Ban the Over 60's!

Can there be a more meaningless term than 'the over 60's'?  Yes, the term can be easily applied to any person above that age - but what does it actually tell us that is of much practical use?

Age is no indicator of health or personality, of activity levels or financial stability.  Neither does an age grouping reveal a person's interests - unless it's the under 5's, when life mostly revolves around food, sleep, playing, parents and getting the hang of walking and talking.  While life for the 5's to 16's age group  tends to revolve around school, already more diversity is apparent.  The teenage world of angst, obsessions and first loves are, obviously, very different from, for example, a thirty year-old's ambitions to buy their own house.

No-one would lump together everyone under the age of 40 as one social group having similar needs and interests.  So why do this with the over 60's?

Most 60 year-olds are part of the work force and will remain so until they retire at the official age, (which varies; it used to be 65 but now it's more of a sliding scale depending on when a person was born).  Some people choose to postpone retirement to benefit from an improved pension.  Or maybe they simply don't want to retire; some people work into their 70's or beyond - and why not, if that's what they wish to do?

Many 60 year-olds are still paying off mortgages, paying to get their older children through university.  70 and 80 years olds run marathons, run businesses or home-school grandchildren while the grown-up off-spring go out to work.  They drive cars, travel the world - my 85 year-old mother recently flew to Australia by herself.  They do voluntary work and participate in a myriad of social, creative or sporting activities, and display a huge diversity of interests and tastes - and this continues for the rest of their lives, or as long as health permits.

So if you can reminisce about King Edward's abdication while chatting to a friend via a smart phone, it's obvious that you've seen a lot of social and technological change.

An increasing number of us will live beyond the age of 100.  According to The Centenarian, the number of people worldwide currently aged over 100 is estimated to be 450,000.  The aim of life-extension research is not just to extend 'being alive' but to enable people to enjoy vigorous physical and mental good health for as long as science makes it possible - and the point at which these cease to be possible is intended to be continually extended also.

Type 'over 60's' in a search engine, and a string of links for health tips and travel insurance are offered.  After all, everyone 'knows' that everyone over 60 feels an urge to travel before they keel over. Hmm, it's high time this empty-headed stereotype was wiped away, don't you think?

Blue Damsels and Murder

A pair of blue damselflies mating on our pond

It's been a beautiful day here on the Wirral.  Lunch was taken in the garden, and then later in the day there were three pairs of blue damselflies courting over the pond, plus a fifth blue damselfly and a red damselfly resting on rhubarb leaves overhanging the water.  A family of pond skaters has hatched out, and a water boatman has been scooting around for the last few days.

Work on the fourth novel in the Artisan-Sorcerer Series continues, and the word count now stands at 90,000 with a fair chunk of plot left.  I'm toying with murdering a popular character...  Maybe, maybe not; I've not entirely made up my mind yet, mostly because this is one of my favourite characters too and it would be a shame to wave goodbye.  But, hey, I can always create another one....

Legs and Peculiarity

The first rose of 2014

The lawn already has a sprinkling of fallen rose petals.  The first rose to open was by the entrance to the grove.  This photo was taken from just inside the grove, which is approached down a narrow grassy path which turns sharply to the east-facing entrance.  Shade is cast by a towering contorted hazel tree (Corylus avelana 'Contorta') and a wall of ivy.  Tucked next to the entrance is a small pond, which you can just about see half-hidden behind the ornamental grass in the lower left corner of the photo.

Click on the images to view them larger.

Within the Grove

In the photo above, you can see where the circular lawn of the grove has been re-edged.  Bare soil is already disappearing under poppy seedlings and the allysum which I've since planted.  I also planted some French marigolds but they were eaten overnight by slugs and snails.  For the same reason, hostas don't survive long in my garden, which is a pity as I like the quilted appearance of their leaves.  The pinks I planted are doing great, however, as are the tough ornamental grasses which I dug out of the lawn where they'd planted themselves before transplanting them to more useful spots - mostly around three sides of the small pond by the grove's entrance.  In the foreground of the photo are the branches of a shrub  - of unknown species - which Richard pruned back heavily only a month ago, and already it's sprouting new growth.  It provides the grove with privacy but was simply getting too big and swamping the holly shrub and patch of Crocosmia 'lucifer' beside it.

Red Damselfly

Our pond has attracted a red damselfly, who has been flitting around for a week now.  It did have a mate, and Richard saw them dancing around over the water's surface as they performed a little springtime ritual together, laying eggs in the water.  And here one of them is, in this photo - which also shows a drowning snail which I later rescued.  We've noticed a swift increase in the slug and snail population this year, now we don't have chickens to devour them.  I'm reluctant to put down slug pellets because of our dogs and wild amphibians.

Tadpole with tiny frog legs

While on the subject of amphibians, our tadpoles are now starting to grow tiny legs.  They're incredibly fragile and seem to have no strength at all but, nonetheless, there they are - an obvious sign of frogginess.  

The two solar-powered fountains stopped working.  With one, I put it down to old age.  The other, however, is only a few weeks old.  I cleaned the solar panels and made sure the fountain jets weren't blocked, but this made no difference.  So I took a closer look at the tiny engine which drives the fountain, despite the fact that I know as much about electronics and engineering as I do about brain surgery, and after a bit of experimental poking around found that the engine drives a tiny water wheel - it's this wheel which pushes water up the fountain pipe - and this wheel was bunged up with algae.  The second this was cleaned away the engine began whirring happily once more.  Problem solved.  So I then had a look at the older fountain and this had the exact same problem.  Old age, indeed....  It's been working just fine ever since.

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I'd be giving a talk to Janine Pinion's creative writing class.  It went really well, and the students had plenty of questions about what a writer's life is really like.  Well, the answer to that one depends on the individual writer.  I debunked a few myths and encouraged them to experiment with different writing techniques, to keep writing regularly and finish what they start even when they don't rate it much, and to read widely.  They were a pleasant and enthusiastic group, and I enjoyed meeting them all.

This week I finished reading Lord Brocktree: A Tale of Redwall by Brian Jacques.  All the characters are animals, and it's a cheerful Fantasy tale of goodies versus baddies written, originally, for the children of The Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, which is not too far from where Richard and I lived for a short while, right before we moved to the Wirral peninsula.   I liked how a female character - a hare - took an important role in the plot,  challenging gender stereotypes without resorting to preaching.  The book was fun, and yes it's for kids - but for kids of all ages.

Vintage photography gives a strong visual edge to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the debut Fantasy novel from Ransom Riggs.  Again, this could be read by older children and adults alike.  Strong characters with believable personalities and a tight pace ensure this novel is a page-turner.  This book had been lurking in my To Read pile for at least a year before I actually opened the first page.  This pile is big.  Technically it's three piles, as if I stacked all the books in one pile it'd reach the ceiling and be in constant danger of crashing to the floor and taking my paternal grandmother's jardiniere with it.  Anyway, the title put me off a bit, as I had visions of another twee Harry Potter-esque bandwagon yarn.  That impression was incorrect, totally.  While the novel  does mostly revolve around children, it is entirely fresh in approach and, besides, many of these 'children' are much more than they seem - 'peculiar', even.  I recommend it highly.

Green Gloop and RPG

Tadpoles in May

I'm really pleased with the new solar-powered fountain, which you can see working in the video above.  It's much stronger than the year-old one.  Do solar-powered gadgets have a life-span?  Last year's fountain has taken to emitting occasional squirts of water reaching 4" in height at the most.  I've thoroughly cleaned the filter and panel, and wiggled the wire to see if there's any obvious break, but no joy there.  Meanwhile the pond has begun growing an unpleasant crop of green algae, some of it bubbly, some of it fibrous; hence the new fountain, which shoots jets of water 24" high and should help to increase oxygen levels in the water, which should - in theory, at least - reduce the algae.

 

 Green algae and tadpoles!

(Click on the images to view them larger).

 

An adult frog basks in the pond.

On Thursday, I'll be giving a talk at St James's Centre in Birkenhead.  This will be for a creative writing class run by Janine Pinion for Wirral Metropolitan College.  I've been asked to talk on the subject of 'My Writing Life', then read an extract of my work for around 15 mins., then offer a few tips for aspiring writers before leading a Q&A session.  I've also got a spot of homework for the group - a project I recently tested with Riverside Writers and which worked well.

Progress with Fabian continues, of course.  I've around 20,000 words left to write, so while I'm not approaching the last lap yet the end is getting steadily closer.  I've no intention of rushing; I'd sooner it took another year than rush it and dislike the end product.  Fabian has been harder work than Rowan; Rowan flowed easily and quickly, but with Fabian I've had to do much more planning.  This being the fourth novel in the series, there are several sub-plots which stretch through the entire series which need to emerge more clearly and develop further, but now I've worked all that out the actual writing should flow more readily.

Rowan's character is much easier to write than Fabian's, which is odd as Fabian's character began forming many years ago, albeit in a slightly different form - but that was a long time ago, as part of an online RPG.  Tamsin had her origins as an RPG character too; her appearance and traits remain as they were then.  Rowan, however, was totally new - yet the polygamous relationship he shares with Tamsin and Morgan also came from that same RPG.

The first rose of summer.

FREE newsgroup & Bargain Offer!

In appreciation of my Yahoo! newsgroup, some of whom have been members for several years already, I'm offering Tamsin: An Artisan-Sorcerer Story at the bargain price of $2 USD.

If you're feeling left out of this offer, which runs until May 18th, 2014, then the solution is easy.  Join the TOTALLY FREE newsgroup to take advantage of this and future offers, chat via email to other members, and be among the first to learn of my forthcoming publications, public events and other news.

Join here:- https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/adelecosgrovebray/info

Or join by sending an email to:- adelecosgrovebray-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Meditation, Starvation and an Australian Mage.

I'm currently enjoying a week's annual leave from my day-job while writing more of Fabian.  I've also been busy in the garden while I've both the time and the weather for it.  Some of the borders were looking rather neglected, so I've been weeding and pruning and re-shaping the edge of the lawn where the divide between lawn and weedy mess had blurred.  The contrast between sitting still, other than from fingers tapping at the keyboard, and thinking creatively and analytically as I write, and moving around with tools, a bucket full of dug-up roots and pruned, leggy stems or fronds of invasive ivy, is marked.  It still requires analytical and creative thinking but of a different kind, (for eg., I'm planning to put in more spring bulbs this autumn, and move a young buddleia before it gets crowded by the holly tree, and can see that the forsythia needs pruning back now its buttercup-yellow petals are strewn on the ground). 

Gardening can be a form of moving meditation.  Simply be aware of the movements needed to do the job, of the feel of leaf and soil, and of what you can see - such as the delicacy of poppy seedlings, the colours of last winter's leaves lying on the soil, the little red shoots along the stout branches of a shrub which was cut back hard last autumn, of the sound of insects buzzing and birds foraging, or of the quiet splashes of the solar-powered fountain which seems to work only when it wants to, no matter how much sunshine's around. 

To turn gardening into meditation, you don't need to do anything clever or buy any 'new age' gewgaws.  Just live in the moment, be aware of your movements, of the flow of your breath as you work; be aware of everything you can see, hear and smell.  Be in the Here and Now and be aware of how you feel and of the nonsense that swirls through your brain non-stop  - and simply remain self-aware, an observer of yourself at work.  Then keep at it. 

This morning I finished reading Helen Dunmore's novel, The Siege, which I highly recommend.  Its skilled and beautiful use of prose tells a story of love and survival set against the backdrop of the siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg).  The author cleverly combines actual history with a sensual, almost poetic view into the terrible plight of people facing death from starvation and hypothermia, and their incredible drive to stay alive despite being surrounded by frozen corpses, diminishing rations and the increasing threats of violence and cannibalism.  I've read many of Helen Dunmore's novels, and continue to admire her writing style.

Totally different in  mood, but also recommended, are the two fantasy books by Karen Miller which I recently finished, which are Innocent Mage and Awakened Mage (also seemingly titled Innocence Lost, depending on region).  You get down-to-earth, well-rounded characters doing practical, believable things, but with a splash of fantasy-magic in addition.  A great read, in my opinion; real page-turners.  I haven't read any of this author's work before but I'll be doing so again.

Dragons, Damsels and Distress.

Tadpoles and damselfly larvae - click to view larger.

 

 

The pond seems to have become home to damselfly larvae!  I was doing a bit of pond dipping this afternoon, to see how the taddies are coming along and in the bowl were some fragile, insect-like critters which seem to have three tails.  Later, I did a quick Google search to find out what they might be, and quickly found photos of them.  I am genuinely surprised to find damselflies in a pond that's not even one year old yet - a pond which needs more plants to lift oxygen levels as algae is having a field day right now.  I wonder when the damselfly eggs were lain?  I love damselflies and dragonflies!  So I'm grinning like a big kid right now.

 

I once saw a HUGE emerald green dragonfly flying down Village Road, level with Mariner's Point in West Kirby.  I heard it before I saw it - a loud, droning buzz which caused me to look behind me in case it was a hornet heading my way.  Instead it was a magnificent, enormous dragonfly whose head was about 1.5 inches wide - I could see its mouth open and it looked at me as it flew passed!  Its glittering green body was at least 5 inches long, and its four wings were probably around 6 inches long, maybe longer.  It has been suggested that this was an Emperor dragonfly but photos I've of those show a blue tail, and I'm sure this one was bright green all over.  I've never seen once since, by the way.  And no, I didn't have my camera with me - isn't that typical!  The day the camera is left at home is the day you see something you really, really want to photograph.

 

Richard looked a bit worried, this week, when through the post I received a generously-sized squidgy parcel of second-hand dolls clothes which I'd bought for a couple of pounds off eBay.  There were some good items but several were looking a bit distressed.  My aim is, when I get around to it, is to carefully unstitch some of them and create sewing patterns for the clothes I actually want my dolls to wear.  Meanwhile, our dog Emily happily modelled a spotty beret...  Well, a girl's gotta play sometimes, hmm?

Wirral Exhibition of Scale Model Castles and Historic Buildings

One of Tim Hulme's many scale models on display at Bebington Central Library.

Yesterday I travelled by train to Bebington, as a friend and fellow-member of Riverside Writers is currently exhibiting his large collection of hand-made scale models of castles, chateaux and historic buildings.

Tim Hulme began making models as a boy, when his father would bring home huge cardboard tubes onto which silk fabric would have been wound at the Macclesfield silk mill where his father worked.  Later, as a young adult, he was touring a grand European house when he saw a scale model of it and declared, "I want one of those!"  He's been making them ever since.

This is Tim's first exhibition, and a lot of  planning has gone into the display.  Nearly all the models have a photo of the actual building beside it for comparison, and there are information sheets offering historical backgrounds.  The models are very fragile.  Just transporting the models safely to the library took six car journeys and a multitude of big cardboard boxes.

One of the display tables - click on the image to view it larger.

The Temple of Zeus - you can only part of his seated frame in this photo.

My photos really don't do the models justice; the room was lit with fluorescent strip lights which tends to flatten photographic images and my little Kodak digi isn't clever enough to compensate for this, so you can't see many of the tiny, fine details of the models.  This is a pity, as Tim spends many months making each one.

The free exhibition has so far been visited by nearly 200 people.  Bebington Central Library has asked Tim to extend the exhibition for another week, so if you're in the area do call in.

Open:- Tuesday 22nd; Thursday 24th, Friday 25th.

Venue:- Bebington Central Library, Civic Way, Bebington, Wirral.

Fee:- FREE.  Donations to the Friends of Bebington Central Library are welcome.

Tim Hulme with some of his scale models.





Tadpoles, Dolls and Wirral Mysteries.

Last summer, I made a frog pond in our garden.  The very short video above shows the tadpoles which are currently swimming around, obviously enjoying the warmth which the spring sunshine is bringing to the shallows where they like to congregate.  They're quite fascinating to watch.  As soon as I get home from my day-job, I put the kettle on, let the dogs into the garden then visit my pond to see how the taddies are growing.  Right now they're making short work of a slug which drowned itself.  Ok, so that is a bit gross - but that's nature for you, red in fang and claw....

Today I added another doll to my collection, one I've wanted for absolutely ages:  Daisy, which was designed by Mary Quant.  As a child I had Daisy and a friend of hers as paperdolls; goodness knows how many other paperdolls I had, hundreds at least.  Anyway, today I won an eBay auction for a Daisy, so I'll be looking forward to receiving that through the mail and adding her to my collection.  Mine is not a big collection - I saw a YouTube video earlier today which showed a massive collection of all kinds of dolls - Skipper, Monster High, BJDs, porcelain vintage dolls and Madam Alexander dolls, and others - collected by a mother and daughter.  "People come in and think we're weird," said the daughter, but she obviously didn't care two raspberries for their opinions and neither do I.  Some of my dolls have been with me for decades, but I only started collecting seriously last year.  I think they're cute and they make me smile - so if collecting dolls isn't your thing, just move along.

 

click on image to view larger

 



This photo shows a pink-haired Monster High doll; an auburn-haired obitsu doll (my first attempt at a face-up!); a vintage Action Man (holding a miniature book); a Flower Fairy on either side of a ROGARK sailor doll; Tammy (?) and a OOAK re-rooted Pippa (who doesn't have a pale stripe in her hair, that's just caused by the flash off my camera); two Dolly Darlings and a blue-haired mystery doll.  The babies in the bunkbeds (Health & Safety would throw a fit!) are possibly from the late 1950's.

Onto something else...

I've long held an interest in history and local history, and recently I was invited to join the Admin team for a new but surprisingly large and enthusiastic group called Hidden Wirral: Myths and Legends who are organising talks and guided tours for its members.  The project looks very interesting and a whole bevvy of events are being planned, so if you're local to Wirral, or can travel here fairly easily, take a look at the website.

And, yes, work on Fabian: An Artisan-Sorcerer Story proceeds...  I'd hoped to have had it finished by now.  And with that very aim in mind, I intend to cut down on the amount of time I spend on Facebook - as fun as that can be, keeping up with everyone's news and cute cat piccies, the novel has to take priority - especially I've several other writing deadlines approaching too.  I'll keep updating here, though.