When the clocks change

I love the changing seasons - the renewal promised by Spring with its feelings of expectation of things to come, the warmth and long, long days and evenings of Summer, the colour and crisp chill of Autumn along with that distinctive smell of loam and wood smoke, and the chill and frost of Winter with its long dark evenings reading or snuggled up by the fire. I love them all. What I hate is when the clocks change.

When the clocks change, at either end of the year, it takes me a fortnight, sometimes longer to adjust (which I suspect is more or less the amount of time it takes for the daylight hours to catch up on themselves, i.e. be the same as they were before the clocks changed) and for my internal body clock to make the necessary adjustments.

The Autumn change is always the worst, when it feels as if we are suddenly thrust into much shorter days, everything crammed into a few daylight hours - when in reality there are no fewer hours in day, just less light in the afternoon. 

I’m up early; I should be getting the benefit of the lighter mornings, but for some reason that meagre upside is lost on me. Instead it feels like I’ve waded into some unsettling tidal swirl. I have no idea what time it is and have a feeling of being out balance until my inner clock resets itself. Every year I just wish they would leave the clocks alone.

Anyway, today I was thinking about where that feeling comes from. My theory is that as the days shorten over the course of August and September (without any clock fiddling) we all slowly make a natural adjustment to reduced light levels, but then when the clocks change that comfortable natural progress is broken, and in fact reversed, so we are completely wrong footed and out of sync for a few days (or longer).

Yes, of course we recover and adjust, but I wonder if there is a measurable effect, an increase in accidents or errors or tiredness in the week after the clocks go back? I'm sure I'm less productive.

The upside of the darker evenings is picking up the craft projects and sometimes books that I put away at the beginning of the year when the days began to lengthen – the things too heavy, too hot or too fluffy to be worked on in the spring and summer.  So, this week, between working on the new book, I’m back making traditional rugs and am busy making rag-rug wreathes for Christmas – Autumn is definitely here!

A Dog's Life

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I had my Sunday, we’ve-got-an-extra-hour–in-bed lie-in planned,  but sadly no one told either my inner alarm clock nor the dogs, who were keen to go out at the same olde time as yesterday, oblivious that six was now five and that it’s Sunday …I say keen, actually that isn’t completely accurate. Beau who is nine, a big dog,  and a veteran of two cruxciate ligament operations, bumbles flat footed and clumsily down the stairs from his bed, making enough noise to ensure everyone gets disturbed. Only one of us gets up…

Having negotiated the stairs,  Beau waits patiently by the back door while I slide out of bed, pull on my dressing gown and slippers, stagger downstairs and unlock the doors. When the doors are open he slowly pads across the conservatory, and peering into the gloom, murk and rain, thinks better of it, sighs heavily, turns tail and heads back inside, climbs up into his chair and goes back to sleep.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jake, who doesn’t give a damn what time we get up (he is the laziest puppy I’ve ever met) is now out of bed, wide awake, pressed up against the dog gate and wagging furiously – his take on life is that if everyone else is up he’s damned if he’s going to be left out of the peeing, sniffing and scratching behind the ear thing.

I go back for him and he hares out of the open dog gate,  skipping and wagging, happy to be free, happy to go and pee. I open the back door and let him out. It’s cold out there. And dark. And wet. He doesn't care.

I wait.  If he’s quick I can be back in bed in two minutes – except he’s not quick. This morning he wants to explore.

I wait.

Beau joins me in the conservatory. We peer into the gloom together.

I open the door for Beau in silent invitation. He raises his eyebrows and sits down on the door mat, in a no way Jose gesture.

We wait.

Experience tells me if I go back into the sitting room Jake will reappear. I know he won’t hurt outside and the garden is enclosed, but I don't want to go anywhere; I want him to come back inside so I can go back to bed.

I call him. Quietly. We have a town garden; he’s not on the other side of the Ocavango Delta

We wait some more.

jake helping with rug making

Some time later a small very happy dog hops up the steps that lead down into our garden, taking absolutely no notice of me as I open the door for him. He has a leaf on his nose, a halo of dried grass and some unidentifiable crud all over his back. He has the expression of a dog whose day has begun well. He skips past me on his way back to bed.

Beau looks at me, sighs, and goes back inside to his chair. I’m wide awake, cold and in need of tea.

Happy Sunday

Cooking Up A Storm!

My new book and current WIP, Cooking Up a Storm, will have recipes in it as well as a love story . It’s not a new idea, Nora Ephron’s 'Heartburn' – a classic and barely disguised account of her own marriage – was littered with some real culinary gems, and although this isn’t autobiographical I’m hoping to do the same.

 

I’m including recipes that echo what’s going on in the story and dishes eaten by the characters – all hopefully without it feeling too forced!

So,  lovely Facebook Folk and New Blog Followers, I’m asking if anyone has any recipes they would like to share and which they would be happy for me to use in the book?

At the moment I’m looking for a yummy biscuit one, a good lemon drizzle cake and actually anything else you would like to contribute – I’m afraid that there isn’t any payment, but you will get an acknowledgment in the finished book.

The basic rules are that your dish must look and taste great, be very simple to make or assemble and require no great culinary skill (as our hero is a bit of a dipstick in the kitchen.)

It must be written in your own words and by taking part you are granting me permission to use the recipe in my book if it fits in with the story (I suspect that sadly I won’t be able to use them all).

Anyone who doesn’t want to contribute a recipe but wants to be involved might like to road test any recipes that are posted and give their opinion. Photos and comments are welcome.

 Later when I get closer to publication I’m hoping to post a few of the ones that are going in the book, so that you can try those out to, and let me know if the instructions are clear enough, whether you enjoyed it, or whether it needs more salt!

I’m really looking for things you love to eat, from family favourites and things you love to cook and share, through to luxury treats and lovely desserts – So, do you fancy having  a go?  If so, then please post in the comments on my blog or email me via Facebook.

So...

I can't be the only one who has noticed the number of people on radio and television who begin the answer to any question with the word 'So' - in a tone that implies they are in the middle of a sentence or a thought.

Fashions in speech interest me almost as much as they annoy me. So has been in the spotlight before - I remember hearing it shanghaied for the first time in Friends, although I'm not sure if they originated it, in phrases like ' I am so not going out with Joey/Chandler/Ross.' 

The current use of so catches in my ear  in same way as another  fashion did a few years back when  people (more specifically young female Australian soap stars, though it spread like a bush fire) started to lift their voices towards the end of a sentence, in a way that implied there was a question where there wasn't one.

I've wondered since if it was written into a script - a random question mark typed at the end of a phrase, intended to convey a character's youth and uncertainty, that started a whole trend.

It's intriguing how language develops and how trends and words spread. Do linguists have maps to track the viral nature of a phrase or slang? I'm thinking of things like  ' minded' and 'mispoke' as well as So and those speech patterns from Oz....Anyway, so, Happy Monday? xxx

Sunday Post

So, it's Sunday and outside it's grey, grim and damp, and I've promised myself a day off after weeks of manic effort, which seems the perfect moment to start a blog. (thinks: and add another layer of 'things that need to be done now' to life...)

I've been inspired by reading about my son's adventures with his new wife as he settles into his new life in Germany (you can read his here: http://www.welfaresblog.blogspot.de/).

I have been enjoying reading his blog. He has an easy conversational style, and I've been vicariously experiencing the joys and challenges he's facing,  living in a country where you don't speak the language and yet you need to find work, settle down, make friends. I admire him for the choices he has made; it's so nice to see how it's panning out - although I do find myself flicking onto it most days to see if he has updated it, eagerly awaiting the next installment.

I'm not sure if this is the mother in me or just the nosy person. I'm the same with facebook and my other sons, reading their posts,  enjoying the chance technology gives me of getting a glimpse into their world, that they probably wouldn't share with me any other way.

Anyway - what I have I been doing when not stalking my children?

Well, my sitting room looks like a sweat shop in the run up to the Christmas Craft Fair season - for anyone who doesn't know me, when I'm not writing, I make and teach rag rug making and various other crafty things - all good fun, but gradually taking over the house...

And when I'm not doing that I'm writing. I am currently working on a new novel called 'Cooking up a Storm' which I'm planning to self publish early next year in time for Mothers' Day. I've also been working on a thriller, with the working title 'Next of Kin' which is now doing the rounds, and hopefully will find a publisher through the more traditional route - though I've already decided if my agent can't place it then I'll self publish that too.

Why? Well mainstream publishing is currently in flux, which may seem odd given people are buying lots of books, in fact the advent of Kindle and other Ereaders have seen a rise in the total number of books bought. Reading is sexy; we're doing it on our phones, our tablets, on trains, at bus stops - but the publishers don't know which way the market is going, and with the advent of epublishing they find themselves in a similar position to the one the music industry found itself ten years ago. With huge overheads they seem less and less willing to take risks.

So, I'm planning to go the self publishing route with at least one of mine - which all feels a bit scary at the moment... I'll let you know how it's going. Happy Sunday xx