Goal Setting

 

Our goal to collect wild garlic and sticks!

My main plan was to swim 500 lengths (12.5km) this week in addition to playing three lots of tennis and cycling -  simple plan as plans go but it wasn't to be. Setting off on my freshly cleaned and oiled bike for my Tuesday swim, I was still on target. I had 220 lengths under my belt so all was good. On the way home I had a puncture. Cycling wasn't going to happen until I repaired the tyre. I get so many punctures, repairing them has become just an annoyance.

That done, I noticed the back brake didn't grip. Dangerous. I planned to get the bike sorted the next day. Then on that Tuesday evening I fell ill. REALLY ill. It wasn't just the diarrhoea and vomiting, it was the throbbing headache, aching muscles and general ennui that pinned me to the sofa. So now I was behind on the swimming, behind on the tennis and I couldn't cycle. 

By Friday things began to turn around. I thought I'd give swimming a shot and then cycle to Cycle Saviours to get my brake discs replaced. I decided I didn't have the energy to swim and then the tyre I had sorted had deflated. I gave up. I put the bike in the car and went off to get it repaired. The car journey was enough to whack me out. Another failed goal.

Other things did not fall into place for me either. I received the referral letter to get my left heel sorted. Great. I then contacted Benenden who were really helpful. They told me they just needed to know how long it would take to have this operation on the NHS. I phoned my practice. The receptionist told to to phone the medical secretary at the same practice. I did. No reply. I phoned the original receptionist again and she said phone the hospital. I tried. I spent 55 mins on hold before giving up. I then tried the following day. I got a robotic message to say the hospital would get beck to me within one business day. I am still waiting! God knows how long it would take on an NHS waiting list to get an operation sorted. 

One small goal I have achieved is picking wild garlic. I am making a pesto and will probably be eating it with every meal until Easter. I had an assistant for the morning - Mattaya. I picked garlic leaves: she picked up sticks. When she had too many she insisted I picked up sticks for her. We had nearly got to the car when a friendly dog knocked her over. She forgot all about those special sticks, got into the car a fell sound asleep. Goal achieved - one knackered Grandchild!

Danielle found a handyman on Checkatrade. That didn't go to well either. Larry's Construction and Valeting company in Milton Keynes fell short on a number of fronts. No goals achieved there. Isaac broke the TV, dumped the faux fireplace in the garden, did not cut the carpet as per instructions and failed to do the main thing which was to move a socket. He then promised to return on Sunday afternoon to make good the things he did not do in the first place and then did not turn up. Errrr.

As for bigger goals. Trump and Netanyahu have succeeded in cocking up everyone's lives wherever they are on Earth. Well done! Big achievement. They'll get a prize or something like that! As for us poor souls on the ground, stoicism is the way forward. We can't change the big world but we can reframe how we deal with the fallout. In the 1970s the OPEC crisis caused mayhem. We had a three-day work week, power cuts, very expensive petrol and I remember we just soldiered on. Leave the car at home, turn the heating down, fill your time with local stuff and find something to smile about. 

Just one small thought. Does Trump wake up and think, "Oh F☆☆k, I messed up big time"? I really don't think this state was in his plan. Whoops... what plan?

The only thing you can change is you. Next week I will be on target once more even if Trump isn't. Nowroz Pirooz! 

Mothering Sunday

Mothers!

 All Sundays are special in their way and I even remember the time when everything closed on a Sunday making it a really special day of the week. In the British calendar Mothering Sunday is two weeks before Easter Sunday, a day originally set aside for children in service to go home to visit their mothers. In other parts of the world this is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. As a well-travelled Mum I would like my children to remember me on both Mothering Sunday days - some hope! Only one of my children has remembered on Mothering Sunday at the time of writing that I'm their Mum.

I have still had a wonderful day despite being a bit forgotten. I went off to play tennis in a hurricane this morning. Any chance of the ball landing in was in the lap of the Gods! Then for lunch, Richard and Danielle invited me out to a bikers' cafe for a fry-up. Amazingly, the queue for greasy spoon type of food was enormous - such is the popularity of this place on the A5. One young woman arrived some time after us, saw the length of the queue and announced loudly how she was starving. I loudly suggested that this was probably hyperbole on her part and that there are many people in this world who really are starving. She must have left the line or fainted in a corner of the carpark as I did not see her after that. 

Hungry bunnies

The food was worth the wait. Ezra-Mae and Danielle had three gigantic sausages in a long bun covered in cheese with loads of sauce splattered over it, Richard had a massive burger, I had an omelette with black pudding and chips. Mattaya had a bit of everyone else's food. The girls dived in  - literally - we needed loads of napkins to clean up the girls who had food up to their elbows. Luckily, Danielle still has a doggy so the doggy bag will go to a good cause. Thank you for taking me there - I remain stuffed for the foreseeable future. 

Super Sausages!

As for doggies. Shadow gave me great cause for alarm on Saturday. She fell over in my kitchen and couldn't stand up properly. I sat on the floor with her and stroked her for the longest time. My plans to go out with her were scuppered. I thought this was it. Danielle turned up to pick her up and she wobbled downstairs to greet her. So it seems fifteen-year-old Shadow lives to fight another day albeit with a bit more of a wobble. 

My day isn't over yet. Nicolas will be coming round to visit with not-so-baby Phillip later on. Nicolas is from Lebanon and his wife Nata is from Ukraine. Both have family back in their homeland. On the list of countries that are suffering at this time, these two come pretty high up. My FB feeds reflect anti-Israeli and anti-Trump rhetoric. Beyond the noise and the gung ho banter, real people are dying or being displaced as the world plunges to great depths of idiocy. I can't help thinking that Israel will be illegally  occupying  ever more parts of the Middle East. Russia will benefit from this distraction and Trump will forget the excuses he first made for escalating the war. God help Us All.

And to my son, Sam... if you should read this, I am pleased you put in a late call to wish me a Happy Mothers' Day

Appearances

 

At the beginning of this week the weather was warm so my determination to get out and tame my small garden was high on my to-do list. I am now at the end of the week and my garden remains untamed. However, I did get the snippers out and at the request of Ezra-Mae and Danielle, I seamlessly morphed into a hairdresser. It was just a trim, and I have to say I was pleased with the outcome. While snipping away in the garden, Mattaya tried to put the spare hairclips and hairbands in her hair - and failed. She is eighteen months old and bald - like all my children were. I felt for her. All she wanted was to have hair like the rest of us. From such a young age we become very aware of our appearance  - she is clearly aware of hers. Her hair will grow eventually and she'll probably have quite a head of it by the time she is three - a long way off when you are under two - but a lot to look forward to. 

I was also pleased with the job I did cleaning my car. It had got so dirty, I had almost forgotten what colour it was. For a couple of days I smugly drove around, proud of my shiny car. Then... the sandstorm struck. It is now looking just like it did before my efforts. Errr. 

Wrest Park

I visited an English Heritage venue this week, Wrest Park. Situated not far from my home, it was once the family home of the De Greys. Built in the French style with the horticultural touches of Capability Brown and later, Batty Langley - another garden designer with a marvellous name; it is now a place that plebs like me can wonder around and gawp at the opulence of lives once lived. It is also one of the settings for Bridgerton. While it is difficult to justify how some people could live in such luxury while others scrapped by, it has nevertheless left a legacy for us to admire and enjoy. So, dressed up warm and not with the least thought to my style, I immersed myself in history for a day and had a wonderful time. 

Further from home - we are led to believe there is a good justification for bombing Iran and neighbouring countries. There is no justification at all. It is smoke and mirrors. I believe it is an excuse for Israel to expand its remit into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon while Trump gets control of the oil in Iran. Trump's bullying of Britain will not make his decisions to start a war any more legitimate. He is as bad as the Ayatollah. Those living in the Middle East are merely collateral damage. They don't count. While I despised the Ayatollah, killing him is not the way to get rid of a system that is culturally embedded. You are not going to stop men believing they can shoot, torture and kill their brothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and children just because someone from another country has killed their leader. Me thinks that the Epstein files recently released that implicate Trump in misogyny in its worst form in the 1980s might have had something to do with the timing. Is this terrible situation something to do with one idiot's vanity? My heart goes out to all who live in the region. 

Peppa Pig on World Book Day

Duped

This is the week when things went pear-shaped. I sent an email to the person I had paid to help me publish my book and the email bounced. I looked at the small print to find out why it had bounced and it said the domain did not exist. Argh... I also noticed the logo had disappeared from the bottom of previous emails and also that the website had disappeared. Argh times two. 

Since September I had become increasingly annoyed at the way Steve Harrison of Amazon KDP Publishers was dealing with my requests. I had promises and bullshit but nothing substantial. Right from the start I felt uneasy about the way I was dealt with but having no knowledge of the publishing industry I felt this was probably par for the course, especially as he was irritatingly American. I initially chose the company because they laid out everything they would do for me for a price. I was beginning to think they were unprofessional but I did not expect they would disappear from view. The only other company to do this was Troubadour but they were much more expensive. How cheap they seem now!! I was also hassled by other companies I sent my synopsis to. Danielle witnessed one barrage I had from a phone call from another publisher. Trust me, there must be a very dark world in the publishing industry. 

Added to this, I joined FB groups for writers. Many boasted how they self-publish and it costs them nothing, others offer a service to get you started. Many published authors - surprisingly - find it difficult to string a coherent comment on the subject of writing!! I became cynical on all fronts. Even though I had written a book, I did not feel good about it. I was suspicious of the comments from Steve Harrison and irritated by the poor level of comments from those on the writing groups. The bar was so low, it has been an eye opener into the publishing world.

So what have I done about it? Well, I have reported fraud to the Federal Trade Commission and another fraud agency in California. I have also reflected on how much I have learnt from my experience. It has been an expensive opportunity for learning but I now know that I am confident in how I am going to publish the sequel.  Sammi has been a rock and has done a few searches for me. I am so glad he has my back. To be honest, if I wanted to make money, I should have become a cleaner. 

I never imagined I would sit down and write a book. It wasn't something I had on my bucket list so I went about things in an upside down way. I wrote the book and then wondered how to get it published. From here on, I can offer myriad advice on how to get published should you want to hear about it. 

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Middle East bombs are dropping. I am sorry that Trump is meddling in Iran. We have got rid of the leader but changing the culture where ordinary Iranians think it is OK to kill their brothers, mothers, sisters and daughters will take more than bombs. The only thing raining on me in the UK is too much water. I know I have been duped but I am safe. I am healthy and I am wiser. I have so much to be thankful for. I just wish I listened to my body more as my right heel is now giving me gip again after a lovely walk round Rushmere Park. Silly me on so many counts!

A break in the clouds and a lovely walk

Homeward Bound

My pollarded tree

And so it was that my time in Cornwall had come to an end. Mark returned from his trip to Malaysia to spend two nights sleeping on his own floor while two other friends and myself had the comfort of his beds. At least Syd the dog chose him to cuddle up to him! It was party time for OAPs. We played Polish Poker, had a few drinks and laughed a lot. This is confirmation for the other friends that I have been away with - yes - I did get up and make the teas and coffees far too loudly each morning. That is me, I'm afraid. 

I got Bridget Bar-dough going for Mark and made one loaf of bread for him while I was down in Cornwall. My sourdough starter, Sally, stayed in the fridge at home for the time I was away. She has been with me for quite some time now and rewards me with great bread. Having a sourdough starter is a bit like having a pet. 

The train journey home, although long, was surprisingly comfortable. As we sped through the countryside of southern England I noticed how much of it was under water. Fields were lakes and villages looked like isolated islands. I have never seen so much flooding and still it rains! I walked along the towpath to Danielle's on Friday - it was more of a paddle than a walk. On the way back the night sky was momentarily clear so I took a picture. Having a clear sky is quite unusual these days. 

Clear skies at night

Saturday, I was lucky enough to play a tennis match in dry conditions and then when I got home, I got the ladder out and pollarded the tree in my courtyard garden. On previous years my son has done this for me - now it is down to me to climb up a ladder and wield a chainsaw - picture that Sammi! It took most of the day as the battery on the mini-chainsaw kept wearing down. There was one dodgy moment when two branches were counter balancing each other and I thought one of them would topple on top of me while I was up the ladder. As I am writing this, you know I didn't come to harm. It started to rain again in the afternoon while I was chopping the tree so I gave up for the day. However, on Sunday after tennis, I got back in the garden to continue the job. This time I got hit in the head by a branch as I was trying to chop them up into smaller, more manageable chunks. Ouch! 

So with the last week of February ahead of me, I look forward to cold showers again. For a few years now I have cold showers from March 1st to September 30th. Once you get the habit, it is quite enjoyable and very refreshing. Along with this, I have lined up a long list of jobs to be done now the weather should be warming up - mostly painting and deep cleaning. Springtime heralds Spring cleaning! Fun!

Last picture from my holiday

In Celebration

 In celebration of being able to walk easily and for a long distance this year, I have promised myself that I will walk 300,000 steps this February and so far I am well on target. Last February I had an operation on my right heel to fix my Achilles tendon. This time last year, for three whole weeks, I was not allowed to put my foot on the ground, leave alone try walking. The pub, which is next to my home seemed a mile away when I wanted to hop there on crutches. It is so easy to forget how difficult doing normal things was for me just one year ago. My determination to do these steps is a real celebration of my overcoming last year's op.

Soggy Syd

This week I have had assistance getting my steps up. I am down in Cornwall and I have Syd to accompany me. Syd is a lively collie with no off switch. We go down to the beach, walk along the cliffs and play ball. Down on the beach he is still a naughty puppy and a bit of a tart. He likes to get anyone and everyone to pick up his ball and throw it for him. Embarrassing! I even tried to get Syd to swim in the sea. He wasn't having any of it. He likes his feet firmly on the ground.  

A February swim in the sea

I have also had Diane and Jeremy to keep me company for the week. Each time we left the house we got wet. Every single day it has rained the sort of rain that soaks through everything. Then on returning home the house turned into a Chinese laundry with clothes hanging everywhere to dry out. One day the sun was out when I was on the beach and I almost forgot that this was not normal. Before I got home, it started to rain again - the end of my brief joy. Getting wet inevitably makes for more work. This is where dogs have the advantage. One good shake and they are dry! 

A wee bit of sun between downpours

My Sunday walk without Syd took me to three beaches and through the town. Along the way and soaked through, I dived into the Windjammer, a bar with views of the bay, next to the museum. Not only did they not sniff at my sogginess or my fussiness, they recharged my phone and served the best food imaginable with a smile. Seeing what others were ordering, I would readily go back and try other dishes. Perhaps I should extend my stay.

We also have good reason to celebrate a Gold at the Winter Olympics. For the UK, Matt Weston going downhill head first faster than anyone else, got us the first medal ever in the Skeleton race. Well done Matt! I went skiing in Livigno rather a long time ago with a large group of friends. We are all in current agreement that the Bombardinos we drank should feature in the current Olympic events. Back then, we would race to the bottom and have bomdardinos as our standard apres ski. A bombardino is a mixture of brandy, advocaat, hot milk and cream! A welcome warm drink with lots of alcohol after a cold day on the slopes goes down easily. I feel bomardino-ing has traction to become a competitive event. We could even try doing multiple spins in the air on a snowboard after drinking them! Easy!

Lovely weather for Ducks

Saying it is lovely weather for ducks just reframes a bad day when it pours with rain. Unfortunately it does not make it any nicer however you look at it.  Oh, how it has rained. It was almost constant throughout the whole of this week. Rain stopped play. Matches and practises didn't happen. It rained and rained so much it felt like my whole week was disrupted. Apparently in the first week of February we experienced more than a month of rainfall. So it was fortunate that my trip with Diane and Jeremy to see Stonehenge was dry for the bit where you walk to the monument even though it started pouring again when we headed back to the car. 

Stormy skies

Stonehenge is older than the pyramids and it was a draw to people from across what is now Europe and Asia. There is proof that back in prehistoric times, there were "jet-setters" who came a long way just to see a circle of stones which must have been a very important pilgrimage for the effort it took to get there.  

These are not the only stone circles in the UK. They are the most famous. Close by is Avebury which has the world's largest neolithic monument - I've been there and a road cuts through a bit of it. I have also been to the one in Orkney too. These are no less impressive than Stonehenge. For me, it is the technology that went into getting the stones to that place and positioning them so that they align with the sun's movements. Also that people hundreds of miles away built the same type of monument at the same time. Mind blowing! 

Like cathedrals from the Medieval times, people really had to believe in what they were doing to make such a legacy for future generations. They had both skills and foresight back then - both of which we seem to be lacking in so many areas of our life now. News is filled with the slow drip drip of the fallout from the Epstein files. Even now, scumbag men are being protected through redacting files while little thought is spared for the women. There is no thought about learning from this. Perhaps those conspiracy theorists who have been thinking along the right lines that the rich and powerful have more control than I have given them credit for are right. The way our world is; if a similar edifice to Stonehenge were built today, no doubt there would be restricted access for the plebs and women would be offered as sacrifices as they currently are in the media. Just a thought.

As for me, I am in Cornwall for the next two weeks and hoping for sunshine along the way. Syd, the dog, will be my companion on country and beach walks. Meanwhile I'll be getting on with writing the sequel to Naser's first book. I am boosted by knowing Beneath the Regime has already been read on five continents. While I know my blog gets seen in over ninety countries. This is one of the amazing feats of technology - not so long ago global reach for someone like me would have been impossible. 

Diane and Jeremy at Trelissick Gardens before the next deluge