed the door from the outside cupboard under the front steps. The frame was giving way and the door didn't shut. 

According to bear, the door is pretty sturdy apart from the bottom and will be hard to break up. If this was some sort of DIY or decorating blog I would no doubt repurpose it as a table or something. As it is, a skip is looking more attractive. While I was taking pics, I noticed some nettles. I will probably just pull them out, but I can't help feeling that I ought to be cooking them, along with the fine crop of dandelions that have sprung up - again.

The garden will have to wait for a couple of days. I have a problem. When it comes to time management, I don't have a clue. I do not possess a single shred of sense. I have never set a realistic goal in my life. This means that if I want to have a fragment of a chance to hit self-imposed writing goals, I have to really work at it. There is absolutely no space for gardening. 

This isn't necessarily the problem. It's the housewifery that goes along with it. You see, we have a sofa that is six months younger than bear. We bought it from IKEA in 2007 for something like £200. Over the years, it's seen a lot of service and should have been pensioned off a while ago. It hasn't been sat on for a few years since we moved into the study for our 'hanging out' space. Instead it's become something of a dumping ground and all sorts of stuff has ended up there. In a rare moment, both DH and I agreed at the same time that something should be done. So we're getting rid of the three seater sofa. If we don't take it to the tip ourselves, we either have to pay for someone else to take it or book a collection from the council, which may or may not turn up and will mean that the sofa could be sitting outside in the garden for up to six weeks. Obviously we'd prefer to take it ourselves, but we have a small car and it's a big sofa. 

I suggested that we demolish the sofa and take it to the tip in pieces. DH had a gleam in his eyes as he agreed with me. So the provisional plan is that DH and bear will skin the sofa and knock it to pieces over the long weekend. However before I get to that, I need to clear the junk and general stuff that's been piled on the sofa for months and months. Most of it will end up in a logical place, some of it will no doubt be thrown or donated, and I want to have a look at what's behind there as it hasn't moved since we got it, back in 2007. 

But bear and DH can be manly together as they demolish a sofa and pin up a trellis, and that's worth gold. So tomorrow I need to clear the living room. And while I'm at it, I need to process a lot of veggies for the freezer as I'm taking shameless advantage of the Easter promotions and veggies are arriving tomorrow in quantity. When it comes to 15p for a kilo of carrots from Tesco, or even 4p if I went to Morrisons, I will absolutely buy what I can realistically use, but plan to use a lot. And I want to do a deep clean of the study, where we'll be hanging out over Easter. That is, when DH and bear aren't doing manly things.

One piece of joy - I found a box of purple Bic biros when I started clearing the living room. I love Bic biros, and I adore writing in purple, so this made me very happy!

My writing is terrible and I need to learn to take decent pictures - but I'm happy!

I haven't bothered about April Fool's posts today. These days it's hard to tell the difference between jokes and real life. 

The chances of me posting tomorrow are slim, but who knows. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Again Monday Again

I'm determined to catch up with the blogs, but it won't be today. I've been struggling with writing stuff, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if it's breakfast or Tuesday.

Bear is home for the Easter break! It's so good to see him, and he seems so relaxed being back here. We may be watching some Doctor Who episodes together later. I've missed him so much.

THINGS THAT REMINDED ME TO POST! Iceland, the supermarket, are offering 10% off instore to over 60s, which I qualify for. I plan to have a rummage as the prices there aren't too bad. Marks & Spencers apparently also do 10% off full price items for over 60s, but their full price is a lot higher than Iceland's full price, so I'm not quite so avid to test it. AND the stupidly cheap supermarket veg is back for Easter. Morrisons are advertising 4p for a kilo of carrots, but you have to have a More card. My soup stash may be getting topped up.

Most of those who can take advantage of these offers probably already know about it, but I thought that I'd share. 

I've managed some knitting. I've finished another hat and started a third.

And I tried a wire brush to clear the weeds in the garden. 

It was epically ineffective at my jungle and got clogged.

But I think that it will do better if I get the worst of the growth down and it just needs maintenance. I had a swipe with a shovel.

There's some work to do and I will be pointing bear in its direction.

Writing stuff - Last week's instalment from The Guest is here and this week's instalment is here. Tales from the White Hart should be out in ebook and paperback within the next three weeks if nothing else goes wrong. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Monday Again

Thank you for all the suggestions about using up bread. I had eggy bread aka French toast over the weekend and I very much enjoyed it, so that's on the list. I need to buy extra eggs. I'll also need them if I try the savoury bread pudding - I was thinking layers of bread and butter, intermingled with onions, crisped bacon and plenty of herbs. When I had a rummage on the internet, I found Yorkshire Savoury Pudding, which sounds amazing, though this bread isn't going to produce anything like soft white breadcrumbs. This bread is robust. It's tasty, but it's extremely substantial. 

I also plan to dig into the medieval tradition of trenchers. In England, in the Middle Ages, food was served on thick slices of coarse bread instead of plates. At the end of the meal, those pieces of bread were often given to the poor, as part of the Christian charity that was preached. The tradition has survived in the British meals of beans on toast, poached egg on toast, and scrambled egg on toast. I don't see why I shouldn't pour a portion of chili or ragu over a hearty slice of bread instead of over rice or pasta. I'd still get the carbs and plenty of fibre, reduce waste and, as long as no-one from Italy or Texas found out, it wouldn't hurt anyone. 

It's been windy here. 

That's the trellis with the honeysuckle that's blown over. Because of the way the street works, we rarely get wind and rain against the house, but weather blows down the street with an almost wind tunnel effect. As the honeysuckle is verdant enough and heavy enough, the strong winds have caused havoc. 

I took a quick and rather poor pic of how lush the honeysuckle was.

This year is the best it's been, but it blocks the wind, and so it's blown over. I thinned it out a little today, but I can only manage five or ten minutes at a time. I'll keep going at it. DH propped up the trellis with broom handles, and he'll fix it properly with bear when bear comes back for Easter. I think that I'm going to have to get rid of this particular honeysuckle, which may need dynamite as it's well rooted and been there for a while, and replace it with climbing annuals, like sweet peas. 

Speaking of bear, I had a lovely phone call with him and he got me an amazing gift.

He knows me so well!

Writing stuff - Today's instalment of The Guest is here. And if anyone would like to be an ARC reader for Tales from the White Hart, you can have a quick look at what's involved here. If you leave a way to contact you in the comments, which I won't publish, I'll be in touch. 

Hugs and good health to all.