Books and beaches

Hardlly looked up from my keyboard this last week, hence the lack of news here on my blog. New books take a lot of time to get just right before they are let loose on the unsuspecting public, and I've been checking and re-checking The Queen's Letters for what I keep telling myself is the last time. This time really is the last!
Finally decided the title is The Queen's Letters; The Scottish Queen Trilogy Book 3

I have some people who are willing to take an ARC (Advance Review Copy) and hopefully they will go on and leave a review for me, and I may send  one off to a few other people in the hope that they will do the same.

Apart from working hard on the book, we had a wonderful morning on the beach at Druridge Bay on Thursday. The beach is gentle and it was a calm day, so Tim dodged in and out of the water and thought it great fun. At SEaton the sand dips sharply into deeper water and he's not keen on that.

And yesterday I was up very early and out in the fields before 9am and it was beautiful. Blue sky from horizon to horizon, warm sunshine and only three people+dog spotted in the distance - easily avoided. The apple tree is still loaded with fruit which seems such a shame. Like the blackberries that went unpicked, it seems the apples will eventualy fall and be eaten by insects and birds. I pocket a couple as I pass, and I think other people do the same, for the lower branches are not so laden as they once were! But I'm surprised the farmer doesn't come with a tractor and take the lot. Apple pie til Easter!

Software and dog poo

My Goodreads pages were such a mess I have deleted the lot yesterday and rejoined. I suppose my pages look very blank right now, but I intend to read the instructions this time before plunging in and duplicating my earlier mistakes. I'm not intuitive about  this sort of thing; I can't look at a screen and see what I need to do - I need precise instructions. It took me ages to get to grips with Calibre - I'm not sure I've actually gripped it yet, but I can do certain things with it, like add a book and convert it from Word to MOBI or EPUB. I had help from a critique partner with that one, which helped enormously.

So this time I shall take Goodreads slowly.

We went to the beach yesterday but it was very busy with families and small children, so it was not a good place to let Tim run and run in case he scared someone by running up to them. He thinks the world is his friend, but so many people are frightened of dogs these days that we have to be very careful. I'd forgotten the schools have broken up for the summer, so the beach will have to wait until September when they're all safely back in school.

I love those winter days, so crisp and clear, when there is hardly anyone there and walking with the wind at your back is so much easier than fighting your way home against it! The waves are spectacular, too. Not so spectacular were two large dogs running over the dunes to the beach where they both crapped and then ran back up to their owners - two women deep in conversation who hadn't even noticed what their dogs had done. Needless to say they didn't "bag it and bin it" as responsible owners do. People like them get the rest of us a bad name. They pull the same trick on the park/playground area close to where we live; if I ever see it happen I point it out and they reluctantly go and remove it. There is a bin and it is emptied regularly so why are some dog owners so darned irresponsible?

A day at the seaside

Yesterday was beautifully warm, even hot, and when today turned out to be the same - you can never be sure in England - we headed out to the beach with a sandwich and a bottle of water.

The weather has been amazingly good so far this year. There wasn't really much of a winter. It was wet and rainy, with mud everywhere, but never really cold. We've had several really lovely days so far and it is only April.

Apart from the fact that we had to almost strangle Tim to stop him dragging us out of the car and onto the beach, it was wonderful. Sunshine, not enough wind to even call it a breeze, but not the stupifying hot days we sometimes get in July and August. Not too many people on the beach, but enough to make it interesting. Most had a dog - if they didn't they had a metal detector. There seems to be a sudden enthusiasm for detectors. We saw four this morning, all on the beach. They may turn up modern coins, but I can't imagine them finding much in the way of ancient artefacts. There has been a series on "detectorists" on tv recently, and it seems to have inspired men to try it. I passed a man with one beeping away in the woods near the castle not so long ago, and asked him if he'd found anything. A few modern coins, he said with a grin. "And some tin cans."

I love taking wellies to the beach as that means I can splodge in the shallows without my feet turning blue or getting wet. It also keeps the sand out of shoes. One thing I remember well from childhood is Clarke's sandals, so hopeless on beaches. Two paces, and the sand seeped in and made lumps and bumps beneath your feet.So uncomfortable you had to stop and empty the sand out, and then start again. The only answer was to take the wretched things off, and then - you've guessed it  - your feet slowly turned blue with cold.
  Tim ran in and out trying to eat the waves but disliking the taste and soon got wet. Didn't deter him though. We walked for a good two hours with a short pause to eat the sandwich I'd made and then turned for home. Now I'm happy to sit at my computer and so dome work, and Tim is asleep behind me. Peace!