Aren't they lovely?

In view of the poem below, I just wanted to post a picture of our two fantastic Labs. They had just spent an hour splashing in a stream in the New Forest.

Sasha, on the right, will be 11 in November - she is pretty active for an old lady and will give young Wellington quite a run for his money.

The Boy-Wellington (who thinks we are incapable of bathing ourselves unaided) was 2 last May. Now there's a story for another day...

Towards a state of perfection

BATH, n. A kind of mystic ceremony substituted for religious worship, with what spiritual efficacy has not been determined
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

poured to perfect depth,
temperature sublime
candles lit and lights doused
rising steam redolent of lavender
and ylang-ylang to soothe away the day
wine glass to hand, contents chilled
immersed in womb-like world
lying in sound-deadened semi-darkness
awaiting rebirth …
meditating…
drifting mindlessly…
Nirvana close…
a gentle lapping of the water –

‘SOMEONE GET THIS DOG OUT!’

Things to do when you don't feel like...

Above anything else, I'd like to write for a living... probably not much of a living, admittedly, but why not? My words are the same as everybody else's. Just not necessarily in the same order.

Well ..

First of all there's the daily but necessary tasks of walking the dogs,come rain or shine, (I think even the Labradors are getting fed up with water) making sure we have clean clothes, feeding us, occasional teaching... you know, general domestic chores that in themselves take no time at all!

There are the other daily essentials - like checking my email hourly (Why? No one ever sends me anything truly excting and my junk filter gets rid of the seedier ones) and seeing who else is online at the OU First Class site, playing solitaire, visiting Club Penguin ...

Then there's thousands of other would-be writers trying to do the same. Yes, we all encourage each other, get excited when they have a success, however small - and that, probably is the real reason why I and most other writers of my acquaintance don't actually write...
We all think everyone else is much better than us.

...and that may not always be the truth. How often have you got to the end of a book and thought 'Well that was a complete waste of a few hours of my life' ?

So, why do some good authors get rejection after rejection, and the bad ones still get printed? Answers, please on a postcard.

And until the right answers come along, I'll keeping writing and revising and printing stuff to send off, and then putting it in the recycling bin.