Plumbers, hags and legends

Great news! The plumber arrived this morning and has taken out our faulty immersion tank, so that's now lying in the front garden ready to be taken away at some point. I've told the neighbours so nobody thinks it's a more unusual water feature and attempts to decorate. Mind you, if it's still there at Christmas, we might attempt to make a snowman out of it, depending on the weather. It's that kind of size. Whilst doing all this, the plumber discovered that the pipes had been put in wrongly so the hot water has spent 15 years going through a pipe it shouldn't be going through and the electrics attached to it are all wrong. None of this surprises me - here's hoping he can make a better job of it. He may pop by tonight but, if not, he promises Saturday morning and we may even get a glimpse of hot water (hurrah!) by Christmas after all. We live in hope.

Meanwhile I'm hugely excited as I've discovered that the wonderful Hags Harlots Heroines website has been revamped and you can now become a member (it's free!), so I have done that very thing and you can find me here. It's a fantastic writing/reading site focused on women (though you don't have to be a woman to join) and well worth a look. I'm very much looking forward to being a part of it.

And I've added 1,500 words (goodness - so many!) to Hallsfoot's Battle so am now at 67,500 words. The Third Gathandrian Legend continues to grow, and has a strong creation theme. Well it's that time of year, I suppose. I'm enjoying getting it down too, which is reassuring. Talking of things spiritual (yes, I know the link is tenuous but it's nearly the end of the week and you must be generous), here's today's meditation poem:

Meditation 27

Go to the mountain again.
Take nothing

with you
except the stone

to carry
the re-carved words

of God.
The dust

on your feet
will be a sign

you will remember
one day.


I must also be feeling unusually hopeful (ye gods, it can't last, can it?) as I've submitted my story, How to eat fruit, to an online magazine via the joys of Duotrope which is a great submissions resource I've discovered through the kindness of the inimitable Nik Perring. Thank you again, Nik - really, where would I be without you? I'll see how it goes but at least I'm getting a few things out of the virtual drawers again where they've been crammed for the last year or so. That in itself has to count as progress.

Tonight, I was supposed to be going out to London to see the University friends, but I've cried off - partly due to not knowing when the plumber will be back and partly as I find Christmas socialising is a vast unknowable mountain I have less and less inclination to climb. Really, this is the time of year I simply want to back off, hide in a corner and hibernate - there are too many demands and expectations I am increasingly unable to meet. I think my inner hermit comes into her own during winter. Or any party really. I am indeed, as has been long suspected, an appalling type of friend.

Today's nice things:

1. The plumber arriving
2. The return of Hags Harlots Heroines, hurrah!
3. Writing more of Hallsfoot
4. Poetry
5. Feeling mentally strong enough to submit something (gosh)
6. Staying at home and being quiet.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - not good at parties but quite sweet really