A great discovery

I discovered something great today.

I'm an avid reader (yes, all escapist fiction) and I mostly read my novels in digital form on my Sony reader. I used to belong to fictionwise.com,which is a very comprehensive and good value American site, but when it was taken over by Barnes and Noble, suddenly found I couldn't buy half the books I wanted because I live in the wrong area. Apparently there's something like the DVD areas thing which means you can only watch videos (or read books) from your own area. Is that daft, or what? Anyway, when I started buying from Fictionwise it was fine, but once B&N had taken it over, most of the books I wanted were denied me. So I quit Fictionwise and started looking in the UK.

Waterstones is really the main UK distributor selling ebooks, but boy, are they expensive! Unlike Fictionwise, you pay almost as much for an ebook as for a hard copy.

I found that in America you can borrow ebooks from your local library, but no such luck over here - until today!

Today I discovered that Norwich library now loans ebooks for free.

How great is that? I've downloaded my first three books, which I get for 21 days before they expire. Presumably, if I read them quicker than that, I can borrow some more.

I think this is terrific. I'm in for a very happy Bank Holiday weekend, curled up in an armchair listening to the rain, but deep into escapism on my E-reader.

Good to be home

Nice to go away for a while, but isn't it good to get home? Funny thing is, while I was working I couldn't wait to get away and longed for more breaks. Now I'm not working and can go away whenever I want, I'm much less keen on going! Why is that?

Spent yesterday afternoon relaxing in the hammock in the garden in hot sunshine - perhaps that's why I like home! The older I get, the more I appreciate my own bed and my own chair. Am I sounding really decrepit by now?

 On a less decrepit note, I have just finished by second novel ( a sequel to "Heaven Spent") and emailed the publishers. Hope they want it, otherwise you'll never know what happens to Polly... and I shall be miserable. Not for long, though - I hope to be starting on the final novel of the trilogy soon. Keep watching - and reading!

A surprising day

Home now from our week's break, we had a surprising day yesterday. The Brits are passionate about gardening, so we went to Barnsdale Gardens and expected just – well, gardens. Plenty of colour and lovely flowers, but nothing more. Were we surprised! We discovered Barnsdale Gardens were designed and built by Geoff Hamilton, who from there, presented a weekly gardening programme on television for around fifteen years.

They're amazing. There are something like forty different gardens within the main garden, all separated from each other by box hedges or fences or lovely brick walls. Most of the gardens are quite small, so could be reproduced by anyone. There were cottage gardens, town gardens, scented gardens, tranquillity gardens, water gardens, a Japanese garden, etc. And plenty of strategically placed seats for the weary (which we were, since it was hot and steamy and we walked there!) Round every corner there was a lovely surprise.

A perfect ending to our holiday.

Here are some photos to whet your appetite...

Another day out

Yesterday we popped into Leicestershire to follow one of the trails around Burrough Hill Fort. It's an iron age fort so there are no signs of the actual fort now, but it commands a hill top presence with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside and some good walks. We had a picnic lunch there, then drove on to Melton Mowbray, the Midlands town famous for its pork pies.

We found Ye Olde Porke Pie Shoppe, but weren't tempted, especially as it began to rain. A nearby coffee shop was more to our taste.

Today we played golf at Rutland Water golf club, and were amazed to discover the course is only three years old. It was quite challenging enough for us. We went round in a buggy which is a treat for me but essential for Ed, and although I felt much less tired than usual after playing, I still came back and fell asleep in front of the television.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to gardens and bird watching, so hope the warmer weather remains and the rain keeps away. At least we're not affected by the ash cloud from Iceland, down here on the ground. I feel for those hoping to holiday abroad but spending all their time waiting about in airports for the wind to change.

Rutland Water

Ed and I are here at Rutland Water for a week.

Rutland is the smallest county in England, situated in the middle of the country and about two and a half hours' drive from home. It's quite hilly here in the Midlands, so that will test our walking prowess, since we're only used to the flatlands of Norfolk, but gorgeous countryside to explore.

We're staying in a lodge overlooking the lake – the largest man-made lake in England. It's now a habitat for water birds, so we hope to go bird watching during the week.

We strolled along the shore today, avoiding the sheep and admiring the views, and made our way to Rutland Water golf course, where we've booked to play on Tuesday and Thursday, weather permitting (I'm a fine weather golfer. Don't see much fun in struggling round in cold or wet weather).

Oh, and I've had a swim, too. This country club has a large indoor swimming pool with the usual jacuzzi and sauna, so I hope to make the most of it for a week. Today being Sunday, it was fairly inundated with families and children, so I beat a hasty retreat after half an hour or so and will return in the morning.

The prices in the restaurant are astronomical (for us, anyway), so we're mostly planning to eat in, take picnics out or find tiny country pubs. But at least wifi broadband is free – hence the blog!

Not a bad life, is it?

An interesting encounter

I met a stranger on the bus today, and we got talking. She was only a youngster in her twenties, but was having such a tough time. She'd been living with her boyfriend's family, and he drove her to work each morning and picked her up at night. A week ago, when she got in the car in the morning, she discovered that he had loaded all her possessions (two plastic bags' worth) into the car. He didn't say a word until he dropped her off at work then said, "Don't bother coming back again." Then he drove off.

She said she had no idea why this had happened, and he refused to respond to texts, emails, phone calls. So she was homeless. She went to stay with her Gran, but because she'd been in trouble as a teenager, her aunts hated her so she had to leave Gran's at the weekend as they were in the habit of popping over.

Her mother died when she was a baby, so she was brought up by Gran and Grandad, but Grandad died when she was eleven. Her father raped one of her aunts when the aunt was fifteen, so Social Services removed my new young friend from the family home. She has an elder sister but she's on drugs, and an elder brother, but he's now living with father, so has no contact whatsoever with his young sister.

The council say this young woman isn't vulnerable, so cannot go on the council house list. They have offered her a place in a house in a tiny country village miles from anywhere - she was going to see it today which is why we met on the bus - but if she goes there, she'd have to give up her job because she has no transport. There are three other people living in the house - all strangers to her - and she doesn't even know whether they are male or female.

Apart from Gran, she is utterly alone in the world, with no income and (in the tiny village) no possibility of employment.

I so wanted to help her, but all I could do was listen to her story and encourage her. Do spare her a thought and prayer or two, if you can.

A(nother) new start

Well, a great new start for us in the UK - or rather, yet another new start. Do I sound cynical? Perish the thought. I really hope and pray that this new coalition government works. It ought to - we in the sticks manage to work together for the good of the majority, so the top politicians ought to be capable of a little co-operation.

This is the first coalition government since the second world war, so most of the electorate have no experience whatsoever of coalitions. It all looks very promising and exciting at the moment. So why my skepticism?

Every time there's a new government we're promised a new start, with lots of blandishments to encourage us. It's usually quite good for around six months, then things start to slide. Will this new start be any different? I doubt it, especially with the huge financial problems we have.

But I do know one thing for sure. Whatever happens, we - the people - will have to pay. 'Twas ever thus. I just hope that the poorest won't be paying the highest price.

We continue to wait

Here in the UK we had our general election last Thursday. As this was the first ever election where the leaders have been televised in public debate, it was quite exciting for us, even though we learned nothing new after the first debate. All the leaders promised us swingeing cuts because our national deficit is so high following the banks' fiasco, but none of them told us where the cuts would fall or what they would be. Accordingly, the nation voted for a hung parliament -  a coalition of more than one party.

The trouble is, they can't agree on which parties or how it can happen. Our politicians are so steeped in party politics that they seem unable to work together for the good of the country. So we're still waiting to see who will govern us. What fun it all is, if you don't weaken.

Our weather has turned bitterly cold, wet and miserable, with snow forecast for Scotland. Thankfully Ed and I are well south of Scotland, so should escape.

I've picked up an infection and can't stop coughing, in common with many folks around here. Hope it clears up and Ed doesn't catch it, as we're off next week for a week at Rutland Water, a beautiful spot around a hundred miles or so from here.

Today we had a visit by a friend from the old parish, so caught up on the gossip, always enjoyable! The new priest is in place at last, after a nine month interregnum, so hopefully the parishes will now go from strength to strength. Meanwhile, I'm doing a bit round here. I preached yesterday at the two churches in this benefice and we're beginning to make new friends.

Tomorrow is a trip to the accountant, an annual chore I hate. Priests are considered to be self-employed, even though salary is paid by the Church Commissioners, so we have to send in our own tax returns each year, and it's inevitably complicated. Hopefully, now I've retired it will be the last such visit we have to make. That will be enough to out a big smile on my face!