The icing on the pink frosted cupcake.

I always think it’s strange how conversation flows from subject to subject without you noticing. Last night I spent the evening at one of our local pubs with some very good friends.  The stunning 13th Century pub, I believe, is the oldest in the town. Without much history in our new town we relish every little piece we have. This pub, The Swan, unfortunately went up in flames just a couple of weeks before Christmas. With so much trade at stake, the landlords vowed to have it up and running by Christmas. No one would have believed they could actually do it … but they did.

These images were taken during and just after the fire.

Yesterday was the first time I’d been to the pub since the fire. It is currently tightly wrapped in plastic like a giant christmas present. Although only two-thirds of the interior are accessible, but you would never know there had ever been a fire.

The pub has always been popular and it was cosy to say the least. Squashed around a tiny table, we whiled away the evening putting the world to rights. We talked about everything from vegetarians and veganism to Jamie and the magic torch. I had it in my head that my friend reminded me of Crystal Tipps from the 70’s kids show but I realise now, she is the spitting image of Long Distance Clara, from Pidgeon Street. In return, she said I was like a pink frosted cupcake that would melt if I went out in the rain. I’ve no idea what she meant by that.

Full Pink Moon ~ 6th April ’12

Tonight we anticipate the first full moon of spring. This moon is often referred to as the Full Pink Moon, Full Fish Moon, or Full Grass Moon.

Over the past few evenings the moon has been dramatically growing in size, and last night it was so bright, it illuminated my house through tightly closed curtains. It was looking promising but alas, it is not to be. With the thick covering of grey/black cloud that has built up over the day, I think we’ll be lucky to get a glimpse of anything at all tonight. I’ve been wrong before though, so you never know. The full moon often has a way of persuading the clouds to separate, like the curtains on the stage of a theatre.

Happy Moon Gazing.

A valentine’s gift

The times in our lives we are forced apart,

I think of you.

With every shallow beat of my heart,

I think of you.

Hearing your voice when you’re not around,

I think of you.

Trying to find you when you don’t want to be found,

I think of you.

With every snowflake that melts in my palm,

I think of you.

Knowing we’ll be together again,

I think of you.

A little bit of sparkle

This weekend I found myself relenting to the constant nagging of my daughter. Yes my Christmas decorations are up and my whole house is now the proverbial Christmas tree.

I do love this time of year, I love the glitter, the sparkle and fairy-lights – my God do I love fairy-lights. In my opinion fairy-lights should be everywhere all year round and in my house they are.

Much as I love the chaos (albeit through gritted teeth), I have always been fairly particular with my Christmas tree. It has to be colour co-ordination, as symmetrical as possible with understated, white static lights.

Well this year all my plans have gone to pot. The kids got involved with the decorations and the mishmash of ornaments collected over the years were thrown up in a slap-dash manner with no kind of order or co-ordination at all. Both cats have also thoroughly explored the tree meaning several glass baubles have already hit the deck and the lights have been pulled about to the point of no return. And to top it all, my understated, white static lights – are now vivid red – eww.

Standing back looking at my tree it made me realise that this is exactly what Christmas is all about. The tree is full of memories, each bauble, piece of tinsel and string of beads has its own memory, all of which we treasure. So my tree may be a mess, but I treasure that mess.

November’s Full Frost Moon

Tonight, a crystal clear sky gave way to a brilliant full moon, resting upon a mere wisp of cloud. I don’t know if it’s just me but the clouds always seem to part when the moon is full as though they know they are not worthy of hiding such magnificence.

Tonight’s moon is known once again as the Hunter moon, Beaver moon or the Full Frost Moon. Because the nights are drawing in the moon seems lower and so much bigger than we’re used to. For all of winters failings the moon is not one of them.

Happy Moon Gazing.

October’s Full Blood Moon

Okay, so I will be a little self-indulgent this month as October’s full moon is by far the most dramatic of the year. When something this naturally beautiful has such a wonderfully eerie name then it deserves to be mentioned. October’s moon has several of these names; The Hunter’s Moon, The Harvest Moon and of course the wonderful – Blood Moon.

The Blood Moon features prominently in all three of my novels, so much so in the third that I’ve named the book after it. It’s significance comes from October’s reputation for being the one month of the year where our world brushes with that of the spirits and the veil separating the two is at its thinnest.

As the season progresses into what we know as our traditional wet and windy autumn. The darkness and the coming of Halloween brings a wonderfully eerie atmosphere to our evenings, enhanced only by candlelight and burning incense. With a little willingness to embrace it, it’s very easy to get drawn in. Suddenly you feel the urge to watch horror films and go walking in the dark.  Well if you do, don’t forget to look up you may be surprised.

Happy Moon Gazing

 

New seasons

It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of September already. I guess with the unseasonable heat and vivid blue sky it would be easier to believe we were approaching August rather than rapidly approaching October.  It’s only the leaves carpeting the ground and the misty autumn mornings that give the real season away.

Since finishing my re-write of The Workers, my attention has turned to Katya and I must say it’s difficult to engage myself with it at the moment. I don’t know, perhaps I’m distracted by the sunshine, I know I always write better in the dark.

To keep Katya in line with the new look of the first novel, I think there will have to be quite a lot of re-writing so I really need to find the will to go through Katya with the same fine toothed comb. I know it’ll be worth the hard work so I’ll keep you posted.

 

September’s Harvest Moon

As the days take on an autumnal feel and the evenings draw in we can look forward to September’s full moon. Unfortunately I think we will be lucky to see anything at all this month here in the UK due to the wind and rain that seem to have settled in for the next few days. Perhaps other areas will prove more fortunate.

The moon on Saturday night was impressive though and I guess that will just have to do for this month’s Fruit, Corn or Harvest Moon.

Happy Moon Gazing.

How wrong I was.  The wind and rain moved aside for the stunning Harvest Moon. I even managed to get a pretty good picture.

In Mourning for Summer

I can no longer deny that the summer I so longed for is coming to an end. The heat I craved has gone, and clouds have taken up residence in the sky threatening to keep the sun hidden for the foreseeable future.

Okay, so it wasn’t a great summer here in the UK, but let’s face it, it rarely is.

There’s something special about autumn though. The natural beauty that takes us through those early stages, the leaves turning stunning shades of gold, red and brown. The cool blue of the sky (when it’s not blanketed in cloud that is.) Misty sunsets and the way the sun keeps to a lower path lighting the sky as a ball of fire.

I think everyone agrees that there is nothing quite like listening to the wind and rain buffet against the window-panes as we sit beside a crackling fire, all warm and cozy. Mmm bliss.

I always find it more difficult to get inspired in the summer. Perhaps the light nights and warmth do little for my chosen genre, or perhaps it’s because I just want to sit in the garden and lap up those rays. The extra time and darkness of autumn and winter seem to fulfill my creative requirements and get those juices flowing.

These pleasures may be short-lived as the season moves on and we tire of being cold and rained on, but it is certainly enough to keep me going for now.

Under the Spanish skies.

Returning from Spain to the UK was, as ever, hard. There is something about that country that has drawn me to it for decades now. Of course the intense heat has a lot to do with it but it is more than that. Bustling markets places, oceans of pure blue, beaches deserted like clockwork at siesta and the intense importance of family.

This time the heat caused us to live out more of a Spanish lifestyle. Okay, so I will never get into the siesta mode but living half by day and half by night became normal to us. We swam in the ocean every afternoon and spent the evenings visiting towns and tourist attractions.

Some how we managed to visit Elche on fiesta day, about a million firecrackers were set up by the roadside which sounded like the blitz as the explosions reverberated off buildings and around courtyards. Windows rattled in their frames and children cried. It was amazing. And when it was over everyone disappeared as if nothing happened.

Currently within the marina at Alicante, resides a full-scale replica of a Spanish Galleon I believe to be The El Santisima Trinidad. It is amazing, huge and beautiful. Although its interior is fully modern, it provides a little bit of history to the port. The original Galleon was defeated in the battle of Trafalgar and resides at the bottom of the ocean. This is the next best thing.

Castillo de Santa Barbara in Alicante has been being restored for as long as I can remember. Although it still remains the atmospheric ruin it has always been, the intensive work that has been carried out makes a visit far more interesting. Evening market stalls have been set up in the lower courtyard and it was positively bustling  with life. The views across Alicante are awesome.