On Monday and Tuesday, I rewrote a story and submitted it while Hubby pulled up the hallway carpet and broke my vacuum cleaner - and bought me a new one.
On Wednesday, I met up with my sister for her belated birthday lunch. Great food, a walk along Plymouth Hoe watching the waves crash across the road. Unfortunately, I was wearing a skirt, which needed to be held down because of the gusty wind! I can't explain - without sounding very sarcastic - how much I love the wind.
We walked to the Barbican, I took my sister's picture on the Mayflower Steps (not shown, because I haven't asked her), and went to The Merchant's House - one of the oldest buildings in Plymouth, now a museum. (I don't remember it being on a slant, it might just have been me! I'd had lunch, remember, along with half a bottle of wine!)
At the moment it's got a great Plymouth Blitz display, and we spent ages working out where our grandparents were living. (They got bombed out of three houses, apparently). The Blitz in Plymouth is not so well-known as some of the others around the country - because, if I remember correctly, the Government decided to keep it quiet for propaganda reasons, and so Plymouth didn't get as much help as other cities - but we had 50-something raids over the course of a couple of years and at least 50% of the city was completely destroyed. Old houses, like The Merchant's House are very rare in Plymouth.
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| Kyra's on the left, I'm on the right... lol |
On Thursday, I met the amazing Kyra Lennon. I've never met another author before, and it was so cool because through our blogs we know all the same people, and could talk about how great you guys are!
So, that was my week. How was yours? How was the weather for you?
Heh, glad you had such a great week! I really don't take enough advantage of living near Plymouth, I may need to visit soon!
ReplyDeleteI had a fabulous day with you, and still can't believe we managed to talk for so long without stopping! :D
You're welcome down this way any time you like!
DeleteThat sounds like a lovely week, Annalisa -- sans the Marylin Monroe over a grated air shaft moments.
ReplyDeleteI did seem to be the only fool who was wearing a skirt - everyone else was wearing trousers...
Deletewhat a lovely entry! and topped it off right! i would love to meet any of my blogger/writer friends! awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt's such fun meeting new people who you can fall into such an easy conversation with - we already knew loads about each other!
DeleteThat sounds like so much fun! I'm jealous. :( But I'm glad you had such a great week! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel - no need to be jealous, it'll be normal and humdrum again next week!
DeleteSounds like a great week with plenty of fun. Plymouth is one of those places with a great old bit (The Barbican etc) and then the modern shops. Weather here has been wet and windy on the whole. Just brightening up now so may get out for a walk later.
ReplyDeleteDo you live close Suzanne, then? The Hoe is one of my most favourite places in the world, so beautiful and changeable. Hope you get that walk!
DeleteNot too far, couple of hours in Cornwall. We get up there 2 or 3 times a year for a bit of retail therapy!
DeleteI sense another meetup coming! :D
DeleteWe should get a few people together, definitely!
Deleteexcellent week. Plymouth sounds interesting. Just walking along a beach with waves sounds fabulous. Your writing of your week perked up mine. It was okay in TX - we've been under 100F, only 99 - ha! Chances of rain which we need desperately. No sign of a beach from here. Glad all is well on your end of the world. And a new vacuum cleaner - does life get better?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Plymouth doesn't have much of a beach, just a small cove. There's a lot of concrete and rocks though - I've made it sound ugly but it really isn't.
Deletehttp://www.plymouthadventist.org.uk/plymouthattractions.html
The top right photo on this link shows it off quite well.
Your grandparents must have thought Hitler had a personal vendetta against them!
ReplyDeleteI love the wind too - I remember many angst-laden teenage walks along Hove seafront that blew my troubles away.
They got off lightly compared to my Ukrainian grandparents - their story involves concentration camps and hiding in Germany from the Nazis!
DeleteThe power of the wind is something very special - not to be taken lightly though, I always make sure I'm holding on to something heavier than me :-)
Sounds like a wonderful week! Hope you have a great weekend, too. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Dana - vacuuming and writing, probably in that order! Have a good weekend yourself :-)
DeleteYou got to meet Kyra! Very cool.
ReplyDeleteIt was so cool, Alex. Kyra's great!
DeleteSounds like a lovely time! I've always wanted a critique partner I could actually meet in person.
ReplyDeleteCool alligator facts! I appreciate that you buy blogger friends' books--that is awesome of you!
Allison (Geek Banter)
Finding people who live close enough to meet up is hard.
DeleteAlthough I do buy blogger friends' books, I didn't mention it in this post, so either you meant that second comment for someone else or your practising your mindreading on me :-D
What a great week! Hope next week is just as good!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You've taken your name off - are you a spy? Do I have to deny I know you? :-)
DeleteI have a love/hate relationship with the wind myself. Glad you had a great week.
ReplyDeleteIt was more of a hate relationship when I had long hair, but when I realised life would be much easier if I didn't have to cart my hair dryer and straighteners around with me, I chopped the lot off! I haven't even used a hairbrush for several years :-)
DeleteSounds like a great few days! Mine was just a whole lot of school work ... (including being at school today!).
ReplyDeleteSchool? We're slap-bang in the middle of the holidays here. I can't wait to get back to some normality. The kids are starting to go a little crazy!
DeleteIt sounds like you had an awesome week. I'm back from NY and I've been dreaming about the city for the past couple of nights. It was awesome and I'm officially smitten by New York :) I'll post about it on Monday.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your post, NY is somewhere I can't wait to visit. Although, due to circumstance, I have to wait to visit ANYWHERE at the moment :-)
DeleteOh you had a lovely time in Plymouth! My week was not too bad either - been out with friends a few times and got myself together for my new excercise programme. Writing not so good but spent some time doing new blog articles and some promotional stuff for my latest book. Oh yes... I also did some *thinking* about my next book!!
ReplyDeleteThinking time is not to be underestimated, especially if you get to meet friends and exercise at the same time. I get some great ideas when I'm at the gym - it must be the increased blood-flow to the brain.
DeleteHaven't been to Plymouth since I was a kid. I remember that old building though. I've had a busy week too but nowhere near as enjoyable as yours!
ReplyDeleteApart from a couple of obvious changes (a new shopping centre) at one end, much of it is exactly the same as when it was redeveloped in the 50s. Although the shopping centre means a lot of the old units are now empty, which is sad to see.
DeleteLast time we were in Plymouth we had to buy pasties - dozens of them! I can't remember much else about the place so maybe it's time I went back?
ReplyDeleteI hope they weren't all for you Patsy! I must admit, I had my fill of pasties when I was younger and I don't touch them now. Not a proper Plymothian :-(
DeleteYour week sounded awesome. Definitely a lot of fun. I am glad that you got to meet another author. It is always great to meet someone that you have something in common with. My week was not nearly as exciting as yours. It basically involved sleeping, writing and household chores.
ReplyDeleteAt least you listed sleeping and writing before the chores! Keep it that way round and you'll always be happy :-)
DeleteGlad you had a lovely week. That's great news about Kyra becoming your CP. She's helped my WIP loads!
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't really know about the Plymouth blitz. That's bad about the government covering it up.
I'm so lucky Kyra's helping, but now I have to flex my own critique skills - I've never done it before!
DeleteDown this way, we've got used to people not even knowing where we are, let alone our recent history!
Oh what a lovely week you had and awesome pics. I love walking along the beach when it's windy, something peaceful about waves crashing against the shore, the bigger the better! It's been amazingly hot and sunny up here this past week, summer at last haha! :)
ReplyDeleteWe're having summer in the afternoons at the moment - it's better than not at all, but it does mean we need a change of clothes by about 1pm!
DeleteThanks for the Twitter and Facebook follows too :-)
Your week was much more fun than mine. I spent it recovering from surgery and doing book promo. Yuch.
ReplyDeleteOh no, Susan - hope you're feeling fully recovered now :-)
DeleteThat sounds like an awesome week. Plymouth looks like a lovely place to hang out and walk around. I need to get my husband unit to vacuum.
ReplyDeletePlymouth is great. One tip: only let your husband vacuum if he promises not to break the cleaner!
DeleteSounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteAnd psh, asking family to post their pictures... you are a better woman than I. :)
My sister is as self-conscious about photos as I am - so I couldn't do it to her. You should have seen our pep talk to each other before her recent wedding!!
DeleteIt sounds and looks like a wonderful week. The photographs a fantastic and that's the thing with the digital world. We can record our days so easily so memories are never forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to meet and spend some time with Kyra. I have been lucky enough to meet people I have chatted with on social networks and now call them friends.
Here's to more days like this.
I'm attempting to use more photos in my blog, and with all the copyright stuff, I need to take more myself. The problem is, I rarely have such great weeks - which is why I wrote about it, lol - so the photos might get quite samey - cups of tea, washing up, laundry... it's not the same is it?
DeleteMeeting Kyra was awesome. Meeting new friends who share the same interests is always fantastic!
Hi Annalise and Kyra, if you manage another get together in Plymouth and fancy another gatecrasher give me a shout!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Suzanne!
DeleteHi Annalisa .. what a great week you have had .. and a fun time - so pleased for you .. and lovely that you showed us a few of the sites of Plymouth with a little history ..
ReplyDeleteI'm in the library at the moment - and they've got a few old things up about Eastbourne .. and apparently we had 'pub air raids' .. they must have hit a number of hosteleries in the town!
Fantastic you met up too ... I'm going to be going up and down to Cornwall fairly soon ... so perhaps too at some stage we could meet ... cheers for now - Hilary
Meeting up sounds fun. Which part of Cornwall are you going to?
DeleteLocal history is fascinating once you start delving into it. I'm almost tempted to write something set in that period... almost :-)
Good luck with your submission! Lucky you meeting up with another author - bet I can guess what the conversation was about. I can see you were drinking beer, but what was Kyra drinking?
ReplyDeleteI was actually drinking cider (Thatchers, yummy). Kyra's was orange. And yes, the conversation flowed very easily. It was great not having to start sentences with 'This guy whose blog I follow said...' lol
DeleteLoved this blog post - so jealous you got to meet Kyra, and she got to meet you!! I visited Plymouth briefly this year :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day, Trisha. Did you like Plymouth?
DeleteEngland is floating on the top of my bucket list...and if I ever make it over, you and Kyra have to meet me for lunch or something. Pinky swear on it.
ReplyDeletePinky swear, Elizabeth, absolutely.
DeleteSounds like an awesome week. I've meet a few online authors and it's a fantastic experience.
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly discovering that quite a few live close by, so so Kyra and I might get to meet more too :-)
Delete