Tired

Hugs to all. Just got back from picking up bear, and it's late. 

I'll catch up tomorrow.

Hugs and good health to all. 

It's Been a Day

Bless - thank you. I'm not sure what they'll be, but I'll keep an eye out.

Eileen - tomorrow is the last day of term but he has three days of extra, voluntary, free revision with the maths college next week which means that I will be going along the ring road at rush hour when it's like the Wild West. It is grid lock along that route in the morning. I know because I pass it going the other way. But after that we get a break. 

Bear and I dragged ourselves out of the house a little earlier and called in at Tesco for him to pick up pens. They didn't have the paper he wanted, but I can sort that out later. He was still in time for early morning drama (the lesson, not the normal teenage behaviour), and won a headmaster's award which took up his break (I still haven't found out the details of that as he only mentioned it in passing when he complained about missing break) then extra English lessons during lunch, and now finally he's doing extra maths with the maths college upstairs. 

I didn't go for a walk because I was determined to get the new covers and formatting out for the White Hart books, and that is what I did this morning. The covers are extremely similar, but I think that they look fine. The paperbacks are still in the process of formatting, but should pop up soon. 

And I posted some links to Digging up the Past on Reddit for the free promotion. At this point, my brain is not fully functional. I do not do formatting well. 

I also got a parking ticket. I absolutely did not approve of this. According to the letter, I drove into Tesco car park at 8.03 and left at 14.26. This would be somewhat excessive, even for me. What happened was that I called into Tesco after drop off for a few minutes and went home. Then I called in again on the way to pick up. I was probably just getting a few bits. They got me coming in on the morning visit and leaving in the afternoon. So I challenged it with screen shots of that day's Google maps, which showed that I drove 36 miles on a very minimal day.

And then I cancelled the BT sports package, because I never get a chance to watch it.

Tomorrow I plan to do more walking. I think it's really good for me.

Hugs and good health to all.  

I Need More Sleep

Bless - thank you! I needed that hug

Today I have been achy, grumpy and fed up. I have a lot of different things to do and I have no idea how to prioritise. 

At least this morning I had a short walk - pic for proof

And I spotted these plants. I have no idea what they are, so I shall be keeping an eye out. They looked freshly planted.

At time of typing, I managed around 4k steps, which isn't really enough. 

Bear is doing okay, although the pressure is on even more now. He is currently working through 14 pages of Chemistry exam questions. He would like me (and he asked very nicely) to leave early tomorrow so that he can call into Tesco on the way to school for stationery. Did I mention I'm around day three of a thumping, queasy headache? I said yes, so I will be crawling out of bed even earlier. Mind you, it will hopefully give me more time to do all the stuff I have to do tomorrow, including rearranging the furniture in the living room so that bear can put a desk out of the way in a place that is not where he hangs out to relax nor where he sleeps. There is also some writing stuff going on.

Writing stuff - the covers have come back for the three books of the White Hart, so I'll need to amend the text, fiddle with the settings and hopefully get them loaded up over the next few days - watch this space. And as Joshua Pantalleresco included the cover to A Whisper in the Shadows in his podcast, Just Joshing, I really need to get that tidied up and on Amazon as well (he was so kind and made me think about things so much).

Then, on top of that, the ebook of Digging up the Past is free until 11.59pm PDT on 2nd April 2023, so if you are interested, now is a good time to pick up a copy. 

And that reminds me that afterwards I'm going to have to go through and amend the text to remove the books published by Three Furies Press. I put a small thank you to them on my website here, if you are interested. 

Hugs and good health to all.  

Weather!

Pam - thank you! I really appreciate the hug.

I didn't have a walk today as I was worried about falling asleep. For some reason, I struggled on the school run and I could feel my attention slipping as I drove. I rushed back home and napped. 

Mind you, I'm on 3221 steps with stuff around the house and visiting the bathrooms in both Morrisons and Tesco as I was feeling very headachy and queasy. 

I felt a little guilty when I went out for pick up as I saw a very ample grey and fluffy backside disappearing over the wall as the squirrel disappeared. It's been raining emphatically, which made it even worse as the poor thing came out of shelter to steal the bird food and was disturbed. Still, it was nice and peaceful to knit while I waited - only half an hour today. 

Writing stuff - I've finally got Invitation Accepted Chapter Seven up and it's here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bear and Writing Stuff

Bless - thank you. I am so proud of him.

Eileen - Thank you, especially for the encouragement.

Marjorie - thank you

I don't feel that I can take any credit for bear. He just seem to manage things by himself. Mind you, today was rough on him. The clocks went forward this weekend, so he couldn't get to sleep early enough last night, then was up for school at what his bodyclock said was 5am and we staggered out the house at 7am but it felt like 6am. Then the poor kid had his first exam which was GCSE Drama where they were filming various performances. Bear had a monologue and felt that it went quite well, but a lot of the other students had a sort of prompt that involved the word Psychotic. When he got to me in the car park around 6.30pm (I left the house at 2.30pm because we weren't sure of the timings) he said that he had spent around seven hours listening to people scream in a dark room with bright lights. He went to bed when we got home. 

I managed around 5500 steps on both Thursday and Friday. I didn't do too much over the weekend, but I think I'll reach about 5500 again today. I'll try to manage a little more tomorrow. This morning was a short walk in the park and then a dive around Aldi (I'm living on Aldi diet cola), Tesco (salad and fruit for DH) and Morrisons (snacks while waiting for bear). I'm posting pics for proof that I had a very small walk in the park.

There's lots of writing stuff going on, so if you are not interested (which is fine - no stress here) then it's good to skip after this. 

First things first. Three Furies Press is closing. It is not through any fault of the amazing people there. Rebekah, Isa and Stacey are all incredible and have done wonderful jobs. I owe them a great deal. Circumstances which have nothing to do with the publishing side of things means that it has to be closed down. I'm reeling from it, so it must be devastating for them. They have been so good to me and I'm heartbroken for them. 

This means that King's Silver, Out of the London Mist and Under the Bright Sahara Sky will be vanishing from Amazon. I'm not exactly sure what will happen next. I'm considering looking for another publisher but if needs be I may republish these myself at a later date, though I don't know when. However you have a brief window of time if you wish to get them now. There will be other opportunities, but I'm not sure when it will happen. Their website has gone, otherwise I'd point you there for a chance to see their other authors as well. The rest of my stuff will still be around, so definitely no rush there.

Bear is doing really well and is likely to need a lot of support for his studies. This means that I'm going to be thinking hard about how to make money from my writing (among other things). I have no idea where this is going to take me, but I'll share the journey. I am not adding ads to this blog.

There will still be fiction free to read on my blog (although not today as I'm in something of a tailspin still). This is likely to be taken down at intervals and turned into books, with a few exceptions. Work that has previously been free on my blog or that has been published by me for more than five years is likely to be put on sale at regular intervals. I'll always try and play fair.

Recently free for a few days as a sale

As I have already posted, I'll be taking down Dark Picture and Under Dark Hills (I really need more variety in titles) on 30th April 2023, tidying them up and making them into novels. I may put them together in one book with Across a Misty Bridge, or I may publish them as separate novellas. I'm not sure yet, but they fall under the category of 'things likely to go on sale at some time'. I'm hoping to have new covers for the White Hart series as well as I want to make myself seem like a real author. 

As I'm looking at all this 'brand' stuff, I'm going to (hopefully) organise my website. As most of my work comes under 'speculative fiction,' like fantasy and steampunk, or horror, I will also take down the more 'normal' stories that I've gathered under 'At the Fireside'. I'll be looking to make money out of them, so I may see if I can tidy some of them up and sell them to women's magazines. There are other things I can possibly do, but all that means me taking them down first and I'll do that on 30th April as well. 

I feel like my world has turned upside down in this as I had already sent in the sequel to King's Silver for editing. I've lost a lot of direction and I'm not known for my sense of purpose at the best of times. But this is why I have been so incredibly dippy recently. And the 'school run + small exercise + necessary shopping' today meant that I left the house at 7am this morning, got home at 9.30am, then left at 2.30pm and got home at 7pm. At least I got some knitting done. This is an extreme case, but it shows how fragmented my time is and how it can be limited.

And while I am in an absolute mess about it now, I'm not going to wallow in it. My writing blog is called Always Another Chapter and it is true of life. There is always another page to turn. When I was looking for a pic to put at the end, I found this. I think that this devestating news can mean the chance to start a new chapter, while still cherishing my time at the Three Furies and never forgetting just how much they helped me and how much I owe them.

Image from Unsplash, taken by Olia Gozha

Hugs and good health to all.

Bear is Awesome

Bear had an utterly awesome parents evening yesterday. I was so proud of him. They described him as well mannered, well behaved and hard working. I practically floated out of the hall, which was just as well as I did something interesting to my knee. 

Back on Monday when I hope that I'll be making sense. 

Currently Quiet

Eileen - the gift was so thoughtful and because he knew I liked it. It makes it really special.

Ruth - I've always loved that poem. It just feels full of sunshine.

Bless - I put that poem/frame together on Canva and I'm considering printing it out for myself. I've always loved that poem, but I've never seen much else from that author. I am a little nervous about colour changes, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I come up to the first colour change. I bet your sweater will look so beautiful. The colour combination sounds beautiful.

Lovely Unknown - I freeze mushrooms by peeling them (I find the skins are often tough), chopping them relatively small, throwing them in a ziplock bag and bunging it in the freezer. It doesn't seem to affect the taste (though they get used up quite quickly) and I throw them in to all sorts of stews and casseroles. As I've written, the men like jar curry sauces, but I always add something like mushrooms, onions, frozen peas etc as well as the meat to give it a bit of substance and the frozen stuff is perfect. I've found that it works well for onion as well. 

Cherie - you should absolutely get paid for your poetry. I'm working on monetising my writing, but it's a work in progress. 

Last night I peeled, chopped and froze 1.5kg of mushrooms. I also peeled, chopped and froze the bargain onions I got last week with the veg packs. One had turned and I had added a couple of onions to the veg packs as I prepped them for the freezer, so I think it was around 1kg of onions. I also hit the target of 6k steps, which I was pleased with. And I got quite a bit of knitting in as bear had the school maths quiz and was late out (I think that his team did well, but to be honest, I'm not sure). 

Today I managed 6k steps again. To be fair, most of them were around Tesco, but I did have a little walk in the park. It was a lovely bright morning here.

I've been so tired, and got a lot less done than I wanted. I was shattered on the afternoon school run. 

The squirrel, by the way, is getting to be a regular visitor most mornings. Today it was very reluctant to leave the bird feeder and waddled off reproachfully when I got out of the car. It's either expecting kittens or we need to ration the bird food. I hope to get a pic one day, but if it carries on, I'll need a wide angle lens on my phone camera.

Tomorrow I will be going backwards and forwards to school three separate times. There will be the morning, then the afternoon when I have to get him back for fancy extra maths online (which he looks forward to!), then off to the parents' evening. That is a total of roughly 48 miles with a lot of it stop start town driving. I'm going to be fit for rags at the end of it, so I may not post tomorrow.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Situation Normal - Absolute Chaos

Cherie - I'm hoping that I'll be able to earn some money somehow in the free time I get.

Sharon - I LOVE the idea of the trees wearing boots. I've chuckled every time I've seen them since.

Bless - thank you.

Elaine - I really didn't need the yarn, but it called to me. I was helpless to resist (lol) Pic of kit

Eileen - I'm feeling the fail a bit with the walk, but you have made me feel a little better with being consistent. I appreciate the hug.

I am appreciating bear. He is being an utter sweetie to me. On Sunday, apart from a card that is definitely bought with me in mind and not a generic one, he got me two candles of a type that he knows I like and a necklace that he knew I wanted.

Yesterday he went on a school trip to Selwyn College, Cambridge. It was to show pupils what to expect if they went to Oxford or Cambridge. This meant that we left the house at 6am for the school run. Then he was later than he expected, so we didn't get home until after 7pm. Bear was shattered, but had an amazing time. He had the chance to look around, listened to a lecture up to the standard they could expect, saw the libraries and had a meal. Bear was most impressed with the food. He said it was not only delicious but there was plenty of it. He had some sort of voucher which meant that they could have soup, followed by a main course, followed by dessert. And when they were treated to refreshments, they had a choice of tea and coffee in proper cups and saucers or proper orange juice - not squash! - in a proper glass. I think the food may have made the most impact on bear. Of course, he was exposed to young adult/adult portions and standards instead of school/kids stuff. 

Tonight he will be late for pick up because of a House Maths competition and Thursday is parents' evening. Poor kid was shattered this morning because apart from anything else, the coach journey was seven hours and bear isn't used to that travelling. Thank goodness Easter break is coming soon.

I didn't manage much of a walk over the weekend, but I had a small walk yesterday and today. I realised why my nose was stuffy.

This stuff gets me every year. 

I dropped off bear this morning, picked up some cereal from Morrisons and was disappointed to see a lack of marked down mushrooms - I'm out of them in the freezer. Then I had a brief walk, and for some reason dropped in to the Range to pick up some glue to mend my handbag, which turned out significantly less expensive than Tesco. There's a small Iceland grocery outlet inside the Range and I wandered over to see if there were any bargains - and there were! They had mushrooms marked down to half price. They had been £1, but were now 50p for 300g and Morrisons had been 99p for 250g. I bought five cartons, which I'll prep and put in the freezer later. 

 

Mind you, I had only planned to get a small pot of glue and had left the bags in the car so I ended up paying 79p for quite a sturdy bag, which should be shared among the cost of the mushrooms - but it is still not a bad deal. 

I am feeling fairly bewildered and overwhelmed with some writing stuff that I've been dealing with. I'll be able to share it soon, but until then I am probably going to be more erratic than normal. I apologised on my writing blog and shared one of my favourite poems. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bargains and Not-Quite-Bargains

Bless - thank you. I think the plans are in case I accidentally do something I should.

Eileen - I think rewriting the lists regularly may be useful for me because it will keep tasks at the front of my mind. I am forgetting far too much.

I am so tired as I type this, but it's not been a bad day.

I did a walk! And I went a little further than normal which I'm pleased with. It still wasn't far, but it was something.

These aren't near a river or anything, so I am somewhat bewildered why these trees should look dip-dyed.

It was unexpectedly muddy. I don't usually take this path.

There is a moss appreciation society on Facebook and I'm considering entering this. 

I love seeing flower and fruit together but I've no idea what it is. I would guess at a type of laurel, but otherwise I've no clue.

And I've always loved grape hyacinths.

I picked up some bits in Aldi and another sweater kit. I'm making slow progress on the sweater kit that I picked up a while ago to knit for Lent. It's knitting up fine - when I make time for it. The yarn feels so lovely and cosy that I was thinking what a snuggly blanket it would make - and there was one pack left. It had been reduced from £14.99 to £9.99 and contained a pattern (which I already had) and 800g of yarn, which is a pretty good price. It's not a bargain in one way as I already have too much yarn, but it is a bargain in another as it is a good price for the yarn and lovely and warm. 

Then I called in quickly at Tesco as I wanted the stuff for Mother's Day (we're having steak). While I was there, I picked up three veg stewpacks, 1kg of swede/onion/parsnip/carrot mix marked down £1.10 to 80p. Those are now peeled, chopped and in the freezer. That's one decent casserole and probably 8 portions of soup with some lentils and flavourings. I also picked up some marked down organic brown onions which totalled £2.32 for 1.5kg. This compares well with the ready prepared frozen onion which is £2.40 per kg. There was a little waste with the peelings, but not too much. I haven't finished putting those up. I'm now on the look out for marked down mushrooms as we're almost out of the ones I've previously chopped and frozen. I also picked up three jars of Sweet and Sour sauce, which are three for the price of two. I've seriously stocked up on jars. I don't think that I'll need to buy any more for a good few months. 

Today I've done little bits - I've done a load of washing, I've given the bathroom a quick clean. I've done some writing, I've eaten a proper lunch, I've managed a little knitting, I've made a dinner, put up the veggie bargains and now I am nodding off as I sit here. It could be a lot worse. I left the house at 7am this morning and got home at 9.47am. Then I left the house around 2.15pm and got home almost dead on 5pm. I admit, I'll be glad when the school run is finsihed. It takes so much out of my day, and the driving was awful today. My emergency stop had a good work out. 

Now I'm nodding off over my keyboard, so I think I will aim for an early night.

Hugs and good health to all. 

The Week is Slipping By!

Bless - thank you - I am so proud of him.

Sharon - thank you. Sometimes I think that my car is sniggering at me.

Eileen - bear was wearing the blazer that is compulsory for school and a thin shirt. He utterly rejects coats. He hadn't bothered with a hoodie either. I haven't been able to get him to wear a vest, no matter what, since primary school. 

I managed a walk! It was only a little one, but it's something and I really wasn't in the mood. There were signs of the recent storms. 

I've not been brilliantly successful, but I've done bits. I've changed bear's dentist appointment so that it didn't clash with his extra revision classes that he volunteered for. They're for the new college and are for people expected to do well in maths. Bear is really looking forward to them. I've sorted out some notes and started to get back into writing things down in lists again. That has always made a positive difference. I've managed a load of washing as well.

Mind you, I'm somewhat unimpressed as bear told me at just after 6pm that he needed some stuff washing as it was a non-uniform day tomorrow. I need to get everything ready for him by 6am. I may have been a little sarcastic about it. 

Now I'm going off to plan what I'm doing tomorrow. It won't happen (because it never does) but at least I'll know what I should be doing. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

It's Wednesday?

Bless - Bear has to be coaxed out of that black blazer sometimes, to say that he utterly rejected it before the interview! Thank you, I'm feeling better. I hope that your lovely garden gets the benefit of the rain.

Rae - You sound like you have been really poorly - I hope that you are feeling better. Sending all hugs. That snow sounds scary!

Sharon - I have never been so grateful for a closed school! And sometimes I feel at the mercy of the car's sensors!

Eileen - Thank you - I really appreciate your kind comment on the pic. I'm sure that you knew that about Tesco, but I thought I would share just in case. I know far too much about Tesco and it's sort of a claim to fame.

I'm sorry that my posts and comments are a little erratic at the moment. There's some writing stuff going on, and of course the school run which has been a little more trying than normal recently.

I took the car to the garage and they said that there was an intermittent problem with the ABS sensors. They do things with computers these days. I remember when it was a bloke with greasy hands leaning under a bonnet. They were lovely and as they didn't do anything, they didn't charge me. I plan to take in biscuits for them. Apparently the sensors for Citroen and Peugeot can be incredibly sensitive and a little twitchy. I described my car's sensors as more sensitive than a mother-in-law and the lovely man laughed. At the moment all is working well, so I am leaving well alone. When the weather calms down, I'll take her for a seriously long run which should help.

Bear did awesomely in his exams. He's getting the sort of grades that look like they're faked, so I won't share the exact details, but he has been epically brilliant. Even his English score, which is comparitively dismal, is pretty good. I am so proud of him.

I am also proud of him for how he was this morning. We had unexpected extra snow, which froze. Unlike last time, where the snow just knocked off, I had a dreadful job clearing the car. Bear was wonderful and cleared it from the windscreen when I was just about finished with the cold. He didn't complain, either, and volunteered to help out. That is the sort of thing I am desperately proud of. Mind you, today showed how the school run could be. We were late as it took around twenty minutes to get the car properly cleared and defrosted, even with the heated windows, scrapers and spray. It was frozen on and I wasn't very scientific about it. So while I left the house at 7.10am, I didn't get bear dropped off until 8am. I got back to the house around 9am, with traffic, then left the house again at 2.30, the normal time I would leave the house for pick up. To be fair to bear, he had told me that he wasn't going to be leaving school until 4pm due to some sort of thing with drama, so I took the opportunity to pick up half a dozen more sauces at 3 for 2 at Tesco. Then I settled down with my knitting and waited. And waited. And waited. Due to one thing and another, bear didn't get to the car until 5.50pm and it was well after 6pm before we got home. Please let bear get the college place that is 15 minutes on the bus!

Writing stuff - this week's instalment of Invitation Accepted Chapter Six is here.  I am having a lot of fun with it. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Please Hold

Yesterday I took this picture to show blossom and snow

And if you look carefully, you can see snow on one side of the lake but not on the other.

I think it was which side gets sun. 

Just after that, all the warning lights came on in the car while I was stationary at some lights. I eased myself gently home and had a moment once I got there. I then positively glided through Sunday morning empty streets to drop bear off at his school for some extra lessons. The brakes and steering were all responding fine, otherwise bear couldn't have gone as it was too early for the buses and I wasn't taking him anywhere if I thought the car wasn't safe. All the warning lights with extra beeps stopped, without warning, after dropping him off. In the past, the sensors have been a little sensitive, so all bets are off. I am getting the car to the garage asap. 

I feel poorly. I have a headache, sore throat, earache and my joints are hurting. I do not approve.

However I am in a better place than the lady next door but one. She has had a spectacularly bad run of luck and her car was set alight on Friday night. It absolutely burnt out to a shell, melting the fronts off the nearby wheelie bins. We weren't affected, but I felt for her. It was quite late at night and the lights of the fire engine shining through smoke and steam were incredibly eerie. 

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow making more sense.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Grumpy

Eileen - before I forget, Tesco switch over their offers on a Tuesday, so they run Tuesday to Monday. You can check online without signing in, eg https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/282999958 which is Pizza Sauce, but they have a load on, including curry and pesto. It will also tell you the date the offer ends online (21 Mar 23 in this case) so you know if you can pace yourself or whether you need to get what you're getting now. You need a clubcard for most of the offers, but that's easy to get and the offers like the sauces come with the free version of the clubcard. There is small print. For example, if you get three of different types, the cheapest one is free. I know with the frozen deal a few weeks ago they only allowed so many of the discounts per transaction as well. So I will be going and absolutely getting the pesto, the curry sauce and the pasta sauce and putting them through in separate batches of three. And as the pesto I like is cheaper than the pizza sauce, I'll be careful to group the pizza sauce together so that one of the more expensive ones goes through as the free one and not a cheaper pesto, iyswim. 

Sharon - you are awesome. I told bear that the other drivers were the scariest thing about driving in difficult weather. Some areas near here had a warning for 40cm and I also will be glad of spring.

We had lots of snowflakes last night. At 5.30 it looked a little like this.

At 6am I got the text that school was closed and I was extremely grateful. Bear was also extremely thankful. We've been quite warm as we have good double glazing and the sun was on us this afternoon so a lot of it has melted, but we are forecast -6C here tonight so it will be ridiculously slippery tomorrow. 

I have a stonking headache and queasy stomach again. I suspect that not only is something I'm eating setting me off, but my sinuses are also playing up, so I am not a happy bunny. I shall have an early night.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Several More Flakes

Eileen - my coat is vital to me, even as a teen, but then I've always been nesh. 

Lovely unknown commenter - it's like the pic from Scott of the Antarctic, with him all bundled up with the rest of his team and a Yorkshire lad in a t-shirt saying, 'What? I've got a sweater around here somewhere.' I was born and brought up in West Cheshire. We didn't do snow.

Bless - so far, so good. Most of the route is main roads which are gritted, so I should be okay.

It's been a funny sort of snow day. After the weather forecast last night, I expected to wake up to Snowmagaddon. There was hardly anything at all. It's been fine snow with a lot of rain mixed in. We've got away with it a lot. This is what it looked like midday

It was snow falling, but it wasn't sticking. There were a few inches settled in the countryside between us and school, but the roads were okay. There was only one moment on the way home tonight when I could see slush on the road itself, but the drive was fine. I should add, I got an ear full of snow when I was topping up the bird feeder, but there wasn't anything worth worrying about. 

It was non-uniform day today and bear looked awesome. He was wearing the black blazer from his interview, a black shirt, black tie, black (school) trousers and polished shoes. I am absolutely not asking him about his romantic situation. 

He got really good marks in maths and further maths, and he got 52% in the Physics Olympiad, which makes me incredibly proud of him. 

Tesco are doing 3 for the price of two on jar sauces. As DH has one pasta bake per week, every week, I got six. I'm considering getting more, plus a load of the curries. We may use one jar every other week, but the jars last for ages and the way prices are rising, I would be mad not to. I'm definitely only getting the ones that we use regularly, though. They also had Heinz beans, 6 for £5.50 the other day. I can remember when it used to be a bargain when you got 6 for £3. As it was, I regret only getting one pack. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

A Few Small Snowflakes

Bless - thank you. Bear is being awesome about it (in my very biased opinion). I think I'm going to have to track my water intake.

Sharon - thank you - that means a lot about the photo

Cherie - I get headaches sometimes with upset stomachs when I've eaten something that doesn't agree with me. Cheese is a main culprit but I know that there are a few additives and bits and pieces out there that also trigger. I just have to let things work through my system. I suspect that some gluten free biscuits set me off initially but as they are great as comfort food, I've kept having them before I realised. I hope that I'm finally dragging through the end of it.

Eileen - bear would very much like to aim for all nines. From looking at his results and reports and talking to teachers, 9s are a reasonable possibility in Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths, and Further Maths. They are a chance with a bit of luck and a lot of study in History and Business Studies, but 7s or 8s are more realistic. A 9 is unlikely for Drama but not theoretically impossible. A 9 for English Lit or English Language is something of a distant dream. If he gets a 6, which is still respectable, he will be reluctantly okay with it as it gets him into the courses. 

Today we saw at least three snowflakes in the afternoon.

It was very light, didn't affect the road and barely affected visibility when driving bear home. On the other hand, we have an Amber warning for snow tomorrow and I'm a little nervous. Our home isn't particularly high up, but Heckmondwike is on the edge of the Penines, which is forecast to be quite hard hit. The problem is that our area isn't set up for snow, which happens about five days a year, so while I'm planning the routes with care to avoid the worst of the hills and the trickier corners, it is still all main roads which should all be gritted. It should be okay if I avoid the worst of the hazards and pick my route. There is one roundabout in particular that has been vile in the last few days, with a lot of traffic and it being tricky to get out. It's been - see a small gap and hope for the best. That won't work in snow. 

Bear is completely rejecting a hoodie or heaven forbid a coat. Negotiations are ongoing, but I don't feel optimistic. 

Today I got a coupon from Tesco for £2 off if I spent £12 or more in the Home Department. It seemed rude not to indulge.

Writing stuff - I've given a brief update here about plans for the next month of writing. As my track record of sticking with plans isn't brilliant, it may be taken with a pinch of salt, but I'd welcome all opinions, if you feel like commenting. 

A Middling Sort of Day

 Sharon - I keep wondering where I went right! I can't take any credit.

Bless - it's really taking now. Your daughter sounds awesome.

I didn't post yesterday because some writing stuff is happening. It's all sort of difficult and I can't share yet. I'm still a little in the fog about it all.

I managed a very small walk this morning.

There are some very faint traces of spring

Early morning was lovely and golden against the shadows

Bear has had a few more results back. He missed out on top marks for History and Business Studies, but he's confident that he'll do better in the exams.

My headache is back with a vengeance. I think I'll be crawling off for an early night.

Writing stuff - The latest instalment of Invitation Accepted  is here.

Hugs and good health to all. 

The End of the Weekend

Bless - I'm waiting to see the rest of the results. Bear can get over confident. I'm going to have to find a way of being more disciplined with time. I'm the resident taxi because the other parents live so far away and DH doesn't know the area. There are a lot of strange turns and knacky areas which are difficult to drive if you don't expect them. 

Eileen - I think that this is the last round of mocks, thank goodness! Don't stress about the podcast. I always worry that people will think less of me if they hear me talk. 

Marjorie - thank you - it was a wonderfully uneventful journey.

Sharon - DH has the same love for words and stories as I do. Neither of us are mathematically able in any way at all, although DH is much better than me. Bear just loves his numbers and I am baffled and incredibly proud of him. 

The sick headache is still coming and going. I am unimpressed. 

It is looking more and more like spring, with the honeysuckle coming back.

I just hope that the new growth isn't killed by the snow that's forecast.

I am so lucky with bear. I picked him up from a house where there had been a few of his friends all of his age. He was happy to work with me for a time to pick up, said thank you, and was generally lovely. I have heard so many horror stories and I am grateful that I didn't have any worries.

I'm under no illusions. I'm sure that there will be moments as the years come but for now, I'm savouring the moment.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Unimpressed

I am just coming down from a shocking migraine/stomach upset that almost knocked me out yesterday and today and I have to keep myself going because I am supposed to pick bear up from some sort of party at a house I've never been to in an area I don't know around 11pm, or thereabouts. 

I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully be in a better state.

Hugs and good health to all.

Where Did the Week Go?

Sharon - Thank you - that's a real compliment from you. I find time running away from me all the time.

Cherie - I always blink at seeing people in pyjamas and dressing gown in shops. But there are standards - I never seem to see them in a nightie!

Bless - thank you.

Eileen - Thank you, and getting lost can give me the giggles sometimes, especially if I'm not in a rush to pick up bear.

I'm sorry that I didn't post. I was lucky enough to be on another podcast that ran for two hours. I'm not used to talking that much and I was fit only for bed afterwards.

Bear got a 9 in his Chemistry mock this time around. Today was his last exam which was one of the maths ones and then we rushed home for the extra maths stuff from the college. Bear was a happy bunny, if you see what I mean. He loves his numbers.

I've been pootling around with a few different bits. I've not eaten well, though, so I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I'll start again tomorrow.

Writing stuff - I can't seem to find a previous post with this, so please forgive me if I've posted this before. I've re-edited Digging up the Past and I've re-published it as ebook and paperback. The ebook is now in Kindle Unlimited. I even got a new cover.

I think it's a lot better after the edit, but I've learned a lot since it was first published in 2013. 

The podcast is here and was me and a gentleman called Joshua Pantalleresco just talking about life, the universe and everything for two hours. He works as a motivational coach and advertiser and I felt very inspired afterwards. 

Hugs and good health to all.