The Hogfather Archives

Good morning from dreich and overcast Scotland. And no the pictures used in this post are not recent ones taken from the lovely scenery around about me. Unfortunately, we’ve not had any snow yet. 🙁 I love the snow. However, we’ve had a bit of rain and there was a smattering of snow on the hills overlooking Port Glasgow. Anyway, to assuage my desire for snow I’ve decided to enhance this post with pictures of it that were taken in Scotland.

Firstly, the exciting news. The Sisters of Sin books are in production and the first one is due out at the beginning of June. Woohooooo!!! I know I’ve been talking about this for two years now, but we’re ready to go. We have a core group and we’ve recently invited two guest authors to join us. I cannot wait to get this series out. Watch this space for more details!

So, how was your Christmas? Hope you had a good one. As the rest of my family were away doing other things, it was just me and my two kids, three dogs and four chickens for Christmas this year. I spent the day watching crappy movies on telly, flicking through the numerous books I got and eating chocolate and we had stuffed chicken and veg for dinner. I much prefer chicken to turkey which is why we had that. Turkey is okay, but I much prefer the taste and texture of chicken. We had chocolate log for afters. Was a nice, quiet kind of day. On Boxing Day we just had buffet type nibbles for dinner. Easy peasy.

I’ve just realised I haven’t posted anything for quite some time and, to be honest, the reason for that is partially because I have nothing to tell you. I’ve been working and because of Covid I had to cancel several nights out I had planned. This included an ABBA tribute act, a lunch with my besties and a night out at the Barrowlands to see Goodbye Mr Mackenzie on their 30th anniversary tour. I was not happy, I can tell you. However, I felt in the circumstances (ie the Omicron variant is running rife in Scotland) it was the best thing to do. It’s meant we couldn’t enjoy our Christmas break as much as we’d like. I had also planned to take the kids out to dinner in Glasgow. We love going to see the Christmas lights and then getting something to eat. Sigh. Never mind. Surely this bloody pandemic will be over soon!! They say the Omicron variant isn’t as dangerous, but what it is doing is forcing people in key jobs to take ten days off work which in turn is putting pressure on the health service, police, supermarkets, their supply chains and public transport. We were already seeing the effects of the variant on public transport before Christmas. Anyway, all these events I had to cancel will be rearranged…that’s a promise!

On to books. I’ve been reading Ali Smith’s Hotel World (superb book) and Edmund Blunden’s Undertones of War (also excellent) as part of my OU course. I’d never normally read either, but this course has opened up a whole new avenue of writing for me. Ali Smith is a brilliant writer and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Hotel World. Blunden’s Undertones of War is also good, but, and maybe it’s just me being tired when I read it in bed at night, I’m having to reread the odd passage or paragraph to ensure I get the full meaning of what he’s saying. The first read often leads me to go: what? What’s he saying here and who’s he talking about? So, I have to reread it and sometimes I get the meaning and other times I don’t so I read on. I think it might be the language and the text tends to jump about from scene to scene to scene. Anyway, I’m still enjoying it. I’d better get it finished because I’m supposed to have done that by now!

What else has been happening? Have you been watching A Very British Scandal? Watched the first one last night and was hooked. The Duke of Argyll’s behaviour towards Margaret is really nasty, but then she’s not really a nice character either. It’s highly addictive watching. Going to watch the next one today.

We’ve been watching all the Harry Potter films and are now halfway through the first Deathly Hallows. Such great books and really enjoyable films. My daughter is a huge fan, so talks all the way through which is annoying. However, I’m still enjoying it. As a Terry Pratchett fan, of course, I watched the Hogfather. Love that version. Mark Warren as Mr Teatime is superbly creepy. I’ve also recorded a few Christmas films to watch, including Elf and Scrooge (the musical), although I am hankering for a bit of Muppets Christmas Carol so may dig that out the Christmas DVDs box this afternoon.

Right, I must love you and leave you. I have a couple of thousand words to write for my second book in the Sisters of Sin series, my first one having been completed already, and I have to catch up on my uni coursework which has been sadly neglected recently.

Until next time!

Dawn xxx

We went to the winter fair in Glasgow’s George Square recently. It was kind of done by accident because what we were actually doing was meeting my step daughter for dinner, but we went to the fair afterwards. There was an old fashioned merry-go-round, which I love (excuse the pics, they were taken on my phone which has a rubbish camera) and the kids went on. There was a helter skelter, which they did not. There were stalls and, yes, we did peruse them. The boy got a hand crafted recorder (am regretting that purchase!) and a hand knitted SpongeBob Squarepants hat. The girl got lovely ethnic earrings and something else. They both badgered me to buy them bubblegum flavoured meringue which I did. It was the size of a small loaf so I broke it in two and they munched it going round. My step daughter didn’t want anything, I did ask! It was a good evening. My step daughter is lovely and the kids love seeing their big sister. Hopefully she’ll come down to see us over the festive period.

What else has been happening in my world? Nothing much to be truthful. I spent the weekend clearing out cupboards and putting up the Christmas decorations.

Here are a few of my favourite new decorations (all bought, none made this year)…

This smiling mouse is from Marks & Spencer’s. They always have lovely decorations and I couldn’t resist him.

Betty Boop as an angel. My boy doesn’t like her, but I’ve always been a bit of a fan.

A pug and (in the background) a little blue tit. I used to have three of the blue tits, now I only have two…one of the dogs (Millie) ate the other one. Sigh.

Talking of Christmas (and getting into the Christmas spirit), I have picked up one of my favourite Christmas books to read again…The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. I thought I hadn’t read it, but I definitely have and I enjoyed the tv programme based on the book (so much so that I bought the DVD to watch again!). Once again, Mr Pratchett does not disappoint. The Hogfather is fab. I am loving it. It’s set in the Disc World where they celebrate Hogswatch instead of Christmas and the Hogfather’s sleigh is drawn by enormous pigs instead of reindeer. The Hogfather goes missing and Death takes over the role spreading joy whilst his granddaughter Susan investigates. It’s one of his best, definitely is.

In other news…had to bath the dogs. They’d gone out for a walk earlier and got covered in mud. This would be fine if the pair of them liked getting a bath, but they don’t. Millie – white and the dirtiest looking- actually did quite well. She stayed still long enough for me to wash her, despite trying to escape earlier. Casper made a bolt for the door as soon as I put him in the bath and disappeared downstairs. I spent ten minutes chasing him around the living room before I finally caught him and took him upstairs. For a small dog he is surprisingly strong and I had to really hold him still whilst I washed him. He struggled. Water went everywhere. I got soaked. The bathroom was covered in muddy dog water. I finished. I dried him and let him go. He sped out of the bathroom like there was a firework tied to his tail and spent a good 15 minutes rubbing himself dry on the carpet downstairs whilst I tidied the mess of the bathroom. It took me half an hour to dry out in front of a radiator. I think I may have to wrap them in cling film before I take them out again so they don’t get covered in mud!! Only joking!

Right, that’s really it for today. I have been writing, but been a bit naughty the past couple of days and done nothing. I will get back to it tonight! For the rest of the week, I’ve got a few wee things planned, but nothing of note. Til next time.

Dawn xx