Our hallway is blocked by two huge boxes containing the new chicken house. The blurb insists it will take between ten and fifteen minutes to convert these two flat-packs into the house and run but having experienced the joys of self-assembly before, I remain sceptical.

The chicken house which Mum gave me is made from re-used wood and isn’t as watertight as it needs to be. It soaks up water from beneath, which is very bad for the birds’ health. Plus we wanted to give them a bigger run anyway. So I scoured the internet and found something much better. All I have to do now is assemble it then we can have our hall back and Hattie and Joyce can move house (again!)

I’m just back from a trip into the village. There’s an icy wind coming off the sea today but it’s pleasant once you get walking. I’d tackle the flat-packs now but the light will be fading soon, and so instead I’ll update this blog - which now gets auto-shipped from LiveJournal.

So what’s new?

Well, I’ve now completed the first draft of Bethany Rose, and am happy with where it ended. To explain, I began writing Bethany’s story with the idea that the MS would finish in the present time. Half way through writing it, I knew this was simply not going to happen and so it took me a few days to figure out a way round this. However, the novel now ends at the close of a major, clear-cut phase of her life. And as not much new happens for a few years after this - which would be boring to write and read anyway! - it’s a good place to end. Obviously there’s a lot of work to be done on the MS before anyone could call it finished in the true sense; the first draft is like the skeleton on which editing and polishing hangs the flesh of the book (more or less; the analogy soon heads onto shaky ground so let’s just skip that bit.)

Riverside Writers meet next Monday (Dec 21st), and this month’s writing theme was suggested by Carol Falaki, and is “The Melting Glacier.”

So is global warming for real or not? Again, I’m sceptical - not just because of the recent questions raised over the honesty of the data which seems to indicate global warming, but because we’ve only been measuring the weather for around 150 years. In the life of this planet, that’s a ridiculously miniscule timescale on which to judge anything.

When Vikings first landed on what became named Greenland, the weather was mild and according to their own records they were able to raise crops readily. That’s why the land was called “Green.” However, the weather changed and they died. They starved and froze to death, and this was apparently part of a cycle which the natives of Greenland already knew about. Who’s to say that the whole Earth doesn’t go through similar cycles of warming and cooling? Some scientists say it does just this, and that we’re about to enter a period of cooling. Time will tell, hmm? Meanwhile, a lot of money is being made peddling “green” stuff.

Also new… Take a peek at Spooky Cute Designs site, as I’ve been adding a huge amount of new items. There’s now a collection of greetings cards, nature scenes taken from our photography files. Plus there’re more designs in the entire collection. Discover what’s new for yourself and let me know what you think!

Spooky cute Designs: http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB

Also new… I’ve added a few new Hubpages, which are small non-fiction essays covering a wide range of topics, from recipes to an oil portrait of Vlad Dracula. Rummage around for yourself and see what takes your fancy. http://hubpages.com/profile/AdeleCosgroveBray

If you’re looking for something to read, then I have to recommend Peter V Brett’s The Painted Man which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well written with strong and believable characters, it offers an unusual plotline which places various people in different locations who gradually come together to fight for survival. A real page-turner, this one.

Work on Bethany Rose has kept me busy, as I’m on the last three or four thousand words now. The total word count will run over my intended 100,000 words but as I’ve already decided to delete one minor character completely that’s not an issue. This is only the first draft, of course; there’s a lot of work to be done yet, editing and polishing. Some people balk at this aspect of writing but I thoroughly enjoy it.

I’ve enjoyed writing Bethany’s story. Her character’s an interesting mixture of contradictions; sensitive but strong, creative but practical, and incredibly brave in the face of awful circumstances. She’s a very different person from Tamsin, that’s for sure. But I won’t say too much about her publicly for now.

I’ve also been enjoying our two chickens. In the spring, Mum began talking about having two pet chickens. She gave it some thought, and by early summer they were in residence in her small garden. Richard laughed and told her we’d have them by Xmas. Well he was right, and here they are.

Cute little characters they are, too, with amusing habits and quizzical expressions. They’re not in the least bothered by our dogs. Actually, Ygraine has already lost interest. Emily is more inquisitive, though, having discovered that these new residents produce mini footballs - eggs to you and me.

Richard’s famous. Really, he is. Check him out on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3RJ9RA2fk8

While Richard spent the morning trying to sleep off one of his infamous migraines, I wrote more of Seth’s Basement, my effort for this month’s Riverside Writer’s project which was set on the theme of The Artificial Head. It’s been fun to write, and as far-fetched as my story may seem it’s actually based on a guy who had a similar set-up in his own basement. Truth can be stranger than fiction, for sure; I named one of my fictional mannequins Anton after the real-life character.

Riverside Writers’ next meeting is tomorrow night, and we’re going to be joined by editor Maurice James who’ll be giving a talk about the kind of things editors look for in submitted MS.

It’s been raining constantly here today, and both dogs are restless. It’s walkies time and they know they’re going nowhere. If it was just a light shower I’d dress Emily and Ygraine in their little raincoats and off we’d go.

At least the fickle English weather presented a passable version of summer when we were in Southport earlier this week. Richard and I met Mum and my sister Evelyn there, and we had an abysmal meal in a place we’d previously praised. Richard bought squeaky toys for the dogs, and a pink fluffy glove puppet rabbit which Ygraine instantly adopted. Emily has since ripped its face off but that hasn’t deterred Ygraine's affection.

Anyone with an interest in the Adshead, Ashbrook, Bray and McGowan family tree is welcome to visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Four-Branches where I’ve created a webpage with photos about this.

Today we have monsoon rain, which is a pleasant change from living in an oven turned on full. This heat wave has not been fun, and fortunately Ygraine was already booked to be groomed this week. Her coat is so thick and dense that she really suffers during hot spells. She’s much happier today. Actually she’s wrapped round my feet as I type this. She’s pretending to be asleep but she’s waiting for walkies. One move from this chair, and she’ll be spinning in excited circles.

When I helped the groomer, Lisa, to he car with her equipment, the door slammed shut. I’d forgotten to put the catch on and so I was locked out. The front room widows were open, and a neighbour--a slender teenager who’s twice my height (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration…) climbed through easily and opened the door for me.

Monday’s meeting of Riverside Writers was fun, as usual. We were joined by two new people, including Jonathon Mayhew who’s recently signed a three-book deal with Bloomsbury. His website is at: http://www.jonmayhew.co.uk/ He talked about the importance of networking in person and online, and also about the enormous amount of re-writes an MS undergoes before the publisher finally gives to go-ahead.

Did I mention that the group is talking about putting together an anthology? We’ve begun looking at prospective printers, as it will be a self-publishing effort.

Algid skies have enveloped this typically limpid spring Bank Holiday, and Emily has decided to hybernate. Perhaps she is still recouperating after chasing Cat round the garden on Sunday. Emily has adeptly trained my niece in the art of playing tag with a headless rubber duck. Cat has yet to accept that she cannot ever hope to win. Two human feet in competition with four nimble Jack Russell paws haven't a hope in Hades.

Ygraine determinedly kept out of it, being perfectly content to snooze under the St John's wort. Only the enticing scents of a roasting chicken, wafting graciously through the open kitchen window, kept her from sliding completely into dreamy oblivion.

Today, in order to make up for yesterday's exertion, Ygraine is snoozing on the couch. And Emily? Well, the photo tells that story.

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.)

We know we're not supposed to be on here....

Wrote 1,850 words this morning, which takes the total word-count for Bethany Rose up to 23,250 so far. Writing the spooky bits is such fun...!

Warm spring sunshine yesterday enabled me to get some weeding done. Today's torrential rain has forced me to postpone further efforts. We have three yellow crocus and a patch of snowdrops in bloom. What happened to the rest of my crocus though? I planted heaps of them four years ago, and there has been less each year. Anyway, yesterday I had no sooner finished weeding a stretch of one border when a cute little robin came to investigate. I was looking out of the kitchen window as I was washing my hands, and saw a wren on the fence.

Bathed the dogs yesterday. I managed to capture them in the bathroom by stealth. Otherwise if they hear the 'B' word they hide under the bed and will not come out! I bathed Emily first as she was the cleanest. I'd no sooner towelled her dry than she jumped back in the bath to torment Ygraine. So then I had to clean the bathroom too--completely.

Sylvia's beloved dog, Gelert, died on Tuesday. He'd had a couple of peculiar wobbly spells recently, and then he had another and died twenty minutes later. Poor Sylvia is devastated. As any pet owner will tell you, shen a pet dies it's like losing a member of your closest family--more so, quite often, as people often far prefer their pets to their legal relatives.

Reminder: Until Friday, you'll still be able to hear Spanish Jones (part one) on http://www.citytalk.fm/showdj.asp?DJID=48793 Just move the curser along almost to the end of the show, as I'm on then.

Captured on my neice's Blackberry... Beelzepup in full glory!

The pond is still partially frozen. This doesn't seem to be troubling the ducks and geese at all. The dogs enjoyed snuffling through mounds of soggy leaves in the wood, of course. Horses have been brought to the neighbouring field, among them an adorable Shetland pony--chocolate brown with a caramel-coloured tail and mane. They thundered up to the wire fence to say hello. The dogs were on leads, of course, kept out of the reach of the horses' hooves.

Later I walked into the village for a few odds and ends from the supermarket, and to pick up Richard's prescription from the medical centre. He's been having a lot of migraines lately. They seem to go in cycles; he'll get a run of them, then they'll calm down again. The staff know him by sight, whereas I have only needed the doctor once since we moved to the area, eight-and-a-half years ago.

Earlier today I did more work on Turning Tides. I'd written it once already, but my old puuter ate it when it died. So now I want to re-write it again. I've given up trying to remember exactly how I wrote the first version--this is what's been holding me up with this story. So now I've decided that I'll just write it, and it'll come out however it'll come out. It would be a shame not to use the Ynys Mon historical research, anyway. I don't want to turn to the tale into an info dump--I've made that mistake before, with another story--but I do want to drop the odd fact into the plot, just to add a little weight.

Speaking of weight--she says, smirking proudly--I've lost three-quarters of a stone! Wipeeee!!!

2am saw me padding around the living room, wide awake.  Hubby was snoring like a jammed lawnmower, which is not conducive to restful meditations.

So I'd come down here, lit some incense and read for a while.  The dogs declined to join me, for once, having immediately secured my vacated warm spot under the duvet.  (Actually, Ygraine's booked in with the groomer today--about time too, as she resembles a miniature sheep.)

In answer to those slightly bewildered folk who nonetheless answered my last post:-   no, I am not planning to foist a horrible present on some unsuspecting girl.  I was working on a chapter of Bethany Rose and needed ideas for useless but showy gifts.  

The wordcount currently stands at 39,600. 

I've also added some new and exclusive Hallowe'en designs to my merch site.   Discover them for yourself at http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB

Mum's not feeling too well.  She had food poisoning after eating out, followed by a cold, and now her balance has gone haywire again.  She's had inner ear infections before, several times that I can remember.  Evelyn stayed the first night with her and took her to the doctor's in the morning.  When I spoke to her, Mum said she was feeling better but the Stenetil tablets make her very sleepy.

Cat is now an official university student!  Yaay!!!   And she's bought a pet snake named Havok.... 

Two friends were caught up in the recent airline collapse.  Lynn and Lee had only three days left of their Greek island holiday when their hotel manager told them their room had not been paid for.  They were given the choice of paying £600 instantly--which was the cost of their room for two weeks--or sleeping on the beach with police charges hanging over them.  Lynn and Lee had already paid for the hotel when they'd booked the holiday.  On top of this, their flight home no longer existed (due to the airline collapse) so they had to pay for another flight home.  Obviously, they intend to claim against their travel insurance.  But their holiday was seriously marred.  Lee should have been walking around a sunny Greek island, when instead he was pacing round our algid patio with Emily trying to eat his shoelaces.

Richard has the bubonic plague a headcold. 

Meanwhile....





What can moggies do when the rain keeps on pouring down, day after day after day? Snooze, mostly....  Or sunbathe beneath the hall window.

Anyway, while Jazzy and Saffron have been taking things easy, I've been busy designing some more Hallowe'en cards - visit http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB to see those.
 
I've been working on Bethany Rose.  The word count currently stands at 34,500.  Obviously there's lots to do yet, as I'm aiming for 100,000 words again.  This re-write differs considerably from the original version, partially because the whole mythos of the series has evolved since I first began playing around with ideas for it.

One tricky thing is keeping the Bad Guy bad enough without resorting to gore. 

Excessive violence and shock effects don't interest me, either in novels or in films.  Once the reader/viewer has gone, "Euwch!" a few times, the reaction wears thin rapidly.  I prefer to tease peoples' imaginations, leaving their own minds to fill in the gaps.  As with some of the old horror films, which build up a lovely creepy atmosphere.  It works well until the second you see the monster, and then you giggle because it's so obviously some guy in a stupid outfit, waving his arms about and going "Gurrrrg!" 

Mind you, I actually like some of those really old, eccentric films.  Richard has a collection of the hilarious Japanese Godzilla films, where plastercine monsters battle to the death.  Over the weekend, we watched an Ed Wood film, Plan 9 From Outer Space, which was so bad we loved it. 

So, which are your own favourite fictional bad guys and monsters, and why?

1,070 words yesterday, which isn't too great. The arrival of our new fridge-freezer caused one slight interruption, as it took me ages to unpack it as it was wrapped in thick corrugated cardboard and sheets of polystyrene foam. The old one’s seal has perished, causing the freezer to overwork, and we had exhausted our repertoire of Scot of the Antarctic jokes long ago, (“Just stepping inside for some fish; I may be some time,” as we hacked though a block of solid ice.)

The afternoon finally saw a cessation of the week-long torrents of rain, so I took two bored little doggies down to the beach and let them gallop along the board walk through the sand dunes. Emily flirted with a handsome silky black fellow named Albert, who was equally enthusiastic. His bushy tail was wagging happily until his “mum” bodily picked him up and walked off with him firmly tucked under her arm, his little legs struggling to escape as he peered back at Emily.

This morning I spent an absurd amount of time tinkering with my website to update the news page and make the appearances section easier to browse. It’s a fiddly process, involving lots of left-clicking on each seperate subject box in each page column to activate the editing software, then editing the actual text, then more left-clicking to switch the software off, then re-reading, then re-doing something which means the software has to switched on again, ad infinitum.

This Saturday sees the annual August Bank Holiday Music Festival in Liverpool. It’s a huge free event, with live music in most pubs throughout the city, especially around The Cavern Quarter, plus big stages (usually three) set up in the city centre. Will it rain?!! It’s almost a tradition... I can remember watching Cat Scratch Fever – oow, years ago now! – and it rained so hard that my heavy suede jacket was soaked through despite my umbrella. The problem was that everyone else had umbrellas too, and so the rain was pushed into little rivulets which poured through the gaps. Guess who got trapped in the dense crowd exactly where one such rivulet cascaded down her back!!!

Introducing - my first totally amateur video thingy!

Emily's Siesta!


Saffron: "Did I hear the can-opener?"


Jazzy: "I really am asleep. Honest."


Emily and Ygraine, right after bathtime.

1,799 words today - plus I also updated my page on Amazon and my MySpace pages (Richard's, Riverside Writers', my design page and my writing page) to mention my appearence on 7 waves Radio tomorrow morning.

Our immediate neighbours are having their roof done. Emily nearly climbed out of the open front-room window in order to scrounge cuddles off the builder who was in our garden whilst erecting scaffolding.

I've already had to warn one of them to pay attention to our clear Beware of the Dog! signs. He'd pushed his hand through our gate to stroke my dogs. I know they're both softies, but I don't want these builders to think that. Who knows who any of these people are, or what their background might be? Call me paranoid if you want to. I put my security above anything.

Oh, the problem with updating my blog on the Wirral Globe newspaper is now sorted out, thanks to the help of their web developer. I should now be able to get back to posting my regular Wednesday updates there.

Saturday saw me in Manchester, when I met with two friends. When burgers were suggested for lunch I hesitated. Regular readers of my scribblings will know I avoid junk food like the plague. However, my two friends hold similar leanings regards health and aesthetics and they said this restaurant made its own burgers from 100% Aberdeen Angus beef. We just made it before a monsoon drenched the city!

http://thatsfoodanddrink.blogspot.com/2007/07/gourmet-burger-kitchen-opens-in.html offers a fair description of GBK.

So, yes, if you’re in Manchester and are feeling hungry, I can recommend the place – pleasant surroundings, reasonably priced and excellent food. The milk shakes were yummy, too.

Sunday saw Emily waiting for Cat to arrive. That puppy explodes into happy yipping-yapping when my niece’s arrival makes the front gate squeak. The poor girl can hardly get through the door for our two dogs excitedly greeting her. She was wearing black jeans. Oh dear. When will she learn? Black jeans, white dogs….!!!

Right – on with some work…

There's a lively debate on constructive crit for writers here:- http://adele-cb.livejournal.com/125658.html Join in, if you wish!

My modem's drivers mysteriously reappeared. I'd been working on a 2,000 Sci-Fi story, The Immortalists, when the telltale arrows started flashing near the little clock in the corner of the screen. Sure enough, my drivers were back. Where had they been? I have no idea...!

The Immortalists is only at first-draft stage. I've no market in mind for it yet; it was simply the kind of story which demands to be written and pesters like crazy until you've got the job done. The idea partially came from this month's project for Riverside Writers; this time around we're using a photo of an unusual multi-level stack of caravans (which seem to be lived in) as a base for our work. My story places this in the grounds of a hospital where people have been regenerated from their DNA samples.

The idea also partially came from someone who wrote that no-one had written a Sci-Fi story about this subject. I couldn't say if this was accurate or not.

Meanwhile, I had to get Emily to the vets this morning. She'd been sick numerous times last night, and was limp and shivery. This morning she was no better, so I booked an emergency appointment for her. My suspicions that she'd eaten something which she shouldn't have - a frog, maybe? - were confirmed by the vet. So Emily had two injections; one to calm her sore tummy and reduce nausea, the other an anti-acid shot. She was also given some powder to be mixed with water to replace electrolytes (which she adamantly refuses to drink!) One hour after the shots, she was charging round the garden with a squeaky rubber pig between her teeth, walloping Ygraine with it.

hazeldixon, xfangs_upx and xneed_coffeex - in plain language, my sister and her two daughters - met by chance in IM last night. We had fun playing with the emoticons, and I related the tale of the tail – Saffron’s tail, actually, which I managed to grab hold of just in time to prevent the little darling snaked her way off up the newly-opened chimney.

The cat was not pleased. But a grumpy cat is easier to contend with than a huge bill from the Fire Brigade for rescuing the daft moggy.

Yes, we now have a new fire, hearth and surround. We also have an unexpected heatwave, so relishing the former will have to wait until the latter has subsided. Maybe autumn sometime. Ah well, I always was one for forward planning.

Over the weekend we watched Sommersby, which we both enjoyed. So was he her hubby or wasn’t he? Richard says he was; I’m not so sure. The Gere hubby’s feet were two sizes smaller than the original hubby. Women notice such things, despite rumours to the contrary.

One thing I was sure of was that the heroine’s pregnancy must surely have been the fastest in all human history. The tobacco crop hadn’t grown an inch taller from when the pregnancy was anounced to when the baby arrived, never mind having ripened and been harvested already.

Actually, Jodie Foster is one of my favourite actresses. I can’t think of a single film she’s acted in which I haven’t enjoyed.

Also fun was Lonely werewolf Girl, a quirky novel by Martin Millar. Think of the Borgias as werewolves, set in contemporary Scotland and London, with despairing fashion designers, dream-sodden amateur musicians, grumpy teenagers, temperamental volcano goddesses and megalomaniacs with dodgy love lives, all thrown together in a scramble to survive a fight for the family’s seat of power. How could that possibly fail to entertain?!!

Meanwhile, my own scribblings proceed. Rowan now stands at 92,000 words. This means in theory I have 8,000 words left to finish off the story. It might overrun this a bit, but I’m sure that will change during the editing process. That’s inevitable, no doubt.

The strong breezes swirling over Wirral today are mild compared to last night’s gales. That was a wild one!

My dogs want to play out in the sunshine but they hate the wind. They’re terriers, for goodness sakes – supposedly outdoors-loving. Actually, they much prefer a warm spot on the couch. However, a paddle on the beach, a swim in the marina or a scent-laden wander through the woods is welcomed just so long as it’s warm, dry and offers nothing stronger than a whispering breeze coming in off the sea.



And now the days are gradually warming up, it’s weeding time again. Weeds seem to have an innate ability to grow three times faster than “real” plants. They also seem to have the knack of lodging themselves tightly against the stems of desired plants, so that the only way to eradicate the pesky things is to risk destroying their unintentionally protective host.

Some weed-killing products claim to zap the weeds without harming other plants. Clearly the manufacturers should have explained this more clearly to the leafy residents of my garden, who either ignore the product altogether or wilt en masse.

My dogs enjoy a spot of weeding, too, and are always eager to lend a helping paw. In Ygraine’s case, this means digging holes. Lots of holes, anywhere. Well, the avid human gardener is digging holes, isn’t she? Westies do like to join in.

Our Jack Russell puppy, Emily, has almost grasped the idea of “fetch”. This means that I have to make sure the patio doors are closed, otherwise when I return to the living room I’ll find a pile of muddy dandelions on the couch. That not everything thrown to one side needs fetching is something she’s not quite figured out yet.

"Bleurch" pretty well sums up how I feel right now. Yes, I'm running a temperature. I insist on numerous declarations of sympathy at frequent intervals. Offerings of chocolate are mandatory.

I did no writing at all either yesterday or today. However, I've sorted out the use of a microphone for Words from Wordsmiths, and I've begun promoting the event. West Kirby Library is hosting several events for Wirral Book Fest, and will be putting up a big display to advertise it shortly.

Emily swiped a new "ball" from the vegetable rack yesterday. Well, it was round and looked like the rubber ball she usually plays with, and it had an interesting crackly paper-like covering too. And then she bit down on it. Ooow, her little face was a picture. Clearly she isn't partial to raw onion...!

Today "Beelzepup" has pulled Ygraine's flea collar off and refuses to give it me back. I think she's chewed the plastic fastener off already. I've been trying to get it from her but she's playing her favourite hide-round-the-table game. If I go towards her, she dashes the other way; if I go the other way, she dashes back again - great fun, according to Emily, so the only thing to do is ignore her until she gets bored running off with whatever she's run off with this time.

Her usual trick is to pounce on something in the laundry basket and gallop off around the garden with it dangling from her mouth. By the time I rescue it (socks and undies being her favourite targets) they're covered in mud, dog slobber and tooth holes.

My neice gave me a miniature red rose plant for Mother's Day! te he he!! Wasn't that sweet!