juliachalkley

Be Kind

I made a private resolution to post a blog entry every day in January, even if it was only a few lines. You can check back and find out how well I’ve done so far. It won’t take you long. The best I can make of this is that everyone has been telling others toContinue reading “Be Kind”

Back to Reality

I spent the run-up to Christmas trying to keep up. Our local area went from relatively virus-free to one of the top twenty infection hot-spots in England. I wasn’t keen to go out and mix with other people – most have been polite and willing to keep their distance, but some are oblivious and focussedContinue reading “Back to Reality”

Nano 2020

For the first time, I finished 50,000 for NanoWrimo early – on November 25th. It started as a short story meant to get me in the mood of writing and just kept leading me further into the story. I finished the main story on the 25th, but I’ve carried on writing – several short storiesContinue reading “Nano 2020”

Second hand

About six years ago, I went on an astronomy camping weekend. Surreal in itself; we worried that our telescope would be stolen while we were off in town during the day, until someone pointed out that there was always someone sitting by their tent seeing who was messing with others’ telescopes, and that there wereContinue reading “Second hand”

Clearing brambles

A long silence; we have been busy. We joined a local community wood and volunteered to do some work there. It was meant to be a community day, with everyone allocated a (socially distanced) spot and given a task to do, but when the second lockdown was announced, the organisers realised that this party wouldContinue reading “Clearing brambles”

Writing out the spite

Reedsy put up some interesting prompts this week. They always put up five, all on the same theme, and this week’s theme is ‘Meet in the Middle’. They’ve set up the beginning and end of the story and challenged the writers to fill in the middle. I liked the one that gave the first lineContinue reading “Writing out the spite”

Good day’s writing

Made the most of a sunny morning by clearing up in the garden – chucking leaves on the compost heap, tucking the fleece down over tender plants and clipping back some overgrown hedge plants. Then starting on a batch of pickling onions. The kitchen compost bin is now full of onion skins and we bothContinue reading “Good day’s writing”

Excellent weather for writing

The forecasters got it right, for once; woke up to rain, which hasn’t let up all day. Excellent excuse for sitting indoors writing. I’m just about keeping up with my NanoWrimo count, but my OU writing group has a challenge going for a 500 word flash competition. Sadly, the piece of mine they liked hasContinue reading “Excellent weather for writing”

Mowing the lawn. Honestly.

It’s been raining here for the back of September, most of October and every morning or noon in November, so the grass has been, er, making hay. Long green grass. Today we finally got the chance to mow… and we did. Filled up the compost heap completely. Grass everywhere. It’s been a relief to getContinue reading “Mowing the lawn. Honestly.”

Planting tulips

This is the time of year when you plant tulips. Apparently. It feels too cold and damp to take them out there, but if I wait for the rain to stop I’ll be waiting years. I dug the holes and laid them in, put the plug of earth back on top and hoped. I knowContinue reading “Planting tulips”