under another sun

The morning of the last day of the year was spent tidying. Lorraine adopted the Mari Kondo style folding I have been doing lately. I showed her my draws of teeshirts, socks and boxers, all folded so that you can see everything in the drawer at a glance. Deeply inspired by this, she did the same thing to her drawers (ahem) and it sparked joy in her, plus and a deep appreciation of me as a beacon of tidiness and order. Then breakfast. We had coffee and I felt in need of healthy things this morning, and had porridge and assorted seeds and frozen berries. We discussed the new regime for food starting at the beginning of January, and other plans and schemes.  It is warm for the time of year, but hosing down with rain and very windy. Lorraine and I walked down to the sea when the rain stopped for a bit, and loved the white horses and the wildness of it. Then a spot of shopping in Morrisons, and the health food shop where Lorraine bought some Tamari sauce having read about its existence ...

Up early, a little after Lorraine. Getting over the hump day of the week. Worked on detailed but boring German stuff, sent that off to Munich, then chatted with Keith. US brief just after lunch, and then bounced ideas about with Keith and got to a point where we could stop by close of play. We have to present ideas at 7pm on Friday evening to the US guys, which is inconvenient. I am desperate to pick up the threads of my own writing. But money is money I suppose. Sam dragged the tree off to the recycling spot in Preston Park this morning while I was working. And the Dusty Dolls came. Went out for a series of short walks to get to my 10k paces. On the last one saw the big new moon, the hidden part clearly visible, and Jupiter gleaming near it. Home and made the plain meal of steamed peas and cabbage, boiled potatoes with a bit of grilled fish, which I found unaccountably tasty. Possibly because of Spartan Month. Horrifically, however, I weighed myself and seem to have added half a kilo...

A nice day today. Lorraine and I up fairly late, and then sauntered into town for a general mooch (and to buy each other valentine's cards). We had a snack in the wee Spanish tapas place in the lanes which was fun, and reminded us of our Spanish holiday last year. Walked down to the sea afterwards, this was grey and rough, lots of gulls flying close to the waves, and the murmuration of starlings gathering over the water too, before they settle down on the struts under the pier. Cobwebs successfully blown off we zoomed home. Read another story by Thomas Ligotti. Like his stuff very much. Then all my email accounts dropped off again, which was rather enraging. Managed to sign on to my bt email through a browser when I found a rejection note from a poetry magazine (only 5 months it took them). Both things a bit galling.   However, we watched an interesting documentary on TV about David Bowie's pre-success years. And so to bed, where Lorraine read from The Box of Delights , we ...

Up after Lorraine brought me a cup of tea in bed. Wanted to spring up and surge on with things, however after a while of actually being up I still felt drained and lifeless. A bit of a damp squib for the first working Monday of my year. There was the possibility of work from two directions today, but neither of them coughed up. I did a bit of year planning, and then simply read afterwards. I started reading a contemporary horror book called The Chalk Man, which I downloaded for 99p onto my kindle. It was a best seller and has the likes of Stephen King saying how horrific it is. I went for two short walks around the block. It was good to suck in some fresh air. Lorraine home in need of a glass of wine. I read her some more of The Box of Delights tonight. It has been years since I read it, and there are parts of it I had completely forgotten. It is an almost lost classic. It is a good deal more disjointed than many of the Children's books that followed it, such as the Hobbit, or th...

Woke up worried that Lorraine wanted to move to London, as she had been insisting on it in my dream, although she denied it in real life. Otherwise a sense that things were moving forwards a bit again. Spoke to Fi at the Chiswick agency, and arranged to go up to London on Friday morning and the extent of the job. It only seems a two-dayer, but that is nevertheless welcome indeed and I will get to chat with Matty Boy and Slug too. Also I signed off my accounts. I had a reply from the accountant from 1AM, with news of what my tax bill will be this year. Thankfully not as steep as I had feared it might be.  In thanking him, I advised an early night. Otherwise I went virtuously to the gym, and worked hard on completing my horror story, The Inheritor. It is shaping up really well I think, and I have a very neat ending to it now. Lorraine working late tonight, it being a governors meeting, so I snuck off and got myself fish and chips, which I enjoyed a good deal, and watched Larry San...

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.

A jar of delights Calliope now consistently wakes me at 7. I find having a kitten stand on your head purring loudly is infinitely preferable to a blaring alarm. Got a text from Beth saying that Sushi the Siamese fighting fish had expired. I called her briefly feeling vaguely responsible. I have no idea why her fish are dying as in my fishkeeping experience she had done everything right. It brings the child out in Beth who got the tank as a 17th birthday present. Having named all of the fish, she takes each loss hard. Actually made some good progress today on the hogsite and felt that, it might actually end one day. A glimmer of hope as I rewrote copy about erection problems. Also spoke to nice folks in the FB's agency to ensure I will get paid for that job. Had a Guernsey bean jar on the go, filling the house with earthy beany warm smells. The comforting aroma must have inspired the kitten too, judging by the way she had to be restrained from climbing into the hot oven when I opene...