MORNING VIEWS

Frankly, I never thought I'd be interested in writing any sort of a memoir. But this morning my muse, who, as you know, has been overactive recently, magicked an idea into my mind.

As is my usual habit, I lay in quiet contemplation, gazing out the window. (more on that later!... and no, I don't do what I sometimes see advised on the web i.e. jump out of bed and exercise. What remains of my dream experiences, or inspirations from that time between sleep and waking are too precious, so I try to hang onto them).

For some reason I started to remember different windows in rooms, homes, houses, flats even a couple of caravans, which, over the years,  I've looked out of on waking; how I felt, what they meant, what the place was like. So whether or not anything much will come of it, I'll consider this aspect of my life. And be grateful!

If I were a good drawer, I could provide images; images which would open that magic bottom drawer for you. This reminds me that my grandmother used to advise "Keep that (e.g. an especially nice item of clothing or napery) for your bottom drawer." She meant, for after I was married. but marriage as a goal was never my dream when I was a child... maybe, someday, one day in my thirties, say, I'd meet someone and settle down. Till then, the world and all it had to offer lay before me like a treasure chest, waiting to be opened. And no, not like Pandora's box.

So what happened? As the fates would have it, I got married at twenty-one. That led to what is now most treasured in my life: my family.

This photo, however, was taken a couple of years ago when I was staying with a very dear friend in Constantia, Cape Town. Every morning I looked out and watched the sun lighting and gracing the slopes of this beloved mountain. Every day I felt bathed in warmth and beauty.

This January, I'm in the cold depths of winter and yes, a different kind of beauty.

BACK IN THE CREATIVE GROOVE!

Maybe it's to do with winter hibernation, or the new year and decade, but I'm finally back in my writing mode. Losing my husband of nearly sixty years meant I took a while to adjust to this new reality. It also means I have less writing time because... well, nobody tells you that when you become a widow you have to do all the things your spouse used to do!

Still, I count myself fortunate. Looking back over last year, two wonderful experiences contributed greatly towards my being newly inspired. The first was a visit to Rodmell where Virginia Woolf had her 'room of her own', actually a writing hut (son-in-law, artist Richard Heys, taking a photo of her writing desk, now blocked off from the other half of the hut, which visitors can access... when I went twenty-five years ago you could still go in)

 set in a glorious garden.

The other was to Knole in Lewes where Vita Sackville-West grew up. The scale of it, and the surrounding park, came as a big surprise.

Over the years I've visited Rudyard Kipling's house, seen his writing desk and grand study, as well as Henry James's Georgian home. Luckily, I'm happy with my modest study/writing room, and enjoy settling down most weekday mornings.

AN ARTIST'S DATE AT TULIP TIME!

This past week I actually managed to go on an 'Artist's Date', Julia Cameron style. If, by any chance, you're unfamiliar with her book 'The Artist's Way', the idea is to fill the well and increase your creativity. Being open to new experiences that could nourish you is always a good idea.

Yes, it was okay to leave my desk and forget about plot, characters, etc. on this warm spring day. I'm at that point where I need to let my manuscript 'sit' for a bit, before I do another read-through, and hopefully, a last revision. Meanwhile, I'm working on a humourous story for middle grade kids.

For a delightful hour or so I wandered through dazzling displays of tulips. Along with other adults, seniors and others needing carers, families, mothers with babies and young children, teenagers with their bicycles, tourists and so on, I gazed in wonder at the luminous or soft colours, and marvelled at all the thought that goes into designing the beds every year. Every year at the Tulip Fest I experience happiness in the air, as if the sight and presence of all these flowers bring upliftment to everyone's spirit. Here are a few glimpses for your enjoyment. Come tiptoe with me!

Here I am in front of a mixed bed. Behind me (as on the notice) you can see the tulip specially created by the Dutch for our Canada 150 year celebrations.

Watching 'The Crown'

So I've recently started watching this Netflix production... so interesting and beautifully made! I'm particularly intrigued with the portrayal of Princess Margaret.

Once I'd conceived the basic idea for my novel 'Cape Town' and set myself the goal to actually write it, I attended a 'Write Your Novel' workshop presented by Catherine Bush at Ryerson University. I believe it was on the first evening that she gave us the exercise based on that game 'Two truths and a lie'. You write them, read them out, then people have to guess which is a lie.

Now, I can't remember what lie I told, but everyone guessed wrongly: that one of my truths was a lie. I told them how I'd been presented to Princess Margaret. Yes, this is true. At the time she was the patron of the Royal Ballet School and came to White Lodge one day on an official visit. Because I was from the Commonwealth, I was one of those lucky enough to be presented to her. Before she arrived, we were taught a special, non-balletic curtsey... as you can see in 'The Crown'.

Princess Margaret was every bit as beautiful as Vanessa Kirby, and her complexion! Truly she deserved comparison to her second name of 'Rose'.

This is where it happened. Sorry you can't actually see the steps or the terrace where she stood!

Writing success - What does it mean?

So this was a longer break than I intended, but here I am with a new post at long last.

This morning I received a phone call from a friend. She'd been so kind as to put us up in Montreal for the weekend although she herself was away, and as a 'thank you' gift I left her this:

Yes, a copy of my novel, published in 2012 after many years of hoping and working, and once again a recommended read from the Canadian Children's Book Council. Which doesn't mean that adults, both women and men, haven't read and enjoyed it.

Blondine began her phone call by saying, "Can you guess why I haven't phoned or emailed?"

I chuckled. "You've been reading my book."

This was an informed guess, based on feedback from many readers who said they couldn't put it down and read until the early hours of the morning.

Anyhow, she loved the book and we spoke a little about that, and how much of it was auto-biographical (certainly informed by my life but hardly anything directly), and the companion volume I'm busy writing. But afterwards, I started to think about success as a writer. The trouble is, the goal posts keep moving i.e. at first, you just want to be published, then you want to do it again only better, and so on. For me, however, the fact that CAPE TOWN is out there, on the bookstore and library shelves (and if not, you can order a copy) and available as an ebook really signifies success to me. Because this is a story I feel that needed to be told and I'm so happy that I did!

A typing tale

When I was young, women's wisdom stated 'Never learn to type because you'll end up as a secretary and nothing more'. Yes, that was in the days when businessmen actually had secretaries. Nevertheless, having left the Royal Ballet School in June, I had months to while away before heading to the University of Cape Town at the end of February. So I spent three months learning to be a secretary and to touch-type. Boy, am I ever glad I did!

Believe it or not, the machines we learnt on in that secretarial college in downtown Johannesburg looked like this.


Also, we had a piece of green cloth covering the keyboard so we couldn't cheat by looking at the letters.

After twelve weeks I'd worked up to a decent speed and yes, I did spend a couple of years working as a secretary on and off. But I had no idea how thankful I'd be for typing skills when I became a writer!
My only regret is that I let my shorthand skills lapse. They would have come in handy when I attended workshops and lecture.

Anyhow, this is kind of by-the-way because what I want to do in this post is notify you of an upcoming hiatus. I'll be taking a technology break for at least the month of December, and plan to resume blogging around the middle of January. Hope to see you then!

Thanksgivings

Gratitude, as we know, opens the soul in a very special way. So today I looked through
photos taken over this year and relived some of the uplifting experiences Mother Nature brought to me. Self-indulgent, maybe, but I hope you enjoy these images.

First of all, lunch among the vineyards in Constantia last March:

Then there were spring lilacs in California... always good to gather those, right?

Summer days in a Group of Seven lake and landscape:

And lastly, the glory of autumn gold:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Remember, it's all about gratitude. Right now, I'm grateful to be feeling creative about my new story!