Hello everyone from sunny Bury St Edmunds. The 1st of May arrived, and it was as if the weather remembered what it was supposed to do. The last day of April was cold and windy. I had a friend coming for lunch the next day so I laid a fire in the dining room thinking it would be nice to have a fire going to warm the room whilst we ate. I pootled about the house Wednesday morning preparing lunch, changing my bed, and doing laundry, so didn’t notice what the weather was like outside. My friend arrived, looking very summery, and asked as it was such a nice day, why didn’t we eat lunch outside?
Nice? Was it? I went outside to see for myself. Balmy blue skies and bright sunshine greeted me. Okaaay, so much for the fire. We laid the table outside and ate out there. I’d chopped lots of fresh herbs and mixed them with salted Cornish butter, freshly crushed garlic, and lemon juice which I then assaulted a chicken with. It had it up it, in it, and around it until the chicken felt either violated or satisfied. I pushed it under the skin and smeared it all over it. I roasted the chicken on a bed of thyme and the lemon peel. Add a big tray of herby Italian roast potatoes and fresh tenderstem broccoli, asparagus, baby corn, baby carrots, and peas and it was a delicious lunch. There were tons of leftovers — enough to make five enormous roast dinner pasties for the freezer.
It was so much nicer than going to a restaurant and a lot cheaper, plus I got five more meals out of it. I am finding lately that every time I eat out I’m disappointed. It’s so expensive and not usually that great. I always seem to sit there and think “I could have done this better and cheaper at home.”
What has happened since the last time we chatted? Well, that cough still hasn’t gone. It’s as bad as ever and I now know I have whooping cough. Franki did ask me if it could be that back in March, but I dismissed the idea because I was vaccinated against it when I was a child. But it turns out that the vaccine loses its effectiveness over time and of course, the vaccine was over fifty years ago so it makes sense that it’s not going to do what it’s supposed to. So, that’s me then. Still coughing and fighting to catch my breath. There is a rise in cases in the UK with more people sick with it in the first three months of 2024 than in the whole of last year.
I’m not sure where I got it from. It’s transmissible through droplets in sneezing so I’m not contagious anymore. I don’t remember being near anyone who was ill and sneezing. The only thing I can think of is that the lady I job-share with went down with it before me, so she was at work on a Thursday and Friday sneezing and snotting and breathing all over and touching the phone, the mouse, the keyboard etc. Then I went to work on Monday and touched them all, not thinking anything about it. Keyboards and phones are crusty with germs as it is, so it makes sense. Anyway, however, I caught it I wish it would go away. I’m bored with coughing. It eases off for a day or so, and then the cough comes back with a vengeance and takes me by surprise.
The weather has continued to be gorgeous. It was even sunny on the first May Bank Holiday — which is unheard of — traditionally it pees down with rain every public holiday.
Stupidly, I have decided that the garden is going to be my next project. I want to have it lovely for when the girls come home at the end of June. I get the feeling that this summer will be the last time we are together for any length of time. They both go to Reading at the end of September to take their Masters and once their year there is completed they will be looking for jobs and accommodation. There is no reason to think they will find a job locally so I must prepare myself that Franki could be working anywhere in the country. I’d like to have the garden as nice as possible so we can try to make full use of it. Last year the weather wasn’t very nice, so it didn’t get used much. Hopefully, this year the weather will be warm and sunny.
One piece of lovely, good news about the girls. They have had the results back for their dissertations. I can’t remember if I told you they were writing them whilst they were here over Easter. I proofread them both for them. Anyway, they must have impressed whoever assessed them because they both received a first. This is wonderful news. Their dissertations make up over 20% of their marks so to get a first is a huge boost.
They finished their last exam this week so have officially finished university. Well, this university. Their accommodation is paid for until the end of June, so they are taking a few weeks to rest and relax, although Franki is still working at Sainsbury’s and trying to do some extra shifts to earn as much money as possible.
Anyway, going back to the garden, everything needs painting. And I mean everything. All the fences, of which there are a lot. The back wall, the concrete fenceposts, and the raised bed restraining wall. All the trellis — so hate painting trellis, fiddly fecking job — the two coal bunkers, the gate, shed, bench and table. It all will need painting. It’s a massive job and what with work and everything else on my plate, I don’t have much time between now and the end of June.
I have five days off in a row this week so thought I’d better make a start, what the weather being so ideal. Wednesday, I went to B&Q and bought the paint and some decent paintbrushes. I made a start on the gate, the bench, and the shed. They are all being painted in a charcoal grey which I thought would look stylish and freshen up the garden. I made a start on Wednesday afternoon.
Now, I may not particularly enjoy painting, but I am very good at it. I estimated that I’d need to do three coats for the best finish and set to it with a will. It was still early, the sun was hot, and the wood was so dry that the paint was soaking straight in. I noticed it wasn’t going on very easily, it was sort of smearing around, but it was the first coat so I figured by the second I would be getting a better, more even covering.
I left them to dry for a couple of hours then went out to put the next coat on. This was even worse. It smeared. That’s the only way I can describe it. As I was painting the brush was wiping all the paint back off. It looked terrible. I finished the second coat, not happy with the result, but decided to see how it looked in the morning when it was thoroughly dry.
The next day I inspected. It was not looking good. Thinking that maybe I should have primed things first, I then wasted the whole of Thursday going back to B&Q to buy a good quality universal wood primer which I applied carefully.
Early on Friday morning, I painted on the first coat of grey paint over the primer. It smeared about. The only way I can describe it is it’s like painting olive oil over lard. I’ve never known anything like it, and I’ve painted a lot of things in my life. I persevered and completed the first coat. Left it to dry for several hours, then painted the second coat. The gate, shed, and bench had now had two coats of paint, one of primer, and then another two coats of paint. The coverage and finish were shockingly bad. Drag marks and smears ruined the look and two thick coats of dark grey paint hadn’t covered the pale grey primer which was shining through still in places.
Saturday morning, I painted another thick coat being ultra careful not to overbrush it or drag the brush through the bit I’d just painted. It’s still not right. It’s not covering. I’m not sure if it’s the paint or some other problem. I will have to paint on a seventh layer and see if that makes a difference. This is ridiculous. The tin says two coats should be adequate, yet it’s now had six layers and looks shite. I’ve used two-thirds of a sizeable pot on these three items. I was planning on using the charcoal paint elsewhere in the garden, but now I’m thinking not. I don’t know what to do. Short of removing all the paint, sanding the items down thoroughly and starting again with different paint, there is nothing else I can do but keep going and hope that eventually, if I keep applying layers, the paint will build up and give an even coverage.
As you’ve probably gathered, all work on my new book has halted whilst the sunny weather is here. To be in with a chance of completing the work by the end of June I must be out in the garden painting every day off from work I have — so long as it’s not raining, of course. I can’t do much next week because I’m working a couple of days overtime. I needed the extra days to make up for the two Mondays I lost due to there being two Bank Holiday Mondays in May. So, weather allowing, that will mean I can only paint Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday next week. I am hoping that I can at least finish the shed, bench, and gate this weekend so can make a start on the fences next Wednesday. Of course, I will still have housework, shopping, and social media to fit in around the endless painting.
At least I don’t have any more live events in May. The next one is the Laxfield Community Market on the first Saturday in June. It will be interesting to see how well I do there this time. The two previous times I’ve been it was cold, windy, and wet. I think that must have affected footfall. Hopefully, if it’s a dry sunny day then people will be more inclined to come to the market. After that, I will be at the Leiston Summer Fayre on the second Sunday in June.
It was the Indie Author Fair in Huntingdon last Saturday and that was an incredible day. I took 29 books because it was all I could afford and fit into my stacker boxes on my trolley. There was no parking at the venue, so we had to park at the local multi-storey car park and walk to the venue. I took another author, and we had a few hairy moments on the way when my Google Maps Lady developed laryngitis or something. She went mute and refused to give me any directions. I couldn’t understand it because the volume was up, it wasn’t muted and there was no reason why she shouldn’t be talking to me. In the end, the other author had to get her phone out, find Google Maps and navigate us from there.
The event was a spectacular success. Of the 29 books I took, I sold 27, traded one copy of Eclairs for Tea for a short story collection by the lovely author on the table next to mine, and brought one copy of Lifesong home at the end of the day. I even sold four eBooks with the buyers using the QR codes I had printed out on my stall. I spoke to lots of people and handed out bookmarks. It was busy the whole day. I had to ask one of the organisers to lurk by my stall for the two minutes it took me to dash to the loo, but, other than that, I was on my feet and at my stall the whole day.
The event had been very well advertised and eagerly promoted on local radio and in the local paper. The Mayor opened the event with a nice speech — I sold a copy of Black Ice to the Lady Mayoress, which was great — and because it was a dedicated book fair, everyone who came loved books and reading.
Of course, there were a few oddballs because there always are. Like the strange young lady who told me that she only read books about the Bee Gees. As I gaped at her, trying to process this very specific hobby, she added that she also liked books about wizards, warlocks, and magic. I brightened up at this and started to tell her about Erinsmore when she interrupted me.
“No, I only like non-fiction books about real warlocks and magic.”
Okaaay, I have nothing for you then. Move along, please. But she didn’t. She stood there and talked to me for another ten minutes about some warlock who accidentally summoned a demon and then had to live with said demon for twenty years. Umm, interesting, but I have people trying to get to my stall and talk to me. They do look keen on what I’m selling, and I may even sell a few books to them, but they can’t get to me because you’re in the way and oh look, they’ve given up and gone to the next stall.
This happened a few times. There were a couple of audio narrators doing the rounds and trying to hard sell themselves to the authors. And then I had a lovely man who stopped to tell me all about the book he was writing. He took up a good twenty minutes of my time, blocked all access to my stall because he had a pushchair with him, got lots of free advice from me, and then buggered off without buying a book. Please don’t do that. Yes, we do want to talk to people but if you have no intention of buying one of our books and you can see other people trying to get to us, please don’t keep on talking and blocking access to our stall. It’s not on. Authors will be too polite to ask you to move on and most of us are genuinely nice people. If the event had been quiet with no potential buyers, then yes, we’d be more than happy to chat. But it was busy. The room was heaving with readers looking for authors to connect with and new books to buy. Move along. If you’re not going to buy the author’s book — for whatever reason — then move out of the way, don’t block their stall.
By the time I’d driven home, dropped off the other author, parked, unpacked the car, put my boxes away and changed, I was falling apart with exhaustion. I was also starving hungry and in no mood to cook. I walked to the shop and bought a bottle of wine and then bought steak and onion pie and chips. Normally, I can’t finish a whole portion of chips, but I was so famished I inhaled them. They were soooo good and just what I needed. I had one glass of wine but didn’t even finish that. I was coming down from adrenaline and a headache was spearing me through my right eye. I was in bed and asleep by nine and didn’t wake until almost ten the next day.
The next day I rested, read, and wrote. Even though it meant losing a day’s pay, I was happy that the next day was a Bank Holiday so I could have another gentle day. I needed it. The event had taken more out of me than I thought.
And now here we are. My life has settled into a pattern of painting and coughing and I’m not sure which one annoys me more. I will have a coffee and then investigate the paint and coverage situation. I have a feeling I will have to apply a coat this afternoon and then maybe another one or two coats tomorrow which is totally stupid.
Oh well, at least this evening the new season of Doctor Who begins and there’s also the madness that is the Eurovision Song Contest. The largest music event in the world, I only watch to see the incredible staging and have a laugh. The UK won’t win. Our entry isn’t bad but it’s not Sam Ryder and there’s nothing special about it.
Oh, and before I forget, this week’s sale is on Eclairs for Tea and other stories. The eBook is down to only £1.99 and there’s money off the paperback and even off the hardback. So, why not treat yourself or buy a copy of the hardback as a gift for someone? Mother’s Day in the States is soon, and this beautiful book would make a lovely gift. The universal link is on the book’s page.
And that’s it for now. Take care of yourselves and I hope wherever you are the weather is being kind to you. Oh, and if the whooping cough epidemic crops up in your country and you’re not sure if you’ve been vaccinated or if it was so long ago it’s no longer viable, then please check with your doctor. This cough is horrible, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
All the best.
Julia Blake