Electrifying bank hol...

With Jimmy away on a highly cultural (pfff) jaunt to London and Kent with his pals, the kids and I had four days to fill. I was determined not to resort to mega-swanky days out - the kind of all-singing, all-dancing excursions which they love of course, but which I try to keep for 'special'. Weather was brilliant - it's been amazingly hot for most of May - so lots of picnics, playing in Skirling Woods, spotting oyster catcher chicks near the river in Coulter... all v Famous Five-ish and dampened only by daughter receiving a shock from an electrified fence. Yow!

Have to admit, I do get ranty when the kids lose things. A trail of possessions is forever left in our wake. So when Son One casually said, 'Um, can we go back to the river today? It was great...' I was a tad suspicious. A dazzling light shone directly into his eyes soon revealed the truth: 'I... um... think I left my er, Swiss Army knife there... ummm...' We returned and it was STILL THERE. It did not join the billion Swiss Army Knives Lost.

And so to work....
New mummy lit novel is coming along at a sprightlier pace now. I took part in a reading last night along with members of two groups - the Biggar Writers and Writers' Bloc (a highly entertaining and diverse Edinburgh-based group) and came away feeling inspired by an excellent mix of poetry and prose, all highly inventive stuff. Poets amaze me! I feel ridiculously self conscious if I even try.

Thought I'd end with my fave things about bank hols...
- no packed lunches to, um, pack
- no cajoling children out of bed
- not being googly-eyed after a day spent lashed to the PC
- fresh air!
- no haring up the street at 8.55 am with homework/gym shoes/glasses forgotten
- not having to cram all the must-do jobs in at the end of the day

When the sun shines...

...it's SO hard to keep a book flowing along. A writer friend says he hates the hot weather, but I don't, and right now the blazing sunshine is temping me away from the keyboard and out into the garden. Some strategies I'm currently toying with:
- Lowering my daily target word count so I feel less pressurised. Actually, this has nothing to do with the sunny weather. It's something I've decided to do due to stressing out over ridiculous self-imposed deadlines. After all, writing is supposed to be fun... isn't it? My thinking is that, if you achieve MORE that you'd planned, you feel happy and mighty chuffed with yourself - rather than cross, scratchy and a dismal failure. So: less is more... (am aiming for 1000 words a day at the mo).
- Writing in a notebook in the garden. I normally write straight onto the screen, but have found that some pen-and-paper scrawling can help to unravel plot problems.
- I had an idea about getting up and starting work at 6 am so I can knock off early and enjoy the sun. Needless to say this hasn't happened. I am enjoying writing this book though. And I'd rather have it finished, and be pleased with it, than be pottering in the sunshine. Honest.
F x