Blog Envy ?

... further to my earlier post ... Ive just looked again at Neil's post and found myself envious of the fact that he had a comment from "Dana", advising him to join a writers forum online , and wondering whether anyone will ever leave me a comment . Then I notice Tim has left me a comment after all .. Thanks Tim .....and of course D left me one about his legs and the GP s .

blogging , the blogosphere etc

Just been reading Neil's blog ( http://www.marketingmynovel.blogspot.com/) and thinking what we have in common bloggowise . There are some similarities .... we are both writers at heart , most content with pen in hand , or in my case laptop in situ , probably both using writing as the ultimate displacement activity . Everyone has their favourite( DA) , and in fact it was Michaela who first introduced me to the concept as she described sitting in her mother's bedroom applying layers and layers of make up simply to avoid having to revise for her finals . Mostly folks seem to do "things " in order to avoid having to write , washing the car instead of writing a report being one I was quoted recently ( personally Id rather write the report , all that soapy water up the arms and reaching over a damp bonnet whilst standing in a puddle of soap ) but generally I guess I find writing the ideal reason for generally not just getting on with life , which always seems to me a thing I'd rather think about today and do tomorrow instead .
Driving home today with a literature proramme on radio four I heard numerous novels discussed , including Metamorphosis ( Franz Kafka , I thinkFranz Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS adapted by Peter Kuper ) which I read in school , Therese Raquin ( Emile Zola )National Theatre : Productions : Thérèse Raquin and another French novel which I read at A level ( cant remember now ). All this took me back to the books I used to read in my twenties when I was single and as a means of finding things to do after work ( I used to have energy then ) attending courses in French literature with the Workers Education Association and the like . A group of us would meet every week and talk about the latest book , a bit like book groups now ( something Ive never managed to get myself into , for various reasons ), only I suspect we did it in a more academic way as the group teacher would usually be a teacher or lecturer and very serious about it all too . My image of book groups includes a host or hostess , a sitting room in neutral colours and copious drafts of wine , possibly . Ive always secretly envied participants but never quite been able to commit . I digress . The radio took me back , and made me think , I could do that again . Join a group , do a course , read books to order instead of in a slightly sloppy what's next on the pile at the side of the bed kind of way , discarding one after a few lines when I take against it in a fit of pique , picking up another and throwing it back if it doesnt immediately suit . No discipline . I could do a course and discipline myself literarily . Discipline myself in all sorts of ways . Go back to my old habits of cleaning every week , shopping on Thursdays , swim every morning , walk every night etc etc .
But , and this was the point of all this , writing provides the perfect excuse to think about all these ideas , including revelling in the idea of the numerous possibilities whilst in fact putting off taking action until tomorrow as somehow writing has to come first .

Both Neil and myself started writing in support of something else . In his case , to promote his novel and get people interested in downloading a free copy of his book at http://www.lulu.com/ , or even buying a nice bound and proper looking book with a Greek scene on the cover . Excellent for the summer hols ( summer ? what summer ? Still at least its not flooding here and we have mains water and power still . Well apart from my sister Laura who rarely has water but thats a long story ) .And in my case to get people to look at the CatCalls website . In both cases we seem to have a growing following of readers and in my case thats become reason in itself .........

Cleaning fest

Guinea pig cleaning fest in a mad half hour outside .

Pigs are transferred into outdoor run ( we still have them indoors as still waiting for Summer to arrive ) and they charge up and down unusually for them , wofflings and squeaklings emanating from their general direction whilst we get the hose going and power spray out a large GP indoor hutch and four large cat litter boxes .

As always halfway through the proceedings as I spray high velocity water and pig debris all over myself and any cat poking its nose into things , I notice I am wearing my pin stripe trousers when I have many a pair of old jeans more than suited to this purpose . But no matter . I am always too eager to get on with things to bother to change , though I know in theory it makes sense .

Unusual for the G Pigs to charge about , they are usually all too happy to find a cardboard box to sit squashed up in for the duration , with the occasional foray for a carrot or lettuce . But tonight they seem to be enjoying life , pottering about on their cute legs and making happy chunterings as they find stray hay .

The cats sniff the air gingerly and Pearl makes a mad dash to escape over the wall . We have to grab her as she is stone deaf and we fear she would not last long amongst passing cars and dogs. The other cats are happy to pace around amonsgt the plants and roll in the dust but Pearl cannot settle .

Once the pigs see the hutch appearing clean and dry they set up a loud shrieking , happy to be back in their fresh bed and ready to start the long night's re arranging of the furniture . There is a routine . The hay heck has to be tipped up and all the hay dumped unceremoniously on the bottom . The bed dept has to be fought over and whoever loses that battle then settles for the night in a pile of sawdust out in the open , though there is another covered bed . Hedgehog the large grey roly poly girl usually stays out . Once the house settles for the night she allows herself to relax , and her little feet and legs come out to the side as she lets her belly sink slowly to the ground , sighing as she goes . Something completely satisfying about guinea pigs , especially their sociability . Ours squeak every time we enter the kitchen , especially if we open the fridge door , or come into the house with carrier bags , which they associate with dandelion leaves from outside .

And I swear they wolf whistle at D on the rare occasions when he braves the kitchen in his dressing gown , legs on view .

CatCalls.....

CatCalls picking up and the little black kitten is a delight , chasing me and everything that moves . One of the advantages of this job is getting to play with numerous cats and kittens with all their little foibles . I prefer houses with good sound proofing , often wondering how the neighbours regard someone like me who goes in and starts an immediate dialogue with the cat , usually in a very loud voice in case they're sleeping upstairs , not wanting to give them a sudden shock if they appear and find me lurking amidst the food bowls and scratching around the litter trays .
Soon after I started I was looking after two cats whilst their family was in Brazil over Christmas and on Christmas Day itself I went in and greeted them loudly with various endearments and wishing them both Happy Christmas as you do , fretting that they were feeling bereft . As I left , after half an hour or so , the door across the landing opened and a smartly dressed man appeared , wished me a good morning , then retreated behind his door . I concluded ( from his bow tie ) that he was a psychiatrist wanting to check me out ,talking to cats and calling them darling and poppet and on a public holiday too . Though on reflection isn't it surgeons who wear bow ties ? The psychiatrists I know usually wear beige chinos and no ties at all .

Yawning not roaring ....

Pearl, yawning not snarling .

Buzz in the tube on the right .

Disgruntled ....

Called at Blagdon en route to Belsay , and stopped at the coffee shop

there then quick perusal of the various shops . All very well but in the end decided we will enjoy it better when we are older ....or perhaps just when we have grown up .

At Belsay we try to walk round the lake , following a map which unfortunately we have mis -read . We expect the walk to follow the lake in a circle but it goes off in the opposite direction taking us up through the woods ( where I temporarily wonder whether we might get bitten by a tick . I have a thing about deer ticks ) .

The woodland walk would have been just the thing had we not been expecting a lakeside stroll, so we trudge along in silence and I ponder the word "disgruntled " as it seems to fit the bill . A wonderfully descriptive word , it conjures up images of black and pink spotted pigs , with bristly backs , and snorty snouts , rooting in the undergrowth ( perhaps for truffles ) and coming up with nothing more than a grubby nose . And looking around belligerently as they emerge . A bit like we did as we emerged from the woods with " was that it then? " looks on our faces .

Later , as we re enter the grounds , and follow the gardens to the house , I notice the sign advising anyone who thieves plants that they will get their comeuppance . I dont know much about the world of plants and gardens but this one is particularly big and stocked fit to burst with every species of plant I know and I can't help thinking what a churlish notice this is . One of my childhood memories of walks round country gardens was of the women in the party snipping cuttings with their fingers and placing them in plastic bags in their handbags and going home all pleased with their acquisitions ( it wasn't a thing I ever saw a man do . Men in those days didn't have handbags though . Its all different now . )

St Mary's Lighthouse

A flurry of CatCalling this weekend including two visits which take us past the lighthouse . We stop to take pictures and muse about the weather . Floods in various counties west and south , and the news shows cars and people floating .
Later we go out to see a film and bundle up in coats for the occasion. July . Summer holidays . Wierd. Global warming ? Global cooling and flooding .

The cats don't seem too bothered . A wonderful British shorthair with the softest fur and a little black kitten who likes to play hide and seek .

Buzz the hamster , perhaps reacting to the change in environment , has carried a pile of sawdust up to his wheel on top of the cage ( reminds me of Center Parcs with all its flumes and tubes and plastic balls for play purposes ) and settled down there for the duration . A wise move , possibly .