We are leaving!

Early morning in France

 Sunshine all week since 21st March. 

Hard to believe of mid-March!

I began weeding the first fine day and now I am continuing because we have made the happy discovery that since Perla has a Spanish passport she is free to travel anywhere in the EU. This is one of the unexpected perks of taking on a rescue dog from Save a Spanish Spot. 

All her medications and shots are listed for the last ten years, and her rabies shot is up to date and valid until October 22nd this year. We have been advised to get the rabies shot updated while we are in France, as that means her passport remains valid and she can keep travelling. It will cost less in France than it would in England. Perla has been Drontalled today and I am going to book her a bath (a proper one with a groomer!) a day or two before we set off. It will be nice to have a sweet smelling dog in the car with us for two days. It is a 16 hour journey door to door and we do it with one overnight stop in Abbeville where the Ibis accepts dogs - even in the restaurant.

We plan to leave for France mid April and will return when we feel we want to. So now I am vindicated in having done all that weeding. I shall continue with the rest of the garden so that when we do return, the place will not be overgrown. It might not be warm enough for swimming in April, but if the weather in France has been anything like England, then it may be warmer than we expect!

Going to get used to it again

 Back breaking days in the garden are here again.

Not that I do anything more strenuous than weeding. you understand. Its the stretching that does it. The muscles have hibernated all winter and now I want them to stretch in all sorts of odd positions and they don't like it. Too bad, muscles. You are going to have to get used to it again.

Three days of brilliant sunshine had us contemplating sitting out on the patio for dinner this evening, but then common sense prevailed. The sun may be exceptionally warm for Mid March but after four o'clock everything cools down very quickly. We had frost this morning and the temperature was forecast to drop to -1 overnight. Summer is not actually here yet, however much it feels like it at mid day.

Publication Day

 The Elsdon Affair hits the market today (16th March, 2022) in e-book format.

When a handsome stranger knocks her off her feet, Rose Brewster is dazzled and curious…handsome flirt Archie has already stolen her eldest cousin's heart along with jewellery from their neighbours, and he has an uncanny knack of disappearing…can such a man be trusted?

When her parents threaten marriage to an elderly peer, Rose’s fine principles vanish like smoke in the wind across the moors of Northumberland…she may have found herself a young husband.

Harry Stewart visits his cousins and shocks Rose with his likeness to Archie … dazzled by them both she finds Harry has secrets of his own and knows that a lifetime of happiness and passion awaits a good decision. Do nothing and disaster awaits with the wrong partner and the risks are unthinkable. How will she decide?

The Elsdon Affair UK : https://tinyurl.com/2p8dfu36

US: https://tinyurl.com/3kyys7fs

If you love Regency Romances, then this is for you!

Involving a deer leg

 It is a fine, bright day and I am going to take Perla to the exercise park where she can be off-lead but safely enclosed.

I always knew Tim would never run away from me - not unless we were in France and a deer leg was involved, and even then he would dodge by me and run home to the mill with it in his mouth absolutely delighted with his prize.

 Occasionally he found a deer leg here at home on one of our walks, but I managed to get it off him before he ran. Poachers don't clear up after themselves but leave the bits they and their dogs don't want lying in the fields to make gruesome finds for dog walkers.

But with Perla I am not sure. We are heading toward three weeks together (tomorrow) and if she gets a good strong scent of anything I am scared she will take off after it. There are so many woods, fields and main roads around here that she could be lost within seconds. So I shall test her recall in an enclosed place and see how well she responds.

It is approaching crunch point with the new book too. Publication day is Wednesday 16th March, and I have to upload the final, final version to Kindle by midnight on Saturday 12th. It is on pre-order now ~

https://tinyurl.com/yw5p4vzh so click on the link and order it now!

"When a handsome stranger knocks her off her feet, Rose Brewster is dazzled and curious…handsome flirt Archie has already stolen her eldest cousin's heart along with jewellery from their neighbours, and he has an uncanny knack of disappearing…can such a man be trusted?

When her parents threaten marriage to an elderly peer, Rose’s fine principles vanish like smoke in the wind across the moors of Northumberland…she may have found herself a young husband.

Harry Stewart visits his cousins and shocks Rose with his likeness to Archie … dazzled by them both she finds Harry has secrets of his own and knows that a lifetime of happiness and passion awaits a good decision. Do nothing and disaster awaits with the wrong partner and the risks are unthinkable. How will she decide?"

Clandestine relative

 

Perla is getting brighter (and hungrier) by the day. My elderly Spanish rescue enjoys her walks, her meals and is beginning to enjoy cuddles. Scratching behind the ears was allowed from day one, but I was obviously a stranger and cuddles were a step too far. It is good to see her relaxing into our home and oh so tentatively leaning against me, or coming to find me when she wakes on a morning.

As for my new book - I have edited on the screen several times, edited a print out and now have the last two chapters to do on a computer voice read through. It is true what they say - I am still finding errors. I am still convinced that as I correct one mistake, formatting creates another further down the page.

I am aiming for publication in March, sometime around the 16th. An announcement will come soon!

As a Christmas present I got  My Heritage done via Ancestry. The result says all my results are 60% English, 20% Scottish, Welsh or Irish and 16% Italian and 5% East European. Maybe the Italian connection explains the Italian violin my grandfather took as payment for a drink one night back in the 1800s! Perhaps I have a clandestine Italian grandfather though I rather doubt it.
I constantly get notes from My Heritage claiming they have discovered  somebody with whom I share "0.5% shared DNA (34.5‎ cM) suggests the following estimated relationships:

3rd - 5th cousin"

I cannot even work out how far from me a 3rd cousin would be, never mind a 5th cousin.