Gloomy Monday

I was feeling like this poor little rose in my vase. Drooping, wilting, sorry for myself. It’s been a miserable, dripping sort of day with slushy ice outside and try as I might all day, I’ve just been unable to get anything written. And as you all know, with the end of March my deadline, this is not a good state of affairs. I did all the usual displacement stuff: e-mails, overdue phone-calls, twitter, e-bay, other people’s blogs, my own Stonewylde network – and I even popped very briefly into facebook. But I just couldn’t get started on Shaman of Stonewylde, Chapter 7.

Out in my garden, all was dark and slushy. Even my room with a view didn’t cheer me up nor inspire me. All I could see were my footprints in the slush where I’d been topping up the birds’ food and water. Also, my chair is right by the radiator which was belting out heat, and this just added to my inertia and lethargy.

Malik, the brown Burmese, was still asleep in his basket – and this at 4pm! He’d been here all day after a quick, paw-flicking trip outside for a wee in the snow. I know the bedding in the basket looks a bit manky but they curl up together every night and love it. Please note the very considerate positioning of the basket – directly under the radiator. And there’s more – the hot water pipes run underneath the basket so they have under-basket heating too.

So, nothing for it but to go for a walk. Mr B, who’d been working from home due to the snow, ice and fog, thought I was just a little mad and flatly refused to accompany me. I put on my pink wellies, hat and jacket and set off for the fields and woods that lie behind my house. Outside it was cold and damp, the sort that makes even straight hair go frizzy and sits on your eyelashes.

However … I’m sure you can guess what I’m going to say next. Yes, as ever the sheer magic of nature got the better of me. Gradually, all those nasty grumpy, gloomy thoughts (‘I can’t write’, ‘I’m never going to hit the deadline’, ‘Might as well give up now’, etc) melted away. I watched three crows messing about, found a lovely pine stick to add to my collection (sticks that may be suitable to make into wands), had a good old think about Chapter 7 and why I’m stuck, and even saw the almost full moon peering out from a chink in the freezing fog!