We made it home, and so did our luggage, which is always good. I hadn’t wanted to waste time shopping while in Japan, so – don’t tell my family – but I did a sneaky online order of sake when we got home, to give to them when we see them. (So much easier than buying and transporting from Japan, and they will never know!)

Being home, at first, was lovely. I love my home. I wandered around the garden with the dog, followed by the cats. Everything had grown loads, and the lawn was in serious need of a cut, but it’s my safe place, somewhere to day dream.

I checked on the hen and her duckling, and the duckling had also grown loads. I do hope it’s female (I won’t know until it’s a bit older and begins to quack, as females are a lot louder than males. When fully feathered, the males also have curly tail feathers.)

Then I checked the ducks on the pond. Here I had a lovely surprise, as the pond was full of mandarin ducks. As soon as they heard me, they flew off – about 8 pairs – their colours flashing up into the trees. I’m not sure where they come from, there must be a nearby pond where they live, but they often visit in the summer, and it’s always thrilling. I have started sneaking up to the pond now, to try and get a photo before they hear me, but no luck so far.

Then some not so great things happened. The first was when we went to the shed, to get the hedge cutter, which was my Christmas gift to Husband, and found it had been stolen. That was a nasty shock. The door key (which is left in there) was also missing. This makes me think the thief plans to wait until we have replaced the cutter, and then return to steal the new one, and he’s taken the key so he doesn’t have to break down the door if it’s locked. I hate the thought that this person will probably come back. My safe place has been shattered.

I’m afraid it brought out the worst in me, and I started planning all sorts of traps involving rat poison and explosives. But to be honest, the dead bag in the workshop just isn’t big enough. I shall have to rely on the dog and cockerels to eat them when they return.

Another surprise was when I went to check on my books in the local community cafe. They have been selling quite well there, and I keep them stocked up with two copies of each book. But when I checked this time, rather than being less on the shelves, there were more! Someone had obviously decided that their copy was in good enough condition to resell, hence giving more profit to the community shop. But for me, it means a lost sale, as a customer will buy it but I will receive nothing. I’ll just have to hope they like it enough to buy my other books. There are a lot of knock-backs with this job. If people want to buy my books on Amazon, they have to look really hard to find the new copy that I am selling, most are cheaper used versions.

To end on a brighter note, I am still receiving orders from libraries. As my books are registered with the British Library, any library in the UK can stock them. Please could you do me a HUGE favour, and pop into your local library, and ask them to order a copy? If you are the first person to ask, they might initially refuse, but the more people who ask, the more likely they are to decide to order a copy. Which allows more people to read my work. And that, really, is the aim of what I do.

You will need title, author, publisher and ISBN for each book, so I’ll list them below. Which book will you choose to order?

Thank you for reading.
anneethompson.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hidden Faces by Anne E. Thompson
Published by The Cobweb Press
ISBN 9780995463202

JOANNA by Anne E. Thompson
Published by The Cobweb Press
ISBN 9780995463226

CLARA – A Good Psychopath? by Anne E. Thompson
Published by The Cobweb Press
ISBN 9780995463257

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