under another sun

Misty morning this morning. Having had chats with Lorraine, I am going to do different things this week where possible. Although today was mainly given over to podcast business. After a little writing I went for a morning walk into the misty and mysterious world. Feeling a bit dark myself, but the gloom, internal and external lifted as the day progressed. Afternoon spent recording with Robin and then editing the results.   Noticing the adremachrome stencil here and there just near where I live. I suspect it is one person, probably a teenager.     

Bright and full of beans this morning, so much so that we drove off before noon to see Beth, or at least poke an envelope and parcel through her window. She has a bit of lurgy, but it is not coronavirus. Took a photo of Beth, as this kind of thing will soon become a thing of the past. Betty disinclined to be photographed, held up the card that Lorraine had sent off for, but was delivered far too late.   Lorraine and I walked down to the beach near Rockwater, where it was crowded around the open air stalls and the stall selling beer doing a good trade. It was summery with people sprawling about on the stones, and some mad people daring to venture into the water.  

Listening to Joy Harjo's Memoir Crazy Brave as I walked. It's very different, weaving together her story of growing up, dreams and spiced with First Nations beliefs and folk lore. Not a particularly fluent day's work as I self motivation, which I normally have in abundance, hard to come by. Spoke to Mum. Snapped a couple of shots below from the hill fort, and mucked about with exposures and saturations. I seem very drawn to clouds visually at the moment. Wrapped up a new fitbit for Lorraine and gave it to her as a very very late birthday present. She spent time happily getting it going -- gives you call kinds of feedback on things like heart rate and calories burned and so on.

Monday and news of another effective vaccine from AstraZenica and Oxford University. This one also reaches 90% effectiveness if given in two doses. Being manufactured here, this is likely to be the one we'll get. Otherwise a fairly cheery day, I continued on with my new Diabolus in Musica story. Just need a nastier twist in it. I shall come up with something. Received a rejection (although polite and encouraging me to send more) for Doctor Spotlight. Gah. I think it is a good story, but Black Static seem to go for the more overt and gory. I already have somewhere else to send it in mind. Went for three walks today, and smashed my 10k paces for the first time in over a week. Felt much better for it too. Watched lots of episodes of the WW2 week by week You Tube series that Anton talked about. Very good, and now Operation Barbarossa has started, pretty dreadful. It does give you the picture that half of the major events in warfare seems to pivot on human error, pigheadedness and co...

Always good to reach the weekend for Lorraine to recuperate. I felt I needed to recuperate too frankly. A couple of cheeky walks with Lorraine around the park, but essentially yet another weekend pottering about at home.  I did a fair amount of reading too, a collection of Native Nations poetry edited by the splendid poet Joy Harjo. The introduction made my head explode when she talked about the American Holocaust, how native people's were once 115 million strong before the Europeans came, and today they make up just half of one percent of the US population. Harjo suggests that we  if there were just one half percent of the African population left, it would seem astonishing to us. Lorraine prepared a special chicken dish for us on Saturday, a recipe that she had seen Marcus Wareing prepare on Masterchef with creamy stuff, shallots and tarragon (a lesser known character in Lord of the Rings). Lorraine and I reflecting on the luck we have had to be together in this testing time....

Signed off my accounts for the year (yay!) pressed on with the story, designed a dinosaur card for Betty and spent a good couple of hours on housework. Also chatted with Mum, who is chafing under the lockdown restrictions and to Mas too. Both doing well considering. Also chatted with Anton. Betty's birthday, and after work Lorraine went her place to drop off a bag of presents. She was having an excellent 29th birthday hanging out with James and Amy. Once home, L and I had a cheeky curry on the gold sofa, which I collected from Red Chillies. Lorraine had got through another difficult week, and I am proud of her.  I reread  She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo, written in the 80s this is an amazing book by the current US poet laureate. She has just worked on a Norton Anthology collection of Native Nations poetry. I think Joy Harjo's father was Cree.  Got a lot of love on facebook for Mum's waterlines picture. I put The Next Wish with it, and explained how the path led up to th...

Lorraine back to school, feeling a good deal perkier. I made progress with my new story, and Robin uploaded the latest episode of Planet Poetry.  This episode has two interviews by Robin in it, the next one will have two interviews by me. After that, it we will try to keep to our policy of mixing interviews, as having different voices helps a lot. A stroll around the park, as I am still a bit underpowered. I popped into the pharmacy to pick up some ibuprofen. Woman behind the counter: 200? me: That seems rather a lot, woman: 200 mg. Then I bought some bread. I have got to the stage now when these constitute events worth blogging about. A sorry state of affairs. Lorraine said I should look at the newish moon tonight, and it was up in the sky very close to Saturn and Jupiter, all clustered together in Capricorn.  

Very pleased to see that Lorraine working from home today, and getting some much needed rest by working in bed this morning. I am feeling perkier today than of late, and even walked around the park a little bit, on the way to buy L emergency chocolate. Otherwise I pushed on with my latest horror story, which is called Diabolus in Musica and features the devil's tritone, a slightly ominous dissonant combination of musical notes which has been traditionally associated with the devil. I also did some editing on the third episode of our podcast  Planet Poetry .  My accountant, proved to be an unexpected source of cheeriness having this year managed to get my tax bill down to something mild mannered after a couple of years of tax torpedoes. Good news.  Mum sent me some poems she had written in response to an early poem called Always True I had written a long time ago about Guernsey. The second came with the painting she did of the waterlines.  She had forgotten she had i...

Still a bit of migraine this morning, so I took it easy for a bit. Felt better as the day progressed. Lorraine came back from school this morning not feeling well still, and went straight to bed. We know it is not covid, but other bugs do exist. I was pleased she did this. I pressed on with the new short story, when my eyes stopped playing up, and did some recording with Robin. Val had all she needed from me in Paris.  

Lorraine up and soldiering off to work, still feeling a bit unwell and having to teach all day. I did work for my French client till about 4.00pm, then had a cheeky migraine to round things off. The shapes were beautiful as always in the twenty minutes or so of spangles, and full of panes of sky blue and tan, the colours on the last concept I was putting together. Slept for half an hour, then felt a little better. These days my migraines are all spangles and exhaustion, but no pain. I'll take that any day. Lorraine early, having got through the day. A plated up roast from yesterday. Began watching a series on Netflix called Love, which Innis had recommended.  Chatted to Anton during the day, who had a flood in the heavy rain over the weekend.  Another C-19 vaccine with great results announced from Moderna, another company I have done a wee bit of work for, although what it was has been lost in the mists of time. Also heard from experts saying anything approaching normal life i...

A quiet weekend, both Lorraine and I were both feeling a bit washed out, and a bit sore throaty, Lorraine coughing a little too. Because Lorraine has to be careful, she took a test on Saturday, which came back on Sunday as negative. Nice to know, and both feeling perkier as the weekend wore on. A nothing sort of bug, which under normal circumstances would have come and gone without a second thought.  In other news I got a new phone, the basic iPhone SE. It is the same size as the one I had before. As the foreseeable future is lean, and not involving commuting, I can't see much point in paying for an up-to-date model. Lorraine found me a much better deal, and I called my provider EE who matched it, thus halving my monthly bill. We halved the BT bill recently too by the same method. Amazing how these utilities will sneak up their prices, so that you end up paying them a small fortune.  Received the phone in the very next day. The phone set up, took ages as the new phone had to u...

Untroubled by triskaidekaphobia, I sprant up with Lorraine and sent off my latest story  Doctor Spotlight more in   hope than expectation to Black Static Magazine, and sent three stories off to Krishnan at Neon. Then I walked down to the seafront to have a walk and a talk with Innis. However, despite setting off in good time, I simply walked to the coast too far towards Hove so was a little late. Good to see Innis however, and shoot the breeze in the soft but drenching rain, with a very smartly behaved Pippi in tow. He is fine, and gradually processing his pal Grol's death a few months ago. We walked back to Innis and Rosie's place and then I simply walked home again, latterly in sunshine, while chatting to Anton. By the time I reached home, I already walked almost 15k paces, which was rather good.  Then working on my French brief about animal health this afternoon, feeling weary and not firing on all cylinders.  Spoke to Mum for a bit, and later in the evening Toby,...

A fairly busy day today, did some final bits on Doctor Spotlight first thing, then spoke to Robin for an hour and a half about the podcast and did a wee bit of recording. Also received a call from Val with some more work for me, which was very welcome indeed. A short walk at lunchtime, then to work this afternoon on an animal health brief for Val, till it was dinner time. Lorraine late again, having had four nights with teachers who were doing parent's evening by phone. Spoke to Mum who told me about having lost her purse, and having to cancel all her cards. She retraced her steps and went to Iceland, and spoke to the security guard. It had been found there, with everything in it. She gave him a cheeky fiver as a thanks. Among the mammoths etc. in the freezer, were some frozen curries that Lorraine had made. We ate these tonight. This evening I went to get my testicle looked at by a doctor. Walked down Beaky Villas noticing a reddish planet. I used my phone app to confirm it was Ma...

A telephone conversation this evening with a doctor about my testicles as one of which had been giving me a bit of gyp. The doctor arranged for me to see a, um, hands on doctor tomorrow.  Otherwise same old same old. A walk while now listening to lectures about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and worked on my short story, which is one of those things that always seems about to be finished. This evening I cooked a highly unorthodox fish and butternut squash curry, but more by luck than judgement it turned out oddly okay -- Lorraine, having worked late, ate it while watching  Death in Paradise .

A nice walk this afternoon, listening to the lecture series about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Fascinating skies. Did some snaps with Black and White in mind.   

More good news, after the Trump defeat... A rather amazing announcement made by Pfizer and Biotech that they have developed what appears to be a highly effective vaccination against C19. I've worked with Pfizer a fair amount in the past, and they seemed be a company with a good dose of human decency about them -- unlike some of their competitors. This is tremendous news, although wise heads in the UK are rightly counselling caution, as we are in the middle of the second wave and have to manage things as best we can. The prospect that one day in the next few months life can return to something like normal again, is very exciting. Otherwise a quiet day for me, polishing my Doctor Spotlight story, going for a walk, and all the normal stuff -- not too much going on. Lorraine home and tired from a challenging day at work. A Death in Paradise evening.

 Lorraine and I up and possessed of a fire to sort out the dungeon downstairs. Now that we had got rid of the dead tumble dryer. A good deal of business. If you are to have a dungeon, it's best to ensure it is a tidy one. Nobody likes an untidy dungeon, it is bad Feng Shui.  This done, Lorraine and I simply chilled for the rest of the day. We lurked about companionably reading and sewing and so on. I read Caleb Femi's book Poor , and it is wonderful in many ways. I also finished Don Paterson's Sonnets , because Robin's always on about him, and read the last few poems in the collection by Katerina Angelaki Rooke, who my old pal Tim knew and was influenced by. An afternoon of simply reading poems. There is a lot to recommend it. Spoke to Anton, who had been painting the outside of his house, and to Mum who took delivery of a lemon meringue pie (a PK favourite) from a neighbour, except it was a vegan pie made with chick pea water, which looks exactly like meringue.  I had...

 I got up in the night for a couple of hours, thinking about Charlotte's book had released a few ideas of my own which were spinning around in my head so much I just got up to write them down so I could get back to sleep again.  A peaceful day. Lorraine is finding that Saturdays are recovery days for her. We had a nice walk around Blakers park and into Preston Park. A warm and sunny day. I read a little this afternoon, and Lorraine and I watched coverage on rolling BBC news about Biden and Harris victory, and the hilarious events around the press briefing in Philadelphia, where instead of booking the Four Seasons hotel, for the Giuliani's idiotic defence of Trump, and casting unproved aspersions on the voting process, the found themselves in the carpark of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, after a booking cockup. Hilarious. More hilarious was the fact the Landscaping outlet was next door to an adult bookshop selling dildos etc. and opposite a crematorium. You couldn't make it...

Just as we were going to sleep last night we remembered that our kaput clothes drying machine was being collected. Up very early today, then, and Lorraine and I had to drag the blinking thing out of the dungeon onto the street. My plan was to meet Innis for a stroll on the beach, but had to biff this, having to wait to pay the collection people who turned up after 11: two young lads on a lorry, one of whom tripped over on the path and swore volubly as if it were my fault.  This done I set off for a walk, but ten minutes in had to turn back for home again, as a delivery had been left outside. I popped the box in and turned back, but walked through the woods to ascend to the hill by a different route. Meanwhile I was listening to a series of lectures in the Great Lectures audiobook series, on CBT, and found this rather interesting. By the time I had reached the Hillfort, and stood in the sun, looking at the sun sparkling on the wrinkles of the distant sea, and the high downs either s...

Lorraine working at home this morning, although of course everyone else being told to run for the bunkers does not apply to teachers so back to work as normal come 11:30. So the first day of what they are calling the second lockdown (a watery seeming lockdown to me) was a writerly day for me. I thanked David the editor of Supernatural Tales for the acceptance of   The Grieving  and resent a version with fewer typos. Also finished another edit of my latest story, called Doctor Spotlight . In the afternoon uploaded the second Planet Poetry episode, and did a bit of social media trumpeting. The bit I like most is seeing it slide into the podcast on my iPhone just like the ones I listen to.  My walk transformed by the fact that the golf course now has no golfers again, so all the glorious space up there is free to saunter around in and absent of eighteen hole troublers -- and there were lots of people doing so. Gorgeous. Made the mistake of walking near two schools at chuck ...

Various bits of admin and preparing for the meeting with Robin this afternoon. Otherwise the US election seems in the balance, with the Blue Wave not really happening. The fact is that there are millions of Americans happy to vote for this maniac.   Beth came around in the afternoon after working at L's school for a bath and to visit for the last time before lockdown 2. Had toasties and a chat... She and James are planning to move in together for the new year.  Jumped on a train for the 14 mins ride to Lewes. The train very sparsely populated and the windows open. Watched with something like admiration as a bloke of about 50 who got on just after me, and sat a couple of rows away, had a big bag of beers and chugged two of them by the time we arrived at Lewes.  Met Robin outside the station, and we walked to two pubs, and sat in a pub garden but the ambient noise was too great, and then we sat on a big upstairs terrace of a pub called The Rights of Man. We were the only pe...

Unable to sleep and felt a bit spaced out in the morning. Lorraine into work with all the children there again. I settled back into the routine, although I continued to feel antsy and out of sorts. The US election day. I have not been one to think this was a done deal. Fingers crossed. The world holds its breath.   Below lovely sky and sea from the Hill Fort wall today.   

Monday, and Lorraine back to work, and off in the rain for an inset day. It was just the teachers. I tried to get a grip, feeling curiously nervy this morning and attempting to push on with stuff.   The rain abated this afternoon, so I mooched up to the hill fort keen to walk, passing the same two women in the woods with their pack of dogs, only about 7 or 8 this time, with two school age children thrown into the mix. Dogs barked at me again. I felt Pooterishly affronted. In the evening after dinner, I popped around to Rick's house and met him and Ben there, sitting at distance from one another in his kitchen. Nice to chat with them. Crept home at 10:30, and into bed. Lorraine fast asleep. Below the muddy path on top of the hill fort, and a stencil I spotted on the street near me. The adrenochrome conspiracy theory suggests that Hollywood celebrities and the liberal elite have child rings from which they somehow extract a substance in there blood to be used in Satanic rituals. Dish...

Rain again. Off to a couple of garden centres, L and I off to buy some perennials. Unfortunately the first centre had already had most of their perennial stock scavenged. The second and larger one had more, though you had to take your life in your hands, with face-masked mobs being funnelled through xmas sections and so on. The plant sections outdoor and fine. We bought several plants and then planted them in the back garden between deluges, and cut down the big stalky remains of the helianthus. Inside tonight, eating roast chicken and Lorraine having some wine, an essential Sunday night fortification for the school week. Lockdown 2 starts officially on Thursday, but teachers must continue of course.