Wordless Wednesday: Cornish Tree with Character

Dogs Enjoy Holidays Too

I'm back. Had a great time and took loads of photos but haven't yet had time to upload them. I shall shortly be boring you silly with Cornish pics.

Our self catering cottage was at the back of the owners' bungalow, and they thoughtfully provided an enclosed yard which was safe for Jade. There were a number of attractions that welcomed dogs and she enjoyed all the different walks we took as well.

This is one of my favourite pics of her, although she has grown a bit since then, and certainly looks more scruffy at the moment. But I won't be sending her to the groomers till after the winter now.

It's Holiday Time

Phew! All my October work is finished and submitted, together with my invoice. Last load of washing, last big food shop all done. Meals organised for son who will be here. Only have to finalise lists and pack the cases now.

I'm off tomorrow and will be in Cornwall for a week from Saturday, with hubby and Jade. We'll be taking her for walks on the South West Coast Path. Yippee! See you when we are back.

This picture of the path on a Cornish cliff top is by Trevor Rickard.  

Beach Walk and Grooming Day

It's been a gorgeous day here today, much like it is in this photo. We started our walk from the far end of this  promenade this afternoon. We didn't get this far, or anywhere near. The beach and the prom is several miles long.

I took Jade on the beach and down to the sea while hubby stayed on the paved walkway. Jade was busily dashing back and forth between us to make sure we were both still there. It was such a lovely day the area was packed with people and dogs since from October 1st, dogs are allowed to roam the beach as long as they are supervised by their owners. Jade kept stopping to make friends and progress was slow. Eventually we left the beach to walk up a small chine and along to the top of Canford Cliffs where we could look down on all the action below before descending another path and going back to our car.

At home I decided to trim the fur on her paws before giving Jade her monthly shower. She's not keen but she tolerates it once I have carried her into the shower cubicle. Afterwards she does look sorry for herself and I get really reproachful looks from her. I have to get partially undressed myself to avoid getting all my clothes wet in there, so after I've used the first towels on her, I drape another over her and let  her walk out to hubby who gives her another rub down while I am getting dry and dressed and tidying up. Then I get going with the hair drier while she sits patiently - she knows that such a good dog will soon get treats.

Then it was time to start cooking my roastie, so needless to say, I didn't get very much of my writing work done today.

My Life, by Jade: Family Visiting

I'm back home with mummy and daddy and Sye after a very long drive from Eryn and her mummy's house. I'm very good in the car when mummy is driving and I just lie on my towel and blanket on the back seat, except when she has to stop quickly and I fall off. I just give her a sad look when she has stopped and turns around to see if I'm alright. But I can soon jump back up on the seat again and settle down.

Most of the time I like being in Eryn's house. I love playing with Eryn and her friends. I like Eryn's mummy too but I'm not too sure about her because she is always telling the children what to do and sometimes she sounds a bit cross.  As well as Eryn, she looks after other children too, even little toddlers. I have my bed under the table so I can rest away from them when they are curious about me and want to prod me all over. Mummy said she's very proud of me for being so good with them.

Eryn's mummy did cook some lovely chicken the other day and saved some for me, which was very nice.  She takes my mummy out a lot without me, which is not so nice, although I do get a nice rest when they are out. And it's just wonderful when they come back, and I let them know by jumping all over them. 

One of the children left a dressing up scarf on the floor one day, and when no-one was there I had  a good time pretending it was a squirrel I managed to catch, before I got too tired to play any more and left it in the middle of the rug. If I had remembered to put it back where I found it, they'd never have known I played with it.

One thing I do like when I'm there is that mummy spends a lot more time sitting on the sofa and I can jump up and snuggle with her much more than I can at home when she is so busy. She said we're off on another holiday next week so I hope that is the same.

And tonight it's going to be good to be able to sleep in my bigger bed again.

Catching up with Friends

I'm taking some time off to visit my daughter and go with her to school open days. Next year she has to choose one for Eryn to move on to and she wants to get the possibilities in her head now.

This morning she went off to exercise her friend's horse and I intended to take Jade for a walk while she was out. Then it started raining cats and dogs, so I've put that off for a bit.

On the way here yesterday we took a small detour to meet up with a friend I haven't seen for a while. She suggested we meet at the Eastleigh Steam Railway, which was a brilliant idea. It is located in Lakeside Country Park which has trails and fishing lakes, so we walked around one of those and Jade has a good run around while we caught up with what's been going on in each other's lives. Then we had coffee sitting outside the railway cafe and watched the little trains coming and goin from the station. Jade was fascinated too.

This month I'm catching up with a good many friends. Last Wednesday I had a wonderful day out on the River Dart with someone I went to Primary School with. We took the riverboat from Totnes to Dartmouth and back, something that's been on my to do list for years. The weather was cloudy and showery but it didn't spoil our enjoyment. We saw lots of wildlife, incuding buzzards, herons and even seals. I've drafted most of a series of haiku about it, but it's not ready to share yet.

 

This lovely pic of  the riverside at Dartmouth is by Paul Buckingham.

Friday saw me at Bournemouth for a stroll and lunch with another couple I've known for years but haven't seen for a while. The next date I have is with soemone who will come upfrom Kent to meet in London for a couple of hours on Wednesday. This is a veritable feast of friends after a long famine.

Of course it has meant fitting in work by putting in long hours on other days, but it's well worth it. And now I'm having a good rest.

Voices in Paperback

Voices is definitely my favourite novel by my pal, David Robinson. I read it on my Kindle, and it kept me riveted and wondering all the way through. And the final climax is really spectacular. I understand he is planning a sequel, and I can't wait.

Now it's out in paperback, launched by Crooked Cat Publishing today. You can buy it on Amazon, of course.

You can also find out hot this story idea came to David over at his blog. I check this out too from time to time. It's always good for a laugh.

Wordless Wednesday: Heavy Horse Centre, April 2009

A Charity Horror Story Anthology

Although I don’t have any books to be published at the moment. I’m in the Facebook group for Crooked Cat Publishing which is for both authors and readers. Many of their authors are virtual mates of mine and I often buy the Kindle versions of their books. Crooked Cat has only been off the ground for a short while and has just ventured into paperback publishing in addition to its previous e-book offerings.

Wednesday this week sees the launch of their charity anthology, Fear, in two volumes. Its horror stories are all written by members of the group. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to submit one – or perhaps it’s not so unfortunate because horror fiction is way out of my comfort zone.

Anyway because the authors contributed their work for free, all royalties from sales will go directly to the international charities, Barnardo’s and Médecins Sans Frontières. You can order your copies on the Crooked Cat website. Happy reading, and hope we don’t get too scared to go to sleep.