The moth's birthday

During a recent fit of digging, I noticed a little creature struggling in the soil. On closer inspection, I realised it was a new moth, battling its way out of its chrysalis. Its tiny wings didn't look properly formed, and I was worried I'd disturbed it before it was quite ready to hatch. (Is hatch the right word?) Also worried about Harvey treading on the moth, I managed to move it onto the hydrangea where it could dry out in the sun. Sure enough, its wings gradually uncrinkled, and here it is, in the centre of the picture if you can spot it.

After a while it moved itself down into the shadows of the plant, where I hope it survived birds and bats. It's not every day you witness the birth of a moth! I wonder how it feels, to go into a chrysalis as one creature and come out as another. How do you suddenly get the hang of flying?

I've been looking at my 'Complete British Wildlife', trying to identify the species of moth for you. Some of the pictures give me a funny, tickly feeling at the back of my neck, so I had to stop. However, the names of moths are very poetic. The Vapourer. The Heart and Dart. The Beautiful Golden Y. The Canary-shouldered Thorn. I could go on. There are pages!

Everything in the garden is lovely and green. We have lots of yellow poppies (Meconopsis cambrica.) The odd one comes up more orange in colour, like this. I'd like to try growing the difficult Himalayan Blue ones, but don't think I have the right soil.

Here's Harvey in the park. I had to attach him to a tree to take this photo, otherwise his retriever snout is down on the ground, snuffling out every bit of smelly goo. He's looking affronted at the interruption to his foraging.

The park is all frothy with cow parsley this time of year. Also known as Queen Anne's Lace.

Who lives in a hole like this? Elves, maybe. Or moths with magical names.

Have a magical May!



Books, books, books

There've been many changes in the three months (three months?) since I last blogged. Without being too specific, inviting stalkers, lurkers, or "I'm your number one fan", I am now working at a place with lots of books! In addition I have a few hours voluntary work that involves sewing and crafts. How lucky am I? Books and sewing are two of my favourite things, so it's lovely to have them as part of my gainful employment.

I thought I would be writing more, but I am still progressing at my usual rate i.e. between steady and slow. However, I have sold some stories so that's fine. I also won a £5 Amazon voucher for a little poem on Kishboo.

Some of the books I've enjoyed so far this year:

'The Casual Vacancy' - J.K. Rowling. Dark but brilliant. Did you see that a chair sat on by J.K. Rowling when she wrote Harry Potter has been sold for almost £280,000? Someone could buy all my furniture, and probably the house too, for that much!

'The Franchise Affair' - Josephine Tey. Classic detective mystery.

'Room for a Single Lady' - Clare Boylan. A series of lodgers provides entertainment and education for the young daughters of a Dublin family in the fifties.

'Miss Marple and Mystery' - Agatha Christie short stories.

And because I seem to be on a mystery theme, I have also been reading my way through the Fethering mysteries by Simon Brett.

Question of the day: why is a grapefruit nothing like a grape?

 

I'll let you ponder on that for the next three months or so. In return, you are welcome to leave me some book recommendations if you have any. I'm always on the lookout for the next good read.

 

Hope you have an inspiring April. Watch out for the showers!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2016 has begun well, and will bring even better things as it goes on!

 

You may remember that my job is due to disappear at the end of March. I have promising news about an unexpected opportunity, but I shan't say more until it's all signed and sealed. It will definitely leave me more time to write though, so 2016 is looking good for me so far.

 

We had a sprinkling of snow this morning. Harvey enjoyed a good chomp, but it is melting really fast. Barely enough time for him to try fetching a snowball.

Here is a snowier scene. Last year the subway beneath Cannock town centre was retiled, and local artists contributed paintings for the walls. It is such an improvement on the dingy old underpass. Lots of the paintings relate to the area's history. In this one, by Matt Sayers, you can see the old pit in the background.

Mining stopped in the Cannock area some years ago, but there are still rows of miners' cottages in places. Another painting by Matt Sayers...

I'll take a few more photos next time I visit. There's a wide variety of subjects and styles, some lovely murals on the theme of Cannock Chase, and it's so much more interesting to walk through that subway now!



Christmas greetings

 

It's December again already - and yet lobelia is flowering in my patio pots!

Not feeling festive? Don't worry. In Asda yesterday I saw air fresheners to hang in the car. They were shaped like bunnies and adorned with the words 'Happy Easter'!

Merry Christmas to you all. x

 

November blues and a lucky win

November is always an odd month. I miss being outdoors as much, and hate it when it's dark at four in the afternoon.

A couple of weeks ago it was confirmed that the place where I've worked for the last nine years is to close in the spring. At the moment none of us really know what we'll do next. Although in one way, it's good to see new possibilities ahead, I know we have emotional weeks to go through while we wind things down.

Harvey was twelve recently, and is doing OK for his age. He still has times of appearing quite vacant, and he sleeps a lot, but in himself he seems content.

 

  

I follow a few blogs about sewing, and this week had a stroke of luck in a book giveaway. The blog is A Stitching Odyssey, and I was so excited to win this, which arrived in the post this morning...

 

If any of you watched The Great British Sewing Bee last year, you will remember runner up Chinelo Bally. Her way of working freehand was fascinating, just using measurements, not patterns, and The book explains how to do it! I am really looking forward to trying out some of Chinelo's techniques. They look very creative and liberating, compared with using our traditional paper patterns.

 

Marie at A Stitching Odyssey has another great giveaway going on right now, for some lovely fabric. Do have a look if you are a fabric fetishist like me!

 

So, I may be out of work soon, but I shall not be short of things to do. With metres of fabric already in my drawer, I may even have a whole new wardrobe before too long. Watch this space.

Chinese Lanterns

When we lived in the house before this one, somebody gave us armfuls of beautiful Chinese Lanterns she'd grown and dried. I kept them for several years, until they got too brittle and dusty to bring here when we moved.

In recent years I've been trying to grow my own. They are supposed to be easy - but can also be invasive in moist soil.

Year one: I planted them in a dry spot. They died.

Year two: Planted them in a large pot, but didn't water enough. They died.

Year three: Planted more in the same pot, but they got overshadowed by other things around them. I had only one or two lanterns among all the foliage.

This year: Was more conscientious with the watering, but realised too late that I should have staked them. All my stems grew crooked, instead of nice and straight.

Then I had the quandary of how to dry. Some websites said hang them upside down, others said the right way up. I dried mine upside down, but now my little lanterns mostly poke upwards instead of having that pretty droppy down effect! In addition, I managed to put my foot through the green garden chair, visible in the photo above, and cut the back of my leg! Don't worry though. It has already become a story.

Next year's mission will be to grow perfect Chinese Lanterns. All advice appreciated. Every year the prospect of winter seems worse, and I need the lanterns' vibrant colours against the enervating darkness.

In other news, I am delighted to have a story close to my heart in the latest People's Friend Special, number 114. Also a poem in issue 5 of the online magazine Kishboo. The former was inspired by my fascination with sewing; the latter, my fascination with the moon.

Kishboo publishes rhyming, light-hearted poetry, runs a quarterly short story competition, and includes various articles on writing. Do take a look.

Have a happy Halloween. May your pumpkins glow bright, and all your ghosts be friendly.

On insects

We had a hummingbird hawk moth in the garden a few weeks ago. I'd never seen one before. It came flying towards me, like a tiny bird, wings humming audibly. Then it hovered by my red valerian (apparently one of its favourite plants) to suck up some nectar, and I realised what it was. Sorry I didn't have my camera handy, but here's a video of one from YouTube.



It's definitely insect time of year. Last week I was reading Maggie O'Farrell's wonderful book, 'Instructions for a Heatwave', when I had a nasty surprise at the top of page 183. Nothing to do with Maggie O'Farrell, I must add, who placed every single word in that book just perfectly. No, the surprise was of the eight legged variety.

 

 

Was it murder or accidental death? Suicide seems unlikely. I have disposed of the body in the hydrangea. Beasties are all very interesting, but mostly better in the garden.

The Big Hoot!

Wild in Art, the lovely people behind numerous public art events, have taken over Birmingham with a fabulous display of giant painted owls. You may remember in 2013 they did a very popular exhibition with large figures of Gromit the dog, all over Bristol.

Now we have The Big Hoot, taking place in various locations around Brum. I already managed to spot about a dozen owls in the city centre. Here is Jack for starters, by artist Martin Band. Jack is situated by the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square.

There were lots of families out following the owl trail while I was in town. At the most popular spots, people were queuing for their chance to pose with the owls.

This one is Ozzy's Owl, designed by Ozzy Osbourne and Graham Frank Wright. Birmingham is Ozzy Osbourne's home town. I think his owl represents him very well. He's located in New Street, handy for the station.

It's interesting to see how the artists who have painted the owls have drawn on inspiration from the city. The next one is the Wise Old Owl, which reflects the architecture of the new Library of Birmingham. The artists for this one were Kieron Reilly and Lynsey Brecknell. It's outside the library, obviously.

As a side note, on our local news last night there was a report that Birmingham libraries have no money to buy new books! So, we have the biggest public library in Europe, which only opened two years ago at a cost of £189 million, operating on reduced opening hours and unable to afford books! ( I do get incensed by these things.) Apparently some branch libraries around Birmingham are appealing for donations of books published in the last twelve months, particularly fiction.

Anyway, back to owls, with One Giant Hoot for Owlkind, by Vicky Scott. This one recalls the 1960s enthusiasm for space travel. It's by St Philips Cathedral.

And just one more for today. Bluey. I adore this owl, in the Great Western Arcade. It looks right at home in the beautifully restored Victorian setting. Bluey is by artist Natalie Guy, and is reminiscent of blue and white china.

I hope to see a few more owls over the summer. They're in the city until September 27th, then will be auctioned to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital. I might put one on my Christmas list!

Do let me know if you're out owl spotting this summer.

What a hoot!

There's an interview with me at Susan Jane Jones's lovely blog. For a change I talk mostly about writing, with a bit less on dogs and sewing.

More about owls in my next post.

Stepping Stones

Oooh, look. Last time I blogged, it was Christmas. Now it's summer! All winter I barely wrote a word. My concentration was nil. I wasn't even reading much. Generally, if I'm not reading, I'm not writing either. The one activity seems to fire up the other somehow.

Harvey is still tootling along, albeit at a slower pace now he is approaching twelve. Thank you to everyone who has enquired about him during my absence from the blog.

February saw the purchase of my latest toy. It's an overlocker! (If you're reading this in America, you will probably know this better as a serger.) Four spools of thread, two needles, two loopers. Intimidating at first. Incredibly fast compared with the regular machines I've used before. Pretty soon I was rattling away on it, and now my ordinary sewing machine seems slow.

Since then I've done a lot of sewing with knit fabrics, including several of these T shirts, below, adapted from a free downloadable pattern by Maria Denmark. I can run one up for a pound or two if I get to the market early for the best remnants. We'll turn a blind eye to the cost of the overlocker, won't we?

Then I became a bag lady, and made four of these totes. Once I get onto a theme, I seem reluctant to let it go! The blue one is my new writing bag, in case I go to any groups or workshops, and I sewed the red one for my work colleague. I like the fact that I still get to see it every day, and make sure she is treating it right. No heavy vegetables or leaky drinks, please.

Finally in March I had a sudden urge to begin writing again. I always knew I would, but I refuse to feel guilty if my brain needs to take an extended break for a while. There is so much else to do in life. I was lucky to sell the first story I sent out in this new writing phase, otherwise I may have returned to my mission to overlock everything in the house.

I feel as if the months of frantic sewing were a stepping stone between one episode of writing and the next. There's a difference between how I felt about my writing in the autumn (slightly jaded) and how I feel now (full of ideas and just wanting to get on with it!) So it was time to revamp the blog, with thanks to Keith Havers for the inspiration for the little collage of some places where I've been published.

Even so, all my human endeavours seem very small, when you see what a tiny robin can make using pure instinct and natural resources. Amazing, isn't it?

Bears, wolves, and a bit more sewing.

I think it must be Christmas. A giant, slightly scary bear has appeared in our local shopping centre.

November never seems to be a good month for us. This one was no different, and passed in a blur. Harvey has been diagnosed with a kind of dog dementia, presenting us with some new and unusual behaviours. We have been up at all hours of the night, Harvey wanting to do strange things at even stranger times.

It all reminded me of an elderly couple I looked after many years ago. I used to stay with them overnight, because they would try to go out shopping at 3a.m. This was long before the days of 24 hour opening. I had to keep their house keys in my shoe, knowing that if they couldn't find they keys they would eventually give up and go back to bed. They were lovely really, and it was so sad.

Anyway, with various changes of routine we've managed to get Harvey more settled. He is very well and happy in himself, and has been getting in touch with his inner wolf. This week he ate a bird in the garden, feathers and all. Whatever is going on in his brain it's clear his digestion is as robust as always.

My concentration has been dreadful, so I haven't been reading or writing much. One of the best things this year is that I've totally fallen in love with sewing again. Yesterday I went on a course at Stitch Solihull where I made this!

Sorry the photo is looking slightly grainy. My camera hasn't been quite right lately either. I think I changed the settings and now I can't get them back. Actually, if you click on the photo to see it bigger then it's a lot better. I wonder why that is. Oh well - the course was great and I sense a purse making frenzy coming on!

If I'm not back in blogland before Christmas, I hope you all have a merry one.

Margate, ghosts, mermaids

I am pleased to say that I have a story included in The Day Death Wore Boots, a collection of ghost stories from Alfie Dog Fiction. Mine was originally published in Writing Magazine in 2007, after winning the summer ghost story competition the previous year.



There is also a story from writing friend, Angela Pickering. Last month Angela and I spent a lovely weekend in Kent. Here we are, windblown in Margate.  (Thanks to Biddy for the photo and for showing us the sights.)

 

And here is the Folkestone mermaid, who has the most wonderful view, but must feel a bit chilly in the winter. However, I still rather wish I could spend every day gazing at the sea, like her. It's not a bad life, is it?

 



Harvey's sponsored bark

Arrff! Harvey here again.

Mrs Boss says she's going to put me into a sponsored bark. She's figured out how to do it. One day, not so long ago, I wandered innocently into the dining room. Lo and behold, there was a new door in there. And standing inside this door was a golden retriever, about my size, but not as handsome.

The other dog barked at me. I barked back.

The other dog's hackles rose. So did mine.

The other dog growled, and snarled, and got fiercer and fiercer. So did I!

Then Mrs Boss ran down the stairs, asking where the burglars were. Burglars? There was only me - and the mystery dog, of course.

Then Mrs Boss picked up the new door - which wasn't a door at all! She said it was a full length mirror. She'd just bought it, on account of doing more dressmaking and needing to keep her hems straight. She said the other dog was only me reflected in the mirror. I didn't believe her. I'm much better looking than that other dog. But I had to admit I couldn't find that dog anywhere in the house. Not even a sniff of him.

Mrs Boss hid the mirror down the side of the bookcase. She says if she ever wants me to bark and bark and bark, she'll get it out again. And perhaps people could sponsor me to raise money for dogs who don't have nice gardens to dig up, or plenty of windfall apples to gorge themselves silly on.

So on Tuesday I was just having a little practice bark outside. I didn't think anyone would notice over the din of Mr Boss mowing the lawn. And then... silence. Mr Boss had run over the electric cable with the mower! And he had the nerve to blame me for distracting him! He's gone to buy a new mower now. Mrs Boss is reviewing the life insurance.

Since the nights began to draw in, Mrs Boss has been knitting. I don't know what's happened to her writing. She says neither does she.

She did have a little piece published for National Flash Fiction Day in June. It's right here.

But she is optimistic about having some writing news next month. It's September, you see, which is one of her favourite months. A time for new plans, she says. And new slippers too. On Wednesday she went to the park in her old ones. Talk about embarrassing. I had to laaarrrrfffff!

Even when the road is bumpy...

Some pot holes are heart shaped!

Happy Easter

Sorry I have been away from my blog so long. For several weeks during winter everyone was ill, one after another, myself included. Writing was the last thing on my mind, and it took a while for things to settle back down.

Anyway, here I am to tell the tale. Writing again, gardening, sewing, walking the Big H, and trying to catch up with all your news. I sold a couple of stories to My Weekly, and every so often I go back to my historical 'thing' and do a bit on that.

For Christmas I decided to replace my forty year old sewing machine. My new one didn't come with a cover, and the ones you can buy aren't very pretty, so I made my own. I have a book on how to make patchwork bags, so adapted a pattern out of that. Please note the two polka dot buttons I found on the market, to finish off the handle! They were a perfect match with the red polka dot fabric, and I was so pleased with them

Then I stitched twenty-one patchwork stars and Christmas trees to make into a garland. It took me until April to make all the little shapes! Here are some of them.

To make sure all the shapes were hanging evenly on the cord, I strung it up across the beam in our lounge before stitching them on. My newish neighbour was cutting her grass at the time, and had a wonderful view of me from her garden. So now she thinks I put my Christmas decorations up for Easter. As if she needed further evidence of my oddness.

I have to confess to a senior moment last autumn, when I thoroughly embarrassed myself in front of her. Her garage is right next to ours. She had her garage doors open, because she was cleaning her car. I had just popped out to the front garden, for some reason that I now forget. And instead of walking back into my own garage - you guessed it - I walked straight into hers! After a second's confusion I realised why everything looked so different. I burst forth like Basil Fawlty, trying to find some plausible excuse for being in entirely the wrong place, but inwardly mortified. I still have to smile when I think of it. Oh well.

On another tack, I have never seen so many bats as I have this spring. Is it because we had a mild winter? They are very small and very fast. I sit on the sofa and watch them appear at twilight, zipping and swooping like swallows. Hope they are not roosting in our loft, but am too nervous to stick my head up through the hatch to investigate!

Isn't it lovely to have better weather? I've been gadding here and there, with a birthday trip to Evita, a canal walk, various lunches in various places, and lots of general pottering.

Wishing you all a happy Easter - and don't skimp on the chocolate.

Harvey: on the occasion of his tenth birthday

Arrrfff! Harvey here. I was ten last Thursday. Any gifts of tennis balls gratefully received. Total destruction guaranteed within twenty minutes.

What with one thing and another, Mrs Boss has had to join the ranks of the 6a.m. dogwalkers, traipsing the darkened streets with a torch. She says she doesn't mind clear mornings when the sky is all black and twinkly, but rain is not so much fun.

Also, while she is not the most social of persons (particularly at 6a.m) she is surprised to find the early morning joggers incapable of as much as a grunt of hello.

So anyway, while she may be too whacked to keep up the blogging right now, she just wants to say that she is still batting about. She was happy to have a poem commended in the Sentinel quarterly poetry competition. It has reminded her that she is supposed to be a writer, and therefore should be writing.

Before that, though, my next walk is due. Oooh look - it's raining!

My favourite bookshop

 

This week I had a little trip to Derbyshire, mainly to visit my favourite bookshop, Scarthin Books at Cromford.

Here is a place where you really can get lost for hours. Three floors of rooms, passageways, and staircases all crammed with books. They have a good stock of new books, but the real fascination is with the old, out of print and obscure. If there is ever a book you are struggling to find, just email them and they will track it down if humanly possible.

I bought two in particular that will really help with my novel research.

There's a small cafe on the middle floor, serving vegetarian and vegan food.

Scarthin's even came in at number six in the Guardian's online list of the world's best bookshops. Note - not just Derbyshire's, or England's, or even the U.K's but the whole world's! 

Researching is thirsty work, you know. So I bought a new tea mug too. Like it?

August news

I was going to let Harvey tell you about his Great Escape this time, but I've elbowed him out of the way so I can share a few bits of writing news.

The most surprising thing of all was winning the monthly poetry contest in Writers' Forum magazine. My entry is printed in the current issue, number 142. Although I don't write much poetry I am enjoying it more and more, especially after my welcome win!

Since my interest in poetry seemed to be growing this year, I began looking for a small press poetry magazine to submit to. I came across The Dawntreader, published by Indigo Dreams and decided to subscribe. It's a quarterly magazine, focusing on poetry that relates to nature, spirituality, myth and legend. Right up my street! And so I also feel honoured that one of my poems is in the current issue of Dawntreader (issue 23)

Thirdly (because you know things always come in three) I was very happy to be shortlisted once again for the Flash 500 flash fiction competition - that's the one for the second quarter of 2013, in case you're looking for the results on the website.

Although I shall probably continue with flash fiction and poetry, I don't see myself writing as many mid-length stories in the next few months. I've been looking through the folder of research that I started with a view to writing a historical novel. I really want to spend some time on that now, and don't think I can cope with more than one narrative at a time.

I've been trying to post a gratuitous picture of Harvey, for anyone who's missing him, but I am having so many problems with Blogger today that I need to go into an empty room and scream!

Southend-on-Sea

It was hot, it was crowded, it was noisy and I loved it! So full of life. See all those little dots on the beach? Each one was a person with a story to tell, and I found that idea kind of exhilarating. It's like when you visit a big city, and for the first half hour it's slightly overwhelming, and then you start to enjoy the buzz. And for me, being by the sea is always wonderful.

                       

Someone, somewhere on the pier, received a very special message. This next picture is a banner being towed behind a plane, which circled round and round above our heads.

If you squint closely you can see it says 'Temilade I love U will U marry me'. I never found out who Temilade was, or whether it was a 'yes'. If you know, please tell me!

Meanwhile, men were fishing...

boats were boating....

and even in the bustle there were quiet and tranquil spots.

When I got home I took about twenty-five photos with the self-timer to get a new profile picture I was happy with. (top right.) Note how I co-ordinated my T shirt with the colours of my blog background. (Well, OK, it was a happy accident really. I'm not that organised!)

It's cooler here today. When I went to the supermarket yesterday, the freezers had been cleaned out of ice cream! Next week, thunderstorms, apparently. And maybe a royal baby! Would you like to suggest a name?

I think we'll have Harvey on the blog next time. He hasn't done a post for a while and he's beginning to feel left out.

Roz Goddard and the coming of summer!

Guest speaker at our local writers' group this week was Roz Goddard. Roz is a former poet laureate for Birmingham, with several volumes of  poetry published. She also writes short fiction. We all enjoyed hearing Roz read some of her own poems, including the powerful and haunting Spaceman. This poem was runner up in Mslexia's poetry competition last year. You can find it, and other work, on Roz's website here.

Roz spoke about her sources of inspiration, such as the visual arts, and how we don't always have to try and write about the big things in life, but just look at small things in new ways. One thing Roz said, which I certainly need to hear every so often, was that we have to decide what is the actual story within the idea that's bubbling away - and whose story it is too.

This may seem obvious, but sometimes when writing longer stories I feel myself throwing more and more elements into the mix, just because I like them. It can take hours of rewriting before I see that these random details add nothing, and out they must go! Maybe this is why I enjoy flash fiction - it gives me no room for meandering down scenic by-roads and forces me into the heart of the story from the outset.

By co-incidence, today I came across an excellent post on editing at Denise Covey's blog from the other side of the world. Here again I found the questions 'what is my story about?' and 'whose story is it?' This is clearly my message from the universe this week. Focus, Jo, focus.

One editing trick I've been trying lately is recording my shorter stories onto my MP3 player. If I find my gaze wandering out of the window during playback, then it's quite likely a reader would lose interest too. I just note down those points where my attention flags, and see how I can give them more oomph. Then of course I delete everything, because it's too horrible hearing a recording of your own voice.

Tomorrow I break up from work for a whole fortnight. Yippee! This time last year I was in Paris. ("We'll always have Paris.") I am taking a little trip next week. Not Paris, but I'm sure it'll be fun in different ways. No, I'm not telling you where yet. You'll have to come back and see my holiday snaps!

Apparently we're going to have a heatwave in July. Are you planning a month of sunbathing and travelling, or will you be a busy bee like the one below? Do drop by and tell me what you're up to this summer.