It's not the taking part that counts...

Yesterday I reluctantly decided to support my son's decision to be outside (YES! without a small screen inches from his eyes!) and went to join in a family game of football in the back garden. Football is not a sport I excel at. Or even know much about. I was secretly praying for the rains to come...would you believe it! They didn't!

None of my family are very good at football, but we are competitive. There is no way I was going to let my husband win if I could help it.

My son decided on the goals: ours was a fence panel; my husband and daughter aimed for 'the wall between the windows'. My heart lost a beat every time they attempted a shot at goal.

My husband would get the ball, then my daughter would shout, 'Pass!' and tackle it from him. We had to explain that 'passing' meant actually kicking the ball to another player.

Due to an extremely muddy walk with the dog earlier on I only had my best shoes to wear. I slipped and slid all around inside them. Occasionally I could co-ordinate enough to kick the ball, though usually to a rather grateful husband rather than my teammate son.

Well, the game ended when my latest husband's tackle (grabbing my arm and holding me back) meant I fell to the ground in agony, having strained some muscle in my shoulder. That's not where you're supposed to get injuries in a football game, is it?

Never mind. Whilst I was lying on the grass in extreme pain my son took the ball and scored repeated goals against our fence panel. So we won!

And that's what counts, right?

The problem with an excellent education

Many moons ago I had the privilege of studying O-level (that's to date me!) English Literature. I'm not sure the exam board were thinking totally straight when they chose the volumes to be read. I think their thinking went like this:

We need 5 books.


Poetry. Let's go classical and choose some narrative verse. Ah, here's a book [with extremely small print] that will do, choosing eight [lengthy] poems from it.


A classic novel. I know, we could choose Dickens or Austen, but lets go for something from the Brontë sisters [after all, we were in Yorkshire!] Jane Eyre? Wuthering Heights? Oh, nothing so classic or well known as that - let's set The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Brontë .


Shakespeare. Of course we have to do one of his plays... but let's not choose anything obvious, such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, The Tempest... oh no! Let's do a history play. Henry IV. Part I.

And the final two? Perhaps something more contemporary? Something that'll please a bunch of teenage boys? [I'm not sure it did, btw!] Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household: that's World War II based adventure.


And the final choice? Thomas Telford by LTC Rolt.


You may have spotted my cynicism slipping through my description of their choice. I may be the only person who got truly excited that Henry IV Part I was to be screened last Saturday night, only for the Wimbledon Men's Doubles to overtake it! But this last book really took the biscuit. It was the ultimate insult. For a teenager (particularly a girl?) this was the most boring book in the entire universe. It chronicled TT's life and engineering prowess: the Great Western train line, Ironbridge, the canals... in all their detail, with dimensions and structural information, and a splash of historical setting.

Five books that I have carried around with me ever since studying them, clogging up more removal vans than I can count.

Yet now, as I come to write about our canal holiday and the wonderful design of the Shropshire Union Canal, I'd like to have a flick through and learn a little more about the man who built it and the men who laboured at it. The canal largely avoided the need for locks by the creation of numerous embankments and cuttings, changing the landscape forever. Nowadays, covered with mature trees, you wouldn't know it had been anything different.

"Ah!" I think, "I have a book about that!"

Can't find it. Grrrrrr.

Photo credit:  Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston in Henry IV: Part 1 Photo: BBC

Rush hour traffic

There is no doubt that I have lots of words inside me; but at moments, like rush-hour traffic at the mouth of a tunnel, they jam. 


John Updike, writer (1932-2009) 


Thanks to AWAD for this quote last week. It is how I feel about writing and - in particular - this blog at present. It is all so jammed up inside me that it isn't coming out, or at least in nothing more than a trickle. 


Maybe today will be different. There are always new leaves to turn, resolutions to uphold and  good intentions to enact, leading me away from that paved road to hell. Maybe.


Then again, I had this great idea this morning of not snacking between meals but have already opened the cookie jar. *Sigh* Sometimes I just can't get beyond first base, stuck in the traffic of life.

And the answer is...

Here is a bigger clue to our recent holiday:

Two weeks on a canal boat, puttering around the Four Counties Ring. These photos were taken on the Shropshire Union Canal section, when we still had sunshine (even if we could hardly see it for the trees towering up the cuttings!) This was a particularly unusual, double-arched bridge.

Canal boating seems to bring up nothing but adventurous stories, which I hope to write up and regale you with over the coming weeks. Ironic how many stories there can be, given you slow down to 3mph!

Truly, for us, it was just what the doctor ordered, allowing us to sleep and rest, to talk (often without the children, as they played games together inside the boat) and to see some of the most beautiful countryside. The rain at the end of the second week put a dampener (ahem!) on things, making us all a little miserable as we battled with our 15th lock of the day...

I've asked the children if they'd like to go again. No response.
My husband and I? Back like a shot!
Does that reflect well or badly on our individual paces of life?

And, for the record, my son's response when asked what the best bit of the holiday was?

"Trying out two new types of Magnum ice-cream!"

We could have done that at home!

Hello again!

Still here!

We've had our family 'summer holiday' (yes, it did rain) and I know I could have planned lots of blog posts before I left, and I know I could have asked for guest writers, and I know I could have posted daily blogs from our holidays ... but sometimes we all just need a break.

So, until I get my head back in order, perhaps you'd like to guess where I've been?

I suppose I could have picked an easier photo, but what fun would there be in that?! Guesses welcome in the comments box!

Creative Writing: The Essential Guide

Writing Wednesday

Who thought writing was easy?

Once we actually start to write I don't think anyone does! Then we realise how complicated it is to put words together into sentences that make sense; then paragraphs that hold together; chapters that entice and books that can't be put down. All of a sudden, any advice that we can garner is welcomed, as we begin the steps towards the ultimate writer's dream: publishing our multi-award-winning bestseller.

Creative Writing: The Essential Guide is a delightfully simple walkthrough the process, from first putting pen to paper through to guidance about the murky world of publishing. It is eminently readable, consisting of twelve clear chapters. The early chapters have many pertinent writing exercises (I am still struggling to rewrite the list of cliché phrases!) and as the book progresses it becomes more informative, up-to-date with current trends in social media. There are chapters focussing on specific styles of writing: novels, poetry, short-stories, non-fiction and script-writing.

The style of writing is not academic, but clear and concise, even chatty at points. This makes it totally accessible for the beginner, but don't think that makes it lightweight: there is a lot of information to help anyone learning the craft of writing.

What I appreciated most about the book was the layout. The wide margins enabled notes to be taken or added to the printed word. The large-print quotes that appeared were always relevant and often précised the current chapter.

Informative and relevant, it has inspired me to continue with the practical exercises that will improve my writing and to perfect what I write, making it the best I possibly can prior to publication.


Creative Writing: The Essential Guide by Tim Atkinson can be bought from Amazon, Need2Know and all good bookshops!

Swimming to victory!

"I can't believe she's been chosen," I say to my friend, a fellow mother. "I mean, with all her problems she struggles to understand instructions. And we've been doing swimming lessons for years and she's still only at Level 4. I know there are plenty in her year who are much better."

Thus I go to collect my daughter from a local swimming gala. She was chosen to represent her school in a competition against all four other village schools. I have blogged before about her learning difficulties and as I went to pick her up I expected little other than a wet, bedraggled girl.

Yet, just as these words slipped from my mouth, I spotted her through the window. She was grinning from ear to ear and holding up a medal and a certificate - First Place!

In here is a lesson for me not to belittle my daughter, despite all her struggles. Her friend said that everyone was shouting and cheering her on, as she swam the final and crucial leg of the relay that the school won. She was the hero of the moment... and her mother is unbelievably proud of her.

Well done, beautiful girl!