Jen Black's Blog, page 19

Doesn't even have a title yet

 It has been a fortnight, and I still have Tim's ashes. 

At first I only peeped inside the smart carrier bag - the kind you might pick up from Bradley Hall Garden & Interior Design shop. Then I couldn't bring myself to look inside the presentation box. Finally I found the bamboo woven package that is surprisingly heavy.

The next step will be to scatter the ashes on his favourite walk. I don't know if dh wants to come with me or not. I know I'm being silly, but that's the way I am. I will get over him. 

We are going out - visited with Prue and Shirley last Tuesday, plus the Lion & the Lamb in the evening, York on Thursday, hairdressers Friday, the Coffee Barn this morning to have coffee with Pat and Alan. We've planned to eat out at the pub again tonight since we were pleased with the new management situation and I might go into town later this week. 

And all the time we are planning a trip to Australia if a) we are accepted as parents (which we are) and b) we can get flights and c) if lockdown doesn't strike again in either country. The garden is getting a lot of pruning, and everything that can be washed is being washed.  My writing life is busy with Amazon Ads and a new book that doesn't even have a title yet. 

Oh, and the good news is I've lost 15lbs since coming back from Ardverekie. I'm sure all those bacon and egg breakfasts piled the weight on!

The empty house

 

We haven't adapted yet. We are keeping busy. It is not often you see me cleaning windows, but it seems to help hide the emptiness of the house.

Went to York on Thursday and I bought two pairs of shoes at Hotter. It seems criminal that we have to go all the way to York now when we used to have a branch in Newcastle. The city was busy and very cold, so we didn't stay much more than two hours. It has gone downmarket since I was there last. Not as attractive as it used to be.

I enjoyed Ardverekie's beach much more!

My hero

I meant to write more about Ardverekie but I got side-tracked.
We travelled home on Friday without problems - we left at 6.32 am precisely in order to beat 
the traffic hold ups in Perth and Edinburgh, and succeeded.  
On Monday we noticed Tim was slowing down on his walk and I slept on the living room 
floor beside him through a very disturbed night.  By 8.30am Tuesday we were at the vet's surgery in Hexham and by 8.45 my beautiful boy had left me. 
We knew he had a tumour but we did not expect him to go downhill so fast, though as Tim the vet said - it's a  good thing. We didn't want him to have a long lingering death. 
He certainly enjoyed  his holiday in Scotland and he loved life. The problem is mine -  I keep expecting to hear him trotting upstairs to pop his head around the door to find me. Now I have to eat all those hard crusts off the toast and throw away the apple cores. He was short of his 9th birthday on New Year's Eve by a couple of months.

Ardverekie continued

 

Entering  at fig. 2, we had the Billiard room on our right (fig 1) and my first impression on walking into Ardverekie House was of death. The entrance hall is a beautiful wood panelled space, but around the edges of the space between ceiling and wall are the heads. Deer skulls, some fully restored with fur and eyes, and all with antlers. When James Ramsden, the millionaire Huddersfield industrialist who built the existing house, went hunting, he aimed his gun at the perfect 12 or 14 point specimen.

Today game is stalked with different priorities in mind. But those heads filled the billiard room as well; many initialled by those who killed them. It took my attention from the full size billiard table and the ancient books and the even more ancient Persian rugs that lie rumpled, torn and wrinkled beneath my feet. They are part of a large collection of Persian rugs kept in the house. I’m happy to report that the others all seemed in better condition.

It is part of the charm of Ardverekie that it is a family home and nothing is behind glass or fenced off by ribbons.

We saw so much and before it becomes a jumble in my mind, and want to retrace my steps. The beautiful wood panelling is now drying out because of the modern central heating but so far I saw signs of damage. We were shown through a door and tucked in the corner off the entrance hall was a wooden bench type toilet with a porcelain bowl. I remember it featured (or one like it) in the tv series with the banker having difficulties getting the loo to flush)

From there we progressed to fig 3, the main hall where we gazed at the stairs almost expecting to see a portrait of Hector MacDonald staring back at us. There isn’t a tartan carpet on the stairs; the tv company put it down and hung tartan curtains at the huge window, but when they left they took carpet and curtains with them.

From there we went into fig 5, the library with its fire and vast numbers of books plus a ladder to access them. The wood panelling made the room dark and by contrast the ladies parlour, fig 4, was much lighter and brighter. , so that they could read and do their needlework. The huge dining room, fig 6, was also dark but I imagine with candlelight and ladies in diamonds and silverware gleaming on the table, it would look magnificent. The table seats 14, but if the guests number only 13, then a teddy bear seated in a baby chair  in the corner window takes his place at table to make up the numbers. A smaller round table in the window is where the family have breakfast when they are in residence. A dumb waiter at the side held pots of jam and tomato ketchup.

Just outside was the “modern” kitchen, fig 7, which did not look that modern to me until we went and found “Lexie’s old kitchen.” A monstrosity! The old sinks have been removed and new washing machines installed, plus a sheet press and iron. The old iron was almost too heavy to lift and the gas iron was a scary thing. I often wondered how Lexie managed her skimpy outfits in the Scottish climate (think heat, cold and midgies!) but the huge black cast iron range was taller than me and probably threw out enough heat to keep her warm.

 

My grand tour

 Tuesday we waited for ages and no one came, so we   took Tim for a walk on the beach, and came back to find maintenance men just  finishing cleaning the chimney. By 11.30 no satellite man had arrived off we went Newtonmore where I did some food shopping at the Co-op. On the way we saw the satellite van heading in the opposite direction, and Bill said that's the fella we were waiting for! We got the shopping done and drove back to Pinewood and there he was, just packing up, having completed the job. We now have a working television, a clean chimney and some wine to drink this evening.

Before that I had my tour of Ardverekie House - ground floor, cellars and grounds including the walled garden. Fascinating and more so because it is still a family home and the family had been in residence so recently the housekeeper was still processing bed sheets and tidying up.  More on that later.

At Ardverekie again.We made 2 stops for Tim, one at St ...

 At Ardverekie again.

We made 2 stops  for Tim, one at St Boswells, and one at Perth, where we gave him a walk and a chance to pee, and arrived at 4.01pm. Access to Pinewood is from 4pm! Swift unloading  and then a walk down to the beach, which seems larger than ever. 

Sadly, dh can't keep up with his 24 hour news because the tv isn't working. Nor could we get a signal to call the maintenance engineer until on Saturday morning we walked down to Gatehouse at the turn off from the main road down the Laggan valley. We made the call there and after a quick run on the beach went back to Pinewood to await the arrival of the engineer.

Two men arrived, which sent Tim into a frenzy, but they could not solve the problem.  Returned with a ladder and while one checked the tv, one checked the satellite dish. Still no joy, and there won't be any until Monday when thy plan to return.

So we set off on a three mile ramble and climbed onto one of the logging roads which you see in the pic.  As we went up the hill we were in full view of the opposite side of the loch, where one white house stood amidst trees. It sounded as if a dog there could see or hear us and barked its head off. Must have annoyed the owners, because it took us quite a while to make it up the steep incline!

Sunday morning and it is raining very gently. I suspect there's a word for it locally. It is possible to walk out and not notice until you get wet. I took Tim down to the beach where all went well until he found a rabbit. I suspect someone had shot it, but t wasn't dead and when he grabbed it, the poor thing squeaked and kicked its back legs. He let go when I insisted, but  he dearly wanted to go back and eat it. He didn't forget it until we were within 100 yards of home. Passed a man with a gun over his arm, so suspect hewas the hunter.

Lurking in the attic

 Back in 1980 I spent nearly three months in America. Its so long ago I'd almost forgotten about it, but the other day I found a bundle of airmail letters - the kind that were folded, stuck down and super light - in a bundle of old university papers that my mother had kept. DH and I seriously considered cleaning out the attic and we made a start, which was how I found these letters. Sad to say, we never finished the task, but I enjoyed reading the letters and I thought I'd record the last one here.

"I am travelling around the great continent of America now in company with Maggie and John. You must excuse the hasty writing but I have to do it before the sun sets, which is imminent, or I shan’t be able to see to write. We are camping in a tent and have stayed at Montreal, Toronto and now just past Buffalo, which is the second largest town in New York state after New York itself.

Montreal was a pleasant, well-bred town, not rowdy and frenetic like the bit of New York I saw nor cool and precise like the bit of Boston I whizzed through. Montreal is set on an island in the middle of two rivers and a canal and has huge sea-going liners gliding past its gates every day. It has a hill in the centre, like Edinburgh, and the city swirls round the foot of Parc Royal Mount in all directions.

Everything in Canada is in French – I expected some French, but not 99.9% French like it is. Some people don’t speak English! The shops look very French, ie chic, and there are cafes in the Old Quarter (Vieule  Quartier!) where everyone sits out and drinks wine on little street balconies. We went into Notre Dame Eglise and found it very beautiful, looking like Notre Dame in Paris, but built here in Montreal in 1889 or some such recent date.

The French influence in driving is apparent, too, for navigating the motorways in and out of the city was hazardous to say the least. The legal limit in the US may be 55mph but here in Canada  its 100kmph and I’m sure they exceed that; I’m  inclined to write-off our correct selection of route 20 out of a handful of criss-crossing intersections taken at speed as due to Madame Luck.

The same thing happened at Toronto. I don’t know yet where the city began or ended. The map I had from Ontario Tourist Information Office just stopped communicating information about 15 miles from the city limits, and we hurled along a huge section of dock-land sub-auto routes with  crossing rail tracks for freight trains,  which regurgitated us smack bang in the middle of Canadian National Exhibition. The number of people collected around this centre was too much for us – used to rural Maine for two and a half months – and we just kept going. I never noticed where Toronto  ended either; one town just faded into another.

 But I noticed Niagara Falls, which we saw today along with  along with a million other tourists. (It is Labour Day, after all, the equivalent of out Bank Holiday). I took some pictures, so I hope they’re alright. We are now heading east again, for Boston this time, where Maggie and I have the offer of a floor for a night with Joanne from Camp Modin.* Then its off to New York on Saturday and then down to Pennsylvania to meet Nancy and her family. Take care, see you soon, about three weeks…"

 *Jewish summer camp in Maine where between university breaks I spent a summer working as Camp Counsellor. Still have vivid memories of swimming and canoeing in the freshwater lake every day and some of the personalities I got to know. Sadly, no pictures survived. Or perhaps they are lurking in another part of the attic.

Predicted trends for self-publishing 2021

 

Spotted this piece floating around the internet, and it seems to be proving pretty accurate.

1: More traditional authors will move to the indie model

Some indies are having major financial success, and the rest of the publishing industry is taking note. Dean Koontz and Patricia Cornwell have signed with Thomas & Mercer. Big publisher corporate mergers means traditional authors will have less negotiating power and at least some will be tempted by the indie path

2: More indie authors will collaborate or consolidate in collectives

From sharing production costs to combining marketing efforts, this is a great way for indies to publish quicker, expand back catalogues, increase output and earnings, not just by combining email lists, but actual books as well to compete on a level above.

3: Authors will benefit from competition in the eBook marketplace between Amazon, Apple, and Google

Amazon is the largest retailer for indies, but in 2020 Apple redesigned its author portal so authors without a Mac could publish to iBooks and Google Play revamped its publishing analytics interface in fall 2020 making it easier for authors to analyse their sales on the platform. Apple and Google are clearly investing in indies in 2021.

4: More platforms fighting for Audio supremacy will benefit
savvy authors

5: COVID-19 will impact book sales in different ways at different times

2020 saw more people turn to books for at-home entertainment and education via digital means and will continue in the first half of 2021. The second half of the year could mark a downturn for eBook sales if vaccination efforts in the US and Europe are successful. This could mean a temporary lull in eBook sales during the “post-Covid re-emergence” phase of our lives.

6: The overall eBook market will continue to grow

Overall industry stats show that upwards of 70% of people who read, still read print and haven’t yet adopted a digital reading. Covid 19 turned more readers to digital in 2020and more readers are joining the digital eBook market in 2021.

7: Authors will see more success with international sales

Authors willing to invest in translation could get a great foothold in this rising European eBook market. The German market first, but the French, Italian and Spanish ones will be catching up quickly.

8: It will be a volatile year for paid advertising

More retailers and brands will spend more marketing dollars in digital channels in 2021. Increased spend and competition will drive up the costs of digital advertising for authors.

9: Email delivery and engagement will become a focus for authors

Email lists become more important and the competition is fierce. Nothing prevents you from letting them know about your latest release. Other marketing channels will suffer in 2021, so email is more important than ever.

10: Authors who write into series, and with big backlists, will win larger pieces of the pie

Writing a series results in more sales, and authors know it. Expect to see more authors writing series, and those who do will see the financial rewards.

 

It's OK, I've got the message.

Patterns in the fields? Do passwords give you a headache?

They do me. I thought I'd give spoken books (not a brand name!) a whirl and joined as a trial member. I spent a couple of hours trying to download the chosen volume. I was asked for my password every time I tried to download and each time they told me the password I had just entered was incorrect. After the fourth attempt  I gave up,  only to discover (eventually) that my ipad was not of a generation that could play spoken books.

 I don't want to sit at my pc or laptop and listen. I wanted to snuggle up in bed with my ipad and earplugs and listen to a bedtime story. Since my ipad won't play ball, I had wasted my time and decided to cancel the brand new membership and reclaim the whole 99p I had spent (!). 

Seriously, the 99p was not important, but I did not want to end up paying £7.99 a month if I did not cancel. Of course, you can guess what happened. Before I could contact anyone to cancel, I had to enter my password, didn't I? Incorrect, they said, over and over again. There is nothing more infuriating than a computer that tells you your password is incorrect. I had to input a new password twice, get it verified, purified, clarified or whatever the term is, and after three unsuccessful attempts, managed to get a new password accepted.  Then and only then, could I cancel the membership. 

It's OK, I've got the message. Spoken books are not for me.

Bitten!

 I've never had to worry about getting bitten in this country before, but his year I've been bitten twice in the last fortnight. (I'm discounting the notorious Scottish midgie) 

But I have been bitten twice in the last fortnight.

It is happening when I walk my dog. The first offender was definitely a tick,  expertly removed with the correct tweezers by my husband. We are not sure what bit me this time, and I can't really see the bite area as it is at the back of my knee, but we are "keeping an eye on it" as they say. Drenched the spot in TCP, so I smell a little clinical this morning. I was wearing wellies and thick fleecy trousers on both occasions, too, but I must take care not to walk through long grass or I suspect it will happen again.

It must be another effect of climate change. I'm looking forward to autumn when the insect population seems to disappear in these regions.