Parp

We haven't seen our rodent friends for a while. On the one hand, we stopped feeding the birds. On the other hand, we kicked and banged the bins and they ran away. I invested £7.98 in an ultrasonic rat scarer. You push it into the ground where the solar panel can charge the battery and it is supposed to send out a sound that frightens the rats without disturbing animals or pets. It came today.

I was looking forward to getting it so that I could start feeding the birds again. I ran outside, switched it on and pushed it into the soil. It went 'parp'. It sounded exactly like the party blowers that you put in kids' party bags that unfurl as you blow them, make a sad noise and become pathetically limp in a very short time. The rats around here look quite sleek and healthy. I cannot imagine them taking much notice of something going 'parp'. I can even imagine them turning up with their own party blowers (my imagination needs a talking to sometimes). I wouldn't be surprised if it disturbed the birds, though, and I don't want to upset our neighbour. He's lovely - and quiet! It looks like this.

(I had a few issues uploading this, as the phone has gone on to battery saver mode and I'm going to have to get bear to take it off again)

I didn't take a pic in situ as I am ashamed of the weeds. I've left it out hoping that it will get seriously charged and that the sort of despairing parp is just because of a flat battery. I'll let you know. 

Otherwise, it's been a quiet day.

I have just realised that I should have started dinner two hours ago. We will not be having the salt and pepper chicken joint that I had planned to use up. It's looking like beans. 

Writing stuff - I'm taking a risk and talking plans here. October is on its way, and last year I posted spooky stuff every day of October. Most of the stories had been seen before, but I put in some new bits as well. I tallied up all the spookyish stories currently hanging around on the Always Another Chapter blog and there are 28, not including the stories with Kane (the young man who can speak to ghosts and wishes that he couldn't). I hope I'll be able to mix it up a little with some new stuff. I'm planning on a sort of relaunch in November, with a little more activity. I'll add a little chat, perhaps some reviews and of course I will continue with a little flash fiction. It's really like the gym for my writing (and I've skipped a few weeks recently and I'm feeling it). 

I was considering making the collection into an ebook after October. There isn't a huge amount of content, not for a book of short stories. Even if I add in some new stuff, it's likely to be slim. But I'm not really expecting it to sell. It's just a way of keeping the stories safe and accessible. I'll kick some ideas around and see where I go. The ebook idea is more realistic when it comes to my poetry, as no-one expects a lot of words in a poetry book, and it's a safer way for me to save them than a memory stick. I have a bad record with memory sticks. So if I do pull a collection together, I may do things like advertise it on Amazon and that, but I'm not really expecting much. And I haven't forgotten about the White Hart that really needs to be made available. This time of year is a really good time for me to get stuff done, though, as I struggle in January and February, so I had best get my head down and get on with it. 

Hugs and good health to all.