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Noses, Books and Branches

The vet has just phoned me to say Emily's operation went well, and I can collect her at 4pm.

This house feels so empty without "Little Mouse" leaping all over the place! (We nicknamed her that when she was a very young puppy, because she wasn't much bigger than a mouse - well, a hamster, perhaps).

I can recite all the phrases about responsible pet owners and unwanted puppy litters bla bla bla, but I still feel like a total meanie, booking her in to be spade by the vet. I know she'll be frightened and in pain, and wondering why I've "abandoned" her... Poor little mite.

***
 
"I don't like Wuthering Heights," Cat said. "It's soppy."

Then we coaxed her to watch Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in the lead roles. She likes it now.

"Isn't he the one who played Voldemort?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"He looks different with a nose."
 
***
 
4.20pm, and finally I get to read this morning’s mail…!

Ruins Terra, which features my ghost story, Seagull Inn, is now available to buy from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ruins-Terra-Eric-T-Reynolds/dp/0978514858/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195054793&sr=8-2

Within a few days, it ought to be also available from Amazon.com (the USA site). The information is already there, albeit with several errors. Eric Reynolds is the editor, not the author; and it is not a print-on-demand publication. This should be ironed out soon.

Also, Old World Magic has been accepted for inclusion in an anthology called Ruins Metropolis, to be published by Hadley Rille Books. This story returns to the theme of the Caldy Hill faeries, who you can read about in A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy (pbs. Amazon Shorts).

***

Richard, Mum and I enjoyed dinner at The Waterside, in Leigh, Lancashire, on Monday. The weather looked ominously grey, so we cancelled a wander round the small town and went straight back to Mum’s house. She’s been busy in the garden, cramming more plants into the already-full greenhouse in preparation for winter. She’s always loved gardening, and grows a lot of her own salad greens and tomatoes.

For the first time in days the howling gales and torrential rain were absent, allowing me to finish burning a huge pile of garden cuttings. At last it’s nearly done! There’s a few large branches which Richard will have to saw up before they’ll fit in the brazier, plus the old raspberry canes which we’ve dug up – and then the job is done for now. (Round two is to follow!) This took up most of today, believe it or not.
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