getting back in the swing...

Or going with the flow?
An eclectic mix for live n'lippy - aka me & Crysse - to perform to at Bath Poetrycan on Monday, (pic taken by ace haiku poet, Alan Summers - thank you!).

It's not often I'm in town at 9.30am on a Saturday morning, it's NEVER. The first full day of Frome Festival dawned bright and sunny... A batch of 14 writers despatched around shops in Frome...
I wasn't so early in town today that I could grab Alan for a photoshoot with us, though! (He was one of the 14, just not in the pic).
So, back to today... What window would I draw from the hosting shops? (In 2005, I got a real jammy spot, La Strada!)


Up the hill this time, Catherine Hill, to the amazing 'Poot'. As the external shot doesn't do it justice, let me just quote their sign; 'Handmade original delights, clothing and Fox's furniture at "Poot" Catherine Hill'.
No shortage of inspiration, then - though I wasn't at all concerned, trigger writing is never a problem - the quality is something else... I woke on Thursday with the seeds of a poem; such joy is rare, but boded well for this morning.
Back on the hill. Time is doing that loopy business again... whoever said time is chronological is talking through the sphincter which doesn't often see the light...
The narrator in my story just had to be an actor, in these fabulous surroundings... A narrator who decides, in the face of huge temptation, that her chosen career takes precedence over any sexual temptations... Hmmm! Prophetic perhaps... I didn't take an image of the 'prop' I used - maybe I'll go back next week and see if it's still in the cabinet. It would be lovely to post the story with that image...
here I am, nearing the conclusion (cheers, Crysse!) Shame I missed lunch and laughter with Crysse and Ali Clink - oh, the grind of the writer's life! (It gets better...)
Home to check my email (alerted by Mike that he'd sent one) and a veritable mountain cascades into my in-box- but some from my writer friends, which is always a pleasure.
Time for a walk in the sun...
Several years ago, I searched for a suitable place outside my study to motivate me through the novel - if I had to 'go out' to work, as I do for other employment, I figured I could be more productive. Look what I found -the world and all that's in it! (I'll get that novel written yet - I love it when I hear of fantastic writers who work for years on books. After all, I only want to write one novel, if it takes me twenty years I'll have a long and happy life - and also write other stuff; poetry, essays, process books, journals...)
A leg stretching hike to get to this particular branch of Hazel Stewart Inc...
this one with the added bonus of 'private solarium'.Just what the doctor would order (if he could) for my poor skin. So I sat in this field, on a glorious English summer day, and wrote about the fun I'd had with my character. And the people I'd talked to... I wrote about an issue that's getting under my skin a lot these days... and about the wonderful week I've had. How full of wonder, indeed - wonder, poetry, magic and mischief. The midsummer sprites are out in force! And then I walked some more, took some more photos...
My neighbours roses are a delight. Those nodding over the end of my road here are the ones which enchant me with their delicate perfume at the end of every lanes walk variation I meander along.

I went down for a J2O at the street party. Forgot my camera - because I didn't want to take my rucksack. The whole of Frome in carnival mode; a live music stage at the market cross and a seventies rocker outside the Blue Boar, food marquees on one side, tables and chairs on the other, the road thronged with happy people - even a Griffin beer tent! I saw loads of people I haven't seen for ages (some since before Ath was born!). I caught up with Vicky from my Selwood Hospital days, spoke briefly to Lindsay Clarke and his wife Phoebe, to Will Angeloro, to fellow Liquid Jammer (can I say that if I only play with words?) Laurie Parnell, got hugs from Peter Mac and Emily Gerrard, said hi to Kate (who beat me to the job on the media team - no regrets, it was hers!) so I'm glad I went...
and now I'm off to read today's paper.
Bliss is the writer's life!