Thursday 4 December 2008

Squirrels in the snow

We had a dusting of snow yesterday. It was hard to tell if it was a severe frost or snow at times, but it certainly looked pretty and the temperature was minus 1.5C in the sun mid afternoon. We went to Wallington and had the beautiful grounds to our selves. I think we passed only a dozen people in two hours.
We saw this little squirrel foraging like crazy and I have lots of pics of them with heads down and tails up! The National Trust have taken down the feeding stations because they fear they spread the pox that the greys carry, which is good, but it means the little fellows - and they are little - have to work that much harder in this cold hard world.
This is the landscape in which they live. Overnight we've had more snow, and it is snowing as I look out of the window so I'm not going into town for shopping and lunch with a friend as planned. "Half and inch of snow in the UK and chaos ensues on the roads as every one drives as if they are an old-age pensioner" commented someone on the radio this morning, and much as I resent the Old Age Pensioner tag I have to admit it is true.
So it is back to work again. I'm running through Till the Day Go Down (the new title I've given Warden's Bride) before offering it to my publisher. I knew I needed a better title because the heroine never became the bride of a Warden, but it gave me a tag to hang on to until I thought of something better. The next thing is to try my hand at loglines for it. I find it really hard to condense the story down to one sparky sentence. "Confident Harry finds his mission and life endangered when he runs foul of Alina's brutal father. " Doesn't seem like enough, does it?
I have to add that I'm revelling in the ITV3 concentration on historical fiction this week. The Jane Austen films and tv specials are being re-run, and there's a lovely series on Costume Drama running alongside. It is a fascinating compilation of clips from old and new historical dramas from Brideshead to Sharpe via Pride and Prejudice. Wonderful! The only problem is deciding wether to watch The Devil's Whore, a new first showing of the Civil War story about Angelica Fanshaw or Billie Piper's Mansfied Park. What a choice - I opted for Angelica. It's pretty gory in parts, but the cast is good and the story sound.

2 comments:

Linda Banche said...

No show here in Massachusetts yet, although we're supposed to get some this weekend. All the drivers have fits with the first snow here, too.

Your red squirrel looks like our red squirrels. I wonder if they're the same species.

*snip*
Confident Harry finds his mission and life endangered when he runs foul of Alina's brutal father.
*end snip*

Can you put a little more of the historical flavor in the log line? As it stands, I think it sounds like a modern spy story.

Joanna Waugh said...

If you like snow, Jen, come to northwest Indiana! We're on the southern shore of Lake Michigan and get "lake effect" snow all the time! In fact, it's snowing right now and there's already two inches on the ground.
LOL about people driving like pensioners with a dusting of the stuff. They do that here too.
The year I taught my son to drive, I took him out during a really bad snowstorm and made him deal with the rear end sliding out from under him. (rear wheel drive auto) Scared the pants off of the kid but he turned into a terrific winter driver!

More flames on the fire

  Occasionally I check for Book related news and  this morning caught a snippet that sent a shudder through me. It seems Omid Scobie, often ...