Watches, swallows and MCs

[Anne Brooke]

Lord H has lost his watch– well, we couldn’t find it anywhere last night. He was comforted by the fact that he’d already set the alarm for 6.30am so it was a matter of waiting till it started beeping and then trying to find it. Good plan – if it had worked. But come 6.30 this morning and no beeping. The watch isn’t in the flat then. So it’s either in his car, at work or somewhere along the walk he took yesterday lunchtime. I’m not that worried, to be honest, as actually it’s been broken for weeks (no strap now) and he’s been carrying it around in his pocket anyway, and ignoring my helpful wifely suggestions that a new watch, with a strap, might be nice. Well, I’m only trying to be supportive. He did look for one for a while, but never found anything he liked, so gave up. It looks like now he’ll have to find one, if the old version doesn’t reappear somewhere …
And those baby swallows on Springwatch (http://www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch) are now so ridiculously large that any moment I fear they will bring the whole nest down due to their combined weight. Lord H said that yesterday one of them was clinging on to the outside of the nest beating its wings desperately to avoid destruction. Well, fly, baby, fly – it’s what your wings are for!!! Honestly, it must be like having teenagers – leave the ruddy nest, why don’t you!! It’s time you were gone …

Oh, and I’m feeling quite chuffed as, at last night’s Goldenford (http://www.goldenford.co.uk) meeting, Jennifer asked me to introduce her and say a few words at the launch party for The Gawain Quest on Saturday 23 June. I was really touched – I’ve never been asked to be an MC before. It feels quite nice – and I shall be more than happy to do it (though I’ll probably be terrified on the day and have to take 10 calming pills, as ever …) as I love the book and I had a wonderful time editing it for her. Such a class act. But then again, in my opinion, all our Goldenford books (yes, even mine!) are class acts and deserve a far wider readership than they actually get. I can guarantee that if you get yourself over to http://www.goldenford.co.uk and have a look through our list, there’ll be at least one book there that you or someone you know will love. Go on: I dare you. You won’t regret it.

Have spent this morning typing up the minutes of yesterday’s Student Affairs Committee, or attempting to, anyway. Felt like a bit of a trawl today, I must say. But then again, I’m shattered, so have no energy for this kind of stuff. Still, we struggle on. Went to my back exercise class at lunchtime, hoping some energy might appear there. Or, at the very least, a different type of exhaustion.

And this afternoon, I took the minutes of the Mentoring Advisory Board. I am seriously minuted out now – sometimes I do wish these things could be spread out more, so that one could catch one’s breath before the next one, but it’s not the university way. And it’s all the more tricky as I only work here Mondays to Wednesdays, so a full-time meetings schedule has to be shoe-horned into my part-time hours. I’m a mistress of logistics really.

Tonight, Ruth and I are going straight from work for supper at Penny’s, an ex-work colleague. Have stored the wine – and the map (I’m hopeless at directions, even though she only lives in Guildford …) in the car, and am hoping not to be too late home. Consequently, I am wearing my “going-out” shoes, which are nearly sparkly, rather than my usual black work shoes. Everyone has commented, probably because I usually dress not to be noticed, and am the Queen of Dark Colours.

STOP PRESS: Just back from Penny's now - we had a great time. Really chilled and soooo relaxing. Wonderful!

And I've just found out that Flame (http://www.flamebooks.com) have joined forces with The Writeout Club (http://www.writeout.co.uk), who are going to be stocking some copies of A Dangerous Man at their stall in the Royal Festival Hall, London. Astonishing! Michael goes posh - whatever next??? Thanks, Sean - you're a marketing star indeed.

Oh, and did I get any fiction writing done today? No chance. Sigh!

Today’s nice things:

1. Michael going posh
2. The exercise class
3. Supper with Ruth & Penny.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com