10.40% sale - today only!

http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB

Exclusive t-shirts, bags, posters, greetings cards & more.

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

New slogan tees, hot off the - well, not off the press so much as off Photo Impression 4, but you know what I mean...! All the designs can be swopped onto other styles of t-shirt (either gender, large range of sizes/prices/colours).

Gardening: I've been patiently lifting aquilegia seedlings from between the gaps in the brick path. It's not a job which can be rushed, otherwise the lifting-out of the bricks could easily squash the tender stems, killing the very plants I've been attempting to save. Still, it's worth the effort as they have such pretty flowers and readily self-seed. Hopefully this Autumn, they'll self-seed in the flower beds and not in the most impractical place imaginable!

No news about 7 Waves Radio; I'll keep you posted.

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Take a peek at my new range of fine art posters, which are also available on bags, t-shirts and greetings cards. You’ll find them on http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB either on the main page or listed under New Products. Let me know what you think!

Wirral Bookfest 2009 will go ahead despite the closure of many local libraries. The date for my writers’ workshop is yet to be confirmed, but Riverside Writers’ evening performance, New Tales for Old Byways has now been booked for Wednesday October 10th, 7pm at West Kirby Library. Last year’s similar event, Words from Wordsmiths, drew a decent-sized audience so we’re hoping that with improved publicity for this year things will be even better.

The gorgeous spring sunshine has enabled me to get some gardening done! The Lily of the Valley root-ball has been potted up now; so have the pretty yellow celandines that Mum gave to me from her own garden. Evelyn’s multi-coloured primulas are now planted in one of the borders, their position being limited to a location unlikely to be flattened during our two dogs’ haste to exchange woofing contests with our new neighbours’ two dogs. Ours are female; theirs are male--and it is spring….!

Work on Bethany Rose continues, of course. The total word count now comes to 35,000. I’m aiming at 100,000 again, so obviously there’s much to be done yet. Yesterday an idea popped into my head, which used the title of a book I read some twenty years ago: Olaf Stapledon’s Odd John. It was simply the perfect book for BR to be reading at that moment in the plot. It’s interesting how the mind can hold on to information for so long, even when that data seems almost trivial and without practical purpose.

Who knows how much our subconscious contains, hmm? For example, how many times have you sung along to an old, old tune and remembered the words perfectly even though you’ve given that song no thought for most of a lifetime? It’s interesting how the brain remembers some silly things but then forgets stuff it could do with hanging onto. Or maybe we really do remember everything but are too lazy to retrieve “boring” data from our brain’s memory banks? I suspect there’s a subatomic-sized librarian in there somewhere, pottering around my grey matter, and far too fond of tea breaks for the benefit of her own career.

Rowan

Work on editing Rowan has slowed, mostly due to me concentrating on writing Bethany Rose. The two are completely different in mood, so it's been interesting to flip from one to the other. The ink sketch above is from my character charts, and can be seen on merch on my Zazzle site too.

I'll be attending a First Aid course tomorrow, run by the Red Cross. The reasons are partly research, partly general practicality--or, in plain English, it might come in handy at some point. I have done some First Aid before but it was, ooooow, centuries ago. Time for an update, methinks.

We have sunshine! Yaay!!! Yellow crocus and snowdrops are in bloom in our garden now. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the garden this afternoon to do some more weeding.

Ygraine had her first haircut of the year yesterday, too. I think she looks cute fluffy but her coat gets tangled so easily, even when she's brushed regularly. Mind you, she loves being brushed; she'll pat at the drawer where her brush is kept to let us know what she wants. Emily has her own method of getting attention, which usually involves clobbering one of us around the ankles with her squeaky rubber chicken or the headless duck. (It used to have a head but it came adrift during a game of tug-o-war.)

Richard's not feeling too perky today, due to having one of his migraines. He took the dogs for a long walk on Caldy Hill this morning to try and clear his head, and now he's in his den listening to another Dr Who audio play--he has oodles of them.

My right shoulder is aching badly. I suspect I've developed a strain of some kind due to spending too long in a fixed position at the computer. Any ideas, anyone?

Meanwhile, I've been working on a short Fantasy story set on Hilbre Island in 61 AD., when a small community of Druids lived on there (according to my story, anyway.) The currently untitled tale is partially about the annihilation of the Druids in Ynys Mon/Anglesey on the orders of the Roman Emperor Nero, and carried out by Suetonius Paulinus. So far I've written 2,500 words of it, and the finished story will probably be 3,000.

A much larger range of merchandise for Richie Tattoo Artist has now been added to our range. There are t-shirts of many styles, plus baseball caps, mousemats, aprons, bags and so on. Take a look at the whole gallery at http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB

Have any of you tried this? http://www.plotbot.com/

I'v just finished adding some new designs to my merch site. Discover the whole collection at:- http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB or enjoy the sample shown below.


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

If I've been quiet lately, it's because I've been busily creating a new on-line shop. I've got absolutely heaps of designs to add yet but you're invited to take a look at the Flash player above, which will show you what is available so far.

Aside from drawing teddy bears, I've been hiding from the football. Richard's avidly watched every match (she says, yawning profoundly). My buddies have begun an alternative competition: which is the best-looking of the European football teams. Currently in first place is Italy, with Romania in second place, and France in third.

We've also watched some films - Cloverfield, which was mostly about aliens smashing stuff; Iron Man, which was mostly about a guy in a cyber-suit smashing stuff; and Eragon, which was great fun (loved the "flying with the dragon" sequences!)

So I glanced down the sunny garden, and wondered, "What on earth is Emily doing?" 

She was merrily wagging her tail (which usually means trouble) and her head seemed to be covered in white bits. Between her front paws was an unidentifyable lump which she was clearly enjoying shredding. 

So I went to investigate, of course. The little horror had stolen my box of sticky computer labels. I am now left with one surviving label, slightly chewed. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention this:- 

Grand Opening! Grand Opening! Grant Opening!

Richard's on-line store for apparel and collectibles opens today!



Go take a peek! http://www.cafepress.com/richiecb