Crossed Pink Wires

Oh my pink brolly!
I left you on the train
I guess I was a bit doollally
And also quite insane
Not thinking straight as always
So I deserved my walk in the rain!
:-)

Bloggie friends!!!!! I have a confession to make.

As Halloween fever becomes more celebrated here – especially with the trick or treat concept – this is what I’ve tended to do whenever this time comes round.

I draw the curtains, turn the lights off, ignore the doorbell and move about in the dark! LOL!

How Bah Humbug is that?!?!?!

Charlie says: Stardate 010103. Operation Trip Wire is now complete. The human's blogging days are numbered!

HAVE A SUPER HALLOWEEN WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!

Creamy Cupcake Mayhem

Bloggie friends!!!

When is a cupcake not a cupcake??

When it’s a hand cream!

Et voila !!

Image from GettingPersonal Ltd.

My protagonist causes so much murder and mayhem in my current manuscript that I think staring at lotion made to look like cupcake is a nice thing to do! :-)

Charlie says: Stardate 010102. I am using my Catcan mind melding laser eyes trick to get the silly human to open the door...

Bloggie friends - Charlie's responding very well to his meds so yay!!! He may be let out sooner than he thinks - next door have been asking...

Prizes! Giveaways! Hauntings!

The beautiful Theresa Milstein is having a Haunting Halloween mega prizes will-ship-internationally signed books giveaways!!!! I say knock on her blog here and go trick or treating!

Gorgeous Susan Fields is also having a Back From Hiatus Contest giveaway of more fab books – it involves maths (adding points)!! So go here armed with a calculator! LOL!

Have a fun fun fun Friday everyone!

Shards of Toffee

Bloggie friends! There just isn't a lady-like way to eat a toffee apple or two is there??

I spent a good bit of the evening just scraping shards of toffee from my woolly jumper. And I'm wearing a woolly jumper because I feel the cold even if it's pretty silly mild outside! And I'm eating a toffee apple or two everyday because Waitrose has them stacked temptingly at the entrance of their shop! And Waitrose are selling them because it's Halloween season!

Oh and do people know that clocks go BACK an hour this Sunday in the UK?!?!

Does anyone one know what that means?!?!

AN EXTRA HOUR IN BED!

Charlie says: Stardate:010101. Day two of my forced confinement. I am in hell.



Have a taffeta Thursday everyone!

The Prisoner

Charlie here.

First the silly human takes me to a place reeking of hospital smell.

Then another human in a white coat sticks things in me!

Even when I puff up and scream this evil human continues to jab me with sharp things!

I am so incensed I am showing my fangs and claws and doing my best “touch me and I will not be responsible for the consequences” growl!

But this nasty human does not stop with sticking things in me! They HURT!

Now I am being kept prisoner against my will.

I would very much like to protest at my forced confinement.

Please make this silly human open the front door so I may at least go next door! Thank you.

I say: LET ME OUT!!

NOW!!!

Bloggie friends!! Charlie’s been diagnosed with what the vets think is pharyngitis. Oh dear! :-(

His throat is sore and inflamed. Awwww poor little thing!!!

So he is on meds and has to be kept indoors - hence his protest! We shall return to the vets on Thursday for a further check. Hopefully it'll be good news!!

Thank you my wonderful bloggie friends for sending him your kind thoughts and best wishes!

Have a Wizard of Oz Wednesday everyone!

The Ecstasy and the Agony

Bloggie friends!!

Sometimes I’m so happy I just know something will go wrong! LOL!

I’m so over the moon with the amazing feedback I got from you wonderful bloggie friends who volunteered to read my first 500 words. For the first time I truly feel so optimistic about this crazy novel I’m writing (Thank you thank you thank you!).

Then yesterday Charlie gave me a fright! He was eating when he yelped in pain, spat his food out and for ten seconds he had this crazed shocked look.

So off to the vets he goes today. I'm guessing there's something wrong with his teeth. I hope that is all it is!

Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy!! Oh I know I’m being crazy finding links between coincidences!

But I’ve gone from ecstasy to agony in like 24 hours.

Oh but I’m sure Charlie will be fine!! Of course he will! He’s Charlie and he ROCKS!

Charlie says: Do not wake me unless it's for gold bling fillings. Thank you.



Have a peaceful Tuesday everyone!

Spooky stools (sorry!)

Before you read on Bloggie friends, this is rated xxx and comes with a health warning!!

So my doctor puts me on a new type of prescription.

And of course I read the little folded up paper that comes with medications and this is what it says as “possible side effects” of this drug:

Very common: (affects more than 1 user in 10) Flatulence (wind), constipation, abnormal stools.

??!?!?!?!??!

Charlie says: Hence the importance of drainage covers.

On a cleaner note: there are a couple of pictorial blogfests going round that I just know you might want to join cos it’s pictures and sounds ever so much fun to do!!!

Gorgeous Summer of … and this time concentrate is holding a “Show your space” blogfest. Basically you just put up a pic of where you do your blogging/writing/scribbling etc! Details here! Yay!

Adorable Hansel of The World of Hansel is holding a Spooktacular (link clickable) competition. Basically you dress up/photoshop/snap kitty or doggie or whatever pet you have looking spooky!!

Charlie went in for this, the silly cat! Here he is amongst the cutest most loveliest Halloween kitties and doggies!

Have a manic Monday everyone!

The Hostest with the Mostest

Beautiful and bountiful and bootylicious bloggie friends!!

The wonderful Reenie of Reenie's Scribbles is so very kindly hosting lil ol me over at her amazing blog!!

Yes, I am a guest blogger!! And my silly post is here!

How cool is that?!?! Thank you lovely Reenie for making me feel so welcome in blogland!

Charlie says: Yep, I'm feeling the lurve too!



Have a brilliant weekend everyone!

Head Ponchos

Ponchos bloggie friends!! Yay or nay??

LOL!!

Today was so cold I thought it was time I released the Poncho!!! I love my poncho!

Charlie says: It makes good bedding and detracts from your messy bed.


Bloggie friends unfortunately I shall be offline all day today.

I shall be stuck in a warehouse in Egham, Surrey, shifting more office stuff (phase 3 of that big office move from September if you remember?).

And then I might just collapse and die later after such physical labour.

I hope to catch up with you all over the weekend!

Have a firecracker Friday everyone!

The Dreaded White Screen

Oh bloggie friends you are all super duper stars!!

And to those brave souls willing to be tortured entertained by my prose - thank you so so so much!

I was so excited I scrambled to my pc to email my text to you wonderful volunteers - except I got thwarted by this:

The dreaded white screen where absolutely nothing happens no matter how many times I hit refresh.

Oh and Charlie wanting to throw me out of the keyboard/his bed.

Hopefully I'll sort something out by the weekend - thanks again - absolutely no pressure to read whatsoever.

And thanks for enlightening me on what PDT means. I knew maths was involved so maybe that's why I sorta blanked out...! LOL!

Have a terrific Thursday everyone!

A Day for Pondering

Bloggie friends!!

Some things I've been pondering today:

1) It's like 65 days to Christmas!! And here is a countdown clock link to light up your PCs!

:-)

2) This week is National Baking Week - and this link will give you ideas of fun stuff to do with baking! Baking is fun!! Baking rocks!! Baking means cakes!!! What's not to like about baking?!!!? If you really really try, you can get chocolate muffins out of it!

3) I think I got my Chapter 1 as good as I can make it. Would anyone like to read the first 500 words???? I just need a taster of what you think - I know the lovely Clarissa Draper does free critiques but I'm not that confident yet!! :-)

4) Nice Blogger is warning all and sunder not to post up pics today at 5pm PDT. I have no idea what PDT means nor do I know if this means UK time, USA time etc! But at least we have the warning!

I must stop ending sentences in !!!!. Oh who am I kidding?!!?

Charlie says: Not me!!



Have a wise Wednesday everyone!

Sid and Sadie Harvest go on Cassa Star

Bloggie friends!!

Meet Sid and Sadie Harvest(men) spiders!

According to the Arachological Society these are not true spiders because... er.. they have 2 eyes instead of 8 and are apparently omnivorous - as in they eat anything on God's Green Earth.

So Charlie was wrong! Hah! (See his mistake here - LOL!)

Charlie says: All I can say is that last time 'twas only Sid. Now you also have Sadie. Ahem.


NEWS FLASH!! The fabulous Alex J Cavanaugh’s debut novel Cassa Star is out today – Yay!!!



You can read an extract here.

This taster of a chapter reminded me of a sort of Top Gun in Outer Space – it’s positively dripping in testosterone and manly men and I’ve not even touched on the aliens!!

Anyway – for more info please visit here – also there’s a link on my side bar if you wish to purchase. Good luck Alex J Cavanaugh!!!

My copy is hopefully winging its way to me via Amazon!

Have twirly whirly Tuesday everyone!

A Potty Conversation

As I was tidying up my plant pots while the sun shone and the skies were blue this conversation ensued:

My next door neighbour but one: Is there something special about that drainage cover?

Me: Eh?

My next door neighbour but one: It’s just that Charlie likes staying on it.

Me: Er…. I think it’s because it’s warm.

My next door neighbour but one: Is it really?

Me (going over to feel the drainage cover): Er.. actually it’s cold and still wet from Friday’s rain.

My next door neighbour but one: So why does Charlie like staying on it?

Me: Er.. who knows?

My next door neighbour but one: Strange.

Me: Yep.

Charlie says: Be so kind as to remove the twig from my furs. Thank you.



Have a marshmallow Monday everyone!

A Nagging Thought

I’ve just watched a film called The Family Stone (2005).

It’s a very mawkish, extremely sentimental, not too challenging film that was ok for a Friday night after work when it’s raining outside and all I wanted to do was vegetate.

But one thing bothered me about this film.

Two brothers fall in love with two sisters.

My tired brain kept wondering throughout the one hour and 45 minutes whether this was legally possible or not.

Not that it mattered but this nagging questioning sort of ruined the film for me – not because of the film itself but because my brain wasn’t vegetating at all but instead it was thinking – on a Friday night when I was tired and it was raining outside.

Charlie says: I think therefore I am.



Have a stupendous weekend everyone!

It's National Feral Cat Day in the US!! Please follow this link for more info about caring for these gorgeous stray and feral kitties - of which there are many!!!

Head in Clouds

"You always look like you have your head in the clouds”.

That’s me bloggie friends!

And that’s my excuse for nearly getting run over yesterday.

Remember the Green Cross Code?

1) Stop at the kerb.
2) Look around for traffic
3) If it is coming let it pass.
4) When it’s safe, cross.

I kinda left out steps 1 -3 and half of 4 and went straight to the crossing bit.

Ahem.

My daily habit is to walk to and from the station in a perennial day dream and recently it's the only time I find I'm able to replay scenes from my current edit.

Now if only I could explain that to the irate driver who yelled out profanities at me and left skid marks on the road and a trail of smelly smokey gas.

Charlie says: I continue to hibernate.

Have a funfair Friday everyone!

It's a wrap!

The nights are drawing in, the Indian summer’s well and truly over and my heating is turned on.

I have this image of me buried in my snuggle wrap on my sofa tap tapping away on my ancient laptop as winter well and truly sets in.

Of course this means I’ll be unplugged cos I don’t have an internet connection in my living room.

Now what is wrong with this image bloggie friends?

Me without an internet connection (yikes!) ?!?!

Or me in my snuggle wrap? (It’s pink!).

Charlie says: I'll be hibernating.

Have a thermal Thursday everyone!

Mother of all inventions

Bloggie friends I'm clever!!

I've invented the triangular pizza!!!

Ok the problem is for the life of me I cannot seem to get that magical circular pizza shape that we all know and love no matter how I pummell the dough and brandish my rolling pin.

I just can't get the round shape. So I make do with the above shape. Sometimes it's rectangular - mostly my pizza dough rolls out as above.

I'm sure there's a writing analogy I'm missing or some sage advice I can draw out as a life lesson from this perennial experience. But ya know? The dough is always crusty, the topping is always yummy and I always end up one happy stuffed bunny afterwards. What's there to analyse? Ahem.

Charlie says: The Beast and I would like some extra anchovies next time please. Oh and more water.


Have a woo-hoo Wednesday everyone!

A blog doppleganger?

Bloggie friends!!

As I finally get my first paragraph of my first chapter just so (again and again and...) look what I dug up on Google!!

I've discovered that my blog was - according to trafficestimate.com - started in July 2000.

How bizarre considering I only started this blog in January of this year!

Hmmm.

Charlie says: Methinks the lady doth procrastinate too much!

Have a traffic-free Tuesday everyone!

Maple Turkeys

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY CANADIAN BLOGGIE FRIENDS!!

Charlie says: I am not a-moosed!

That's a Blue Wildebeest standing in for a Moose - cos I ain't got any!! :-) Moose that is.

But I do have lots of maple syrup grade 2 that I adore pouring on my home baked pancakes! Yum!

Have a Mountie Monday everyone!

The Art of Chillaxin

Wonderful Bloggie friends!!

I owe you all an apology for my hissy fit yesterday!!! Ahem.

I promise to try and not lose my cool next time. I must remember to Chillax.

And who better to teach me the Art of Chillaxin than the wondrous and ever so sparkly Ginger Jasper!!!

Sometime in August I posted how I wanted a certain calendar to be on my Christmas list and lo and behold my wish has come true - all thanks to the most beautiful GJ and fantastic mum Carol and dad. Thank you so so so so much for making my Christmas come early!

Charlie says: Hullo there GJ and Derry and stretchy yoga kitties.

There’s also a sweet pic of the smoochiest kitty on this planet, Derry from Fuzzy Tales to help me think only lovely Blogger thoughts from now on – thanks Kim!

Have a brilliant weekend everyone!

p.s. Just read that Maximus Spittamus's brave DJ has gone to the Bridge. We, your centurions, are most saddened by this news.

What's happened to my dashboard?!?!?!

Bloggie friends please help me!!

I lost my internet connections last night (I had 3 blinky lights and not 4)hence my supreme lateness!! I've not been able to catch up with some of your blogs because of this - sorry!

But now that it's returned and I've logged back to Blogger, Blogger's all changed!!

My Dashboard is all expanded and I can't find the scroll button to scroll up like before.... I am in despair bloggie friends. I really think with these blogger changes, I'm going to have to er... retire. My pc and I can't cope with the changes.

All I want is my scrolly button panel on the side of my dashboard so I can scroll up the dashboard screen.

And please don't say "Use Google Reader" because Google Reader is PANTS. :-(

I'm not happy. :-(

Charlie says: I'm not happy too cos I can't smell my breakfast. Yet.




Today's Friday is not a happy day for me! :-(

The Indian Summer of Sid the Spider

Bloggie friends it's official!! We have an Indian Summer just round the corner for the next THREE DAYS! We are talking... oooh 23 degrees Centigrade, 73 degrees Fahrenheit by Saturday.

Joy to the world!! Well here in south east England. :-)

My painted toes will be free for longer! My sandals won't be bagged, tagged and hidden. Not yet.

Why am I being so trivial?!!?

Because bloggie friends, I think I cracked my first sentence of paragraph 1, chapter 1, page 1 of my novel after a gazillion and a half rewrites. Dare I share it with you?!?!?!?! Please feel free to skip this bit! LOL!! Charlie is just below!!!

On the night he died, the old man’s last supper consisted of soup, half a crusty loaf and tea that he took sweet and milky.

Charlie says: I need to seriously get down from this sink


Sorry bloggie friends when Charlie jumped in the sink and stayed there to watch Sid the Spider on the ceiling I took a million and three pics of him. They're all so cute that I had to share a few more with you! Sadly I didn't get any of Sid! :-)

Have a calm and loving Thursday everyone!

Sweet Perry, ponytails and buns

Brilliant Bloggie friends!! One of the most obvious signs that I need a haircut is when the ends of my ponytail-led hair gets caught up in the tube bit of my vacuum cleaner as I change attachments.

Ouch is not the word I screamed out when this occurred today.

Yep, it's either a trip to the dreaded hairdressers or I stop vacuuming and sport a hairbun infinitum instead.

If I wait any longer my hair will be way past my bum. And that for a 5ft 1 inch person is not a good look! LOL!

Charlie says: Neither is your messy table!

On a more serious note: I am very sad to learn that the lovely Tommy of Noir's Nook lost Perry. I know how much Perry meant to Tommy and his passing is such a shock. Purrs and hugs and lots of love, Tommy. I am lighting a candle in my heart for you.

Have a peaceful Wednesday everyone.

Sitting on wet grass

Bloggie friends!!

There I was trying to persuade Charlie that actually sitting down on a nice warm bed/dry carpet/ polished floor/shiny sink/bathtub is far better than sitting outside in the rain when three of my neighbours - whom I’ve never met because this is a fairly large estate - came by and all said, “Hello there Charlie”! Or words to that effect.

Of course they all petted and fussed over him and asked me if I was Charlie’s “owner”.

And of course I said, yes! And of course they all told me each of their little adventures with Charlie – how he sits by their fence, how he’s so friendly and how he likes being stroked.

It’s amazing how a cat can save me from being so introverted – now even if they don’t know my name and I don’t know theirs, I have three more new neighbours I can say hello to!

Don’t ask me how they know his name though! Well I sort of guessed my next door neighbour told them.

Charlie says: These plants are deaded.

Have a thumbs up Tuesday, everyone!!! I'm back editing chapter 1...!

The Silver Surfer's web

Bloggie friends -thank you for joining in with Livestrong Day!! I hope you all felt empowered! I had such fun being all yellow! But it was also very sad to read your experiences whether directly or indirectly with the big C. Hugs to you all!

I forgot that my blog turned 9 months old on 1 Oct!! So belated blogbirthday to me. Yay! New blog design, whaddya think!?!?!

But what's this in my inbox?

An email from my 64 year old mother inviting me to join her on her own Facebook account. ?!?!!?

I just know that it won't be long before she'll be all Twitter-y on me while LOL'ing and BRB-ing.

She is now officially a Silver Surfer!

Charlie says: FYI. IMO, that's definitely a spider up there.

Have a marching Monday everyone!

LIVESTRONG!

Charlie and I are going yellow today to show our support for
Livestrong Day!!!

We are cheering on Milo and Alfie's Bloggers LiveStrong Together event.

If you would like to support them please click here. They have also set up this page for all those affected by this disease to meet, share and just say hello!

Don't forget to turn your blog or bits of it yellow!

And for more information about LiveStrong, please go here.

Charlie says: I am not impressed by your attempts at yellowness.

Hugs and purrs to all friends, family, blogfriends, blogfurrfriends who have been touched by cancer in all its many insidious forms.

Me and Charlie would like to especially give the wonderful Marg of Marg's Pets a great big virtual hug!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Yellow fines

I’ve been very naughty bloggie friends!

I’ve just renewed a library book late and incurred a 30p fine. LOL! I have honest to goodness and to all that is good and true never accumulated a library fine ever.

Ever.

I hang my head in deep shame.

Charlie says: Me too.

In other news - 2 October is Livestrong Day!

Livestrong was launched by the Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise awareness and support for cancer survivors globally. Please go here for more in depth information about Livestrong and all the events happening in a place near you! There are marathons, walks, all sorts of fun stuff happening, so do join in if you are able to!

Me and Charlie hope to support Livestrong Day through linking to several participating blogs hosted by the fab Milo and Alfie and Zoolatry.

Their idea is to turn blogs over for the day to the colour yellow! Yay!

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!!