Tag Archives: roof

Is Writing a Pleasure or is it Publication?

We woke this morning after hearing moderately heavy rain overnight. The general aspect of the morning was wet, rather than snowy, icy or frosty.  Looking at the choice of words there, I realise that the story of the Innuit and all their words for snow might not be as outlandish as we think. We seem to have a good selection of words for it and some years we don’t get any. This year, I think, we may have a snowy winter. That will be good as it will see a lot of rats and disease off. On the other hand, the birds will need plenty of food.

For the first time in 12 months the rain did not make it inside, the builders having done their job well. I can’t help thinking it may have been more cost effective just to retile he roof with banknotes but hopefully the pain will subside.

The worst bit of the builders being here, apart from having to get up at a time dictated by someone else, is that we had the dining table in the living space and the conservatory contents in the dining area. Two days of living with clutter brought back a lot of old memories and was not pleasant. This morning, as 7pm dawned, I pulled the flannelette duvet cover up to my chin, arranged the coverlet to block any gaps and luxuriated in the warmth. It was good.

I suppose I ought to have used this as the beginning of the last post, but that one seemed to take on a life of its own. I also note that I seem to be a day behind again. This, I think, is mainly due to my lack of routine. The days bleed into one, particularly if I sleep in front of TV and restart late at night. I must get to grips with this for several reasons – health, vitality, writing quality and consistency are ones I can think of immediately.

During the day I exchanged emails with someone who told me I shouldn’t be stressing over the amount I wrote as it should be a relaxation now I was retired. Writing, he said, should be a pleasure. I have never found it to be a pleasure. For me, the pleasure comes from finishing and from publication. The writing is a real grind.

How about you? And, as an extra question,  would you carry on writing if you had nobody to read it?

I’m Back!

Having said that, I’m not sure I have much to say.

Life is very boring, I still have a head full of snot (though a lot of it is leaking out as I type) and I haven’t slept properly for two days, as I start wheezing and coughing as soon as I lie down.

None of this compares to being seriously ill, walking for hours to get water or being homeless in a war zone, but it’s human nature to stress your own problems and ignore the problems of other people.

We’re getting someone to come and do some roofing for us soon. It needs some routine maintenance and the gutters need doing. It’s going to cost about £300, which I don’t really want to spend. On the other hand, my roof is still sitting on top of my house and is in no danger of being spread all over town by an airstrike or a tornado.

After writing that I had a look at the story of a man from Sheffield who sent a burger into space on a weather balloon.

As global warming scares the life out of me and our government busies itself with breaking democracy I’m glad there are still people with time for pointless buffoonery. Strangely, it seems other people are doing similar things.

It’s hard to follow something like that. My lunch of quinoa with salad and mixed beans looks virtuous, but rather dull, compared to a pie in space.

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