Marking a moment in history...

Rest in Peace thou good and faithful servant, Queen Elizabeth.

I'm sure we will all remember where we were, who we were with if not alone, and how we learnt our dear Queen had died. I was at a wedding, which held its own sadness, and during the speeches my phone pinged - a short message from a friend telling me the news. It was hard then to concentrate on the occasion I was attending. A double dose of emotion had to be held in. 

The following day I went wild swimming, previously booked. It was the first time I visited the quarry for a solo swim as my family swimmers were not available. The sun was shining and the place looked beautiful. There was just one other lady swimming so we had the great outdoors to ourselves. We exchanged a few words but recognised we wanted to be alone and she left the water as I completed my second circuit. 

Also for the first time, I attempted a third lap. This lap was for the Queen; for my thoughts and sadness; for her determination to complete her role and duty; for her finishing well. I swam and cried adding my tears to the mineral water that was so peaceful, so fresh and beautiful as QE always was. A few leaves floated on the surface heralding a change of season, a change of monarch and so much more. Birds called, a magpie and pigeon watched me gliding by. 

On Sunday, I lit a candle and wrote in a book of condolence at my local church. The loss to so many of the only Monarch we have ever known has been much talked about in interviews on television. Pictures of the Queen's life, her achievements, her love of Scotland, horses, dogs, family times and visits to many countries have been well documented. Things we have never known, seen or heard about before have been broadcast and has deepened our awareness of history and British traditions. 

We certainly know how to make a 'show' out of the saddest or even the dullest of royal duties - soldiers in red coats, shiny shoes and bearskin hats; trumpeters; funeral cars; lying in state in Cathedral and Abbey - the general public showing their affection with silent tributes, flowers and gifts. 

What I found hard to comprehend, as a retired counsellor, was the immediacy of transition from Queen to King. No time for the Royals to grieve, to take in the loss of their mother, grandmother etc. And it was all so very public, absolute no privacy. Keeping a 'stiff upper lip' as so often the British do, but at what cost to their mental wellbeing. How much more 'normal' it would have been to see a tear rolling down a cheek. They were certainly rolling down mine and I'd never even met her! 

As the days roll on with television coverage of every movement of both the coffin and the royals being here, there and everywhere, my heart goes out to them all. Surely the time between the death of the Queen and her funeral could have been a time for LESS up-close and personal tv coverage, even though history is being made by the fact of her death after such a fantastic life, everyone, new King and his siblings and family especially, need to take stock mentally of the humongous change that our country is undergoing right now. God Bless them all.

Ladies, your help is needed ...

It's a bit delicate. It's a subject not normally talked about. But we females CAN make a big difference to our waterways. 

We are causing fish to die, sewers to be blocked, seas to be polluted. We have, for so many years, just put all sorts of things we have assumed were disposable in this way, down our toilets. We flush and forget. But we must change our ways. Ewww, I hear you say, but its simple, ideas to below.

If you haven't seen the programmes on tv about our rivers and sewers being polluted and blocked you wont have seen the stuff, other than what we have to do in the toilet, floating in water. It is a disgusting sight to see blood stained sanitary wear floating past the mouths of fish, turtles, river and sea creatures.

It is yes, the fault of overloaded sewers. It is yes, the fault of water authorities illegally dumping sewage into unauthorised places. It is yes, the fault of retailers selling non-biodegradable wet wipes, cotton buds, nappies, sanitary wear. But, we can take some of the blame of not changing our habits. 

Please, please, please think before putting anything other than toilet paper into the pan. Here's some suggestions to ease this situation.

• Sanitary pads, panty liners/Tena pads and tampons: wrap in toilet paper and dispose of into a bathroom bin, then into the general household waste dustbin. If out in public, hotel or shop toilets do use the paper bags and bins provided. 
• Wet wipes, disinfection wipes, baby wipes etc. Before these were invented we used household cloths. A flannel for intimate areas, an old towel or other material for disinfecting surfaces. These can be washed and reused often.
• Nappies and incontinence pads/sheets (I should hope no-one tries to flush these away but sewage workers may say different) can be folded up and taken out to the household dustbin. A plastic bag is not required. You could use paper bags or wrap in newspapers. (Brown paper bags can be bought cheaply, in bulk, via amazon)
• Cotton buds. Wrap these in a tissue or toilet paper and place in the household bin. 

Some of the above appertain to men too - we can be good examples to our men/boys/partners etc. Please wash your hands thoroughly after handling personal waste items.

Items that say they are disposable does not mean they are bio-degradable. If you want to go a step further in helping the environment, do read labels on how to dispose of things you buy and match to your council's recycling requirements.

When I lived in the mountains of Cyprus, not so very long ago, they acknowledged their sewage pipes were not built for coping with anything other than bodily waste. For three years I was required to put even toilet paper into a bin at the side of the toilet and then into the household waste dustbin. It was a very strange practice at first, and, being British, I often forgot. But as I got used to the idea I saw the sense of it and diligently respected the country's rules of sanitation. However, there were refuge problems too but that was another matter.

I was surprised to see there are images on-line and YouTube films of how to be responsible for our own waste products. Not something I would normally be searching for! Here are just a few:

If each person made simple steps to change a habit of a lifetime, one more creature wouldn't ingest unhealthy matter, one more fish could swim without bumping into a sanitary towel, one more sewage outlet wouldn't get blocked, one more river would be cleaner etc etc etc.

 

 Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I know it seems like an issue too big to make a difference but for future generations, NO, FOR THIS GENERATION, now and for the future, it needs to be improved. If I change one person's mind about this issue I will be happy. Thank you in anticipation of some comments too. 

Two Quick Reads

It's very rare I read novella's but two came to my attention recently and I love the fact that I could read them in the space of a day. A novel takes me at least a week but I do love the continuous joy of them.

Here's the two novella's you might enjoy too.

Millennium Girl 

by Claire Bullimore

Go back in time....

This hooks you into the teenage years of needing someone of the opposite sex to love you. 

Jessica falls for Liam and you wish she hadn't; he's not right for her. But naively is deaf to reason and well meaning friends advice. That inner voice we all have, is stronger and louder than anything outside of Jessica's head.

Her holiday with 'the girls' will ring bells with lots of younger readers than I. There were no foam parties for me and my two pals in the Isle of Wight on our first holiday away from parents. They hadn't been invented then!

To think that it's only in the last 20 years that phones could take photos and you can send them to friends; that payphones have gone out of fashion and now we use a high factor sunscreen whilst abroad or even in our own back gardens, thanks to global warming. It was good to read that Jessica wanted to be treated with respect - being taken for a meal out and to have someone show you that you are special to them.

That first boyfriend though, that first kiss, that first heartbreak - you never forget it, it lasts a lifetime. 

The author is a brain tumour survivor and I applaud her self-published work. If you are a Bridget Jones's Diary or Friends fan or was a 'Naughties' teenager you will have a blast reading Millennium Girl.

Available from Amazon on kindle or in paperback.

                                                                *       *      *

WHERE IT ENDS

by Heather Walker

The cover tells its own story. This novella links life with death through short stories. People, atmosphere and trees all view the cemetery setting from a different angle. My favourite was Mary who visited her husband's grave every day. She had spent a life-time not been listened to, now she could speak freely about opinions and her life as it was now. You get a sense of this lovely, patient, loyal wife that comes over so very real. I laughed and said 'Yay' out loud; it was brilliant. 

The chapters are subjects many of us may shy away from but Heather tackles them with sensitivity, humour and gentle nuggets of reality and seriousness. 

Recommended to those not in the early stages of grief but who are familiar with their local churchyard as a place of peaceful rest, nature and human activity.

Available from Amazon on kindle or in paperback.

Peas

Not something to get excited about I hear you say! No, the little green pea doesn't get much praise. Lots of children hate them, they are not easy to eat - they roll off a fork or jump off your plate if you try to stab them with fork prongs causing you much embarrassment when eating with guests or out in a posh restaraunt. Amateur gardener that I am, I decided to grow some vegetables this year and have already picked a substantial amount of peas having watched them grow, flower and produce pods.

My vegetable patch!

I am weighing them to see how much I produce. But having stood and shelled them memories of bygone days flooded my mind and I wondered if kiddies today even know this is where their frozen peas come from. My mind went back to a sunny day sat on the concrete step in the back garden with my mother. She had a cullender, bowl and heaps of pea pods she was holding up in her waist-tied apron. She told me to pop the pods open (showing me) and scoop out the peas; put the shells in the bowl and the peas in the cullender to be washed. They didn't look dirty to me but we spent some time together doing this job. I can't remember if it was weekly or just a one off occasion, perhaps she did it when I was at school. We didn't have a fridge or freezer back then (late 1950's) but we had a visiting greengrocer van to our cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Birmingham driven and served by Mr Arkle (what wonders of information we retain).

I'm sure somewhere along my married life I have bought and shelled peas but, like the majority of us I suspect, we find frozen peas so much more convenient. In fact a Twitter poll shows 64% preferred frozen peas. Mother let me taste the sweetness of those freshly podded, raw peas and I think there is not a match to that taste in the cooked or frozen variety. It has been known that I ate a few pod skins too!

                                                                Sweet fresh peas 

Did you know the humble pea is not actually a vegetable but a small, edible legume? They are in a family of lentils, chickpeas, beans and peanuts. They are a rich source of plant-based protein, fibre, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamins. They help manage cholesterol levels, have high antioxidant levels and protect against some forms of cancer. I particularly like petit pois and mange tout but like the majority of the population I always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. (I did a Twitter poll and 64% preferred frozen to fresh, tinned or mushy.) How about you? Which type of peas do you eat or grow?

Water calls me

 Wild swimming is calling me, my kit is ready but...

Wet suit, water shoes & gloves, float, dry robe.

my younger, cold water partners are not! Dosthill Quarry, Tamworth, Staffordshire, is 11 degrees at present. Our last swim of 2021 was at 16 degrees and we thought that was too cold to continue through the late Autumn/Winter.

However, I'm ready to take the plunge, it's June after all! But as I've not been swimming for a good while (although I do Aqua aerobics) I feel it would be foolish and no fun to go it alone. I've joined a Facebook group called the West Midlands Bluetits and see they occasionally go to the quarry, so may join them sometime but I attend my keep fit class and this week stayed for a swim. The pool water feels so thick, is that even possible? I am yearning for the thin, fresh, clear waters of the quarry.

I have reflected on my relationship with water - I learnt to swim at Woodcock Street swimming baths in Birmingham with my dad and brother and later enjoyed trips to Stetchford baths by taking the number 11 Birmingham Corporation bus with friends. I love the sea but live too far away to use it. The smell of seaweed, sand and salt is a pleasure for the senses. Sea swimming is gritty though healing for skin and other ailments. I don't like seaweed wrapping itself around my legs and getting out, especially if stony underfoot, is sometimes challenging. Swimming pools are lovely, especially abroad lounging around hotel grounds, sun bathing your skin and warming you so much that dipping in the pool is so lovely and cooling . 

My first experience of a wild swim was with an elderly friend in the river Wray, Lancaster about 20 years ago and thought it was thrilling. But it wasn't until last year I tried the great outdoors locally in fresh water and found it the most wonderful of experiences. Swimming surrounded by rock, trees, a heron, fish and clear mineral-rich water made me at one with nature. It's a freedom, a focus, exhilaration, an achievement.

In a hired suit, ready to try wild swimming!

Wild swimming is even dominating my reading. This book is an amazing account of 3 brothers wild swimming in the most dangerous of locations and the length of a river, for adventure and for raising awareness of how incredible our natural world is and how we need to preserve the seas, rivers etc and all that live in and on them. A thoroughly gripping real life story.

Highly recommended read

And now I'm reading The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan. 

Enjoying this novel

Wild swimming is not age-limited, in fact it would seem that more women than men in later life take up this pursuit. The health benefits are well known - it's good for bones, muscles, the brain and good mental health. Dosthill Quarry hire out wetsuits and floats if you want to try it out. They 'man' the site and offer diving lessons for those even more brave than I. There is a rescue boat if anyone gets into difficulty.

A circular swim is approximately a quarter of a mile.  You need to book a time slot first - here's the link https://dosthillquarry.com/. Do say 'hi' if you see me there, I'll be the slowest swimmer, just taking in each moment of delight and making the most of my surroundings.

Getting Published?

        It’s been 32 years since I wrote this book and used a vanity publisher. I paid a fee in response to an advert to be published. It was a substantial fee I could ill afford but I was passionate to see my work in print. I collected a box which contained a number of copies – I forget how many, but not a great deal – maybe 50. I was so excited to get them home, hold them and see a dream come true. But alas, I was very disappointed when I opened the book and saw the printed pages – so amateur. 

        When I tried to contact the producers, they had vanished from all trace. I felt I had been taken for a fool by a money-making couple. My ‘life script’ told me it wasn’t good enough and I wasn’t good enough. (My school reports always contained the script 'could do better'.)

        The artist was a friend of a friend, a twin girl, Julie Genders. The original pictures I feel sure were in colour. I hope she went on to have a good career with her artful gift. We lost contact a year or two later.

        The book was intended for children 3-9 years of age telling them of bible stories, explaining church services and especially christenings, weddings and funerals. The book should have been something I was proud of, instead it’s been hidden away but the memory of it has kept me determined to fulfil an ambition. It has made me learn and hone skills, it made me love books with a passion, it has shaped who I am.

                                                      

        I continued to write, always. I cannot live without writing something. Lots of notebooks filled with fleeting thoughts, folders of poems and short stories never seen by others; letters to magazines, articles in parish, commercial and professional magazines were printed and boosted my writing confidence.

        As time passed and the typewriter made way for computers. Instead of posting a manuscript and waiting for its precious return, now, sending work off to publishers and agents is replaced by the simple click of sending an email. The wait for reply can, however, still be a long time. Becoming an author is harder than any job interview. Rather than meet people, research of who I’m sending my work to for consideration is a silent process, searching the web to identify which publisher or agent may be interested in my women’s contemporary fiction novel and other children’s books. No doubt some of them research me on the web too. One day, I will succeed in my quest, with the right help, at the right time.

Call of the Penguins

 by Hazel Prior

Christmas for Beginners

 

There’s a lot of Beginners contained in the pages of Carole Matthews Christmas 2021 novel.

Molly is running her farm and education centre for teenagers with difficulties.  She is beginning again after losing her previous land to the HS2 works (grrr).

Shelby, her actor boyfriend, is beginning to be less available as he takes on Panto life in Birmingham and then gets offered a film part in the USA. He supports Molly financially but is happy for her to house Lucas, his grieving teenage son in the caravan on the farm site.  

Molly is beginning to blossom and grow with the help of Bev, her farm friend. An open day is planned and together Molly, Bev, Alan, Lucas and Matt the Mayor transpose the barn into a twinkling Christmassy scene where the teenagers and animals all are part of a fabulous fundraiser event.

There are new beginnings for two rescued Turkeys; for a mother & daughter escaping an abusive home life and for all the other main characters.

It is a great follow on novel from Happiness for Beginners and can be read as a stand alone as you soon get to know about Molly’s situation.

Loved it, and read it so quickly! 

Review on Goodreads also.