NaNoWriMo by any other name

Oh my, life is so crazily hectic at the moment.

I've just come back from visiting a community hall to see if it was suitable for Uncle's 90th birthday party. I originally intended to hold it at our house but as he's in a wheelchair and we have steps up to our house that didn't seem a good idea. There would have been several strong men around who could have carried him in but he might not have liked that indignity.

So, the hall. I'd provisionally booked Bishopston Hall by email when Husband said, 'I thought you were booking Murton Hall.'
'It's the same thing,' I said.
He frowned, 'Are you sure?'
'Yes. Almost.'

I googled it but that wasn't very helpful. It was still possible that I'd booked the wrong one of three halls.

I hadn't. So all's well but try telling my brain that in the middle of the night.

* * * * * * 
I locked myself in the car last week too.

The little lock thing was up suggesting it was unlocked but it wouldn't open.

Panic! How was I going to get out?

Ah, wait, I have the car keys in my hand; I can unlock it magically. Phew.

* * * * * *
Tuesday and Wednesday last week we popped up to Egham to see Elder Son and family. I was delighted to see that GrandSon1 had found a stick and painted it appropriately.

He's definitely got my genes.

On Wednesday we visited The Lookout, a hands-on discovery centre. Great fun although it's the sort of place you need to go again without children.

The weather was fab and the autumnal colours between Egham and Bracknell were sensational. As were the numerous mansions, which were dotted alongside the road (carefully screened behind high hedges and gates). It is a seriously rich area.

* * * * * * *

I've not done any creative writing other than Facebooking and the very occasional blog post and I've not submitted my novels anywhere since I've come back from holiday - which seems an age ago now. This month, as every November, is NaNoWriMo (write 50,000 words in a month challenge). I'm not going to be so stupid as to attempt it this year but I will try and write on my blog every day. I need to get back into the habit. Admittedly I haven't got off to a very good start as I missed yesterday but hey ...

* * * * * *

Had a bit of a baking frenzy the other weekend making Uncle's birthday and our Christmas cake. With the left-over mixture I was able to make another small/spare cake and fortunately it was on this one that I tipped the remains of a bottle of brandy that I discovered too late had gone off. That didn't stop Husband eating it though.

I asked him if it was okay. He said, 'Disappointing.' Which isn't promising for the other cakes I made so I am dosing them liberally with brandy (fresh) each week between now and December 13th.

* * * * * * *

And as if winning the world cup and being Man of Final wasn't enough, Dan Carter also won World Rugby Player of the Year for the third time.

The wonders of Lemsip

I am spending the weekend feeling sorry for myself. I seem to have gone down with the throat infection that had daughter and GrandSon2 laid low this past week. 

I do feeling sorry for myself excellently! But after two days am ready now to get better, please.

Incidentally, an interesting side effect of lemsip: works wonderfully as colonic irrigation.

Meanwhile this weekend we've seen England go out of the rugby world cup. They have another game to play in their pool but it's impossible for them to progress to the quarter-finals. Husband is bearing up remarkably well. 

I might have seen the Duke of Cambridge but I definitely saw Nigel Owens

Well, we won. That's what matters. Not the best of games but tense as Fiji always looked scary. The fatigue from last Saturday's game showed amongst the Welsh players so it's a good thing they have a long break now before they play Australia.

And it was great to be there. It always is. You can see the game better on the television but you miss out on the atmosphere. It didn't quite come up to Six Nations standards - there was no band playing Delilah or Bread of Heaven in the stadium beforehand and the Welsh supporters way outnumbered Fijians - but it was fab.

Outside the stadium the highlight for me was seeing Nigel Owens (a charismatic Welsh referee) walking to the ground. I couldn't get my phone out in time to grab a photo so I had to make do with grabbing Husband and squeaking, 'Look, it's Brian ... Keith ... Nigel!' (I got flustered.)

Then inside the ground I found myself sitting next to Mike Day, an old acquaintance. Considering there were 71,000 people there it was quite a coincidence.

I've hardly mentioned the rugby world cup

A long time ago we entered the draw for tickets for the rugby world cup: we got tickets for Wales v Fiji. At the time we were a bit disappointed not to get a bigger game but following Wales' heroic defeat of England (25-28 at Twickenham) at the weekend this has become THE game to win for Wales.

Grandson1 in England drew a picture after the last game.

Then he thought Grandad would like a picture of the man in white so he drew that on the back.

There are so many permutations that even after today's game - assuming Wales win and it will hard - progress to the quarter finals still won't be assured but we really really need to win today. Then we need Australia to beat England (on Saturday). My resolve to support England when they're not playing Wales will be tested. In fact I don't think I'll be able to watch. 

The chilli factor

We returned home to find a glut of tomatoes and chillies so today Husband spent his time making spicy tomato chutney and chilli jam. And stinking the house out in the process. But he tells me no-one else can make chilli jam as good as his.

I think it was his way of dealing with Wales' victory over England (25-28 at Twickenham in the World Cup). Which incidentally may not have been the best game of loose-flowing fast-passing rugby but it was certainly one of the most tense. 

And I tried very hard not to gloat. But when I was in bed in the dark I couldn't stop the huge grin that appeared on my face.