We will remember them

This week I have been in London again (and I'm actually going to be there again this weekend!). It's always a bit of a culture shock, especially after a few hermity days!

But I had a lovely day, hanging out with fellow writers, bloggers, and booky people, Emma and Cole. I'm already looking forward to the next trip - and hopefully Laura will be able to join us this time. I may have bought a few books in Foyles (ooops), and we drank lots of coffee and hot chocolate - perfect!

I have been busy writing, and creating - doing lots of crafty things at the moment, and I share them with you shortly (when I have time to write up a post!).

Otherwise, this week has been dominated, and rightly so, by remembrance. There has been the moving art installation at the tower of London, which I didn't get to see, but just from the pictures, I could tell it was breathtaking.

I know there are mixed views on all this, but it is important to remember. I don't want to go into it all or get political etc, but as someone who has friends/accquiantances in the armed forces, I think that it is important to not only remember those who gave their lives fighting in the past, but those who are serving now, which is what remembrance does. It is important, and I am glad that our country recognises it in the way that it does. I am currently getting my grandad's Second World War poems ready to hopefully publish them, and it is so moving to read through them, and try and imagine that boy of nineteen. So many young men, so many lives lost.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Clocks, Pumpkins, sunshine, and birthdays

I've been a little lazy with my blog posting this week, and everything's got a bit out of sync. Anyway, this week has been a busy, with exciting birthday celebrations and big MuggleNet announcements, among other things.

It's November now, and yet, yesterday, Halloween, I was able to sit outside, in the sunshine, and go on a long walk - in a t-shirt! I also saw one lone deer on my walk,which was quite striking really. The weather was quite unseasonal, and bizarre, and yet, wonderful. you know? Today, is a little autumnal, but then again, it is November now. I can't believe that it's November already. It doesn't feel like it should be yet! And yet, here we are.

At the beginning of last week, the clocks went back, which means that it gets dark very early in the evening now. I don't really like it getting dark so early - it's very disorienting and not very nice! I hate the long, dark evenings. And you forget just how quickly it gets dark. It's different in the country too. You notice it more I suppose. There are no street lights after all!

Many of the trees are looking rather bare now, with the winds that have made them drop their leaves and the landscape is beginning to look quite different.

Also this week, we had a mini AGA crisis, when we ran out of fuel - but luckily it was resolved after only a few days, and we were able to go ahead and celebrate my wonderful little sister's twenty first birthday! We had a lovely dinner party, with lots of pink and princess themed things, which was perfect and it was a wonderful night.

I even successfully made a pink, heart cake, which I was very proud of as I'd never made anything like it (though I didn't make the beautiful flowers on it).

Happy November everyone (and to many of you happy noveling - and good luck!). See you next week!

And the winds came...

This week we've been experiencing the tail end of the recent hurricane that swept over Bermuda. It's meant that it's been very blustery and certainly weather for staying inside and curling up with a good book!

The weather has definitely turned more autumnal, and with that it's grown colder and very muddy! It's also getting dark rather early, which is a little depressing. But I suppose it's good weather for reading books and crafty projects. However, it makes it quite hard to leave the house!

As I've remarked before, it's nice to be back in the countryside for autumn and see it all gradually change.

Some of the trees are such beautiful colours too:

Have a good week everyone (and wrap up warm with a good book!).

Country girl in the Big City

It's Thursday again - how did that happen?

This week has been a little more manic than ususal, i.e. I have had stuff on that menas being out the house all day and that means I am now exhausted! And unfortuantely haven't had much writing time. *sob*. I am wriitng a Christmas story though, which is very exciting, inspired by Stephanie Perkins' My True Love Gave to Me collection, which is utterly wonderful, in so many ways. If you want to feel Christmassy or just love Christmas, warm stories or brilliant writing, GO GET THIS COLLECTION NOW!

Anyway, that was not meant to be the point of this blog post!

On Tuesday I ventured out of my small country world, and up to the big smoke (i.e. London) for the first time in ageeeeees. It's always weird and stressful arriving in London and realising just how many people there are and that you have to go on the tube and things like that. And there are too many distractions,  like the new Foyles, where it is far too easy to buy too many books - not that this happened to me at all *cough cough*.

Nice as it was to have a change of scene, it was utterly EXHAUSTING and I couldn't wait to get back home again and SLEEP!

But, in the evening I was due to the attend a Bloomsbury Writers and Artists Yearbook masterclass, called Writing YA fiction - Breaking the Rules with author Sarah Crossan and agent Julia Churchill. The evening was fantastic, and really reinspired me, and gave me lots of things to think about. (Also, walking in, it was great to see some HP books in their bookcases.) It's always good to regather your thoughts and refocus. Now, I just need to get on and use that info. It was also wonderful to meet some of the scbwi people I know from my online critique group - great to finally put some faces to the names and stories, although I had a complete blank when meeting them and couldn't remember who had written what. They put me to complete shame, remembering exactly what I had written! Sorry guys. But it was wonderful to meet them and I was very glad that I had gone to the event. Sarah Crossan was also WONDERFUL. I saw her speak at YALC over the summer, and that was one reason why I thought this would be a great event to go to.

I'll try and write up some of the things that were said later in the week, but for now, I am going to try and crack on with some writing, grateful to be back in the countryside! 

Autumn Notes

Wait, was yesterday Wednesday?

I’ve completely lost track of the days and time recently, which perhaps is a luxury, but also rather disconcerting. 

It's funny really, when you're in a town or a city, the seasons just change. It happens, and sure you notice it, but not in the same way. It's difficult to put my finger on just what it is that is different, but there's something. 

It's the first autumn that I've been at home in six years? And before that it had been five years - except for the odd weekend here and there. It's different though, when you just come back for holidays, weekends, or "special occasions". Then everything is special, exciting, different, if you know what I mean. You just experience everything in a flash, a clip. Now, things are different - you see everything in a constant stream, like a panorama or something. It's nice to see it change slowly, and then all at once (I'm sounding like a quote from TIFOS now, sorry John Green. Oops). 

But you see the gradual changes as well as the quick ones  -such as the leaves all slowly turning brown, or all whizzing by the window on a particularly blustery day, or the continual rain falling down. 

The evenings are getting darker now, the dark drawing in and even some of the afternoons are dark and gloomy. The wind is getting up too and from my window I can see it whipping through the trees. 

It's welly weather, and dashing out in between rain showers, and huddling under duvets in the evening - although having said that, it's not all that cold yet - and bananas and custard, warming food eating weather. 

Suddenly everything looks bare, like the facade of summer has been taken away, stripped away, leaving this,almost as if summer was nothing more than a shimmering illusion, just something to fool us for a while before it's gone again, and we're left waiting for it to come back. For now, we're going to have to find some autumn things to focus on.

Harvest Celebrations

This week saw the harvest festival celebrations take place. Having always been away over the last few years when it took place, I hadn't been to our local, village one in a while, so it was nice to go again. The service was followed by a lovely bring and share lunch.

It is now October and it is clear that the seasons are changing. It is still unseasonably warm, which means shorts are just about still an option, but it's definitely changing.  Today is rainy and glum. The leaves on the trees are slowly changing, becoming golden and orange. While I bemoan the passing of summer, and wish that it could stay a little longer, the colours of autumn are something wonderful.

What else to say?

I can't believe that it is already October. I don't know where the time has gone - where did September disappear to? It is quite unbelievable.

The nights are already beginning to draw in much earlier, and later this month the clocks will change, and we will be cloaked in darkness from late afternoon.

You definitely notice, and I had forgotten quite how much, the seasons changing in the countryside more noticeably, and I like that. I like seeing it all change, much as I'm reluctant to admit that it's now Autumn!

An Autumn Chill

As autumn begins to creep in, I find myself beginning to think more about paints and crafts and getting my paint stuff out again to mess around. I am a summer girl, but there's something about the prospect of hiding away and being able to just write and create that appeals to me.

It has grown chilly over the last few days, and although it remains sunny, and pleasant to be outside, there is a chill that wasn't there before. A chill which requires jumpers and socks and all those sorts of things. I think that it might be time to retire the shorts away, sadly.

There's this smell, this feeling in the air - one that's difficult to describe and pin down. The smell of autumn - a crisp, freshness that has arrived in the air.

Meanwhile, there's lots still going on - including a bumper crop of apples - lots of cooking ones, so there'll be lots of stewed apples and crumbles coming up. Yum. There are still plenty of blackberries on the hedges as well, so I was trying to collect some of them as well. We also have a BUMPER crop of potatoes - about six sacks worth (at least), which is quite something! I think we're going to be living off potatoes for the next few months! And, the cows were all TB free, which was good!

I've been thinking about how this will be the first autumn in five/six years that I will have spent at home, and not in the city. It'll be strange, but I'm looking forward to it. It's nice to be in Sussex for an extended period of time - one that's not broken up by school/uni!

Today, the sun is shining, although there's quite a chill in the air. I'm enjoying walking down to the woods most days to see how the trees slowly become autumnal....

View from a Straw Bale

I never know which time of year I prefer more: when the woods are full of bluebells, or now, when the stubble fields are scattered with straw bales. The two times of year frame the summer, my favourite season, although spring isn't far behind.

Mournful and poignant though this time of year can be, as summer turns to autumn, and new things are considered, and that back to school feeling settles in everyone's stomachs, nothing beats a good straw bale, especially the large round ones, onto which you have to take a run and a jump to hop. The dog tries to scramble up too, sometimes he's successful, and other times he stalks away, ignoring my calls, refusing to try again, as if he didn't want to be up there in the first place. Oh little dog. He's so silly.


There's something rather wonderful about the scratches on your legs, and just being able to sit atop a bale and view the world.

And of course then there's the fun of trying to get the bale to roll over.

When we were little, we would sit on the top, and wait for the bale to be pushed, with us on top, and this was better than any other game we could have played. My dad would park his pick up so that we could climb straight out the back onto the bales, and he pushed several together, which caused hours of endless fun. Of course, this is something I know not many people will have been lucky enough to do, but oh, it's the best. Nothing beats it.

Nothing like the simple things, hey?

Dew, alone days, and flowers

Days alone are so full of hope and the expectation of what could come and different ways to be filled. There is nothing nicer than padding around by yourself, taking in the morning, the sunshine, drinking coffee, and thinking everything that the day brings.

There is nothing nicer than wandering around the garden, the dew still on the ground, clinging to your shoes, with the sun breaking through. It feels like it is going to be a beautiful day. The odd burst of colour breaks through in the flower beds, reminding me that maybe summer is not entirely over.

My sweetpeas are still thriving - I've even got a speckled one now:

I love seeing what the garden produces. There's all sorts, and I wish I was good with names, but I'm not, I'm hopeless. But I love all the different colours, the shapes, and smells. Although many things have ended for the year, there are still some wonderful smells and colours out there, and that is wonderful to see.

Return to the City

I am returning once again to the city. Thankfully not for good – just a few days, a brief trip to hand in my dissertation and see some old friends. But it feels odd. That back to school feeling remains, partly due I suppose to the prospect of handing in my dissertation and also the long journey. 

In many ways, it has been a blissful summer, pottering around, writing, enjoying the sunshine, reading, fresh fruit and veg, and all that. Even the dissertation has been enjoyable (most of the time). So it does very much feel like that has come to an end, not helped by the rainy, gloomy days, and the oncoming cold, which make it seem very autumnal and wintery. Despite that, I am still in shorts. 

It is strange to be in the city again. 

Everything moves much faster here, and there are lots of people, milling around. I like that I can walk to cages and shops, but it doesn’t feel right anymore somehow. It is time to say goodbye to five years in this place, time to start afresh, a new life, something different. 

It’s certainly time to return to the country. My dissertation is all handed in now, goodbyes have been said, and that part of my life is over. It's mad to think that it's been five years there. And now, the unknown waits...

A funny back to school feeling

Does anyone else get that? That funny back to school, end of the summer feeling, that just fills you with dread? I'm not even going back to school - university or anything this September, and yet that feeling is still there. There's just this feeling in the pit of my stomach, the feeling of dread that the summer is nearly over, and that once again there are so many things I never did, so much time that has passed and I don't feel like I have achieved anything at all. Which is absurd - but there are so many things I wish I'd done.

But the nights are already getting longer, the days are getting colder, and it feels like summer has once again slipped through my fingers.

So many dreams, so many ideas, plans.... that didn't happen.

Do you know the feeling?

I know that September is often nice weather wise, but I still feel like I've missed something. I don't know what.

But, I discovered today that the plum tree, just as the damson tree, is absolutely laden with plums, so that's nice - lots of yummy plums to eat! And our tomatoes are ripening, which is rather exciting. I do love this time of year, and all the wonderful things you can pick in the garden.

But I just want to hold onto summer a little longer.

That Autumn Feeling

Autumn seems to have already arrived, even though it's only the middle of August. I woke up this morning to a crisp chill in the air, which is suited more to October than August. It's already getting darker earlier, and it makes me sad to think that summer is over. I want to cling on and not let go. It was easy to believe in June, July, that the hot weather would go on and on forever. I feel like there are so many things I meant to do that I didn't, so many things I thought I'll leave that till later.

With the apparent early change in season, it means that the fruits and everything are early. I already picked some blackberries (!). And as I mentioned before, the plum tree this year is absolutely laden with plums - I don't think that I've ever seen so many on it before! Yesterday I made some jam and stewed fruit - the stewed fruit turned out okay, but I have yet to taste the jam. It seems to have set (major achievement), so I'm hoping that it tastes okay!

We are also inundated with courgettes, as well as tomatoes and cucumbers. After waiting for them to grow for months, there's always this momentary panic of what on earth do we do with all of this?! I am planning on making some courgette cakes, as well as some quiche (always yummy and something I have yet to do this summer, shock horror).

It is harvest time as well, and there is nothing nicer than walking through a field that has just been harvested, and smelling the straw and sitting on the straw bales. Plus, there are about ten deer that we keep seeing in one of the fields, which is lovely.

In other news, First Time Farmers has started again on Channel 4, which is always an entertaining watch.

I hope summer makes another brief appearance at some point.

Flower Show, Plums, and Moles

Another week has flown by, and I can't really believe that it's August already! There's lots of exciting things happening this month, including exciting book releases, weddings, and dissertation hand in! And of course, summer continues!

It was the flower show last week, which of course we dutifully attended - and even entered a few things! We won a third place for our cucumbers, which was exciting! Talking of which - we are entering into that time of the summer when we are faced with an abundance of fresh fruit and veg (which is super exciting. I love summer). At the moment, it's lots of cucumbers, courgettes, plums - and more.

I'll have to crack out some of my favourite courgette recipes soon, including soup, cake, and quiche!

The damson plums are thriving too - the tree is bending over with the weight of the plums:

So I guess it's nearly time for some jam making too!

Lots of sweetpeas still growing too.

Oh, and the moles. We don't often have moles, but they've taken over the lawn and there are huge holes everywhere!

Finally - here's a little dog who seems to think chairs/seats etc are for him and doesn't understand the concept of SPACE:

The Little Lost Hen

This week in countryside life, the hot weather continues, and there's a runaway....

So this week, the big news of the lane, and indeed the village was the rogue hen living in the hedgerows. No one knows where this hen has come from, it doesn't seem to belong to anyone, and against all odds it seems to have survived (so far) being eaten by a fox (although we haven't seen it in the last few days).

It's been funny, because people have seen it, and then discussed it and it's been the topic of the week. I've seen it a couple of times, and I couldn't really believe what I was seeing, just because it seemed so odd and unusual.

Well the mystery persists.... and maybe we'll see it again, but I fear the worst....

In other news, the flower show is coming up. I failed to get my entry form in on time so won't be entering anything, but it's always good fun.

My sweet peas have gone mad as well, thanks to the hot weather. And we also have lots of cucumbers, courgettes, tomotoes, and even grapes!

In local news, sadly the Eastbourne pier caught fire yesterday. Horrible pictures of the destruction, but looks like they saved some of it!

Just a short update this week - need to crack on with the disssertation....

Thunderstorms and Village Fetes

Yet again the days seem to have disappeared in a summer haze. It's been baking hot recently, which has been wonderful and has felt like proper summer - but it hasn't been quite so good for productivity! Both the dissertation and the writing have slowed right now, but I guess maybe it's good to have a bit of a break from time to time. As always, I'm still pondering ideas and scribbling notes.

Anyway, the last week has seen has subjected to plenty of thunderstorms as well as hot weather. The thunder and lightening was at times a little alarm, but also kind of spectacular to watch. At one point the storm was right above us! One downside was the lightening lighting up my whole room at night. It's been very stuffy as well, and even with the windows wide open, it's felt very hot and uncomfortable.

Still, there's nothing quite like the beautiful summer days and the clear blue skies, and lying on the grass reading and writing. It's always easy to forget that the summer is completely full of days like this. These are the type of days I write about in my stories, and Treading Water is full of hot, stuffy days.

In other news, it was the church fete on Saturday, which meant an afternoon of tombola, hoopla, bowling for the pig - and the wheel of fortune (and much more!).

Here's the wheel in action:

It went down a treat!

Oh, and the bees are back - what joy. Although, luckily the storms cleared this swarm a bit:

Anyway, have a great week and enjoy the sunshine. I'm currently desperate to go windsurfing again, or maybe paddleboarding, so maybe that will happen this week - fingers crossed!

Sweet Peas and a Heatwave!

I really don't know where the time is going - it's racing away from us! I mean, how did we get to this point in July already?

Around here, things are blossoming and everything's very green. They're predicting a heatwave over the next few days, and already the air feels much hotter.

This is what summer should be like though - long, lazy days, with outdoor theatre and cinema, late evening visits to each other's houses, lying on the grass, eating outside..... These are all elements that make up summer, in a rather nostalgic way.

It's church/village fete season as well, with our parish one coming up this Saturday. Rain is predicted, but hopefully it will hold off. We're hoping to bring out the giant Wheel of Fortune that I repainted last summer:

repainted wheel of fortune!

Although, we're still debating the best way to play the game! Also at the fete will be all the usual games such as the tombola, hoopla, and much more. It should be a good day (if the rain holds off!). 

In other news, my first sweet pea flowers have blossomed (and they smell great).

Hopefully it's the first of many, many flowers.

Just a quick update - I'm meant to be cracking on with my dissertation, although it's very hard to sit inside and work when it's nice outside! Oh well - if I get some done this morning, I'm going to sit and write outside this afternoon (and swim!).

Back to the Countryside

I returned to Sussex nearly a couple of weeks ago, after five years in Exeter, this time not only for the summer, but for the indefinite future. I don't think the full reality of that has sunk in, and it probably won't sink in until the end of the summer, when it's going back to school time, and I won't be. It'll be the first time that I won't be returning to education, and that will be strange.

But I don't want to think about that yet.

For now, it's the summer and one of my favourite times of year. It's great to be back in the country, and be surrounded by green and fields and trees.

The sun has been shining, and everything just looks so wonderful. The colours in the flower beds are fabulous, so many great colours. There's so much life and I love summer. There's so much to soak up, and I just love being back in the country, taking in all the smells, and sights. It's so pretty, and it's so quiet. The only things you can hear are tractors in the distance, cows mooing, and planes overheard. Oh, and at the moment, the tennis on the TV.

I love summer: there's so much expectation and hope hanging in the air. The evenings are light until late, and you can sit outside, on the grass, in the sun, and enjoy all the benefits of summer. There's nothing better than a lazy day reading on the lawn, the sun blazing.

I am so glad to be away from the city. I can't imagine wanting to be there during the summer, so it's amazing to be back in the countryside. Right now, I am still totally in love with the country - and summer time!

Next time: cows, bees, and a blind dog.