under another sun

Sunday gardening for an hour or two. I was looking upwards for some time starting to strim a bush using Beth and James's strimmer called Rambo, and I was ambushed by a bout of vertigo, probably because of the angle I was holding my head. Luckily there was a garden chair handy, and I sat there feeling like I was on a boat in a rough sea for a minute. It settled down fairly quickly,  and Lorraine took over the strimming and I confined myself cleaning up the patio. Lovely to be out in the fresh air, however, and it felt pretty good to be exercising.   I have been being interviewed by Charlotte for the Understory Website, in a kind of letter swap format.  In answering her questions I found myself writing about experiences during meditation, and accessing a deeper level of creativity than just your subconscious. Not sure what Charlotte will make of that!  Pat and Maureen around this afternoon, and Lorraine and I cooked up a roast chicken dinner, Maureen very complimentary...

Spent much of the day doing some freelance work, which although fairly straightforward I managed to turn into a bit of an ordeal for myself. This particular client, although a lovely bloke, is a goalpost mover, which means you never feel certain what you are doing is right.   Paused for meditation which I enjoyed. Every time we meditation, a huge fly seems to enter the room, which of course being in a meditative frame of mind we just accept. Read about a book about turning anxiety into power, which I downloaded as an audiobook.  And then went late to the gym with Lorraine. Returned and did some writing of my own. Between the gym and the meditation and being with Lorraine, my head felt in a creative space.

Up and writing early again on my own writing -- mainly poetry this morning, I am focusing on one part of one particular manuscript. Because of course, being me, I have two manuscripts in development at the same time. It was also a Podcast day, so there were a few bits and pieces to be done on that. The new episode features Robin's interview with Greta Stoddart, I got a chance to talk about my old pal Richard Fleming too which pleased me. Also Val in Paris got in touch for a cheeky dab of work tomorrow. Lorraine and I meditated again. This is clearly a good habit to return to. I have not regularly meditated for years, and it is so simple and beneficial, I need to have my brains checked about why I haven't been doing it. Lorraine is liking it too.  A quick afternoon saunter into glorious Seaford. A lifeboat and helicopter over the sea, and I read later that the turning tide and north wind had rushed two local people out to sea on an inflatable. Within minutes they were mere spec...

Up early this morning, and settling into a very happy routine. The first four hours of the day devoted to writing and editing,  as well as a recording with Robin -- these sessions increasingly relaxed and more like having a chat with a mate than doing recordings these days. I hope that's a good thing for how it sounds.  Then zooming around the house and garden for an hour or so tidying things, doing laundry, hanging out washing and so on had lunch, lorraine making chickpea flour pancake things stuffed with a mix of salady goodness.  Broke off at two to meditate -- with Lorraine. My friend Sarah Barnsley sent me a free month's link to a meditation app, and it has been a useful springboard this week to start to have a mindful interlude. Another bout of doing things, Lorraine lead a mission to put a small shelf in the airing cupboard where the boiler is. This accomplished, with a bit of help from me. Able then to tidy study. A gold sofa interlude. Lorraine reading, and I wro...

Into Brighton this afternoon. Lorraine and I went into Churchill Square where we went to a wellness exhibition that Beth was involved in running. Lorraine and I went in there and attended a meditation. Rather a nice interlude to sit on a beanbag and unplug for a while. My brain took me to Moulin Huet where I was looking at worm casts.  Then Lorraine and I did some shopping, and then found ourselves drifting into The Basketmakers Arms for a beer. Then to Wahaca restaurant where we had a decent bite of Mexican food. Lorraine and a cocktail too and it all felt like a bit of a celebration.   Brighton at its best today. Thronging with liveliness thanks to the festival. Massed drummers in New Road, singers here and there and the feeling there was music and fun everywhere. As we walked down Gardiner Street a mob of people wearing headphones, streaming towards us, all breaking out to sing 'Everybody dance... Clap your hands clap your hands' the Chic song, which was great but slightly...

A sleeper in the woods A beautiful spring day today. Lorraine drove us to Woods Mill, a nearby piece of wet woodland that is used as a nature trail for school kids in Sussex. Great to be out and about. The sun very warm. At one point I just sat on a bench with Lorraine and we did the sound meditation, which always works very well for me. What you do is simply listen to the nearest noise and then the ones further away until you are at your aural horizon. If you are sitting among singing birds this an added pleasure. It is a very fast way to take your consciousness away from yourself and gets you centred quickly. I've been yearning for the spring this year. And there was evidence of it everywhere today: daffodils, primroses, late snowdrops, and a few shy wood anemones. Also catkins on trees. We stumbled across a pair of mating toads too, and peered into the twitching ponds. I love this kind of thing, and so does Lorraine. There are also ruins there, which are unmarked and are just ly...