March 2024 Newsletter

This month’s newsletter starts and ends with family celebrations. Such a joy.

On February 29^th, 2024 leap year day, our daughter Sam asked her partner Olly to marry her, and he said yes. They have been together six years and this was a complete surprise. How very lovely!

On 5^th March Oscar the Owl went to Preschool Central, here in Tamworth. I was invited to read to two groups of children during National Book Week. It was a delightful experience. Here I am adding a bit of humour to the page where Oscar is swimming with a friend saying, “It doesn’t matter what you wear or what you have, it’s who you are that matters.” Quite appropriate when all the children were dressed as superman, princesses etc.

On 16^th March I was at The Welcome Hall, Kingsbury Methodist Church Easter Fair with Oscar the Owl. A lovely building and I had good conversations with visitors.

The 17^th of March saw the free giveaway/competition on social media awarded to @Jrh194 on Twitter/X. So, Oscar flew off to Guernsey. Jade is an early-years teacher and will be taking the book into school after Easter, so I look forward to hearing how the children interacted and received his wise words.

 Prizes by post.

On 23^rd March I met up with Kim Nash, Author and attended an event put on by Lichfield Literary Festival. Freya North gave an inspiring and interesting talk about her journey with writing, being published, promoting her novels and how her characters came to life as she wrote. She then signed copies of her books on sale supplied by nearby Waterstones.

The event was held in The Hub, St Mary’s Church in the market square of Lichfield – beautiful building and great use of the converted church, now a library with a lift or stairs to café, toilets and entertainment area.

This is my BFF’s family – the boys don’t read in English yet as they live in Anglesey and although they speak English well, they read in Welsh. Not sure which language Mummy was reading in but they all look engrossed in Oscar the Owl on their visit to their Nanny’s house. Jack the Cockerpoo doesn’t look too impressed as they are sitting in his seat!

And to conclude, another lovely celebration as hubby had an Easter weekend birthday.

He loved his owl experience at Rosliston Forestry Centre.

If you would like a signed copy of Oscar the Owl for any 3-7-year-old as a gift, please contact me for details. Or if you want to order from Amazon, this is the link: https://amzn.eu/d/bqy7S7x

Wishing you all a good April.

Best wishes from Sue x

Reflections of 2020

There are SPECIAL MOMENTS in every year and as this crazy/sad/awful/surprising year of 2020 comes to an end I reflect here on moments that stand out for me. 

However, firstly I acknowledge the fact that the Virus, Covid19, has dominated the news, destroyed businesses, lives (66,000+ in the UK to date), relationships etc. I truely hope it has also taught us all lessons in kindness, endurance, what really matters and globally, I hope the environment and our way of living will be changed for the better. It highlighted our mental health, our NHS and keyworkers, our need to wash hands frequently, wear face masks and keep social distance. Being in the 'vulnerable' category I have never 'stayed home' so much but totally thankful I have a nice one, a garden and places to walk to. I am thankful too that I have a laptop and i-phone, have had on-line shopping delivered and partaken in many a Zoom meeting, Facebook live events, FaceTime calls and other platforms to keep in touch with family, friends and people in the world of writing/publishing. The blues didn't hit me until this month of December when the dark, dank days leading up to an unusual Christmas drained me of energy, happy hormones and excitement about the end being in sight with a vaccine on the way. Thankfully it only lasted a weekend and I remembered my mantra of: THIS TOO WILL PASS .

So now for the good news, my special moments, in this year that will go down in history.  Before the word 'Pandemic' reached our ears I took a winter break back in February to the Highlands of Scotland where I was fortunate to see wild deer at the foothills of snowy mountains and, due to Storm Dennis I led a Writing Group in the hotel where we were kept inside for safety.  This tale was later printed in the People's Friend magazine and I felt so proud of my courage to step up and amuse residents on a dismal day.

In March, just before things became worse, I was in Bournemouth having won tickets to the Russian Ballet.  It was a fabulous show and although tense about attending such a large gathering as the news was stepping up a pace, I enjoyed the time away from home in a B&B, eating meals out and taking a taxi to the pavillion and being engrossed in the ballet.  

Also in March I visited Chesterfiled to see a friend and saw this famous spiral spired church.

So then we were all into LOCKDOWN LAND and I spent time in the garden, planting and growing vegetables, creating window displays for cheering passersby and neighbours, celebrating VE day on the driveway and Thursday nights clapping the the staff of the NHS.  So proud of my nephew:

Wasn't May and the summer wonderful?  Sunshine, actual FRESH air (no pollution), appreciation of nature and a little respite before lockdown restrictions/tiers came into force again.  Hubby and I did manage a weekend away in the remote Derbyshire village of Castleton where we had some lovely country walks and an outside coffee stop.

As the year drew on I felt I was adapting well.  I took pleasure in the garden far more than ever and grew vegetables for the first time in over 30 years.  The cherry tomato plants produced so much; peas, potatoes, lettuce, raddishes and herbs were experiemental too.  The flowers bloomed giving colour and joy as well.

Bird watching was another joy - we had a regular robin visiting and numerous other varieties, but what an absolute treat that a pair of great tits used the bird box on my cabin to nest and raise their young which we anxiously awaited to see how many fledged.  There were five in all but sadly the last one didn't make it onto the nearby fence and perished overnight.

My biggest special moment was when one baby tit flew into the open door of my cabin and allowed me to rescue him, hold him in my hands for a short while before freeing him to fly again.  Not sure I've ever had that priveledge in my life before.  

Another special moment was my great-niece's first birthday.  Thankfully we were able to have a small family gathering to celebrate but no hugs were shared (something I've missed dreadfully). 

There have been many special moments of meeting friends outdoors, walking, chatting, finding a bench and sitting apart with a flask and cake.  Being outdoors and walking has helped keep me positive and this tree hug was for all the people I love.  Tyson the Bengal cat came to stay to keep us company for a few weeks and he wanted to be part of my window display!  Doorstep visits have been appreciated but so unnatural not to ask people in, especially our lovely daughter.

We made the big decision to put our home of nearly 30 years on the market but to date we have been disappointed with very little response.  However, we are in no hurry so I guess the timing is not right just yet.  Another highlight of this year was that I, at last, received my pension and bus pass.  I join the Senior Citizens rank not feeling as though this is real, but having waited six years for my pension it is very welcome.  

My other passtimes have been card crafting, knitting, reading novels and writing. Those who follow me on Twitter (@tweetsue13) or Facebook (Sue Flint, Author) will know that as I write this blog my manuscript is out for appraisal and novel 2 has been harder to be disciplined about.  However many zooms have been extremely helpful and hopefully I will spring back into writing action again very soon.  Here's my knitted snowmen - I managed a small amount of the 1,000+ that the local church wanted to spread cheer in the Parish of Wigginton; and just a few of all the Christmas cards I made.   

 

Sadly we lost the son of our dear friends, to that other dreadful disease - Cancer.  John was such a big hearted young man, aged 41, who was an inspiration to all who knew him.  Funerals this year have been so different from the 'norm' and John had made arrangements for his own way of people 'saying goodbye' which was close family celebrating his life on a nearby beach.  We paid our own respects by

planting trees through the woodlandstrust.org.uk in his memory.

And now as the year comes to an end we have news of the first vaccinations against Covid19 being administered here in the UK giving us all hope that next year will see the relief of Lockdowns, Tiers and closed venues of enjoyment.  I guess it will take us all sometime to feel 'safe' again but this at least is a step in the right direction.

Special moments are there in every day, every month, every year if we but notice them.  I hope you have many stored in your memory bank and that you draw on them whenever life throws a curve ball.  Thank you for reading my blog, comments can be made below or on Twitter @tweetsue13 or email: sueflint13@hotmail.com. 

May your Christmas and New Year celebrations be safe and wishing you all the best for 2021.

                           

 

 

  

Book Review 2 during Lockdown 2020

It was great to connect again with characters from The Lemon Tree Café through interaction around the main character of this book, Gina.  

The story begins with an ending - I know that doesn't sound right - but it is comical and sets the tone of Gina's ex-husband, Eric.  His derogatory comments about Gina's future spurs her on to prove him wrong and be proud of herself for trying something bigger than her current childminding career she is so good at.  

Living in rented accommodation she sets out to purchase a larger property to expand her business and wants to include her elderly neighbours in the venture too.  Not having any grandchildren of my own, and having been a childminder myself a very long time ago, I identified with Gina doing the school runs and making sure all her charges/mindees are well looked after.  I warmed to the twin girls especially and was quite envious of Bing, Delphine and Violet having small children visit them regularly.  

With a 'Flint' in the book it made me smile especially as our (great-nephew) Dexter is not yet a handsome young eligible bachelor - he is still at junior school! When Gina meets Dexter Flint her life goes on a roller-coaster ride of emotions as he seems to be blocking her course and churning her passions at the same time.  It is an exciting ride, a great read and highly enjoyable way to while away the hours.

Well done again, Cathy Bramley.  

Reviewed also on Goodreads.