Catching Up!

This week has flown by and I missed both Wednesday and Friday posts. Several reasons - watching the tennis at Roland Garros, receiving my first cheques from Amazon for sales since my first self-published title in October 2011 and, of course, banking it!
Then the four day celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - so much to watch on tv! At the beginning of the week we had the living room emptied while dh painted it, but we managed to finish it before having people in on Wednesday night after a lovely meal at Caffe Vivo on the Quayside in Newcastle.
Yesterday I put FAIR BORDER BRIDE up for free for a day on Amazon Kindle and almost 1200 people downloaded it - 1 in Spain, 2 in France, 24 in Germany and the rest split between the UK and the US, with the bullk in the US. One day I might reach Italy, too!
I have an equally busy week coming up. A walk with a friend either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on whcih is the better day weather-wise, a hair appointment and the usual mundane grocery shopping. Thursday and Friday will be taken up with Border Reivers activities. Orion author Jean Fullerton is coming from the deep south (London!) to talk to us about various topics to do with writing, which promises to be entertaining as well as instructive. We're planning a BBQ on Thursday night to welcome her, and the meeting is on Friday.

Street Parties

I don't think anyone in the UK will be reading blogs much this weekend because the nation is thinking in terms of A Giant Street Party. We're having one in our cul-de-sac, and I have a Pavlova to make for Sunday. It will be on the red, white and blue theme - cream, strawberries and blueberries! The Street Parties started as a celebration for the end of the First World War and now seem to have taken hold of people's imagination. The Queen has reigned for 60 years and that is something special. The last one was for Queen Victoria in 1897, 115 years ago, so not exactly in living memory. Until this year, that was the only diamond jubilee in recorded history of England, and no one alive today is likely to see another one. (If Prince William took up the crown tomorrow, he'd be 90 by the time he'd reigned 60 years. The odds on that happening are not great!)

So there will be food, drink, games, and quizzes out on the street on Sunday. Most of the neighbours, adults and children, will join in, and people come and go all the time. The last one was for the marriage of William and Kate, and the weather was rather on the chilly side. The weather forecast for Sunday has the north of England in sunshine, but the south has a blanket of blue across it  - but these forecasts are often wrong!