35 Years.

35 years ago today I was 20 minutes late for the most important moment of my life (courtesy of my boss, Grant McKenzie, and soon to be brother-in-law, Paddy Coogan, who thought it a great joke! Thank you!) It has never been forgotten!)
However, it was definitely the start of the best years of my life. Of course, it hasn't all been plain-sailing - how boring would that be? This is life, after all! But considering what many would have called 'the obstacles' we started with - the bride was 13 years older than the groom and had four teenage children, three of whom were still at home - I am feeling totally blessed. So glad we had the strength to go with how we felt 35 years ago instead of bowing to 'what people would think'!
What richness we have shared. love you even more today than when you waited those awful 20 minutes 35 years ago...!

The Birds Told Me...

Am feeling very grateful for my life.
I have just had a week in writing paradise, a lovely holiday home among the bush, above Lake Taupo, at Pukawa. The only sounds were the birds and the breeze. A single beautiful flax was blooming just off the deck and tui came to visit it several times a day. Tui are nectar eaters and they start at the top flowers and systematically dip into every blossom on the way down the stalk.

Their magical song made up of ringing bell-like tones and deep 'churr' noises can be heard above the bush all day long.
They are also quite territorial, and noisy about it!

A kowhai tree grew a little further back which attracted a big fat kereru (wood pigeon) to munch on the green foliage. He only visited once but I was able to capture the moment.
Kereru are as large as a small hen and look rather incongruous perched in the delicate branches of the kowhai, but they seem to manage without mishap.

One afternoon while writing at the table on the deck, an odd sound caught my attention and I turned to see a pair of quail come out onto the small patch of lawn. I grabbed my camera and began videoing. Suddenly there appeared what I thought was a small flock of sparrows about their feet. It took me a minute to realise that it was baby quail, looking like bumblebees on stilts! There must have been a dozen at least. Unfortunately, the video is on it's side and I don't know how to turn it round and  I didn't get a still shot of them. So - a sideways video of the quail!

That same afternoon a bird that I didn't recognise visited the birdbath. And I will share another sideways video of it, hoping someone might know what it is. It was a little bit smaller than the tui and had a solid white ring about its neck.

Strangely enough, I did get quite a bit of writing done while I was there!
And the final morning Mother Nature gave us a glorious farewell.

Cabbage Trees - and - er - Superstitions or somesuch...

I love cabbage trees - Ti kouka, in Maori.
It is said that Maori believed when ti kouka flowered profusely it was the sign of a hot summer, or drought.

Whatever the cause they are particularly showy this year. They grow all over New Zealand and love swampy ground.

Below are some facts from a Dept. of Conservation article:-

• Māori used cabbage trees as a food, fibre and medicine. The root, stem and top are all edible, a good source of starch and sugar. The fibre is separated by long cooking or by breaking up before cooking. 
• The leaves were woven into baskets, sandals, rope, rain capes and other items and were also made into tea to cure diarrhoea and dysentery.
• Cabbage trees were also planted to mark trails, boundaries, urupā (cemeteries) and births, since they are generally long-lived.

Beautiful and useful too!
I'm writing this post because I can't resist taking photos and these beautiful trees were in my sights lately. Just want to share a few photos with you.

Keeping Promises

Are you good at keeping promises? I like to think I am, but when the promises are to myself - about writing a regular blog - I seem to lack dependability.
It's a wonder I haven't 'unfriended' myself, I'm so slack.
Trouble is, there are many things I'm meant to be doing towards my writing career, but the only thing I actually want to do is lose myself in writing my character's stories.
Everything else is a chore and I've always had difficulties with chores!
But here's what's distracting me from the things I should be doing.

My next writing project, 'The Stannesford Chronicles' is a series of 10 books (so far!) and an opening novella, all set in Regency era England, and it goes without saying, they will be sexy.
I have created a village and here is part of it. I'm no artist, but it certainly helps to keep track of who lives where and what route they would take to get elsewhere.

I've done a lot of characterization for the 22 main characters as well as a few other important ones who figure in several of the books. I hope they will stay in character and not go off causing mayhem where none is required.
But - they also need to be ready to step up to the mark when I need a villain or a helping hand somewhere. The businesses etc in the village are named and so are their proprietors.
Timelines for each of the characters are important too, as some events will affect all, so it matters how old they were at the time and what beliefs they have built around those events.
One, in particular, the death of Lady Liberty, has a wide-reaching effect on all the heroines as well as some of the heroes. Her story will not be revealed until Book 7. I've been doing a lot of plotting!

And once the stories are finished there are the covers. The cover for Book 1. is causing me a little angst, because it's titled 'My Lady in Buckskins'.
Buckskins are Regency gentlemen's trousers, worn for riding and pretty much as men would wear jeans today. A terribly scandalous thing for a woman to wear. (I couldn't resist using the picture of the glorious Great Bax from 'The Virgin Widow', the third title in my last series.)
However, I don't believe folk were any different back then to what they are today. There would have been those who rebelled and 'bucked' the system, like Lady Lucy.
Trouble is, it seems impossible to find a stock photo of a woman in male regency attire to use on the cover. So I might have to stick with the manly chest wrapped around a lady dressed (or partly undressed) in a Regency gown, which usually epitomizes the genre. I just hope readers aren't expecting her to be wearing fringed American Indian trousers!

Of Pinterest and Rabbit Holes…

Have you ever wondered how a writer’s mind works? If you can imagine getting lost down a rabbit warren, then you will understand.

I lay in bed this morning until I had a clear vision for the ‘The Miller’s Lady’, the prequel to the ‘Stannesford Chronicles’, the next series I am writing. There are 10 full-length books planned for this series, (not saying that number is finite!), each one a standalone, 100,000 word story.

There have been weeks of planning with my writing buddy, Caroline Bagshaw. (Watch out for this name. She’s not yet published but writes Romantic Scottish Mysteries with a real feeling for the ancient Celtic ways. For a taste of what you have to look forward to, visit her website at https://carolinebagshaw.com )

I still have one more heroine and hero to bring to life in the imaginary village of Stannesford, which I’ve ‘planted’ in the south of Oxfordshire.

(I'm a Kiwi writing in New Zealand, so Google Maps is an intimate friend. My ancestors came from England, but I have never been! It's #1 on my bucket list. Though I do wonder, if I get there —will I ever come back?).

And here I am, waffling off down yet another rabbit hole! Rabbit holes are fascinating places for writers. Ask Lewis Carroll.

Back to the Prequel! I the first sentence and needed to know the nearest point to Stannesford at which my heroine would exit the stagecoach. I brought it up on Google Maps, pinpointed where I decided to ‘plant’ Stannesford, printed several maps, and satellite views, some local and some extending to London so I knew what route they would take when they ‘bolted to town’, as the saying was.

Then I remembered I needed to research village flour mills so I knew what she would see when she first arrived in the village—not that she had any expectation of ever living at the mill. Of course, I needed to save the images I found to Pinterest, but I'd only set up one board for the series so far. Oddly enough it was for Bk.10!

‘Oh yes, I have a vague recollection of doing that now! What did I put in it? Well, some of those images should also be on the boards for some of the other books. Several of the heroes were in the Horse Guards! And those mill images I just put on the Prequel board would also pertain to two of the other books…’

 Heavens, I need to make all the other boards­—and one for the novella—now!

https://www.pinterest.com/jenyates181/

Two hours later—I've not finished the first sentence of the novella, but I've had a lot of fun, AND decided I should blog about it.

Which I just have!

Now, where was it again that Catherine got off the stagecoach en route to Stannesford? 

The Best Gift for a Writer - Ever!

Where in your house do you do your best thinking?
That's quite important to establish - if you're a writer. And while you would automatically think that room would be the study, you'd be wrong!
For me, it's the shower.  There's nothing quite like standing there with warm water cascading over head and body while thinking!
Problem is, all those lovely scenes and plot twists tend to float off down the plughole with the water unless I record them immediately.
I shared my problem with my husband and rather than giving me a lecture on wasting hot water and the cost of power, he gave me the best gift ever.
Guests who stay over probably wonder why this piece of plastic board with a pencil attached lives in the shower caddy.
If your Muse lives in the shower, you need one!
Hubby's brother was into diving and this wondrous piece of apparatus can be purchased at Dive shops, I believe.
It was useful for recording cattle ear-tag numbers on a wet day on the farm! The plastic is slightly rough so the pencil will write on it - under water! Clean it off with a bit of 'Jif '- cream scouring cleanser - and you're good to go again.
Of course, one does need to be able to read what one has written afterwards! So I'd better go and write it out properly while it's still reasonably fresh in my mind and I can remember what the scrawl actually says!

On the Trail of Mountains

A frosty morning heralded a glorious day for Pete's last day off between shifts and since the power was going to be turned off most of the day for the replacement of a power pole, we decided to head out for brunch and a day of relaxation.
Where should we go? Pete suggested the restaurant, 'Out in the Styx' near Maungatautari Mountain. We'd only been there once several years ago. He set the GPS on his phone for Maungatautari , and off we went, zigzagging across the Waikato on lesser used roads, some completely new to us. In our minds we were heading for Pukeatua, which we vaguely remembered was where the restaurant was situated - to the south of the mountain.
We are house-sitting for my sister and her husband at a beautiful spot just north of Pirongia Mountain so we were cruising through the verdant Waikato with its lush dairy farms and horse studs. The land was soaking up the sunshine after weeks of rain. As were we! The very nice lady on the GPS was ever so helpful turning us this way and that - through Karapiro and onto Maungatautari Road, which took us up onto the flank of the mountain.

Maungatautari from Lake Karapiro

There the road ended and a walking track started. Mountain walking is way off my radar these days! This was not where we'd thought we'd end up. Wasn't that restaurant at or near Pukeatua? Another look at the map and we turned the GPS off and followed our noses in the good old-fashioned way, on around the mountain, through Arapuni and to Pukeatua on the south side.
We found 'Out in the Styx',more of a guest house with restaurant operating only by reservation.  https://styx.co.nz/
Stymied in our intention to brunch there we decided to head for Cambridge where we knew we'd find something open! At the very least 'Fran's Cafe' where the custard squares are to die for! For brunch?
Well - one of us would eat them whenever!

47km of pest proof fence.

These predators are excluded.

But stomachs were put on hold to go and check out the visitor centre for the wildlife sanctuary that has been constructed on the mountain. A 47km fence (the longest multi-species pest-proof fence in the world) encloses the bushclad peak of the mountain providing sanctuary for endangered native birds and the tuatara. Before Europeans came to New Zealand the land was mammal free. This fence is creating a small piece of New Zealand as it was before European colonisation.

Maungatautari from the south side.

TeAra, The Encyclopedia of Nz states:
Maungatautari can be translated as ‘suspended mountain’. It is said that the name was given by Tainui tohunga Rakataura, who first saw the mountain rising above the fog that often blankets Waikato.  

Mt Ruapehu on the southern skyline

The view to the south and to the west across the Waikato from the visitor centre was inspiring! From mighty Ruapehu to cheeky little Kakepuku. What is it about mountains? I feel such an affinity for them and whenever I find myself on the plains there is this need to head for higher ground - or at least to where I can see it! I guess it goes back to primitive instincts for safety. If you hold the higher ground you definitely have the advantage!
A very satisfactory day, completely circumnavigating Maungatautari mountain and connecting with several others on the journey.

Kakepuku in the centre!

And we did get fed - extremely well - at the Lily Pad Cafe on Kaipaki Road - at about 1.30pm. And Pete did get his custard square! Best of all I didn't need to cook dinner when we got home. Neither of us needed it. Oh, and the power was back on.
No further excuse for skiving off. All things electrical are operational, including the computer.
Back to work.