I've been busy moving stock from my malodorous cowshed to a nice new unit, seven miles away, next to this pond:
I'm not an expert on nature, but I believe that this is a great-crested newt. Quite why it decided to leave the splendour of the pond area for my new unit, I have no idea.
Moving the stock is a fag (trivia fact - Jane Austen used this expression in 'Northanger Abbey'). I could hire a van and do it all in three trips, but that would be exhausting, so I'm transporting the books one car-load at a time. I've worked out that it will take 37 trips.
However, I think I'll have to bin some of the stock. The books that went on sale nearly two years ago seem to have reached the end of their shelf life and rarely appear on my list of titles sold. Is it really worth moving them?
These are the books that nobody seems to want:
Moving the stock is a fag (trivia fact - Jane Austen used this expression in 'Northanger Abbey'). I could hire a van and do it all in three trips, but that would be exhausting, so I'm transporting the books one car-load at a time. I've worked out that it will take 37 trips.
However, I think I'll have to bin some of the stock. The books that went on sale nearly two years ago seem to have reached the end of their shelf life and rarely appear on my list of titles sold. Is it really worth moving them?
These are the books that nobody seems to want:
Leisure time has been rather thin on the ground recently, but I was able to have a very enjoyable afternoon tea with a reader of this blog who happened to be on holiday in the UK. Meeting Dale and her husband was a delight and reinforced my positive view of blogging as a means of connecting with like-minded people. It could have been awkward meeting a complete stranger, but everyone I've met has been as likeable and entertaining as their writing, only more so.
On the subject of other bloggers, I'd like to thank Kristin at Not Intent on Arriving for inviting me to be interviewed on her blog. I hope I wasn't too dull. I like reading about Kristin's life (although it always makes me realise how dull mine has become) and vicariously enjoy reading about her travels.
My wife has just told me that a door has fallen off. I think that's my cue to stop.
Invite Gussie Fink-Nottle to your new workplace. He'll happily attend to the little incident with the newt.
ReplyDelete[Happy shifting.]
It's either him or that other great newt fancier, Ken Livingstone.
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ReplyDeletegood luck with all those trips. by the way, by coincidence, my last blog post title, just a day ago, was Pond Life also. Just a poem.
ReplyDeleteYour wife saying that a door had fallen off reminds me of a recent happening at a friend's house. The door fell off her oven. Her husband came in, took one look at it, and said, "Lucie, what did you do to it?" She didn't tell me whether or not she hit him with a skillet! xoxox
ReplyDeleteBest luck with moving the stock. Are not newts supposed to bring good luck, anyway?
ReplyDeleteActually, I wouldn't mind the Bremond--de Rance was a curious character, and an influential one. I saw the obituary of a local Trappist in the newspaper this past weekend.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I don't think it would be economical to purchase it at this distance.
Is that an ex-newt? Or is it just waggling from side to side to attract a mate?
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the call-out! I'm so glad that you were willing to participate.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so glad you've found a new space. I hope things go well for you there. I can imagine that a newt is some sort of good sign.
Sorry to introduce a note of gloom, but that pond looks like a haven for small buzzy, bitey kinds of wildlife as well as interesting lizardy species. Better stock up on Jungle Formula...
ReplyDeleteFirstly - every time anyone tries to build anything in this country, they are thwarted, - as they seem to find a colony of great crested newt - which I have long suspected are the single most common animal in the UK - but more importantly, I followed the link and just want to say thank you for your unexpected and very kind words, I am quite flushed and humbled.
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I like your blog very much, so it was fun to learn more about you. I'm not afraid of flying (so much), but recently I've developed fears of high bridges, tunnels, travel, and allergic reactions (although, to the best of my knowledge, I'm not allergic to anything). I've decided that years of living with high levels of emotional stress can induce fear and cowering in even the bravest of us. Maybe that's where your fear of flying came from. Or from Erica Jong's book.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteWhy we have only just discovered you and your delightful blog, goodness only knows. We can, however, thank the delicious Lucy (whose own wonderful blog is presently 'resting') for the introduction.
We can appreciate that with one problem or another (the bad smell to be the worst in our view)your move to the new unit was imperative. However, from what you write, this could be a more sterile environment but will you be happy there? When one has to work, and we are always sympathetic to those who must (we did once upon a time) then one does wish for a pleasant workplace or, at least, somewhere which stimulates rather than stultifies. Whatever, we do wish you well with the move and trust that in the great reorganisation those books will simply fly off the shelves.
A Romance in Radium sounds like a positively riveting read to us so we are certain that it must simply be that it has been flying under the radar and needs to be brought to new radioactive light. Perhaps this blogpost will do just that!
We can confirm that meeting fellow bloggers has in all three cases in our experience been a very jolly event. And, as a result, virtual friends have become real ones. That is, for us, a most satisfying aspect of the whole blogging experience.
Where you lead, we shall follow and we look forward to many happy returns!
Sukipoet - There must be mystic pond forces at work.
ReplyDeleteChickadee - That's the sort of thing I say, although not without some justification. The door coming off was a result of something my wife did.
Tororo - It wasn't good luck for the newt. He won't be visiting any ponds again.
George - Funnily enough, somebody bought that book only hours after this blog post was published. Coincidence?
Lucy - See above. Poor chap.
Kristin - I didn't realise that newts were good omens. The only newt I know of - Mr Gingrich - is quite the opposite.
James - Oh yes, I hadn't thought of that. So far, the only buzzy thing I've seen was a beautiful mayfly, but by August, I may be yearning for the cowshed.
Richard - I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks that about your blog, so I hope you'll maintain it for many years to come.
Joan - I'm sure you're right. My fear of flying started just after the triple whammy of losing my father, the job I loved and realising that my older son had 'issues'.
Jane and Lance - Thank you for your kind words. I can assure you that the new unit is a vast improvememt. It wasn't just the smell that I hated about the old one, but the dust and dirt, the rats and the unfriendly farm workers. A creaking old wooden barn might have had some character, but this was a concrete shell with huge, motorised shutters. It cost a small fortune to create a clean, self-contained area where I could protect the books. The only think I'll miss is seeing newly-hatched baby robins.
37 car trips vs 3 van trips? Clearly it's the journey, not the destination that matters....
ReplyDeleteNota Bene - It's simple. I'd rather load and unload 14 boxes 37 times rather than 172 three times. By the fourteenth box, I've reach my limit.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know what they say: Every time a door falls off somewhere...uh, another one...um...closes on someone's fingers? Something like that. Also, I have never, until just now, seen a newt, either living or dead. And while I'm being eclectic, I enjoyed the interview. It's a pleasure to find out you compose. Somehow, I had missed that, though I had noticed your clear and deep understanding of music. Perhaps one day we can share compositions with each other.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with the move. I can’t understand why those books haven’t been snapped up - especially the Boys’ Book of Locomotives. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteChris - I'm shocked that you've lived a newt-free existence. I'm glad that I've been able to recify that. To be honest, they haven't played a huge role in my life either, but I did have some when I was nine and used them to create Ray Harryhausen-style dinosaur battles with my toy soldiers.
ReplyDeleteRe music: I have one piece on YouTube, which was written for a play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuIhxXD3Z4
Nell - I would have expected the Locomotives book to go too. Frankly, I've given up trying to second-guess what people will buy, as I never ceased to be surprised. I wish that it wasn't so unpredictable.
If time wasn’t short I’d be after that locomotives book as my blog for Sepia Saturday next week will feature a postcard of one which bears our family name. My google search to find out more about it has proved fruitless apart from where it was made etc. No time to ship it Lanzarote before next week though.
ReplyDeleteCan't seem to comment on Kristen's site, so I'll just say here that I really enjoyed your interview. Your writing is observant, funny, and melancholic. I love every word, and every photo...even the newts.
ReplyDeleteThank you Donna - I can't tell you how much that means to me, as I'm naturally inclined towards self-doubt.
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