Changing Weather

So the first month of the New Year has passed. Pearl is no longer in season, which is good news, but the weather has changed with it raining most days.  This would not be too bad as I can time my walks with Pearl to coincide with the dry weather between the showers.  However there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about Pearl getting wet and dirty.  Even if it is not actually raining her stomach gets filthy from the soggy ground.  Long walks are off the agenda.
Before we can go into the house I have to wash her down and rub her dry. I then try to get her to shake. She usually does. Then it takes a while for her to dry off.


Fortunately it is still possible for Pearl and I to play with her Frisbee. She loves this and does not get too dirty.

Now that the nights are getting shorter it seems feasible to start going out in the motorhome.  I have to say I am not very enthusiastic about getting the van ready to go out.

I hope the weather improves for next week.  We shall see.  I will not make the final decision until later on when the weather forecast will be more accurate.

At Last

It is a whole month since my last post this despite a New Year's Resolution to do a weekly post. The reason for breaking my resolution so quickly is I hope entirely excusable. I caught a horrid cold from the family. I tried to minimize its effects by staying in bed and all the usual things. To no avail. Not only did it get worse but I ended up with a horrid chest infection that required serious medication. I was house bound and actually felt lousy. Only this past week have I felt better. My loss of appetite and incapacity put a speedy end to all activities and resolutions. I am now slowly building up my fitness and resuming a normal life if there is such a thing. Hence this new post.


Today is really really cold so I don't feel much inclined to take the dog out unlike the past few days when the weather has been fresh but sunny. Ideal walking conditions. In the morning as I walk down the lane and out into the fields it has been just glorious. A wonderful start to the day and makes me feel good despite how ever I feel on waking and leaving the house.

An additional problem I have had walking Pearl this past week is that she is in season so I have to be very careful which dogs we meet. I have to pick the the time and place when we are least likely to meet other dogs. Tricky. Not long now before her season finishes and we can walk wherever we fancy.

So now a new New Year's Resolution. I have lots planned over the next few weeks so hopefully I will be able to keep to it this time.

Walking

Somehow when I am at home and especially now over the Christmas period, though I take the dog out regularly each day, often meeting up with her friends, going for really long walks with her, tramping over the countryside and clambering over stiles, is not a regular occurrence. There seems to be so many calls on my time, being out and about and enjoying the countryside gets pushed way down the list of priorities.

There are some lovely walks around here.  I do remember going on several, after Ruby died, with only Amber.  Somehow these  long quiet walks with just me gave Amber a serene contentment which in turn enhanced my enjoyment and made the memory of these walks special.
I so wanted to have a photograph of Amber
and me walking the countryside. I found this very difficult. On one of our outings in the van I stumbled across a man taking macro photos (photographs of insects and other small things.) Anyway I asked him to take a photograph of us. Little did I realize this would be the only one I would have of Amber and me. It is not the best photograph but it has a special poignancy for me.




During my expedition to Luxembourg and Switzerland with Pearl this summer (2016) we, or rather I, managed to do several mountain walks. It was just "fab-u-lous" as a certain TV celebrity would say,  Since then I have wanted to do regular long walks.



I thought the ideal would be putting aside one day every month or so for a new and different walk locally. Well over this holiday period I have managed not one but two extended walks.  The first was delivering Christmas cards in the surrounding area. It was a lovely sunny day so I meandered about ending up at our local shopping complex.  In the short time since my excursion to Switzerland I have become unfit as this gentle amble exhausted me. Time to reinstate my daily fitness workout in preparation for the summer jaunts.
The second walk was the usual Boxing Day outing to the pub in the next village. This time I was accompanied by a friend. On the way across the fields we saw a group of men clay pigeon shooting. It was just as well I was wearing my hi-vis jacket. The pub was full of people and dogs. Very lively.  We had a couple of drinks and then took the shortest route home along the bridle path. Then we had some food.  A wonderful day and the weather was bright though the dog did get dirty as the ground was soggy.

Writing Articles

The  photograph shows me with the book I have written  title "My Friend Ruby".  It is about my dog  Ruby and how she changed my life.  With me in the photograph is Pearl who is Ruby's great grand daughter.


This is not the only writing I have done recently. I have just completed a series of monthly articles published in MMM (Motorhome Monthly Magazine) called "Wonderful Walks which ran during 2016. These articles gave detailed instructions of 2 walks starting right from the campsite. Writing to the strict specifications of the magazine was difficult but extremely rewarding.

From the outset before I even did my research there was a list of criteria.

• The campsites had to be all over the UK; - 2 in Scotland, Wales, North West,and the South West. The remaining 5 could be anywhere else.
• I had to use some Premier campsites as they are linked to the magazine.
• There were to be two walks from each campsite;- a short one of abut 5 miles and a long one of about 8 miles.
• Each campsite and the 2 walks from it  had to have an introduction of about 600 words to encourage the readers visit and possibly do the walks.

2015 was spent going to the campsites and researching the information for the articles. Several of the sites I already knew and had an idea of the walks. Some were entirely new to me. I had many adventures and sometimes I had to go back to the campsite to adjust the information. I really enjoyed going to the different campsites and doing the walks. 

Collating everything to send to the editor was far more complicated and time consuming than I had imagined. The first article took ages and several attempts before it was accepted. After a couple of months I had a template and found it easier and quicker to prepare everything. 

I would like to do more of this.

Writing my Book

I restarted this blog as a result of the success of my writing efforts over the past months.

My first achievement I mentioned in the previous post the writing of my book "My Friend  Ruby". It has been an enormous learning curve. The actual writing of the book was in fact the easy part. All the problems came afterwards.

The first problem was getting the manuscript published.  The normal procedure is to find an agent who then presents the manuscript to various publishers. Hopefully one of these publishers will agree to publish the manuscript.  This can take a long time, sometimes years (This is what happened with J K Rowling. It was several years before her agent found a publisher willing to actually print and distribute her first book).

I did not want to go down this route as I was unwilling to wait years to see my manuscript become a book.  Also it was highly probable the manuscript would never make it into print as it is a very niche genre.

In this technological age there is now another option for authors.  That is for them to "self publish", which as the name implies is when author turns their manuscripts into a book. Of course this means they also take on all the financial costs.

This was my second problem. I knew nothing about the self-publishing industry. Although I was publishing the book myself I still wanted it to look professional. Anyway to cut a long story short (if I can!!) after researching on the internet, attending various courses and conferences I finally decided to use Silverwood Books to help me through the process. http://www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/

The deciding factor in choosing this company over all the others;- they are based in Bristol. If I ever had the need to actually see them face to face I don't have far to go.
They have been fantastic and the book looks fabulous.                      


My third problem is probably the biggest.  Because I have self published it I am therefore responsible for marketing it. This is not especially difficult, it is soooooo time consuming. There is the need to increase my presence on the internet; get the book noticed by booksellers both real and in the cloud; find a way to get my book distributed etc.

The real dilemma of the whole marketing system for self publishers is

1. Do you want to sell your books?
2. Do you want a decent return on your financial investment.

If the self published author sells a books they keep the whole amount.

If a bookseller sells it ,the author only gets royalty which is only a fraction of the charge possibly if they are lucky £1.00.

If the book is sold through Amazon the royalty can be as little as 1p.

Amazon may be popular for the buyers but it is dreadful for authors.  Please consider this the next time you are thinking of buying a book. 

Instead can you buy it through the website of the author or directly through the website of a bookseller or even can you pop down to your local independent book shop to purchase it.  You may see something else that you are tempted to buy. If we stop using our book shops and libraries they will all disappear then we will have even less choice

You can buy my book from my website www.annachelmicka.me.  

It is dearer than Amazon BUT no postage makes it cheaper!!!!!!!!

Return

After a long period without posting I have returned. Several reasons for this. Chiefly as mentioned in my last post my wonderful dog Ruby became very ill and I had to have her put down. The jottings I began eventually became a book which I self-published called "My Friend Ruby". This took a great deal of time and effort but was worth it. I am now busy marketing this book.

I have managed to change this blog to my new email address. Felt like a detective trying to find the solution from the clues scattered about.

Tonight it is wet, dark and generally miserable.  An evening to stay in and curl up in front of a fire not  a time to be out in a motorhome. Also there is not enough daylight time to  walk in the quiet leisurely manner that I so enjoy.

I do dislike this time of year. Even the simple task of walking the dog is not so pleasant; not because of the rain but because if I want to take the dog out in daylight I need to be out about 3o'clock in the afternoon.

We are slowly moving towards the shortest day and then I can think about going out in my motorhome again.

Break

Well look at that it is over a year since my last post.
A great deal has happened since then that has had a profound impact

a. My travelling about in my motorhome.
b.My updating of this blog and my website.
c. Writing articles to submit for publication.

My wonderful dog Ruby became very ill.


Ruby taking a break.

Just about a year ago she beecame so ill we had her put to sleep.

She was special to me. 

Since then I have been writing about her.

That has taken all of my spare time hence no blog update. 



Where does the time go?

After the last post I was anticipating doing another one with days. I see from the date that more than 2 weeks have passed. What a lot has happened in that time:

• The discovery I made just prior to leaving the campsite was that I had a leak from the sink. Water came out under the fridge.
• The good news was that the van started after the 4 days away without any problem.
• Because of the leak I decided to have a habitation check. Mike had a slot come up unexpectedly so has already done it. The pipe from the plug hole in the sink had come adrift - hence my leak. As I suspected the fridge was faulty. He fixed that.
• I booked a photography course at Huntingdon so have been up there for a few days.
• The weather is brightening. In fact we have had one or two really nice days though the wind keeps the temperature low.

Hope that it is not so long before my next blog.

Walking

The drive to the campsite re-charged the battery. I just hope it was sufficiently charged to start again for the journey home
Wednesday too was bright and sunny.This bright weather seemed to endorse my decision to take the van out. I arrived early at the campsite, Halse Farm in Somerset on the edge of Exmoor to find that it was almost empty. Tucked away in one corner was a very large tent. I pulled up and went down to the farmhouse to register. On the door was a notice informing me that everybody was in the lambing sheds. Just to go there to announce my arrival.  I was surprised to find 3 very young persons (perhaps they only seemed young) injecting and marking the lambs. I was told to just set up on any pitch I wished.
Despite being sunny it was rather chilly. Taking the dogs for a short walk up over the moor after I had set up it was particularly noticeable how cold it was with the wind whistling over the hills. Going back and having a hot cup of tea was bliss.
The next day was a disappointment; overcast and extremely cold. I did little except read and write. If the weather was going to be so dis-spiriting I considered returning home.
What a surprise! It was bright and suuny and so somehow did not seem so cold. A good walking day.
Now was as good a time as any to take Amber for a long walk and leave Ruby behind in the van. If she unexpectedly made some noise it would not disturb anyone.
Amber and I walk all the way to the Tarr Steps and up over Winsford Hill back to the campsite;a fair step. A thoroughly enjoyable walk through all kinds of terrain. When we got back to the van Ruby was obviously happy to see us but did not seem too unduly upset.  It was noticeable, however, that all the walks Ruby took thereafter she was lack lustre and much slower.
The next day was also sunny but unfortuately I had to return home. I did so but not before I made an unpleasant discovery.

Finally

Despite all that has occured over the past few weeks FINALLY, FINALLY I managed to get away in the van.
I am horrified to have to admit that it is a VERY long time since I last went out in it; (the last time I used it was in late summer when we came back from Poland). The weather during the autumn and winter has been dreadful so wet. It seemed that on every occasion when I had a few free days it was just pouring with rain. Though I really enjoy going out in the van and exploring new places I find wet weather the most difficult; smelly dogs.
Another window of opportunity was fast approaching. Would the next few days at last be suitable for me to go away in the van.  Unfortunately this too was not without possible gremlins. 
First the weather was suppose to be extremely cold but dry possibly sunny.
Second it was immediately after the Easter Bank Holiday.  This was both good and bad. Good because it was after the holiday but bad because the schools had not yet started the new term so it was possible that places would still be busy.
Surprisingly Tuesday was a lovely sunny day. I began preparing the van. Because it was such a long time since I had used the van I thought that it would be sensible to take it down to my mechanic and get him to look it over and check that everything was working as it should.
This was where my problems began. The motorhome would not start. Probably not unexpected. It was turning over, just not firing. All I needed to do was to jump start it.
The upshot was that the mechanic would come to the house on his way to work. Start it for me (hopefully) and I would set off for my first trip of the season/year!!!!
I phone the campsite I was thinking of going to just to make sure that they had space for me.
All went well, He came. The van started no problem.  All looked good. So at last, at last I got away.