Happy Christmas!

Just popping in to wish everyone who reads my ramblings a very happy Christmas (I promise to keep this short). Thank you for sticking with me and for your kind and generous comments.

I don't have any particularly festive pictures, but I like this one of four of my grandchildren (there is a fourth one buried in there) having a cuddle with Olaf. "Why is he so big?" one of the smaller ones asked. "Because he's eaten too many mince pies," I said to which I got a long suffering look, a groan and, "Don't be silly, Grandma. He's a snowman."

Happy Christmas!

Lots of Love,

Teresa xxx

Books, books, books...

  

As we’re hurtling towards the end of the year, I thought I’d write a post about some of the terrific books I’ve read this year.

When I was a child, one of my favourite books was one I inherited from my sister called The Girls’ Book of Heroines. I don’t have many books that I’ve kept from childhood, but that is one of them. I used to read it over and over and still have an occasional dip.

This year Debbie Blake’s, Daughters of Ireland: Pioneering Irish Women was published by The History Press. I treated myself to the paperback and oh my! I planned to dip in and out over time, but ended up reading it cover to cover over several days. I had the same feeling reading that as I did my sister's heroines book, this sense of discovery about amazing women, but in much more depth of course.

I found myself reading bits out to my husband. A truly inspirational and eye-opening read about fascinating women. As a footnote you can find out more about #Distractingly Sexy  posted by female scientists on Twitter.

Most recent book read was Milly Johnson’s Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café. Another one I couldn’t put down. I love Milly’s books and have enjoyed every one, but I think this is her best yet.

Here is a list of some of the other books I’ve read and enjoyed (I'm too lazy to write reviews, but you can check them out on Amazon and "Look inside"). There are more, but I can’t get to my notebook where I write down every book I read as it is buried under a pile of presents so I’ve had to rely on my memory (not very good as I know I’ve read far more than this). I’ve put links to the books on Amazon and Author blogs/websites where known.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

The Birds, The Bees and Other Secrets by Frances Garrood

Short Story Secrets: Turning Words Into Money by Hettie Barton

Not A Drop To Drink by Patsy Collins (You can also find Patsy at Womagwriter)

Tying Down The Lion by Joanna Campbell

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (And it's going to be on screen! Can't wait!)

Edwins Baby & Other Stories by Susanne Ross Jones

Dreaming Big & Other Stories by Susanne Ross Jones

Elizabeth is Missing by EmmaHealey

Poison (87thPrecinct) by Ed McBain

Wolf Hall & Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill

The Positively Productive Writer by Simon Whaley

Give Up Ironing: A Writer’s Guide to Time Management by Kathleen McGurl

Ghost Stories and How to Write Them by Kathleen McGurl

The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory

Edit is a Four Letter Word by Glynis Scrivens

I’m always on the lookout for book recommendations, so if anyone has any ideas, I’d be grateful!

Update on Dusty. Four weeks now since his op and we have at last dispensed with the lampshade. Next week he goes for his first hydrotherapy session – as he loves swimming I’m hoping he’ll enjoy it! It will be nice for him to have a change of scene. He’s getting very bored and regularly empties my paper recycling bin for me!

And in other news, while I am sleeping downstairs with Dusty, someone else has taken over my side of the bed. I just hope she moves over and gives me some room when I can finally go back to my bed!

Dusty's Progress

A week ago today we picked Dusty up from Newmarket.

This is how his leg looked on day 3.

Day 3

On Day 4, he went to our vet for a check-up. She was a little concerned about his temperature being high, but said it might be because he was stressed. And he was very stressed. He shook and shivered the whole way out there – and was as calm as anything coming home.

So to save us going back and forth, she gave me a thermometer and asked me to check his temperature later that day. It had gone down by the afternoon. By the next morning (Wednesday – day 5) it had dropped further.

I have to keep taking his temp twice a day in case it spikes again.

I have also been massaging arnica into his leg – keeping away from the wound – to help with the bruising.

Carrying him up and down stairs and in and out of the back door, I pulled something in my back so I stopped being a stubborn control freak and let the males in the house do some of the carrying up and down. Pleased to say my back is now feeling much better.

First big step was that the fluid around his ankle had gone by day 4 and he is now putting some weight on his leg, not a lot, but it’s a start. He walks best if he walks slowly and as Dusty has never done anything slowly in his life that is a big challenge.

We’re keeping visitors to a minimum, but he’s had a few this week. The kidlets have all been very good, keeping low so he won’t jump up and putting up with being bashed with the e-collar.

Visitors

Sleeping downstairs on the floor was what I expected to be the hardest part and it turns out to be the easiest and best. He settles down in his cave which he loves, kicks his duvet out and goes to sleep. I haven’t closed him in there yet. At the moment I’m letting him come and go as he likes to move to his bed, or my bed (on the floor) or up by my head next to the gate.

I couldn’t get a very good photo of him in his cave as I have the lights low when we settle down for the night.

In his cave

At night he wears a soft neck cushion as well as the e-collar as a couple of times I have caught him just about to lick at his leg. He is something of a contortionist.

The worst part of this so far is when he decides there is something up on the side which he absolutely must see and tries to jump up. Even picking him up and showing him there is nothing interesting to see doesn’t help. He needs constant supervision and that is stressful. You wouldn't believe how long it's taken me just to write this post!

Monday he has his 10 day check-up. I think the next step will be dispensing with the e-collar which should be sometime next week. I'm looking forward to that as much as he is! No more bruised shins!

Dusty's op!

This week Dusty will mostly be wearing an e-collar

Well things have moved along a bit after a worrying time since last I posted. Tom checked out Dusty’s leg and was concerned about the swelling round his stifle joint. Mainly he wanted to rule out that his jaw and knee problems could be related (must admit that had crossed my mind too) and might be indicative of an auto-immune disease.

So off we went back to Newmarket on Thursday where they did scans and x rays. The phone call when it came said he needed TPLO (tibial-plateau-levelling osteotomy) surgery for a cruciate ligament rupture on his right hind leg and that they had a slot for the next day (Friday) if we wanted it. You can read more about the procedure here. There is an x ray picture of the plate and screws which looks just like Dusty’s.

It was a relief that there was no auto-immune disease though – a bright side at least.

His op on Friday lasted for almost four hours. For the next few weeks we have to make sure he doesn’t run, jump or climb on anything.

At the moment he has to wear an e-collar until the wound has healed which should be in about 10 days.

We were shown his scans and x rays when we picked him up on Saturday. They also found the top of the tibia on his left leg is an odd shape and his kneecap is slightly in the wrong place. As well as that, there is a fragment of bone floating round in there. Not causing any problems at the moment. I asked if it was the result of some injury and he said no, just a mystery thing he was born with.

Finally falling asleep on the journey home

Anyway, he was over the moon to see us and happy to be coming home – it’s a 90 minute journey and yesterday it seemed endless. Tried him in the metal crate when we’d been home for a while and he said no thanks to that – he went so crazy I was afraid he’d hurt himself. We’d never used it so little wonder he doesn't like it. I’ve ordered him a soft one like Harley’s – only much bigger and hoping he finds that more comfortable.

Hopefully he will love his soft crate as much as Harley loves hers

In the end we made the smaller end of the living room into a pen and I slept down there on a chair bed with him so he could move about in a small space but had nothing to climb on.

Today he is in my office with me upstairs which is more comfortable for him. I carried him up and have a gate at the top of the stairs to stop him escaping down. It’s more comfortable for me too than sitting on the floor downstairs with him to stop him jumping up on the sofas.

This week we’ll take him to see our vet for a check-up, then hopefully once the wound has healed he’ll be able to start short lead walks.

Oh and I am having to do exercises with him, but the minute I start he sits down. He likes the leg massages though!

Patsy Collins - Firestarter

I'm delighted that Patsy Collins has agreed to do a guest post right here about her new book, Firestarter. You can find Patsy at Words about writing and writing about words and at Womagwriter's blog. But that's enough from me. Without further ado it's over to you, Patsy.

It's said that an author always puts something of themselves in their main characters. I don't do that deliberately, but I suppose it's inevitable that our thoughts and experiences influence whatever we write.

Alice Bakewell is the main character in my new novel; a romantic comedy called Firestarter. I set most of the story close to where I live and wrote the majority of it in the camper van, so she and I do have locations (around the New Forest and a trip to Wales where things get steamy*!) in common.

*Steamy for Alice that is. I'm keeping quiet about my own trips over the border. There's such a thing as over sharing.

Alice is very pretty, bubbly, curvaceous and has long hair. We could be twins! OK, maybe not. She is slightly younger than me (a mere 22 years difference) and her hair is sleek, glossy black, not a riot of unpredictable red. She straightens hers - every day! Neither of us is skinny, but Alice's curves are flaunted in fashionable clothes which she actually enjoys shopping for. I had to push my imagination to its limits for that part. Her social life was quite a stretch too as she has one.

She's a maths whizz with a sensible job which she's very good at. I had a proper job, in an office and everything, once. No really, I did.

A slightly offbeat sense of humour is something Alice and I share. Everyone finds Brussels sprouts fairly hilarious though, don't they? We also both find creative ways of getting even with people who've annoyed us. Alice has slime-ball Miles Molde manoeuvred into drinking her dad's terrible home-brew. I just write about it happening.

The pair of us both enjoy our food, especially cake. I'm blaming most of my curves on researching Alice's eating habits. I had to do a LOT of research. Her mum uses unusual recipes which I had to invent for her. Alice gets invited to classy parties and events where fancy food is served. I don't, or at least not often, so I had to cook my own fancy nibbles. You can't just make one of each, can you?

All that eating means Alice and I need to find ways to burn off the calories. Alice does aerobics and zumba. My imagination was put to use again there. I agree with her there are more useful ways to exercise. There are more fun ones too. See my comment on over sharing.

Conservation work is Alice's useful way of keeping fit. It's something she's surprised to discover she enjoys. It's handy that she does, as the wildlife sanctuary is the place a certain hunky fireman spends a lot of his free time. Volunteering there helps Alice get close to firefighter Hamish. She also learns a lot more about birds, including her, and my, favourite - oyster catchers. Hamish is particularly interested in rather rare red-footed corvids. Thanks to Alice's ornithological education I'm now a little more knowledgeable about our feathered friends. (Haven't mastered photographing them though!)

Alice has a real thing for firemen. Fit, strong firemen with muscular thighs. All her fantasies feature a fireman, some even involve his uniform - at least to start with. First he rescues her from a perilous situation, holding her safely in his strong arms, then there's mouth to mouth and of course he'll need to gently but thoroughly check her for injuries and then ... Oh gosh, I've used up nearly all the space Teresa allocated me, so there's no room to continue, detail my research methods, or even say if I share Alice's opinion of firemen. What a shame.

Thank you, Patsy. Firestarter is available from Amazon. I can't wait to read it!

Mysterious Dusty

A year ago Dusty had an abscess under his jaw. There followed weeks of antibiotics, a CT scan and an operation to scrape away some of the bone followed by more flare ups. It was all very worrying.

Worst case scenario was that he would have to have the whole bone removed on one side of his lower jaw.

When it came back earlier this year, our vet spoke to the specialist vet who had done the operation and they agreed that as a few weeks had passed since the last flare up, they should manage it – whatever it was because they are baffled as to why he gets these infections – conservatively rather than subject him to a big operation.

A couple of months ago, the lump came back, but wasn’t as big and burst quite quickly. The vet said we could wait 48 hours and see how he was, put him straight onto another 6 week course of antibiotics, or send him for another scan. We decided to wait. The lump flattened and he was fine.

Two weeks ago we noticed his chin was starting to swell again – but slowly. Abscesses usually swell very fast and are very painful. It wasn’t anywhere near as big as the previous swellings had been and it wasn’t painful.

I thought perhaps it was scar tissue, but made an appointment with Tom to double check. Not scar tissue he said straight away and looking at the photo I can see I was deluding myself in thinking it was. He found his lymph node slightly swollen on that side too and took some fluid for testing.

Have to say Dusty was very brave while this was being done, but I shan’t mention the fact that he did a puddle in the waiting room because *shock horror* someone tried to make a fuss of him! He’s a different dog in that waiting room!

So he’s back on antibiotics, but the good news is the test didn’t show any cancerous cells, but that he is fighting an infection. So although Dusty remains a medical mystery his chin is looking more normal now!

A Fit of the Naughties!

Dusty has naughty days when he keeps gathering things up. Often he’ll come in from the garden with a stone, a leaf or a stick. Sometimes it’ll be one of Harley’s beds or a toy or a shoe. I took all these photos one afternoon after school when he got a fit of the naughties!

With Mr Potato Head's lips

With Mr Potato Head's nose

Hiding behind Harley, eating my poppies

With a lid from the toy tea set

He is extremely quick to learn (except when it comes to walking nicely on the lead) and I have inadvertently taught him that if he brings me something, I will exchange it for something tasty. He usually brings his finds and sits in front of me with them as if to say, “Where’s my treat?” 

Indy used to do the same when the children were playing. In his case, I think he just wanted to join in the fun. I think Dusty does too - the treats are an added bonus!

He finds things when we’re out. At the moment there are a lot of windfall apples to be found and we can have quite a lengthy game of fetch with one of those before it disintegrates.

Last weekend he saw this at the beach.

He approached warily, walked round it, cocked his leg up at it, then moved on. But I wanted a photo of him with it and the only way to get him back was to offer him a dog biscuit – so that face he’s pulling is his eating a biscuit face.

This lovely September warm spell has enticed him back into the water. He’s been doing a lot of swimming over the past few days. When the tide is out he swims in the creek, but it’s too dangerous to swim there when the tide is in. It’s very deep and very fast moving. 

Swimming in the creek

Swimming in the sea

The Mysterious Hettie Barton

I am absolutely thrilled to welcome the mysterious Hettie Barton to my blog. Hettie, under her other by-lines, is one of my favourite short story writers. Her new book, which is available on Kindle is called Short Story Secrets – Turning Words Into Money.

I’d already read Hettie’s Handy Hints For An Easier Life. I love how Hettie describes herself as “Hettie Barton Busybody”.  

I fell in love with Hettie's forthright manner and her succinct easy to read format, so I guessed Short Story Secrets would also be a good read.

There are lots of how-to guides on the market, but Short Story Secrets is different. Hettie doesn’t tell you how to create characters or write dialogue, but she does tell you how to go about being a writer, from how to present your work to finding your way through the new contracts.

So without further ado, here’s Hettie!

I know that you are a successful writer with publishing credits in the hundreds – and I must admit to being a fan of your stories, so what made you decide to write a book about writing?

I love to read and I love to write – most of all I love to read about writing. So I thought it would be interesting to see if I could write a writing book of my own. I really enjoyed the experience and the words flew onto the screen. Which I suppose proves the old saying that you should write something you’d like to read.

It is very different from other writing books and quite unlike any I’ve read before. In fact it felt like having a chat with another writer about the business of writing. Did you see a gap in the market or is this the book you wish had been about when you started out?

I wish I could say I had identified a gap, but unfortunately I wasn’t thinking that clearly. But, yes, I do wish there had been something similar to this when I first started writing – if only to give me a bit of confidence that I was on the right track and that rejections are normal.

I remember being amazed when I found out other writers got rejections too. Why did you use a pseudonym?

Pseudonyms are brilliant – I have a few. Sometimes, I might use one because I’m writing a different style of story. For Short Story Secrets, though, I avoided using my own name so I could write what I wanted without feeling inhibited. I’ve tried to be as honest as possible in this book as there’s no point offering advice if you’re going to hold something back. If I’d been using my own name I would probably have toned it down a bit.

There is something liberating about using a pseudonym isn’t there. Do you have a favourite writing book yourself?

I have shelves and boxes full of writing books and I love most of them. For short stories, though, I’d have to say Della Galton’s How To Write And Sell Short Stories is a must for anyone writing for the womag market. I also have a spot dusted on my keepers’ shelf for the time you might write a writing book.

That’s a great book to recommend – and thank you for keeping a spot dusted for me. Do you write every day?

Oooh, I don’t. I know I should, but somehow I’ve never quite been able to manage it. Sometimes, as with this book, the words just write themselves – those times are a joy and I can’t wait to get back to the keyboard so I did write every day when I was working on this project. But then I’ll need a rest and I might not write much else for months.

Any writing mascots or charms?

Not as such, but I have to admit to a quiver of nerves when the post office changes the colour of stamps. Especially if they no longer match my envelopes and paperclips. I also like to post my stories from the same post boxes (I have three favourites) – because I’m sure that makes a huge difference to how the editor will judge my story. I always stick my hand into the box to make sure the envelope’s properly in. And I’d never leave a submission in a post box overnight – if the post’s gone I’ll hold on to the story until the next day. Though this last one is probably less superstition and more good sense as I’ve heard some horror stories about what can happen to post boxes and I know I’m not alone in worrying about this. It makes my life much easier when publications accept email submissions.

I had to laugh – the times I’ve almost got my hand stuck in a post box trying to push my envelope down! Which do you prefer writing, novellas or short stories?

I adore writing short stories. I only wish there was a bigger market for them. I love that I can write them fairly quickly (despite being a slow writer). I love that after acceptance they (mostly) get published quickly. And I love the whole experience of going to the newsagent and flicking through the pages of the magazine to see what the story looks like in print. And sometimes (most of the time) I’ll tell the newsagent and everyone who happens to be in the queue that I have a story published in that particular issue. Cool is not my middle name.

That is a lovely feeling isn’t it. And I think Cool could well be your middle name! What comes first for you, the characters or the plot?

This is a difficult one. Most of the time I’m not too sure where an idea has come from. Occasionally it will be something in real life that’s set it off – maybe an overheard conversation, or something that’s happened at work (with names changed to protect the guilty). So I think, in those cases, the idea for the character and the suggestion for the plot arrive together. The only time I’ve really been aware that character comes first is if someone has annoyed me – then I’ll write a story around them. There’s nothing better than getting revenge in print.

Revenge can be so sweet – plus you get paid! What for you is the best bit of being a writer?

Creating something from nothing. Knowing that when a reader picks up one of my stories, I have a direct link through to their mind (which sounds a bit sinister, but I only use this power for entertainment purposes). And actually being paid for it. I still can’t believe people actually pay me for my words.

Well I can. Your stories are lovely and I can relate to that special connection with the reader. And the worst part of being a writer?

The worrying. The waiting. And the email and postman stalking. And the silence from editors (which can be frequent and lengthy). Before I started writing I always thought I was quite patient. Turns out I’m not.

I think that is my worst part too. Has the success of Short Story Secrets taken you by surprise?

It has a bit. When I published it I didn’t really expect much to happen, but it sold a number of copies fairly quickly. It seems to have gone down quite well, too, which was also a surprise. Some readers have sent positive private messages and a few have posted welcome and very kind reviews, for which I’m very grateful. Sometimes people are so lovely.

The reviews are well deserved. So what next for Hettie?

Hettie’s thinking over lots of ideas.

The first is for a Christmas Book (though I’ve probably left it too late for this year). This will be another Handy Hints type book.

I’m also keen to do a book of angry rants – this will be a selfish book, full of some of the things that drive me barmy. I’m not sure it will appeal to many readers, but the older I get the more crotchety I become and I feel the need to tell the world, even if the world isn’t interested. I’ve a feeling having a pseudonym will be a good thing for this one.

Hopefully I’ll manage more writing books, too. Ever since I read Rachel Aaron’s book, 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love, I’ve been fascinated by how quickly some speedy souls produce stories.  I’ve been toying with writing about it and maybe mentioning the techniques I’ve found useful. I have a title ready (borrowed – with permission – from a friend’s recent blog post) – now I just need to get the words done.

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog today, Teresa. I’ve long been a fan and I’m so thrilled to have been able to visit you here.

Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. It’s been a pleasure having you and I’m delighted to know Hettie has more ideas in the pipeline. I particularly like the sound of the angry rants book. I do love an angry rant!

Short Story Secrets – Turning Words Into Money is available on Kindle UK and Kindle.

MRI

I had an MRI scan this week. The dental problems which turned out to be sinus problems turned out to be neither. All those antibiotics I’ve swallowed over this past year have probably been in vain, not to mention all the saline nasal sprays, steam inhalants etc etc etc.

After having a camera poked up my nose in August, the ENT doctor said my sinuses looked very clean and healthy with no evidence of a recent infection and the CT scan I had confirmed that. So he booked me for an MRI.

Half an hour they said it would take to have the MRI. My appointment was at 11.30 so I thought I’d have plenty of time to get back for school pick up, but we’d agreed that if for any reason I wasn’t out by 2, my husband would come back to get the children and I’d walk to the railway station and catch a train.

The two guys doing the MRI took me into a room where they explained what would be happening. They couldn’t have been nicer or kinder. I felt a bit scared when they said there was a remote chance of an allergic reaction to the dye they were going to inject, but they reassured me that it was very rare and if it did happen, they knew what to do.

Did I have any questions? Yes, will I be out by 2? They both laughed. “You’ll be out in time for lunch,” one of them said. “They always tell you it’ll take longer than it does.”

That’s when I thought to mention that I have difficult veins. When I had the blood test to check my kidney function, the nurses had to get a doctor and he ended up managing to squeeze just enough blood out of a vein in my wrist for the test. “It might take a little longer then.” I don’t think any of us realised quite how long.

I can’t get over how nice they were. So courteous and kind. They offered to put the radio on but I opted to just wear the headphones. I’m glad I did as I’ve since been told that it’s nigh impossible to hear the music anyway and that would have just annoyed me.

I had been warned it was noisy (several of my friends have had MRIs) and at first I thought the tapping and thrumming wasn't too bad, but I was unprepared for the burst of pneumatic drill like noise and the vibration. Then out I came and had to stay perfectly still – not that difficult with the frame thing round my head – while they put the cannula in.

Suddenly it seemed I had no veins. They tried so hard to find one and had one attempt, but it failed and so they called a doctor. I couldn’t see him because of the frame, but he sounded like the one who had done my blood test. I had tourniquets round my arms and was doing the squeezing of my fists. I’d had plenty to drink beforehand too as I knew that would help.

I found it difficult to hear what he was saying with the headphones on and at one point he said “Little scratch” and I thought he said “Squeeze”. Oops. He said he didn’t want to use my hand as it can be more uncomfortable, but in the end he tried that to no avail. Then suddenly he found a vein in my arm – a good one!

And back into the machine I went for the scan to be repeated with the dye this time.

When I came out, one of the guys took me back to the waiting room and said I should stay for a while just in case I had any reaction. I was gobsmacked to find it was 1.40. I had had no idea how much time had passed. After drinking several cups of water to flush the dye out of my system, I was able to leave.

Great timing. We left the hospital by 2 which had been our deadline.

I felt rotten though – the extra time it took must have used up their lunch hour and by the time I left, their next patient had arrived.

I’ve always had awkward veins. Even when I was young and skinny they used to bury themselves deep and I’ve had to have blood taken from my hands in the past.

It is the longest Dusty has ever been left in the house on his own. Well he had Harley and Poppy here for company, but when I came in I expected to find chewed shoes at the very least, but... nothing! He had been very good.

Harley kept an eye on things!

Coming soon: I will be speaking to a mysterious writer here on my blog… Watch this space!

Happy Writing.

** The machine makes a pleasant sort of pulsing noise which is almost musical even when it isn't being used. You can hear some of the different sounds in this link. **

September This and That

On the second day of September my oldest granddaughter who is eight split her toe open at the swimming pool and neither we nor she has any idea how it happened. All we know is that there was blood, lots of blood (made worse by the fact that she was wet) and a few tears. Thank goodness for the first aid kit in the car!

I cleaned her up and put a plaster on and thought we’d have to go to casualty, but it stopped bleeding by the time we got home and although it was a long cut, it knitted together quickly thank goodness.

Next day my youngest grandson tripped and fell on his face as we were on our way to Clacton pier. He was more bothered about his hurt knees because he didn’t realise there was blood, lots of blood, coming out of his mouth. He’d grazed his upper lip too and his top lip was swelling up. He sat quietly on the pier with an ice lolly (ice and sugar – good for sore mouths) and the swelling went down so he was ready for action and the others took turns going on the little rides with him. He’s not quite tall enough for the bigger rides yet.

On Friday my youngest son and his family arrived for the weekend and on Saturday we had a tea party with all the family here. It was chilly, but we braved the garden and the kids kept warm by knocking hell out of a piñata. I got one in the shape of a treasure chest because I don’t like the thought of bashing the animal shaped ones with a stick. 

We caught Dusty on the table, wolfing down chocolate cupcakes. He’d walked past all the other stuff, so he knew what he wanted. Luckily everyone had finished eating by then!

Sunday was our Ruby wedding anniversary and we had another family party. This time the weather was lovely and I didn’t take any photos – I completely forgot!

It is frightening how fast the time flies by. It’s over ten years now since I started looking after my first grandchild during the day. This week they all went back to school and my littlest one has started now too.

The summer holidays went by so fast – too fast.

 I miss having him around. I miss all of them, but I’ll still pick four of them up after school and see them in the mornings. And I have my lovely art wall they made (or should I say walls). 

Love is very important. If someone is being horrible don't love.

So much to learn.

Art wall. Inspire. Draw. Touch.

Roxy

I potted up the Avocado I’ve grown from a stone and I have another which has sprouted a root. I am ridiculously pleased.

So why did we choose the month of September to get married? Does anyone want to guess?

Happy Writing!