Friday, October 17, 2008

Chit chat
Aside

Did you read about Fatboy – the moorland pony who gorged himself on rotten apples which were fermenting, got a bit squiffy and fell in a neighbour’s swimming pool? The pool owner awoke to a resounding splash, went to investigate and thought the Beast of Bodmin was in her pool. It took the Fire Brigade two hours to rescue Fatboy with the help of harnesses and straw steps. It seems drunkenness and obesity abounds in the UK but at least his fat helped to protect Fatboy from suffering from exposure. It reminded me of when we had a cottage by the canal in Yorkshire and a small blonde boy with glasses used to ride a white horse - we dubbed him ‘The Milky Bar kid’. We were astounded to hear both boy and horse had fallen in the canal but maybe it was those dratted apples again. Happily they were rescued without ill effect.


I haven’t done any work on my book for weeks but Araind Adiga says discipline is the thing and writes each day from 5am to 7am because that it is the only time it is quiet in New Delhi where he lives. He knows what he’s talking about as his book ‘The White Tiger’ has just won the Man Booker Prize – so it’s nose to the grind-stone for me.


It seems so quiet now having just had two days of tree loppers and hedge cutters. We can see the church tower again and are looking pretty immaculate. A neighbour remarked she was sad to see the profuse hanging fuchsia gone, which was completely blocking one entrance, but we know very well that it will be back again all too soon, it’s that kind of garden.


We had our flu jabs yesterday so if you fit the category don’t forget - it does seem to work. We have our French family coming over in a week’s time so I must try to get the inside of the house to match the outside. I’m going to be busy


P.S. It is early but I find I have just mistakenly published this on Story teller’s Blog. I think I have deleted it and will now try again.

20 comments:

Annie Wan said...

i think it was victor hugo who was another disciplined writer (unless i've muddled him up with another) who wrote standing up at a lectern for hours at a time

Ms Scarlet said...

I may have been dreaming, but I'm sure I read recently that scientists are now blaming pesticides for the increase of obesity. Apparently the pesticides have been altering genes and making it more difficult for people to lose weight. As I said I may have been dreaming!

Yes, discipline - something I'm lacking! Erm . . . I should be doing something shouldn't I?!

Sx

kenju said...

Oh, the poor pony! He must have been surprised when he fell in the pool!


Thanks for the visit; a chuppah is a structure that Jewish people get married under. It symbolizes the home they are creating together (I think).

I deleted the spam comments in the Asian language. I get them periodically.

Kim Ayres said...

It looks like it was posted on the Storytellers blog, but has been removed :)

Meanwhile it's easy enough to see how cider was invented then :)

Pat said...

mei del: that's almost as bad as kneeling on peas. I need to be comfortable but I used to face a window and that is too distracting. Also I can't think with the radio on.

Scarlet: the last thing we need is another excuse for obesity but I hate the thought of pesticides getting in the food chain. Then again I don't fancy the pests. I think if one can make oneself sit and write every day - that's discipline enough:) Just done another chapter.

Pat said...

Judy: thank for the info. I thought it had a Jewish ring -no pun intended.

Kim: yes I clicked the wrong blog - they are both in my Dashboard. Silly me! Deleted now.

granny p said...

Trying to catch up with all your adventures Pat. Walking with Ian B - and Alastair Darling - and now this. Poor Fatboy...glad they rescued him. And fuschia will ALWAYS come back. x

Anonymous said...

It is the same problem as Newton met ( (kg x m) / s2. ) !

Because the weight is a measure of the strength between two objects owed to the gravity, the newton is also a weighty measure, valid in a given place.
By a pleasant coincidence, the weight of the apple which according to the legend inspired Newton ...

That the nature is far-sighted ! She grows apples in Normandy knowing that the natives of this province drink only some cider.

Your French family comes !

I am thus going to have to send to you messages of best regards full of poem ?? En français :)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I think it is wonderful that your family, French and otherwise, visit as often as they do....! I know you and Your MTL must look so forward to these lovely sweet visits.

I had not heard about that Pony and the apples and the alcohol...!
AMAZING, though rather Amusing, too..It would not be so funny if they had NOT been unable to save him, poor dear.

Isn't it WONDERFUL to have that Haircut for your Garden...It makes such a difference, doesn't it? The only thing is---as you said---it will all grow back, soon enough!

Eryl Shields said...

Ah, discipline! If I have something I'm working on, I work on it non-stop (8, 10, even 16 hours a day), though my mind wanders. A friend of mine wears ear defenders while she writes because she knows how easily distracted she is. I need deadlines, and they need to come from outside myself, so I can't set them, I need someone cracking the whip! Or, at least, I need to know I'll disappoint someone if I don't get it done.

apprentice said...

What lovely stories Pat. I rember seeing an African film about drunken elephants and hippos would gorged on fermented fruit, it was very funny to watch.

I have a glut of grapes and the greenhouse is start9ng to smell like a vineyard - where's a pony when you need one?

Good luck with the writing.

Pat said...

GrannyP: glad you're back. More trailing behind Ian than walking with him:)

Crabtree: our Somerset cider is rather good also but I remember in Normandy after drinking Calvados - delightful - and playing boule my son and I got locked out of our hotel - inadvertantly. It is in the archives March 25th 2008 'A pleasant surprise.' an experience not to be forgotten in n hurry:)
I look forward to the poem.

Pat said...

Naomi: sometimes I think we must be crazy spending all that money on garden haircuts. At least I try to do the lawn myself. But the result is worth it and if we choose to live here we must look after it.
I remember - way back - writing about badgers who got drunk on some fruit or other but they just slept it off:)

Pat said...

Anna: I wonder if you are bottling it? The grapes I mean.
Thanks for the best wishes:)

Anonymous said...

My dad was driving out on a country road to my granny's house one very snowy winter's night. He knows the road well and so he slowed the car when he saw a snow-covered hump he didn't recognize by the side of the road. He stopped, got out and began digging the snow to see what was underneath. It was his cousin - our old biology teacher. He had been drinking, as was his very strong habit, in a house up the road and had tried to walk home. Instead he fell and passed out by the ditch at the side of the road.

My dad said he must have been there for hours because there was a whole lot of fresh snow on top of him.

Pat said...

Sam: well done your dad. You could very well have been cousinless - once removed?

Anonymous said...

There ain't no further remove than the veil!

He was a second cousin - but it's hard to keep track in Lewis.

Pat said...

Sam: MTL is the expert on distant relative's status - if that's the right word. Nomenclature?

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Fatboy reminds me of the squirrels in my cousin's garden in Seattle. They ate the fermented bird seeds and got very happy!

Your writing slow down reminds me of something I read, I think it was Anais Nin who said, There is a resistance to writing. It's the writer's plague, this resistance. I have to force myself. I am sending you lots of vibes to get you going, Pat.

Pat said...

GG: they're working and I'm going great guns just now - just have to keep it going whilst the family are here.