Getting Old…

Posted by anneethompson

The painter man has left. My house is now smarter, though still untidy. It has been quite a good opportunity to have a sort out, and I have been ruthless with old ornaments and broken pottery that I should have thrown away years ago.

We also sorted out the DVD collection. Husband and I spent a cheery evening wading through the heap, deciding which ones we were likely to rewatch and which ones could be recycled. I was surprised by just how many DVDs we have managed to accumulate, and most of them I can’t remember watching. There was of course, some denial over who had actually ever bought some of them. All the Disney ones we blamed the children for (though there are a few that I’m suspicious may have been ordered by Husband). All the religious ones we blamed my mother for. Both of us were certain we never bought the dodgy film about a Ukrainian prostitute.

The sort out was such a success that Husband decided we should also sort out our CD collection. This was more difficult, as I never know the names of artists or albums, and needed to be reminded what the songs actually were. There were also a surprising number of CDs which were in the wrong boxes (must be the boys’ fault) and it was impossible to correct this as it seems to be trendy to produce black CDs with no discernible writing on them. Husband spotted that they all had a tiny symbol, which matched with a symbol on the box. Seems a very stupid idea to me. Felt very old.

Now sitting on duck eggs – but don’t tell her!

Other news: All my female ducks have gone. Not sure if they’ve flown away to find mates (it’s that time of year) or if the fox got them, or if they are hidden somewhere on nests. If it’s the last choice, I will find out in four weeks, when they appear with ducklings. I would like some more females, but don’t have time to hatch any eggs this year. I had a few duck eggs in the fridge still, and a chicken has gone broody, so I removed the single egg she was sitting on and replaced it with 5 duck eggs. She hissed at me, but is still sitting. We shall see what happens. It’s easier if she hatches them, as she’ll then raise the hatchlings for me.

I have also been invited to preach at a church near Bluewater. When the call came, I had gone to bed, so told Husband no, I don’t preach any more (I used to, several years ago, before I was ill). But then, when I woke the following morning, I thought that actually, although I’m not sure if I can still ‘preach’, I would really love to give a talk about all I learnt recently about the Prodigal Son. So I phoned the person who asked me, and said that I would come, but could I talk on the Prodigal Son? There was a long pause. He then said, rather hesitantly, that actually it was Pentecost Sunday. I said that was fine – please could I speak on the Prodigal Son? He agreed. He has now sent through the programme for their services, and they will be doing a series on ‘lost things’, so my talk will fit rather well. I hope I manage to do it okay. It is quite a test for me, to see if I can still do it. I will let you know how it goes.

Now selling copies of Hidden Faces, JOANNA and CLARA.

In Author World, I am still not managing to write very much of the new book. I simply cannot see the characters clearly enough yet. Never mind, they will appear eventually, and there’s no hurry, because I hate having to sell the books when they’re finished anyway! The selling bit is pootling along. Mum had a stall at a local fair for me, and sold a few books. There is also a little community shop that has opened in a nearby village, and they’ve sold a few copies too. Plus all the normal outlets. I have sold a little over 100 copies of Clara since the launch at the end of February.

I have also – finally – submitted some blurb for an author page on Amazon. I’m not sure what, if anything, it will achieve, and I had no idea what to write, so I spent some time reading other people’s author pages. Some were very personal, some said nothing except blurb about their books. I decided to go for something in between. I also had to submit a photo. Struggled hard with the ethics of submitting photo of daughter instead (she’s prettier than me). Decided she might be cross.

Have a look if you have time, the link is:

Hope you have a good week. Thanks for reading.

Take care.
Love,
Anne x

******

You can follow my blog at: anneethompson.com

Anne E. Thompson has written several novels and one non-fiction book. You can find her work in bookshops and Amazon.

Flowers, Drains and Chickens

Posted by anneethompson

I was invited to an event at Knights Garden Centre. I wasn’t quite sure what it entailed – something to do with autumn and I needed a ticket. As my life has been rather solitary lately (writing books is not a social activity) I was very glad to go out. It started at 7pm, and I was late. This wasn’t my fault, since my operation I often have weird lights in my eyes, like the aura before a migraine except I never get the migraine, but it means I can’t drive. So I had to wait for Husband to come home and drive me.

Anyway, I hurried to the right place, and found a group of people in the coffee shop, with a man at the front arranging flowers. He was rather clever, because he somehow managed to create a couple of fantastic autumn arrangements without really looking at what he was doing. He was very entertaining, and told us about arranging flowers at Prince Andrew’s wedding, and other major events. He then sort of threw some pears and grapes and pomegranates onto a table, and suddenly, there was a whole beautiful table setting.

We were given fancy snacks, and then the flower man (I can’t remember his name) called out ticket numbers and the chosen people were allowed to take home an arrangement. I won. Wow, I rarely win anything. I carried the huge arrangement out to where Husband was waiting, and told him that the evening had been a workshop, and this was my arrangement. He didn’t believe me – he has seen my attempts at arranging flowers before. My sister inherited all my mother’s clever flower arranging genes (the only time I ever arranged the flowers at church, my mother got there early and rearranged them before anyone saw).

As I write this, I have all the taps in the house turned on, and water gushing down pipes, in an attempt to clear them. Mr. Blocked-Drain-Clearer is here.

Whist trying to find out why the drains are blocked, I tried looking online. I discovered that coffee grounds can block drains. Did you know that? I didn’t. There is one person who disagrees, who wrote that coffee grounds act like sandpaper and actually clean out the drain. But that was offset by about three hundred people who said you shouldn’t tip coffee grounds down the sink, as they mix with fats and block drains, as effectively as concrete. This is annoying, as it’s very easy to sluice the grounds down the sink, and rather a bother to go and tip them on my roses (apparently roses like coffee – who knew?) Ugh, sometimes life is a hassle. But perhaps I will now grow beautiful roses to use in my flower arrangements.

Another problem (though not stressful) is my chickens. Now, in case you don’t know, chickens put themselves to bed when it gets dark. So every morning, I open the door to their coop and out they run (I don’t like animals in cages). They spend the day happily digging up Husband’s plants and scratching the dirt under the trees looking for grubs. Then, when it starts to get dark, they go back to their coop, fly up onto their perch, and I shut the door so Mr. Fox can’t eat them during the night. The problem is that sometimes I want to go out before it’s properly dark, and I won’t be home until late. (I am always pleased when the clocks go back, because the chickens go to bed earlier!)

I thought I’d solved this, by training them to come when I whistle. I started giving them treats (grapes) and whistling, and gradually, when I whistled, they learned to come running to wherever I was. So do all the cats and the dog, but I can ignore them, and shut the chickens into their coop. Unfortunately, the silly birds now associate me with treats. So sometimes, after they have already put themselves to bed, I go up to shut the cage door, they hear me coming, and rush out of the cage hoping for a treat. I have tried explaining that actually, the treats are only when I whistle, and only given when they are actually IN their cage. But they won’t listen. Chickens are silly birds.

However really, I have no cause to complain about anything. Tomorrow I am going to a fashion show. All the models have been victims of acid attacks. They feel it is time to stop hiding their disfigurements, they want to show they are not ashamed of what they look like. I expect it will be a moving evening, and will help me to sort my own priorities a bit better. I’ll let you know next week what it was like, and who I meet – there are a few celebrities attending.

You can watch the show online :

https://www.actionaid.org.uk/get-involved/survivors-runway-fashion-show-facebook-live-acid-attacks-violence-against-women-and-girls?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=digital_survivorsrunway

Hope you have a problem-free week.

Take care,
Anne x

xxx

Families are the same, whatever the century. Counting Stars follows a family a hundred years from now.
Counting Stars by Anne E. Thompson – a thriller for the intelligent reader.
UK link below:

xxx

Scary Hen

Posted by anneethompson

Hello, how was your week?

I am feeling somewhat ruffled. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, a fox came into the garden and ate a cockerel and my favourite big black hen. Hard to not hate foxes (though actually, even I am appalled that there is a suggestion we might legalise fox-hunting again – but that is a different issue).

Anyway, at about the same time as the above massacre, one of my other hens started to get broody, to collect the eggs the other hens laid as soon as they left the laying box, and to refuse to budge. I collected the eggs every day (because most of them were bantam eggs, and I don’t want more bantams) but she was very fierce. Have you ever encountered a cross hen? They fan out their tails, and fluff up their wings, and when you come within striking distance, they zoom in and peck you. Very hard. Enough to form a red blood blister, even through gloves. Scary.

Also (if that isn’t bad enough) one broody hen tends to remind the other hens that they too want to be mothers, so they all stop laying and you have no eggs, whilst still having to pay a fortune for their food and cleaning up stinky poop each day.

So, I decided I would move said broody hen into the duck aviary (as I think I mentioned in a previous blog) and give her the eggs I still had, from the lovely big black hen which had been eaten. Good plan. Except, that was several weeks ago, and chicks take 3 weeks to hatch. Exactly 3 weeks. So something was wrong. Scary hen was still firmly on her nest, but there was no sign, whatsoever, of hatchlings.

So this morning, I decided I needed to act. I donned my protective Marigold gloves and a thick coat, and went to discuss the issue with the hen. She was not impressed and still refused to let me investigate. I left her for a few minutes, while I fed the ducks, and noticed that, because she thought I had left, she was no longer sitting on her nest. I dashed back and managed to corner her. Catching her was loud and violent (towards me, she was completely unharmed if somewhat cross). I was cheered on by the cat, who was watching on top of the cage and at one point reached through and patted the top of my head for encouragement. The dog was less helpful, as she chased around the cage barking, which did nothing to calm the situation. All the chickens in the other cage squawked their disapproval, and I had a row of ducks on the bank who were trying to watch.

Managed to catch her, only one deep wound (now covered with a Mr Happy plaster) and she was carried, still trying to peck any available flesh, back into the chicken coop. I checked her nest. There were bits of shell, and one remaining egg, which was cold. I think she must have eaten the others.

I like having chickens, but only when they are free. I love being in the garden when a flock of birds wanders through it, I like that they come to watch me garden, will investigate anything new, and spend hours digging through the compost heap. I do not like animals in cages. Until the foxes stop being randy and doing daredevil raids past the dog into the garden, the chickens have to stay in their cage. Am not enjoying this at all. Ducks are so much nicer.

Hope your day goes better than mine has so far. Time for my morning coffee now. Thanks for reading.

Take care,
Anne

If you enjoyed this, why not sign up to follow my blog?

anneethompson.com

xxx

I am pleased to announce that JOANNA is finally available as a Kindle book. If you search for JOANNA by Anne E Thompson in whichever country you live in, it should be available. The UK link is below:

Animals and Neighbours

Posted by anneethompson

The cockerels survived! If you read an earlier post, you’ll know that the DEFRA quarantine (for bird flu) lasted until the end of February. I was worried that when I released the birds into the garden, the cockerels would think it was new territory (having bird brains, and all that) and would fight. Cockerels fight to the death, even if you try to separate them, so I was worried. I couldn’t find anything helpful online – I’m not sure many ‘hobby’ farmers keep cockerels. I decided I would start to let the birds out just as it was getting dark. They are rigid about their routines, and as soon as it gets dark, they all roost on their perch, all in a set order. I thought that maybe, if it was beginning to get dark, even if they started to fight, the urge to roost would be greater, so they’d stop attacking each other before one was dead.

Well, it worked fine. I opened the cage door, and they all rushed out. No fighting. Excellent. The four new ones have never left the cage before, so they were very interested by it all, the older ones went straight onto the compost heap for a good dig.

One of the new ones is tiny, even smaller than her mother (I bought “large chicken eggs” on Ebay, but one- the mother of the latest clutch – is a bantam. That’s Ebay for you!) She was so excited she started to fly around and sit in the trees, which was pretty cool. I was slightly worried the cats might think she was small enough to catch, as she’s smaller than a rat and they do a good job at keeping them under control. When I released them, the dog and all four outside cats arrived to watch. The cats like living outside, but they’re both nosey and keen for snuggles, so they follow us around when we’re in the garden. I watched them carefully, but whenever they were approached by a hen, even a small one, they backed away quickly. They clearly associate chickens with being pecked rather than with sport/food. Which is good. Always a good idea to introduce very young predators to adult birds – they learn to not attack. My cats had some sharp pecks when they were kittens, and obviously remember.

As it grew darker, the three old birds went straight back into the cage to roost. The younger birds partied for a bit longer; which worried the dog, who was keen to round them up, but I wanted to wait and see what happened, so made her sit beside me. She sat there, nudging me with her nose and whimpering – disagreed with my decision. It was fine, they all went to bed before it was properly dark. That’s the only nice thing about short winter days I think, the chickens go to bed early. When the clocks move forward, I will have to wait until later before I can shut the door, which makes going out in the evening difficult.

The ducks are all laying. There are little nests of eggs all around the pond. I keep finding them, and don’t know how old they are, so am leaving them (would be embarrassing to give someone an old egg to eat). Not sure if they’ll sit, it’s still quite early, but sometimes they do if the weather’s warm. I have enough ducks, so if they do, when the ducklings are full grown I’ll give them away. They’re not far removed from mallards, so can fly and would cope fine on a wild pond. I do hope bird flu doesn’t spread to this area. I like my birds.

The cats are fat. I think they put on extra fat during the winter months, plus their fur is really thick. They are wonderful to cuddle. Sometimes I try to bring one inside, but they’re very unsettled and want to get back in the garden as soon as they can. They all come running when I whistle, so if I have any meat scraps, I’ll call them to the door.

We have sheep in the field next to the house. They’re fat too, so I’m hoping we might have lambs soon. I don’t like walking through the field when there’re mothers and young – sometimes they become aggressive – so we’re having to find new walks. The dog likes this, but I don’t. I tend to walk each day when I need a break from writing, and I like to walk the same way, so I don’t have to concentrate and can loose myself in the story while I walk. Then when we get home, I’m usually ready to write the next part of the story.

At the moment while I walk, I’m also delivering invites to the book launch on 29th. My neighbours all live several fields away, so I rarely see them. There is one house, which has tall fences and gates, down a private track. It has no name, no letterbox. No one (that I have asked) knows who lives there, but it used to be a pop star. If you look on Google maps, there is a big house and a few small cottages. Who lives there? Could be someone famous. Or a Mafia don. Or someone royal. Very interesting. Very occasionally, the gates are left open. If I’m walking past, I shall sneak in with an invitation – you never know, they might like to come to a book launch. If I discover who lives there, I’ll let you know.

xxx

Thank you for reading.

xxx

Christmas and Cabbages

Posted by anneethompson

Hello and how are you? Did you have a good Christmas? We did. Or at least, most of us did. The chickens had a pretty boring time.

In case you haven’t heard, DEFRA (the animal law people) said that all poultry has to be caged for a month from 7th December. This is because bird flu was in Europe (though not, at that time, in the UK.) This applied to all poultry, even those kept in a garden. The idea being, that if they had no contact with wild birds, the virus wouldn’t spread.

I duly kept chickens in their cage. They were very unhappy about this, and whenever I went to feed them, they tried to force their way out. So I decided to give them some entertainment. The DEFRA website had recommended that you hang a cabbage in the cage, because bored chickens will peck each other (nasty birds.) I bought a cabbage.

Son and I then spent some time trying to make a hole through cabbage (husband was very unkeen for me to use his drill, I don’t know why.) We then spent even longer trying to thread a piece of string through the hole. Never mind the chickens, this was turning into quite an activity for son. We tied a lump of wood on the end, so the string stayed in place, and I hung it in the chicken cage.

Now, what height would you have hung the cabbage? I decided that head height was about right. I’m not sure it worked exactly as the DEFRA advisor had anticipated. The chickens were certainly interested in the cabbage, and rushed to eat it as soon as they saw it. The problem was, they launched at it with a big peck. The cabbage swung away from them, then swung back, like a big green bowling ball. Chickens are not good at dodging. They were somewhat dazed.

The next time I went to check on them, the cabbage was hanging in the corner, and the chickens were all giving it wary looks. I guess it had given them something to think about, and I don’t think any of them were actually knocked out, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Hope the rest of your Christmas is full of nice surprises.

Take care,
Love, Anne

Oh yes, nearly forgot – I have written a short story for you. I’ll post it tomorrow, in the ‘Story’ section. I expect you’re very busy this week, so it’s something fun and thoughtful for you to read when you have a coffee break. Hope you like it.

xxxxxxxx

anneethompson.com

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Chicks, books and shopping…

Posted by anneethompson

Well, as you will have seen, the hen’s eggs hatched. This was not good timing. I was trying to prepare the file for Joanna, ready to send to the typesetter (more on that later.) Egg hatching is always high effort.

I know that really, I should do nothing, let the mother be in control, and if the hatchlings die, so be it. That’s how nature seems to work. But I cannot quite bring myself to not be involved. There is something exciting about eggs hatching, it is like having a present at Christmas when you’re small, you really really want to know what is inside but you have to just be patient and wait.

The hen had laid in a pretty daft place – I think in an attempt to stop me taking her eggs each morning. I didn’t even know she was there for a few days, I thought the fox must have got her. Then I spotted her coming out for a furtive feed one morning. She had nested under the roof of a dog cage, on top of the plastic crate that serves as a nesting box, so quite high, with a ‘roof,’ so she couldn’t be seen from above. Now the eggs are hatching, if one of the chicks falls out the nest, it falls quite a long way, and cannot climb back in.

When I went up this morning, I could hear a chick cheeping, but it was nowhere to be seen. The mother was refusing to budge from her nest, so I am assuming she had more eggs hatching. I had to crawl through straw and cobwebs and spiders and chicken poop, right behind the nesting box, to rescue the chick. It was dark brown, very pretty. I put it back in the nest and it crawled back under it’s mother – who pecked me for disturbing her! Ungrateful bird. I have checked the nest every hour all day. It is too cold for chicks to survive out of the nest.

Of course, this was not my plan for the day. My plan was to work all day, preparing my next book. All the changes my editor suggested have been finished, and it has all been proofread. Now it needs to be formatted ready for the typesetter, who will produce a nice file ready for the printer. I have to read and reread, and read again, checking for errors (this is my last chance to spot them) adding notes about where I want time breaks and new chapters and boring details like that.

I am rather excited about the book though. It is very different to Hidden Faces, I think it will appeal to a broader audience, it is a bit more ‘gritty’. It was lots of fun to write. A friend who is studying photography at uni is preparing the cover photo. She has sent me through some ideas, which are all very exciting. I want to show people, but I know I’m supposed to wait, to not reveal the cover until it’s all finished. Again, it is a lot like waiting for Christmas! It won’t be ready until next Easter time, which feels like forever. This time I shall have a ‘book launch’ – which my sister told me I should have had for Hidden Faces, but I just wasn’t brave enough.

In the meantime, I am still selling Hidden Faces. The first rush has died down, but I’m still getting a steady flow of orders, mostly from people who have been told about it by a friend (I can see where the sales are, so can link people geographically.) I am hoping to sell another batch as Christmas gifts, especially as it begins with a nativity play – very topical. Some people have been very kind as I’ve launched this new venture, and I am very grateful to them. These include a local reporter who has included me in the newspaper, friends who have written reviews or recommended it to others, the shops who have taken a risk on an unknown author and stocked my book. It would all have been impossible without other people helping me.

This week someone put a list of names through my letterbox, asking me to write them into books, then sign them and write ‘Christmas 2016’ underneath. That was a nice surprise – it meant I sold another 8 books.

I am still looking for marketing ideas, so if you have any suggestions, do let me know. I am taking books to several different Christmas markets, and am going to speak to a reading group in the town.

I have also been invited to speak in November at a lunch in London. This is particularly scary – mainly because I have to sort the animals and get a train and not be late (the public speaking bit will be fine, I have done quite a lot of that, and this is about literacy and books, both of which I know lots about.) I will also have to look reasonably smart – which for someone who basically lives in jeans and wellies is somewhat of a stress point. I am the woman in the supermarket with straw and cobwebs in her hair – see information above! I forced husband to come shopping with me (sorely missed having daughter at home.) I last went clothes shopping two years ago before we went to Brazil. Am not a shopper. Bought a dress. Need to practise walking in heels. Hope venue isn’t too hot or I shall speak with a pink face. I will let you know how I get on.

Take care,
Anne x

PS. Don’t forget the clocks go back on Sunday!

xxxx

Thank you for reading.

Have you read Counting Stars?

A kindle book available from Amazon. The story of a family in the world around the corner….meet Lena, a woman who is just like you. She worries and wonders and even needs to use the washroom occasionally! She also does amazing things to save her family – because that is what women do.

Or for readers in the US:

xxx

October

Posted by anneethompson

I love autumn, don’t you? I think October is my favourite month, the chance to hide again in thick sweaters, to snuggle with a book next to the fire, long walks in bright sunshine through the crisp autumn air. What else? What do you think of in October?

Do you think of the last of the dahlias, before the hard frost arrives? The flowers turning to seed ready for next spring.

Do you think of fruit, waiting to be collected? The last of the apples, the brambles heavy with berries.

Do you think of acorns, dropping from the tree? Think how many oaks we would have if each one grew – God gives extravagantly, more than we would ever need.

Do you think of wild birds forming into flocks? Wheeling overhead as they prepare to fly south.

Do you think of harvested fields? The stubble standing in rugged furrows.

Or perhaps you think of the farmer, turning the soil ready for next years crop?

Do you think of seed heads? Of dead leaves? Of bright colours?

Do you think of berries, shining in the hedgerows?

Or wild rosehips showing where the flowers were?

Or, do you think of new chicks, of broody hens sitting on eggs?…Er…nor do I….

My chickens clearly missed the lesson on “Seasons for Chickens”!

No idea what will happen when the cold weather arrives.

Thank you for reading.

This week has been too busy with final proofreading of my next book and caring for unexpected chicks!
I will write a proper blog ready for next week. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Take Care,
Anne x

xxxxxx

Fancy curling up next to the fire with a good book?

Hidden Faces by Anne E Thompson

Available from bookshops and Amazon.

xxx

Selling Books – Letter to a Sister

Posted by anneethompson

Hi, how was your week?

I am feeling like bit of a plonka. Someone – a complete stranger, never met them before – asked me to sign their book, which I was very excited to do. So, they told me their name, I wrote a little message, then signed it “Love, Anne”. As you do. Except, when you are an author, signing a book, I imagine that you don’t write “Love, X” I bet JK Rowling doesn’t sign books for strangers “Love, Joanna”. Realised immediately it was an amateur mistake, but what could I do? I could hardly snatch it back and put a line through it.

Most authors have a ‘book launch’. I am not brave enough to do this. This was bit of a mistake. I hadn’t realised that local shops (possibly bigger ones too) are quite slow when restocking. They have lots of suppliers, there is no sense of urgency. So friends were going in to buy my book and being told it had sold out. I took a fresh supply, but was told by the shop that they couldn’t take them until they had done the paperwork and paid me for the books sold. There was no way round this system (I did try). The process took three days. I have no idea how many sales I lost in those few days – some people will go back, but not everyone will bother twice. Very frustrating. If I had organised a ‘book launch’, all my friends could have come in one go, seen the book, and if they liked it, they could have bought it then. This would leave the shops for the slower, less definite customers. Next time…

I also realise now how important it is to make sure my supply chain is working properly before I start advertising. (Hope you are noticing all the clever marketing phrases I have been learning.) I have now put it into more than one shop in each town, so if one sells out, the other will hopefully still have some.

A few things went badly this week actually. I also lost the chicken who thought he was a duck. (I am pretty sure he was a ‘he’ as his tail feathers were getting worryingly long.) Every day when I let him out the chicken cage he would run to the pond and peck all the ducks so they went back into the water (nasty bird.) In the evening, when the chickens all went to roost, he would try to stay by the pond, but if I chased him (dog helped) then he would follow his sister (who might be a brother, not sure yet) into the chicken cage, where he would safely roost all night. This went badly wrong on Saturday, when we met friends for dinner in London and arrived home later than expected. All the chickens were roosting, so I could just shut their door – all the chickens except for that one. He was asleep at the top of the ramp into the pond, which is as near the actual water as he ever goes. When I woke him up to move him to the cage, he charged off. Not sure if you have ever chased a chicken around a pond on a dark night with only a torch with weak batteries and an overly excited dog to help, but it’s not great. Eventually he darted into the middle of a prickly bush and refused to budge. We couldn’t reach him and he wouldn’t come out. I left him and hoped if he stayed there he might be safe. He wasn’t. Found a heap of feathers the following morning. Feeling slightly guilty (though not sure what I could’ve done differently.)

Also this week I was interviewed by the local paper. This is so not me – I’m quite a private person really. Son came for support. The reporter was very nice, but he did tend to chat about me, and I just wanted to talk about the book. You can’t “not answer” when someone asks why you stopped teaching or where you lived and when. Of course, when the article appeared, it was more about me than the book. But it was nice of him to include something. He even took a photo (which is awful, I am wearing my “I feel really silly” face.) I hope it’s a good way to let people know about my book. I loved writing it, now I would like to hide under the bed and let people buy it and recommend it to others. But no one will buy it unless I advertise it a little, so I’m forcing myself to publicise it. I have to keep reminding myself, it’s not about me, it’s about the book. And it IS a good book. It has strong, realistic characters, so by the end you feel they are real people, and you might have met them, and you want to give them some advice about the terrible decisions they are making…

Have you bought a copy yet?

Thank you for reading.

xxxxxxx

Letter to a Sister – Bird Brain

Posted by anneethompson

So, a few disasters this week. I’ll gloss over them quickly. First was on Monday, at Aunt and Uncle’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. It was a lovely event, saw most of the extended family, food was beautiful, everyone seemed happy. I felt somewhat of a plonka, having taken the “Dress Code: Sixties” bit to heart. Thought I ought to make an effort. Most other people had taken the “optional” bit to heart. Felt rather silly in mini dress and false eye lashes. Especially as there were a few non-family guests present, who possibly thought I usually dressed up like an ageing drag queen.

Next disaster was Wednesday. After a couple of days of high winds, the tree outside our bathroom window had scraped roof tiles onto the ground. The tree acts as curtains – we don’t have nets at that window – but those branches needed to be trimmed before they did more damage. Husband then phoned trusted builder to come and repair hole in roof. Which he did. Early on Wednesday. When I was just about to have shower in now uncurtained bathroom. That would have been good information to know in advance…..

Lets move on to some animal updates:

Before we went away, the sitting duck hatched her eggs. Ducks are generally terrible mothers – they have a tendency to sit somewhere the ducklings can’t reach them, or squash them by mistake. She had nested in a big plastic crate (nicely rat proof) so I lifted out the eleven hatchlings and put them with the mother into the dog cage in a corner of the aviary. She was furious with me, but I did manage one photo:

They were sharing the aviary with the earlier two ducklings. The mother hissed at them whenever they went near, so I had to keep them separate. This wasn’t difficult, as really all they wanted to do was be with the chicks that they’d been raised with. They wandered up and down the edge of the aviary, cheeping at them. It was hard not to put them back together, but I know it would cause big problems later.

The big chickens (nasty, nasty, creatures) kept attacking the new chicks. They will be so much safer if they manage to form a unified flock, so I don’t want to move them out. Instead, I positioned lots of crates so they had areas they could escape to when attacked, and hoped for the best.

When we returned from Sri Lanka, I couldn’t believe how big they all were. They were, unexpectedly, all still alive (the house sitter did very well.) The chicks are now small chickens. They have still not exactly ‘bonded’ with the existing flock, but at least they’re not being attacked. They’re also copying them, sitting on the crates at night as an attempt to roost.

The big ducklings look full grown. As soon as their wings feathers have grown, I’ll clip them and put them on the pond. You only clip one wing – it’s like having your nails cut, it doesn’t hurt. But they won’t fly if they’re lopsided, so I can shut them onto the pond at night and they can’t sleep on the bank and be eaten.

The eleven ducklings are also much bigger. Am pretty sure the mother stole one of those eggs – there’s one completely black duckling, very beautiful.

Looking after the birds helps me forget about publishing – publishing a book is a LOT of hassle – nowhere near as much fun as writing them. I was hoping that Hidden Faces would be in the bookshops in July, ready for the summer holiday readers. That looks unlikely now, more likely September. Which might mean fewer sales, or might mean people will enjoy it and then buy it for someone else for Christmas. Hard to know. I am trying to be patient, to remind myself that God helped me write this book, if he wants people to read it then editors, typesetters and printers won’t ruin the time plan. But at times I want to scream!

Take care,

love, Anne

Letter to a Sister – Dentists and Foxes

Posted by anneethompson

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for your letter. Yes, I DO remember that dentist, though I can’t remember his name. He raised his hand to me once, and the nurse had to tell him to calm down. I’m sure it’s why I hate going to the dentist too, even for check-ups. It is probably my only real phobia. Completely irrational because even when it hurts, it’s never anything major. As soon as I walk in, the smell of that disinfectant and the sound of the machines is enough to make me rush to the loo! So good luck, and try not to faint (though actually, that would make a good story for the blog….)

It is nice being at home after our travels. I love my home, I could easily become a recluse so I have to force myself to do things and to accept invitations. My children tell me I am nutty enough, refusing to leave the house would be one step too far. Husband has some work in Sri Lanka soon, so I might go there too.

It was lovely to see the animals again. The ducklings and chicks were much bigger, probably twice the size. The two boys who looked after them for me seem to have enjoyed having them, though they did tell me that the amount of poop they have started to produce made it less fun. I am putting them outside now (the birds, not the boys). They go into the chicken aviary during the day, and I bring them back into the garage every evening. When they have more feathers they can stay out all night. This is probably overly fussy of me, as in the wild there is no way they would fit under the mother, but I would feel guilty if we had a cold spell and they died. They are at the scruffy ‘teenager’ stage, with scraggy feathers beginning to show and big feet, though they look tiny in the big cage.

I’m trying to introduce them to the adult chickens. I’ve never done this before, as usually I get one of the hens to go broody and raise them as part of the existing flock. At the moment, I am shutting a couple of hens in with them during the day. Next week I’ll leave the whole flock shut in with them and watch to see what happens. It’s much easier if the flock will accept them because they will show the new chicks how to roost at night and they will all share the same space. If they start to attack them – which is horribly possible as chickens are generally vicious – then they will have to share the duck cage and the chickens will grow up thinking they are ducks – ducks that dislike water……do hope they don’t get a complex.

I lost one of my cockerels – the beautiful black and white one. He didn’t turn up at dusk, which is when they all arrive back at the big cage and I lock them in so they’re safe for the night. I’m not sure whether the two cockerels had a fight and he was injured, they have had a few stand-offs since we’ve been back. The house sitter leaves them in the cage all day, so when I returned and let them in to the garden, it was as if they had new territory to fight over. Either that or a fox did a sneaky raid. I found a pile of feathers next to the hedge.

Maybe as Kia has been away, the foxes have started including our garden in their territory. I have left Kia outside a lot since we got home. She keeps giving me dirty looks through the kitchen window, but I need her outside for a while, so the fox learns to keep away. This time of year is always bad for foxes – the young males go a bit silly looking for a mate and you see them at odd times (really they should only be out from dusk.) The worst is when the vixens start calling, it sounds like someone is being raped. Awful noise. I’m not keen on foxes around houses – I do wish people wouldn’t feed them, they are meant to be wild animals, wary of humans.

The person looking after Kia gave her a haircut. This was unexpected, though actually she looks quite smart and I guess it will be cooler for her now the summer is here (being optimistic weather wise.)

I’m cooking for the oldies for the next few weeks. Am trying a new recipe (a made up one – great potential for disaster). I’ll let you know how it goes.

Take care,
Love, Anne x

You can read my sister’s letter at :

http://ruthdalyauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dentists-and-cemeteries-letters-to.html

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anneethompson.com

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