Nearly Xmas and I never seem to get round to updating this blog.
I spent 5 summer weeks in the UK battling with sinus trouble that left me deaf on the right ear and with only about 50% hearing on the left. I recovered only when I got back to Germany and was able to buy the capsules that always work: Gelomyrtol is the substance. You can get it in the USA, but they had never heard of it in the UK. Somehow I got through that vacation, including a week in Scotland only memorable for 2 things: the torrential rain and a visit to Stirling Castle. My journey back was a nightmare of a ripped tyre and rescue by a charming English guy who organized the rescue service and a new tyre. I even managed to get my train under the tunnel!
The UK has again postponed its total chaos caused by witlessly leaving the EU. Whether I will ever drive to the UK again is uncertain since the traffic chaos at and near the ports will last for months if not years. This year might also be my last Xmas in the UK after many years, and I'm flying! I no longer feel British and the death of my younger brother was a sobering and tragic event which leaves me without close family and the possibility of reminiscing about my parents.
I have skipped NANOWRIMO (write a novel in 39 days) this November as I have nearly finished the latest (15th) in the Price crime series, whereby crime crept in unintentionally but has taken over. I wanted to finish it in time to start a new one, but my sinuses thought differently. I felt quite ill and did not have any creative energy. I am retiring Miss Price after writing about her for 28 years, starting with a little book of short stories designed for advanced English learners. So what next?
Writing is important to me as I speak English very little these days. When I solve puzzles I notice that I have missed quite a lot of new ways of saying things. I am constantly updating my repertoire of expressions and vocabulary I never used in the past, but which crop up all the time these days. Many (more) Americanisms have crept into the English language (their uses of preopsitions often annoy me!), but also quite a few German words that did not exist in English when I was a student! Think gestalt, schadenfreude.... German has wonderful, often highly inventive ways of saying things. I consider myself fortunate to be able to use both languages, though my 'beletristik' or fictional writing is always in English. I should mention the crude shorthand English used often in the media. It is not my kind of language. I suppose I'm the wrong generation.
After retiring from chorus directing in 2016, I now find myself running a new chorus of old and new singers and one or two newcomers It's the 6th chorus I have founded and probably the last, but who knows?
Time to stop writing this and get back to finishing the current novel (The Monks od Grumpsfield) or correcting the 12th (Pensioner's Paradise), which turned out to be very confused at the end, so is getting new chapters to clear up the mysteries. I hope not all the novels are in as much need of rewriting!
I spent 5 summer weeks in the UK battling with sinus trouble that left me deaf on the right ear and with only about 50% hearing on the left. I recovered only when I got back to Germany and was able to buy the capsules that always work: Gelomyrtol is the substance. You can get it in the USA, but they had never heard of it in the UK. Somehow I got through that vacation, including a week in Scotland only memorable for 2 things: the torrential rain and a visit to Stirling Castle. My journey back was a nightmare of a ripped tyre and rescue by a charming English guy who organized the rescue service and a new tyre. I even managed to get my train under the tunnel!
The UK has again postponed its total chaos caused by witlessly leaving the EU. Whether I will ever drive to the UK again is uncertain since the traffic chaos at and near the ports will last for months if not years. This year might also be my last Xmas in the UK after many years, and I'm flying! I no longer feel British and the death of my younger brother was a sobering and tragic event which leaves me without close family and the possibility of reminiscing about my parents.
I have skipped NANOWRIMO (write a novel in 39 days) this November as I have nearly finished the latest (15th) in the Price crime series, whereby crime crept in unintentionally but has taken over. I wanted to finish it in time to start a new one, but my sinuses thought differently. I felt quite ill and did not have any creative energy. I am retiring Miss Price after writing about her for 28 years, starting with a little book of short stories designed for advanced English learners. So what next?
Writing is important to me as I speak English very little these days. When I solve puzzles I notice that I have missed quite a lot of new ways of saying things. I am constantly updating my repertoire of expressions and vocabulary I never used in the past, but which crop up all the time these days. Many (more) Americanisms have crept into the English language (their uses of preopsitions often annoy me!), but also quite a few German words that did not exist in English when I was a student! Think gestalt, schadenfreude.... German has wonderful, often highly inventive ways of saying things. I consider myself fortunate to be able to use both languages, though my 'beletristik' or fictional writing is always in English. I should mention the crude shorthand English used often in the media. It is not my kind of language. I suppose I'm the wrong generation.
After retiring from chorus directing in 2016, I now find myself running a new chorus of old and new singers and one or two newcomers It's the 6th chorus I have founded and probably the last, but who knows?
Time to stop writing this and get back to finishing the current novel (The Monks od Grumpsfield) or correcting the 12th (Pensioner's Paradise), which turned out to be very confused at the end, so is getting new chapters to clear up the mysteries. I hope not all the novels are in as much need of rewriting!
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