Sunday 13 September 2009

Writing and Non Writing

I love Writers’ Forum and have just finished reading this month’s issue.

I was going to write a full review of the magazine, but I’d be here all day. I tried just writing about the articles that particularly stood out for me and again, it would have taken me ages and I’m too lazy.

Apart from that I’ve got a thumping headache, the dogs need to be walked and my head is bursting with ideas which I must attend to before my head really does burst and I end up with a mess on my desk.

Perhaps the sudden burst of activity in my weary brain is thanks to Glynis Scrivens’ excellent article in WF about motivation.

And of course reading about writing is one thing, but you can’t beat getting on with it and doing it.

I decided to sort out some old paperwork this week. Well it took my mind off some troubling Official Business for a while.

I’ve shredded so much that the shredder appears to have gone to god – or gone on strike – or blown a gasket or something. I even had all the paperwork for a holiday from 2002 - and from when I changed bank accounts nine years ago. That was just the tip of a very large iceberg. No wonder the shredder protested.

And I’ve seen a lot of spiders.

Which reminds me.

Daddy long legs.

Where are they? I’ll tell you where they are, they’re still in their leather jackets in the grass waiting for it to rain. We haven’t had any significant rainfall here for weeks apart from a couple of very short sharp showers.

But when the rain comes – so will the invasion! Then you may just hear me scream.

Oh and the picture – it’s one I took yesterday of the Mystery Water Thing. The white blob is two swans. I’m still none the wiser.


11 comments:

  1. Hi Teresa

    The Daddy Long Legs are about here in Shropshire and have been for weeks! But then we've had rain for most of July and August. The five days of sunshine we had last week was our summer! And there's one Harvest Spider the size of my hand that keeps coming into the bathroom. It's the only room not to have conkers in! (For those of you who don't know - if you put a conker in each corner of the room, it keeps the spiders away. Don't ask me why, but it works. Don't knock it until you try it!)

    Shredding is cathartic - particularly rejection letters I find :-)

    Simon

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  2. Conkers! Bless you Simon, I didn't know that. To the woods . . .
    I don't like the sound of your Harvest Spider.

    Yes I find shredding cathartic too - and much less painful on the fingers and thumbs than the old fashioned ripping them to a thousand tiny pieces method.

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  3. Hope you managed to get all those ideas written and that your headache's better.

    We've had non-stop rain and several visits from Daddy Long Legs - I don't mind them as much as I mind spiders, but my 12-year-old is constantly screaming for them to be escorted off the premises.

    XX

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  4. Ooh, I didn't know that about conkers. Must try it. I find having four cats helps a lot at keeping spiders and other crawly things down though.

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  5. Cats are great but in our house they leave the spider all curled up and dead like an ancient thing which is almost as frightening as a live spider (well, ok not quite). Conkers sound interesting...I'm going to try that one myself!

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  6. Ahh spiders. You have to like it or lump it in Australia. We're about to come into season for the big ones. I'm not sure whether they sneak in small and grow over night but you might go to sleep thinking you're alone and wake up with a big black friend in the corner. This time of year I like to work on my scream...

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  7. Not yet Suzanne on either count, but I'm working on it. We had a bit of rain today but no DLLs as yet. I like that - escorting them off the premises!

    Helen and Helen - my cats used to bring creepy crawlies home and release them into the tame! And I find dead ones almost as frightening as live ones too.

    Lacey I always feel guilty when I moan about spiders to my Australian friends. I don't think I'd ever sleep again if ours were as big as yours.

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  8. We had a Crocodile Dundee moment the other week when my niece was over here from the UK. Her husband spotted a small garden spider and rushed over to photograph it. "That's not a big spider," I told him. We get them as big as our hand, and their webs stretch from our grapefruit tree onto the veranda. You need to look above your head to see the big ones, not in front of you.
    Hi Lacey - I'm in Brisbane. Where are you?
    And I'm glad you found the article useful, Teresa.

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  9. If I looked up and saw a spider as big as that, Glynis I'd probably drop dead on the spot!

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  10. I had one drop on my head once, at midnight, when I'd been up feeding my baby. I was standing at the sink pouring a cup of water when it dropped onto my head from the ceiling. It ran around my head a few times then bit me on the neck. I screamed, of course, and spent the rest of the night wondering whether I'd be dead by morning.So you do survive it, Teresa, but it's awfully scary

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  11. Terrifying Glynis! What a horrible experience.
    My worse was when one leapt into the bath with me - it wasn't huge, but it was enough to have me running up and down the landing having the screaming abdabs - and the bathroom ceiling was soaked.

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