Liz Fenwick's Blog, page 16

Kate Harrison - One Thing I've Learnt

One Thing I’ve Learnt ... is that you never stop learning






I hated school. From an early age, I was allergic to authority, royal blue blazers and sub-zero PE lessons.  I couldn’t wait to get out.




Which is why it’s been a surprise to find out I love learning. I don’t mean Physics or Trigonometry. No matter how many A*s you have, certain mysteries remain: the opposite sex, the meaning of life and why anyone laughs at Last of the Summer Wine.




That’s why I became a reader and then a writer: to try to make sense of other people. Putting myself in the shoes of a vengeful colleague, a war-scarred reporter or a bossy Brown Owl has taught me more about people than a psychology textbook.   




Not that I’m against textbooks. I’ve written ten novels now – well over a million published words – but I can’t resist the latest ‘how to’ book. I love to read how other authors write five thousand words before breakfast, or the latest theory that story-telling is buried deep in our DNA.




And then there’s the practical stuff. I’m learning to sew (though girls-only Domestic Science classes instilled a fear of the sewing machine that’s taken two decades to overcome). On my kitchen counter,  there are three noxious-smelling jars of gloop that I still hope might eventually turn into sourdough bread.




My curiosity even drove me to spend an entire week doing military style PT training for my new novel. The Boot Camp. I only remembered how much I hate organised exercise when I was ordered to do twenty push-ups on wet sand. Still, it’s all a learning experience, right?











The best people are those who never stop asking why.  So if you’re also afflicted by an insatiable curiosity, join the after-school club. It’s a lot more fun than Trigonometry.




http://kate-harrison.com/ 




Kate's next novel is available 2nd August 2012 - The Boot Camp




Five women with one goal: to feel like a million dollars for the first time in their lives. They have nothing to lose but their muffin tops!

Susie Vereker - One Thing I've Learnt

A few things I've learnt about gardening.






It's difficult keeping up a garden in England if you're an
expat and I made several mistakes in the beginning when I was young and
green. For instance, initially I didn't realise ground elder was a weed
and let it rampage.  In the TV gardening programmes the presenter often
starts with a bare plot (with amazingly good soil) but in real life it's often
a question of trying to get to grips with a wild old garden. Seek early advice
from an experienced gardener and if in doubt, rip out.




A few more tips. Spend money on keeping large hedges under
control from the beginning (we didn’t).  Crucial:
right plant, right place. No point in buying delicate plants that hate chalk if
you live in a chalky frost pocket. If you don’t know what will thrive, look at
your neighbour’s garden. 




Last vital piece of advice: never, ever plant arum italicum,
however pretty its leaves, & even if you see it in the smartest garden
centre.  Its tiny bulbs spread like triffids.  You think you’ve burnt it, but next year up it
comes, all around the bonfire, all over everywhere.






http://susievereker.blogspot.com/

Helen Redfern - One Thing I've Learnt

In the past few months I've learnt so many things. I've learnt that it is stressful putting your family home up for sale. I've learnt if you clear all the books and paper out of your office it makes it look bigger. And I've learnt that my writing mind just disappears when I've got a lot on in real life. Making you question whether you're a real writer at all.




It took me a while to learn that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you have a few weeks off writing because you're dealing with estate agents, solicitors and banks. It doesn't matter if you can't write because all you can think about is houses, new schools and what on earth do I do with an aga.




Writing has been my saviour when struggling with inner demons. It has given me purpose and structure to my day. It has given me an escape. It has provided me with new friends. But mostly it has given me enjoyment and a feeling of achievement. 






When writing isn't an enjoyment because real life is intruding, and I'm just staring at the keyboard or mindlessly surfing the web, then it's ok to take a walk. Soak up the sounds of the birds singing, observe the way the river looks after a heavy period of rain. Walk through the town and listen to voices. Real life dramas being replayed in front of you whilst you sip a cup of coffee.




And guess what? Now I've learnt all of that I feel I can write again. I feel I've given myself permission to worry about other stuff but now I want to open my notebooks and pull out my special pen.




Yes, writers do write. But maybe not whilst selling their family home.




Helen Redfern

http://afeastoffemalefiction.com/

http://helenredfern.com/

Penelope Overton - One (or in this case ten) I've Learnt

Ten
things I’ve learned in the last ten days in one hundred

words:




1.  The most beautiful tulips grow in my garden.




2. It can make you
more sad to see old friends than not seeing them at all.




3.  When a builder tells you another three weeks, he means six.




4. That digging a pond
is easier than it looks when someone else does it.




5. People will take
anything if you leave it outside labelled help
yourself.




6. The cat is not as clever
as we thought.




7. Rescue Remedy® works, most of the time.




8. A hosepipe ban
makes you look at rain differently.




9.  Talking to an American, it’s sometimes easier
to use their vocabulary.




10.  Tulips can smile.

Christine Moriarty - One Things I've Learnt

One of the things I learned is …the importance of the contrast of the old and the new. 

Be open to:      New Ideas

 New Friendships

 New Experiences




Life is full and passing judgment without being open, keeps your world small and leads  to an unfulfilling life. 




Humans are drawn to the newness – it refreshes our soul and keeps life interesting. 

With each new experience and exposure to new ideas we are enriched with knowledge and wisdom - valuable tools on our journey. However the brilliance of the new need never outshine the old.




We need comfort to relax.  Contentment is also good for the soul.

Our long term friends may not cross our lives everyday – or even every year.  Yet, in those bonding experiences of childhood, college or growing up, we resonated with them because of the new experiences and ideas. Remember them on your journey now.  Nothing can be as comfortable as a deep reconnection – No matter how fleeting. Nor can any experience offer such perspective.




The Girl Scout in me who learned the song “Make new friends and keep the old.  One is silver and the other is gold.”  I have found this time honored advice.




Be open to the new 

Save time to treasure the old.

Looking back, knowing far you have come while appreciating where you are going is the touchstone of a fulfilled life.









Christine on the left and Liz on the far right







Make New Friends




Make new friends,

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold.
A circle is round,

it has no end.

That's how long,

I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright, 

it warms the heart.

We've been friends,

from the very start.

You have one hand,

I have the other.

Put them together,

We have each other.

Silver is precious, 

Gold is too.

I am precious,

and so are you.

You help me, 

and I'll help you 

and together

we will see it through.

The sky is blue

The Earth is green

I can help

to keep it clean

Across the land

Across the sea

Friends forever

We will always be








Choose Consciously, Plan Attentively, Live Peacefully

www.moneypeace.com

Eileen Ramsay - One Thing I've Learnt

In all these years I should have learned something!

One can learn a great deal about being a decent human being by living with a dog. Dogs hold no grudges.  They are unbelievably patient – I say this as I watch our baby granddaughter launch herself across our Chocolate Labrador as he obligingly lies motionless.  A dog’s love is total and his sense of duty unparalleled.  When the family is gathered or we have guests in the house, Dougal will not rest for the night until he has checked every bedroom – sometimes to the consternation of its occupants.

Here he is taking me out for a walk in the snow, and yes, I still have a lot to learn from him.

http://www.eileenramsay.co.uk/

Kate Lord Brown - One Thing I've Learnt

ONE THING I’VE LEARNT is the truth in Ionesco’s statement that: 'A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.' If you haven’t played around with http://www.wordle.net/ and made a word cloud of your blog or website, it’s an interesting way to see the topics and themes that you are thinking, and writing about. Why not try making a cloud yourself and see if any words or themes strike a chord with you? The titles of my books jump out to me: Beauty Chorus, Perfume Garden. But also: heart, life, family. I’ve always liked Stephen King’s advice that art is a support system for life – not the other way around. For me, they go hand in hand. That’s what I’ve learnt in the fifteen years I’ve been writing seriously – writing is not a hobby, or a job, it’s a way of life.  





www.katelordbrown.com

Victoria Connelly -One Thing I've Learnt

Victoria and Dolly Claire


Last year, we rescued four ex-battery chickens and I soon learned that the term “pecking order” is a very real phenomenon and it can be painful to see it in action.  In short, it’s how the flock establishes its hierarchy – with beaks! 

Dotty the hen soon took top position with poor little Dolly bringing up the rear.  But the worst-behaved hen – the hen with the most vicious beak - was the one placed in penultimate position.  For a while, this position belonged to Alice.  She would take a hammering from the two hens above her – Dotty and Minnie – and would then pass it on to Dolly.  Dolly was the only one below her – the one hen she could dominate – and she took all her frustration out on her.

Sadly, Dolly was the first hen we lost and so Alice is now the bottom of the pecking order and it’s Minnie’s turn to be the penultimate bird and, sure enough, she passes on all the grief she gets from Dotty onto poor Alice.

In April, we added three more hens to our flock so the pecking order will no doubt shift and perhaps some other hen will take its turn at the bottom of the pile.

www.victoriaconnelly.com Latest book: The Runaway Actress, HarperCollins – a romantic comedy about a movie star who swaps Hollywood for the Highlands.

Nell Dixon - One Thing I've Learnt

One thing I've learnt. I lead a busy life. I have three teenage daughters, a husband who works shifts and has a chronic debillitating illness. I myself am semi-disabled thanks to a dodgy left hip and chronic osteo arthritis. I work for a disabled peoples charity and do voluntary work within my community in addition to my writing.So what I've learnt is that in order to keep doing all the things I love to do and need to do - care for my family, friends and neighbours, be a good employee and write my books, I have to take care of me. Sometimes that means being a bit selfish and difficult though it is I am trying to learn to say 'NO'. (Although that one is a bit tough)Mr Nell, my dh makes me take time out and one of the ways we do that is by going away for a few days in our touring caravan. Quite often we don't go far or for very long but it gives us time to breathe. My favourite places are my beloved Wales or down to Devon and Cornwall.Sometimes, too it ends up being good research for a book! (But don't tell Mr Nell!)

http://www.nelldixon.com/home.aspx

Julia Williams - One Thing I've Learnt

Julia, aged 18
As a teenager, I was typically awkward and lacking in confidence. Wearing NHS specs, and being a girly swot didn’t help. My mother used to say: “You’re no better or worse then anyone else.” ie. Don’t waste time comparing yourself to others. It took me YEARS to see she was right.



But one day, while at university, I met an old school friend. I say friend. I had admired her from afar throughout my school days, assuming she would never be interested in me. To my astonishment I discovered that far from being in control and confident as I had fondly imagined, she had gone through the same wretched self hating process that I had.





Julia and her twin sister
It was then that I realised that it’s the same for everyone. No matter how old we are. No matter how we project ourselves: with confidence or without. We are all at heart that same scared unconfident teen. Discovering this was liberating, and gave me a confidence I’d hitherto lacked.



Julia and her best friends c 1982
Now I tell my girls when they stress about friends being prettier, cleverer, more popular, that it’s the same for them too.



I don’t expect they’ll believe me till they’re grown up, either.



www.juliawilliamsauthor.com

http://maniacmum.blogspot.com