Brrrrrrrr but beautiful

For those of you who didn't have snow, here you can share mine. Yes the weatherman got it right at least for my little part of Shropshire. 

It started yesterday afternoon and carried on until late at night. It's beautiful, even I have to admit that but I hate it. It's cold, wet and very slippy.

Poor Mike, slipped on ice just before Christmas and ended up breaking a rib. He's getting over it now but it's a lesson to us all to take care. Me I'd rather stay in the warm and dry.

But my lads and their friends aren't like me, they went out to play in the dark and lo and behold we had, for a brief time, a new visitor in our garden.

Poor Lucy though looks freezing.

Hopefully though this is the last of snow for this year but who knows what next year will bring.

I'm really looking forward to it. A new year and a new decade - where did the last one go to?

I really hope that 2010 brings you all everything you wish for and more. And for writers, remember bum on seat and get those keys going.

Have a wonderful New Year.

My ever so clever car again and other things

She tried matchmaking this time. Sounds crazy but it's true. I went to Asda in Donnington Wood Telford, parked in a disabled parking bay and almost immediately had a guy checking to see if I had a blue badge. I got out of the car, commented to the guy who'd parked next to me that it was really nice that someone was checking that the spaces weren't being abused.

Then the parking official came up to me and apologised for checking my badge saying (and I really liked this bit although it was very much pre-conceptions on his part). 'Sorry love but I had to check to see if you had a badge because you look so young and driving a sports' car you did look suspicious. We get a lot of people abusing these places. I'll tell you, I was on cloud nine and thanked him for both the compliment and for keeping an eye on the car park. I went shopping after that with Lucy, my youngest son's girlfriend.

About half a hour later there was one of those heart stopping moments when only half listening to the frequent messages related over the voice system I heard my car registration being read out and asking me to return to my car. Images of huge dents in the body work or even worse flashed through my mind as I went to the information desk. 'It's alright love, your car door is open.'

Relief was an understatement and when I went back to the car found one guy standing guard over it and the ever so nice parking guy standing next to him. It was true the driver's door had magically opened all on it's own and prompted another meeting with ever so nice man who had paid me such a lovely compliment earlier.

Okay he wasn't my type and maybe I'd just forgotten to close the car door properly, but I did lock the car honestly but perhaps my ever so clever car had decided that it was time I met someone special.

Oh I can hear that voice again 'no dear, you didn't shut the door' but hey it's Christmas and although the car got the choice of guy not quite right, maybe magical things do happen or will happen - who knows.

And the other things. Picture it a small village hidden in a valley, Christmas lights twinkling in the houses, the church lit up and a group of carol singers meeting to take the message of Christmas to their friends and neighbours. A cold frosty night twinkling with stars in darkness and the chill air resounding with 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing.' Totally wonderful and tonight I was part of those carol singers as villagers and their children walked through the snowy, frosty lanes wishing others a happy Christmas. I love Clunbury it really is the most incredibly friendly village and to be part of it, especially at Christmas is totally magical. And once we'd visited everyone we retired to the village hall for mulled wine and munchies. How much more perfect can it get?

So feeling all Christmassy and nice - best wishes to you all xx

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas

From Wrekin Writers

and from my family to yours.

My ever so clever car

did me a favour today. It knows how much I like the Clun Valley and how interested I am in its history and the characters who live here so it decided to conjure up a situation where I would meet one and have a chance to have a natter and find out more to add to my scrap book.

How it did this was quite amazing. I went to the garage, threw the keys down in that bit in the middle and got out, filled up with petrol then went to get my keys and my purse. And the car, magically, had locked itself with aforementioned keys and purse still inside. Did I feel very silly? Yes. Did I panic? No! Hey who am I trying to kid? Visions of being out in the cold until one of my sons came to rescue me (and that's only if they got hungry which would have taken several days until they'd eaten me out of house and home) or unless some kindly soul rescued me. Fortunately it was the latter.

Margaret, the lovely Margaret offered to drive me home to pick up the spare set. I can't thank her enough bless her. During the journey though, I heard all about her life growing up on a farm as one of sixteen children. I learned the names of most of the people whose houses I drive by most days and how long they've lived in the valley. I learned about people I don't know who live in Clunbury and I heard about how wonderful her husband's new hip is. Gossip maybe but to me gold dust. It's scribbled down in my little notebook and best of all she's coming to have another chat with me when she's in the village after the new year. I know there is still a lot she's got to tell.

Oh and the car. That got a very strict talking to on the way home albeit a bit tongue in cheek.

And for the cynics amongst you who'd say 'no dear you locked yourself out of your car.' Well I didn't. The car locked me out, I mean I wouldn't do it because it's such a silly thing to do.

How to books

Come on admit it, you've probably got more than a few sitting on your bookshelves that you've bought in the past, thought I'll read that and have never got round to doing so. Well, if you won't admit I will. So, the other day I picked one up. Lynne Hackles' book 'Writing from Life. How to turn your personal experiences into profitable prose.' And I began reading it. Ah, but not just reading it, I'm doing the exercises she suggests too, so with brand new notebook and shoebox to the ready, I've been going around my house collecting things that hold special memories for me.

However, one of the exercises she suggests did make me smile as it took me back through the years to when I was five years old. I hated singing lessons. Yes I sing now and on the whole I have enjoyed singing through most of life but not when I was five.

The exercise that prompted this memory was when she asks about silly songs you used to sing at school. I can see it now. There I was sitting on the dusty floor in my green and white gingham school dress, my pink shell framed specs sitting on my nose dreading the opening chords to 'Down by the river where the green grass grows.' The second line was 'there sits Susie pretty as a rose.' Aw sweet I hear you say except for one little lad who used to grin at me and sing at the top of his voice, 'there sits Susie picking her nose.' My cheeks would burn as my face turned crimson and I so desperately wanted to run from the school hall and hide.

Do you have any memories of silly songs you used to sing at school? Why not tell us about them below and who knows what you write may lead to either an article or story that we'll all read next year.

Incidentally Lynne's book will make a fantastic present for a writer and it's not too late to order it from Amazon. For details click here

Albrighton County Infants on the left, with the Junior School on the right and the swimming pool I learned to swim in. It was supposed to be heated, emphasis on the 'supposed'.

Wrekin Writers' Christmas Do

What do you do with nearly thirty people all in party mood? That was the problem I faced at ten oclock on Saturday morning. It wasn't quite St Trinians' Christmas Party but it wasn't far off. We started off quite formally once they'd cleared up the paper aeroplanes off the floor and untied the vice chair and then we had some fun. The question posed was how well do you know Wrekin Writers? Each member had to write down what they'd most like to find under the Christmas Tree and the other members had to guess who written what

Well it was quite revealing. Amongst the many requests were a puppy (Phyllis), the gift of insight (Dean), Cocktail maker (Bev), an idiot proof laptop (Barbara), a body massage, (Mary) trouble was she figured there were enough members there to fulfil that wish, we had to restrain one member. But the easiest one to guess was the Bravisimo Lingerie Catalogue, all fingers were pointed at Mike who grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

It was all good fun and the outcome was Julie scored the highest with ten out of twenty. A reward a chocolate treat.

Then we moved the party to the Buckatree Hotel in Wellington. Very nice, very posh and the food was excellent.

Did they have a good time? You decide from the pictures that Julie took - thanks Julie.

Beverley, Phyllis and Lilian in the bar.

Angeline with Bryan and his family.

Mollie looking lovely

And there's always one but in this case two. Chris and Sue enjoying themselves at the pool table.

For more pictures check out Julie's blog

Before I go on to the Christmassy stuff I want to say a great big thank you to Wrekin Writers' Vice Chair Barbara Groom for organising the meal at the Buckatree. She really did a wonderful job. So from me and the rest of Wrekin Writers - thank you Barbara x

So as 2009 comes to a close we wish you all

A wonderful Christmas and a fantastic 2010

And one final thought.

The lovely little lad in the picture is our youngest member Robin Kiernan. I wonder if this could be the present chair holding a future chair of Wrekin Writers. Funnier things have happened.

Chairman's Challenge

The Chairman's Challenge for November was suggested by Darren and he had the job of judging them.


The subject was 'Take a cliche and make it interesting and different.'








1st - Mary Braddock


Fred had always lavished attention on his half-acre lawn.  It resembled a billiard table, fifteen years of mowing, rolling and fertilising had created a project described by many as “the bowling green”.  But that was to change when, for eight mornings in a row Fred was confronted by several small, neat, earthy mounds.  On the ninth day he woke to find yet another fresh pyramid of soil.  He was furious and reached for the phone.  Three weeks later Fred took delivery of four lorry loads of finest Scottish granite.  When the landscaping was complete, Fred had successfully made a mountain out of a molehill.

2nd - Mike White

The Five Ages of Man

 

The bonny baby, cherub of a man,

Becomes obese before he leaves the pram.

 

Noisy Kids, they whine and mither,

I don’t want to see them either.

 

Pull up my socks?  said Dora with a frown,

They’d rather watch me take my stockings down.

 

To stiffen upper lip and keep straight face,

Inject with Botox – I know just the place.

 

It’s hard, now that my back’s begun to bend

To light the candle even at one end.

3rd - Julie Phillips

                                                     Spitting Feathers

     “Don't exceed the recommended amount of ingredient, fallen from a chicken's oviduct for the custard,” Sally clucked, preening her plumage. “You'll never find enough; they're as scarce as a chuck's molar. The pudding will be fine without them.”

   “But, but, but, it's egg custard!” Anna pecked. “At least I don't store my entire stock of completely balanced, nutritious miracles of life in one Tesco's bag for life.”

   “ It's like traversing crushed calcium carbonate crystals here! But remember, although we 're cracked from the same shell, I'm first in the pecking order,” Sally flapped.

   It's a shame that this poultry disagreement has caused so much dishevelled down in the Fowler Coop.

Nanowrimo - time to reflect

And what better place to do it than in our favourite bookshop with coffee and cake. Many many thanks to Anna Dreda of Wenlock Books for the refreshments and the use of her wonderful table.

Julie and I met up to write and to chat primarily about Nanowrimo and what we each got out of it. I think the biggest thrill was that we both completed our fifty thousand words although at the beginning of November, we both admitted it was quite a daunting task.

For me I found it easier to break it down into daily sections. Seventeen hundred words a day doesn't sound half as bad as fifty thousand in a month and also I set a time each day in which to write those words. My time at the computer was between 2.15 and 4.45pm which meant when I was about doing other things I could think about what I was going to write. This also helped me organise the rest of my day better, which for those of you who know me, will find that a miracle. Also I found myself looking forward to my writing time, my space, hell no my escape.

Writing without editing as you go along, I found quite difficult. I kept wanting to go back and change things whereas Julie managed to put that out of her mind and keep writing. However, mindful of the time restriction my editing was kept to a bare minimum. When I picked up where I left off, I simply read the previous paragraph and hoped for the best.

Yes we've both made mistakes with characters etc but hey we've got the real editing to look forward to and sort things out and you never know at the end of it we might actually have something that people will want to read and more importantly be able to read it and follow it.

So was it easy? Was it a walk in the park? No, it was running free in the wind. There were no guidelines, no one to tell us what to write, it was a month of pure indulgence and one where I learned that yes I can do it and I can be disciplined.

Has the good work continued? Okay I admit I did have about three days off but since then I have been writing and my precious writing time in the afternoon continues.

And one last point we both agreed it certainly helped knowing that just down the road we knew someone else was doing exactly what we were doing. Mad maybe but great fun.

And yes we'll do it again Nano and writing in the bookshop.

Thanks Julie x

If you don't know Wenlock Books then it really is worth a visit. For more information click here