Chat, article success and a cleaning frenzy

Plunged this morning with a merry wave and gay abandon into creating my article about writing sex. My, what fun. Almost as good as ... um ... actually writing it. As it were. It's a little longer than anticipated (much the best way, in my opinion, ho ho), but I've submitted it anyway and the Strictly Writing Webzine have accepted it for publication in May, hurrah! Instant satisfaction and everyone's smiling (goodness, I'm a cheap date indeed ...). Thank you again, Samantha.

After all that heady excitement and panting, it was time to enter the chill-out zone, so I spent the rest of the morning chatting with Jane H (hello, Jane!) and putting the world to rights over tea and chocolate hobnobs. We Surrey ladies have a hard life, you know. Jane was also suitably impressed with the results of my current cleaning frenzy - we have people round for dinner tonight so I am endeavouring to clear up the dead bodies and remove the blood from the walls. As you do. Well, what else are attics for? Much of this wild activity consisted of womanhandling the contents of our airing cupboard which have been piled up across the living room for three months (Mike, oh plumber of ours, where are thou now?...) and depositing them in the bedroom. Thankfully, even though we live in Surrey, we're not part of the Strange Set, so we won't be needing that room until everyone's gone tonight. Phew, that's all right then. I've even dusted the outside hallway, which only gets done about twice a year, so I feel cleansed indeed. Hell, that must be worth a good few Wife Points at least.

Before we forget, here's this morning's meditation:

Meditation 102

Between the first census
and the second

all are destroyed
except three:

Caleb; Joshua; Moses.
A whole people

swallowed up by the desert
and the Lord’s dark anger.

In the silence of the heart
the need to betray

whispers its own journey.

Oh and on the subject of poetry, I've written a poem about lameness and deceit. As you do. Well, there's not much TV on so nothing much else to distract me. This afternoon, I've fiddled about with Hallsfoot's Battle but not to any serious intent, though I think the end scenes are beginning to have a purpose of sorts. Thank goodness. And I've had my Alexander Technique lesson, which was revelatory about how to go up and down steps. Apparently, it's the back foot which takes the weight, not the front one on the step, so that's where I've been going wrong all these years, aha! It made sense and I practised it coming up the outside stairs on the way back (Lordy, hope the neighbours weren't looking ...) and felt much more floaty rather than the usual sack-of-potatoes-having-a-hard-day feel. So maybe there's hope for me yet? You never know.

So, tonight, it's Robin & Gavin, Liz & John for dinner (in the hospitality, rather than the catering sense), Lord H is cooking and I'm doing the talking. Always play to your strengths is what I say.

Today's nice things:

1. Acceptance of the sex writing article
2. Tea and chat with Jane H
3. Poetry
4. Writing a little of Hallsfoot
5. Alexander Technique
6. Dinner with friends.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - an acknowledged expert with stairs