under another sun

Even if I say so myself, writing rather excellently first thing. Then I zoomed off to my last glass class for the foreseeable future. Took in some designs for my next piece and discussed them with Ben. He said at the end he would pop around to see how I was getting on and with glass and so on next year, which was kind of him.   Off to Fatto a mano in Hove afterwards. For food and a glass of wine with classmates Yvonne, Adele, Rick, Mick, Frances and Sally. I had one of their nice diavola pizzas. Most of the ladies had delicate salads. A jolly interlude with lots of laughter. Yvonne, having few barriers, lays the groundwork for some some no-holds-barred conversations. Caught the bus to Fiveways with Rick, and as he lives around the corner from me we walked home. He is recently widowed, and he lives around the corner from me. Nice guy. His wife was only 59, but he has lots of family who are supporting him thankfully. A bit more work and reading, before Lorraine came home and ...

Up working early, and an emergency air ambulance helicopter circling overhead before landing just down the road on Preston Drove, some poor teenager knocked off a bicycle. Mooched down to the gym later for a half an hour trundle on the cross trainer. Listening to more stories by Aickman. Raining hard tonight, and I pulled my horns in, and did not go to the poetry reading at Grand Central, preferring to stay with Lorraine, who had another tough day at work.

A poor night's sleep. Calliope came and sicked up on the carpet in the night too. Up and writing first thing, before walking down to Brighton to get a supersaver ticket to London. A pesky journey, with the train being delayed on the line for 20 minutes due to a signal fault in one of the tunnels, through which we had to drive slowly. I was listening to a Robert Aickman audiobook however, and listened to a nasty Freudian little story called The Swords . A little late, I met Mum at The Salisbury, and it already had a few Christmas decorations. Had a nice time, nursing a beer from Cornwall, and chatting to mum about many things that needed talking about, before heading down into The Crypt Cafe for a bite to eat. It was very busy and we perched on stools to eat. Nice to see her of course I like my little jaunts up to meet her in town. Listening to more Aitken nastiness on the train. Lorraine had a governors meeting tonight, so I zoomed off to Hove to meet Innis for a cheeky beer in...

Worked well on my own writing. I am writing well at the moment. In the afternoon slunk off to the gym, which was cue for a deluge of rain. After a cheeky half an hour on the cross trainer in my new gym shoes. I went popped into the pharmacy, and Sainsbury's. Utterly soaking by the time I got home, and had a hot shower.  Cooked rather excellent meatballs for supper. A nice evening in with Lorraine. Other than that, few pulse-quickening matters to report.

A somewhat miraculous morning's writing, three poems that I had not been able to finalise for literally years, fell nicely into shape. It is like suddenly finding yourself with a completed Rubrik's cube. Felt elated for at least an hour afterwards, although it is not a victory that means much to others at the moment. Into town, and I took the specs that had exploded off my face in the tube the other day back to Specsavers, and they repaired them. Then I bought a pair of gym shoes, and got more CO2 for our soda stream machine, which as I am addicted to sparkling water, saves a loads of plastic.

We took a stroll along the seafront in Hove for fresh air this morning, after leaving a plastic Christmas tree outside Beth and John's flat door. Lorraine and I stopped off at Marrocco's on the Hove seafront where we bought two good hot chocolate drinks. The staff generally singing and dancing and filming each other, and occasionally remembering to serve people. A cheery place. But Lorraine and I sat on a bench looking out to sea, grabbing the last of the sun before the rainclouds rolled over. Lorraine had to work in the afternoon. I read. The outside world less than inviting. A chat with Mum this evening. Below colourful beach huts, stripes seem to be in fashion for their doors now. A cloud over the sun.

Lorraine and I both feeling somewhat under the weather today, and so spent the whole day lying low, and having afternoon naps and so on. A different story in the evening, where we bused off to the Old Albion pub, where Beth and John and lots of her pals were to celebrate her birthday earlier in the week. Among them Laura and Braheem, Laura's parents Olly and Jane, who I like lots, Rosie and Innis, and James, who I hadn't talked to in ages, and his boyfriend Rob, Sarah and Suzie from Beth's agency. Nice to chat to everyone, and the fleeting weird depression  I felt when I arrived, soon dissipated, with good beer and good company. The food not bad, and Laura brought some amazing cupcakes she made. A good time had by all. Below  two not very good snaps: Betty blowing out a cupcake candle with Sarah in the background and Betty smiling.

Distinctly off colour this morning. Off to my glass class, and finally finished the blooming piece I'd been working on. However an unforeseen problem struck during the very last thing I did to it, which meant that some chalk dust has got between the double glass bits. D'oh. The only thing to do was to take it apart again, and I am happy to live with it, and felt pleased I had finished the thing. A coffee afterwards with Chris, Adele, Yvonne, Mick and Frances. There is talk of a meal next week, which is the last of the current course. I am not sure I can commit to it again next year, but as I will have my own home studio I shall be free to press on. Home clutching my piece, which I showed to Sonia who said I would have to get another house to put it in. Then on with some bits and pieces of writing, then a bit of design work on new ideas for a stained glass piece. I fancy doing something to do with an angel, maybe the Annunciation . Lorraine called, and said she had been fe...

Shot up to that London today. Met Lynne for coffee and cake in the Paddington agency. She said her little girl was asked her for some waw'ah (water) the other day, like the little Londoner she is. Lynne is taking her back to Fiji in December, I suggested she needed to dunk her into the south seas to wash all that London out of her. Reading glasses exploded off my face on the tube, on the way home. One of the corner screws pinged out never to be seen again, and a lens dropping into my lap. Comedy gold for fellow passengers. But meant I couldn't read for all the journey home, a bit of a pain as I had carted lots of material with me. Lorraine brought me home a pile of children's books. Today I read was from the eighties, and called   Room 13, which was set in Whitby and reminded me of a holiday L and I spent there with Sam and Jade and Beth and John. Ended in the children putting a stake made of Whitby Rock through the heart of a vampire, which was good fun. Tom here th...

Up with Lorraine and the sparrows this fine morning, although feeling wan and like I have some sort of bug. A dusting of snow this morning, which soon went as the day warmed up. First of the season though, and quite exciting for all that. Lorraine drove off to school. I am trying to focus on writing at the moment, as little else happening on the work front. Off to the gym, and onto the cross trainer. Home and did some quite good writing, cooked and so on. Nowt to write home about. Below in the back garden first thing. The blizzards return.

Cold and uninviting outside. I felt a bit tetchy and lacking bounce, and worked in my study all day. Perhaps I need a growlery, like in Dickens' Bleak House, where Mr Jarndyce goes to growl. Other than this I did emails concerning Janet, brushing up another short story set in Guernsey, tweaked a poem, and arranged to meet one of my clients on Thursday. Lorraine home a bit early today, having to go to the dentist. Then she zoomed off to get her feet squeezed by the reflexologist, which she feels helps a lot. Betty's birthday today, she sent me a picture of her feet in the penguin and cactus socks I'd got her as a wee present. To bed. Reading The Box of Delights to Lorraine. Sends her to sleep very quickly. I love this book, especially as the world tilts towards Christmas. I still have the puffin copy I had as a child, although my copy is now literally falling apart.

The weather seasonally cold and dull. Anton knocking on the door this morning, having run across town to pick up his car and a bag. I was up early to plan my next steps. I worked on a bit of writing. Tidying up and making a list seems to help. I am heading for a squeaky period financially. Spending lots on house repairs, then having to turn work away when Janet was dying has left the Kenny coffers at a very low ebb, just in time for my tax bill. In my line of work, this is not a good time to pick up freelance. However the only thing to do is work at what I can work at, and stay tranquil. I went to the gym this afternoon, and had to drag myself through it. I only did half an hour's trundling on the cross trainer, but with the walk there and back, it is a good deal better than nothing. Having reached an impasse with work, and Lorraine home late, I did some reading. Finished my Aickman collection, Compulsory Games , and am now reading an interesting book called Unforbidden Plea...

Up and at em', well kind of, for a Sunday. Breakfast of bacon and eggs and toast and baked beans, then a drive off to Sainsbury's. It is weird how much I like going to Sainsbury's with Lorraine. Then a bit of zooming about the house tidying things. Lorraine had some work to do, and we cooked as Anton and Anne and Klaudia and Oskar came around for their tea. Oskar is beansprouting and I foresee a time, not long, when he will be able to loom over me and gain an unrivalled view of the area of concern. He is already almost as tall as Klaudia. Cheery to hang out with my Godbairns and chat with Anne. Anton went and sat with Lorraine in the kitchen, making a nice pork roast with lots of veggies.  As we sat down for food, Oskar got a sudden headache and retired to the gold sofa till it was time to go. Anton saying he still had to go to school tomorrow. Klaudia, Anton, Lorraine and I then played a nameless card game Klaudia had invented on holiday in Bulgaria. (Anne can't be...

Saturday, and surprisingly perky considering last night's shenanigans. Woke up to find my short story, The Dark Fish , had been uploaded by Matthew the editor, who had been hard at work at 1am. Forced Lorraine to read it in bed, and went around saying the word Horror but only employing the first 'o' vowel sound. Lorraine and I chatting lots this morning, and putting things in their right mental boxes. Lorraine needs to say thing out loud to manage them. I perfectly understand this. My own speciality is venting in a self loathing, depressive and angry way, which depresses anyone in earshot, but leaves me feeling cleansed and happy. In the afternoon we scooted into town for some shopping, then Lorraine and I popped into The Bottom's Rest for a pint of Harveys. Beth met us there from work and we went back to the flat. A cheery evening with Beth and John. We ordered a curry takeaway from around the corner, and John and I went to collect it. We bumped into a cheery Inn...

Up and early working, before bussing off to my glass class. Spent the two hours getting led cement into one side of the window, a process a bit like grouting, and then using chalk dust, called whiting, and a brush to polish the glass on that side. Then I tidied up the grouting bits by holding the window up to the light.  Next week the b side, and then I'm done. After this, a coffee with Yvonne, Adele and Frances. Chris having hurt his back this week. Enjoyed having a laugh with them. Then I bussed home again, said hello to Sonia and did a bit of this and that on my computer, and had a cheeky doze. Walked over to Anton's house where I ate some of his pizza and chatted with Anne and Klaudia and Anton for a bit, before we pushed off into town. Had a a pub crawl, popping into many and various pubs, perhaps most memorably Bar Broadway in Kemptown, where musicals take centre stage. The screens in the bar had ornate gold picture frames, and featured songs from Cabaret and also The...

Theresa May presented her deal with the EU today to mass Tory resignations. Essentially Brexit is a national suicide attempt, and May is trying to make that suicide slightly less painful. Many rabid Brexiteers want it to be more deeply damaging. Meanwhile the populace, bitterly divided by the lies they were told,  doesn't know what the hell is happening or who to trust. The closer we get to Brexit the madness of the 'taking back control' lie further reveals itself. And breathe. For me personally a rather good day. I did some writing. I sent stuff off to Michel and Pat and Perky. I went to the gym. I returned and did some more work, and then I got a note accepting one of my short stories to appear on a Horror story site called Horla . This was a bit of a boost. The story is about an astrologer and is called, The Dark Fish.   I wrote it in 1986, which I went through three rounds of revisions with the editor of a magazine called Panurge, before he finally rejected it. I ...

So off to Hampton today, (standing room only from Preston Park obvs.) where I had a lunchtime meeting with The French Bloke and Pat. I was early, so sat in a cafe and had a cup of tea and a bacon roll for £4. Then I ambled off to sit by the river where I sat for ten minutes in the unseasonal November sun and looking at waterfowl. Then into the agency, chatted with various folks, and then Michel took me to a pub called The Jolly Coopers which dates back to the 18th Century. Enjoyed catching up with Michel and then Pat, and I talked them through a powerpoint presentation of the thinking I have been doing about waiting rooms. They seemed quite intrigued and positive, and we will talk more about it. By the time the train had come at Hampton Station it was already 3:30pm so I made off to Kings Cross. Here I idled by walking around the area and having a lengthy coffee and blueberry muffin before going to Housman's radical bookshop for the launch of An Outbreak of Peace . We heard fou...

Lorraine working at home this morning, which was nice. I worked on some writing, and sent some emails. I trundled on the cross trainer at the gym, my first time back for ages which explains the sumo business in the mirror. Madeline copied me on a note wrangling with relatives in her role as Janet's executor. Thank God I am out of that mean-spirited mire now.

Up fairly early, and left Lorraine to snooze after bringing her tea. Trace up shortly followed by Lorraine. Pleased to see they got on well right away. We sat chatting in the kitchen, then immediately after 11am, which Lorraine wanted to mark in silence, we made off down into Kensington Gardens to a cafe called Iydea, for a rather delicious vegetarian breakfast (Trace had a vegan one) and we discussed all manner of subjects including the idea (or should that be the iydea) of vegan cheese as Trace has a hankering to own a vegan cheese shop. This followed by a spot of looking in shops, and then we walked Trace up to Brighton station, had a final cup of tea there  and said fond farewells. Lorraine really liked Tracey, which was nice. Sauntered home through the park, and then I read a Robert Aickman story, and had a Sunday afternoon snooze on the gold sofa. Lorraine had some pesky work to be getting on with. I cooked for us. In the evening was a remarkable film on TV by Peter Jackson...

Lorraine up early and off to the school for a morning event, then in the afternoon she travelled up to London to go to a reunion of the people she started nursing with back in the early eighties. I however, did a few bits of writing, and emailing folks including Robin, who had sent me a copy of her booklet A Guide TO Getting Published in UK Poetry Magazines, which is a generally good wheeze. then sauntered down to Brighton Station where I met Tracey, who I had not seen for some ten years, she having been living lately in California, and dodging wildfires. Talked about a good deal with her, such as her time in Hawaii, and working for an IT startup in California, and experiences working for a non-profit organisation there too, and colourful descriptions of the characters she met there. She is now back in the UK for the time being. We spent the entire afternoon and evening just talking. Tracey on the hunt for CBD oil, which was found in Infinity Foods, then we walked down to the sea, ...

So a little work on a story, and then off to Stained Glass again. Finally today was able to hold my  window up to the light, having soldered everything into place. Very pleased with the results, and I thanked Ben for all his help. Next week will be all about cementing the glass into place, a bit like grouting tiles. Still a big moment for me. I do like the results. It will also change with different light conditions. You can't see really from the photo below that the clear looking glass is actually tints of yellow and green, for example. Coffee afterwards with Rick, Yvonne, Adele and Frances, and after they went I did a bit of work in the cafe, before going for a stroll along by the sea and onto the pier, before catching a bus back to my neck of the woods, and taking a long walk to make sure I had walked my thousand paces. Home, and Lorraine shattered after a hard week. Lorraine called for a curry, and I snuck out and collected it. A stormy night outside, with wind and rain roari...

A good day's work today. Looking again at what I have on my hard drive, and deciding to get this brushed up and sent off. Prompted by reading Jeremy and Louise's collections of short stories, I remembered I have had a couple of short stories published, and have a few more in the hard drive.  I imported them all into Scrivener, my writing software to see what I have, and was surprised at how good some of them were. So I am getting myself organised to get some of these sent out into the wild. In the evening, I dodged the rain and loped own to the Evening Star where I met Richard Gibson, Steve Cartwright, and their pal Nick for a few beers, and a young Irish guy whose name escapes me now. A cheery evening of real ale and chats about all manner of subjects. I always enjoy their company, and will make sure I do a bit more of this. Richard and Nick were drinking a third of a pint of some really strong brown beer that smelled of marmite. I had a sip of one of them, weirdly lovely. ...

Off to London today, finishing Jeremy Page's book of short stories,  London Calling on the way there. I loved it, and as Jeremy is about my age, (and had gone to Warwick too) I completely identified with some of his work. I sent him an email saying how much I'd enjoyed it. Also enjoying Louise Tondeur's collection,  Unusual Places which I dip into from time to time. I arrived at Victoria time to to pop into Tate Britain, where I at last got to use my membership card again. I glanced around at the Edward Burne-Jones exhibition, but I found I wasn't much in the mood for pre-Raphaelite malarkey. I went into the Turner Prize 2018, each of the artist doing a video installation, so utterly the wrong thing to pop into for a cheeky twenty minutes. I did get a proper laugh at some work by Charlotte Prodger, film of a stern of a ship at sea which made you feel woozy, looking at the sliding horizon. Suddenly there was voiceover, but so risibly pretentious that it made me burst...

Monday, and out of bed the wrong way. Feeling anxious to get on with things, but what those things are is not entirely obvious. Spent the day attempting to get a grip. Lorraine off and into work not exactly with a song on her lips either. A walk this afternoon which helped. I sent a happy birthday note off to Richard, now back in Guernsey. And I bumped into Simon Bottrell, who was looking extremely well after having had a nasty heart attack last year. In fact I have never seen him looking so good, and he seemed much happier and healthier than when I last saw him. He told me he was exercising all the time, and is managing his stress really well. Started reading the book of short stories by Jeremy Page, called London Calling . Really good. I wandered about the park brooding on how well I was managing things. Walked back by the side of the church, and my eye was caught by these fallen yew tree berries on the top of a tomb. Nicely gothic. The evening continued with explosions. ...

Lorraine had lots of prep to do today, so we got up early. Some of it I could help her with a bit first thing. She broke off at lunchtime, and we walked down to The Geese, and met up with Catherine and Tanya, Wayne and Tim. Rather a nice Sunday roast, and excellent company, good to talk to everyone. Among Catherine's many talents, she is expanding into some sort of financial coaching, and asked Lorraine if she could experiment on her. The pub was very busy, and after we'd eaten our really nice roast dinners, we had to move off. Lorraine went back home, and I went off to have ice cream with Tanya and Catherine. Tin and Wayne made off to The Marlborough, and were tempting me to go with them. But in the end I just wanted to be home again. I am finding that I only have so much socialising in me at the moment, even with people I like lots. Walked home in the balmy still too warm for the time of year day, and had a quiet evening with Lorraine. Below Catherine on her birthday. ...

Excellent text from Carl today, saying 'For the first time I can remember, I woke up this morning knowing I can do anything I want this weekend. Absolutely no regrets!' He sold his care-providing business, and is not on call at the weekend any more. I'm really pleased for him. Lorraine and I got up late, after teas and breakfast in bed and lots of talking about a thorny problem she is facing. Then a spot of housework and some pottering about, we potted up the second acer tree we bought last week, and took bags of garden rubbish to recycling, one full of rose stems which did a surprising amount of pain to my thumb, and then lurked in the garden centre up near the racecourse, I wistfully looked at tropical fish for a minute. We spotted the purple berried plant again, that looks like it should be in an episode of the first Star Trek series. A quiet day. I slept in the afternoon and read another Aickman story, and in the evening I popped out to Red Chilli for a takeaway,...

Up and a bit of my work, and a bit of tidying, before zooming off to my glass class. Another enjoyable session, where I did lots of soldering. Coffee afterwards with most of the class, and hung about chatting with Chris at the end. This done, I simply slipped around the corner to call in on Helen, and we listened to the entirety of act two of the Centaur opera, to which she had done lots of work, really sounding convincing now. Perhaps it was having been to Glyndebourne recently, but it helped me imagine it being sung on stage more easily too. Good to see her for a while, and escape into a world of music. Then I walked home. Lorraine having a bit of a wretched week at school for various reasons I won't go into here. Home, however, and we caught a cab and zoomed off down past Preston Park where a big fireworks display was going to happen, down to the Station pub in Hove again, where John's band Body Talk was playing again. Always nice to see Betty and John, and I enjoyed cha...

A pinch and a punch. Spent all day monkishly writing to ten agents about the kids book again, this time incorporating my learnings, man, from last weekend in bloomsbury. A couple of brisk walks just to clear my head and get away from my desk.  Lorraine home a bit late, after another hard day. I cooked excellent meatballs to go with pasta. Below, they are setting up a bit of a funfair in the park, and in the walled garden with puddles.