Ooohhhh - eeerrrrr and what a cock up!

So where have I been for the past few months? What have I been doing? And more importantly why haven't I been blogging.


She hangs her head in shame.


Okay I can say life has had a nasty habit of getting very much in the way recently with one thing and another plus a few nasty surprises just to keep me on my toes. Which it has. I'll stick to that but in a small way I have still been writing. Now that has shocked you hasn't it?


Yep, here in my sleepy little village we've started our very own 'Parish Post.' It's little more than a newsletter actually but it's great fun. It has given me the opportunity to go and have a chat with and write about some amazing people. People who have lived in the valley either all or most of their lives. I've probably the met the oldest Parish Council Chairman in the country. I've met a guy who still takes part in plowing competitions at the age of 91 and who has no intention of giving up. I've had coffee and a lovely chat with a singer/songwriter who works with women to encourage them and to enable them to build up their confidence. She also donates half her earning to a charity in South America who help support street children.


I've been to a cream tea and craft fair with views to die for and of course I've still been doing my bit at Wrekin Writers. But my creative side has been rather stiffled that was until today. Tonight we had Ludlow Writers. It was sad really we normally meet in the library but when we got there, the doors were firmly locked against us, we were homeless, we had nowhere to go. But did that deter us, did it heck. We sort of hijacked an outside table at a local Tapas bar, ordered tea, coffee and red wine for me and had our meeting there. Best of all though, they couldn't throw us out because we hadn't actually gone in.

The homework tonight. Well that's where the cock up comes in. I had my homework on the table while we were chatting when Simon reached over and pulled the top copy a little then burst out laughing. 'Did you mishear the homework?' he asked.

Immediately this drew the attention of the others.

It was sticky buns, not sweaty buns' he said. Well that was it I had to read it out. Fortunately, to me anyway, sweaty buns and football went together like.... well sweaty buns and football and the others had a damn good laugh, so the cock up was worth. It did get me thinking though. If I can write about sweaty buns, then I can write about anything.

Then when I got home I actually sat down at my computer and wrote a complete short story. 1100 words from a topic of conversation we had at the meeting tonight. (Bless you Ann). It's written, read through, printed off and sitting on my desk for the first edit.

Now I'm all creativitied out. If that's not a word then it should be but I'm happy, in fact I'm on a high - trouble is, got to try and sleep now. So, I'll love you and leave you and start again tomorrow.

Gosh what am I going to do with Wrekin Writers on Saturday - ah well I was hoping for sweet dreams.

Two firsts in one week

Wow.

So what have I been up to?

I've done my first and second ever interview. Yes armed with dictaphone and a smile I went and had a lovely chat with Harry Collins who lives in the next village to me about his life. Harry and his lovely wife Renee made me very welcome and were happy to share their memories over a cup of tea and a laugh.

The second interview was with Ron Wellings who is literally my neighbour who again was happy to sit and chat and share his memories with me. The memories I was looking for were about the dreadful winter of 1947 and how they affected people living within the Clun Valley.

Harry was a sheep farmer at the time. He told me about twenty foot snow drifts on the hills surrounding the valley. How he had to ride a cart horse to get up onto the hills to look after his sheep and how fortunate he was compared to many, because he had hay ricks that saved his sheep when so many other farmers lost their entire stock.

He also told me how he courted Renee during that winter walking a hour a half each way through thick impacted ice and snow drifts for a hour a half to spend time with her. That was lovely and obviously worked because this coming May they'll have been married for sixty two years.

There is so much I want to ask them and they've both told me I'm welcome any time to chat to them.

My second interview was with Ron Wellings who is literally my neighbour. Again I talked to him about that dreadful winter. He was twelve years old at the time and can remember walking down to the River Clun with a bucket, a small saucepan and a coal hammer where using the hammer he broke the ice and scooped water into a bucket so his mother could do the washing for a family of eight. That put me to shame when I think of the panic I went into when my automatic washing machine broke down.

He also told me that every day during that horrendous snow the school bus managed to get through the country lanes and take them to school in nearby Craven Arms. Well all except one day, he added with a grin. A group of them set off early and decided to clear the drifts at the side of the road by dumping it on the road - that was the day the bus didn't get through.

Another lovely story he told me was the bus driver at the time was called Miss Small and she was tiny. Now we're talking about the days when power steering wasn't even a dream and buses never mind cars were not the easiest of things to handle. Anyway this tiny woman went to the depot one day to collect her bus to take the kids home and found that they were all out, all except one and the bus that was left was old even in 1947. However, determined to get the job done, she took this bus but found it a hell of a struggle. To get the kids home though two of them stood at the front and helped her turn the steering wheel. Rob could remember turning the wheel to get it around the corner by the Craven Arms Hotel and Miss Small commented, she had no idea how she was going to get the bus back to Ludlow once she'd dropped the boys off.

Memories, social history but something I feel that shouldn't be lost so guess who's going to be going around with her dictaphone chatting - oh what a hard life.

The second first is I've written my first article/interview for our new Parish Post based on these two interviews and I've thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Okay it's not for mass production but for me it's a totally new venture.

Well how was it for you?

New Year I mean. Mine was lovely and peaceful. After having at least four kids in the house all the time since the week before Christmas I got rid of them all and spent the evening on my own. Seeing the New Year in your own, some thought it was sad. I didn't. I had some wine, my slippers, the remote control and not another soul stirred.

But it was also a time for reflection. The end of the year but more importantly for me, the end of a decade. It hasn't been the easiest of decades for many reasons but on Thursday night, I closed the door on it. It's gone, there is nothing I can do to change any of it and there is no time to dwell on it. It's the time to look forward, to embrace the new year, the new decade. From now on everything is possible.

Sunset on the first day was wonderful, sadly I haven't managed to capture how pink the sky was but to me it was a promise.









So 2010 is here and it's going to be good.


Happy New Year.