Many congratulations to @Nikky Lee for winning the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story!
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So there’s a mystery in our new house. There’s some extremely old concrete at the top of the garden, early Victorian, made with pebbles from the beach. Someone made a huge slab of it, about 8 feet square. Underneath, I can see a sort of tunnel. But why is it there? And - should I try to remove it?
Cox update. 2 months in, boxes mostly still resolutely packed. Removed old cooker, found damp everywhere. Kitchen now hacked back to the bare bricks inside and out. New window just gone in to replace old (rotten) one. Ceiling comes down next week. Bathroom floor rotten, water disconnected. On the plus side, a robin flew into my study today, had a nice long chat, then popped out again. Restored my sanity.
London, this afternoon
We'll be going down briefly for a security update in the next hour or so.
Just a reminder that the forums are undergoing major reorganisation, as explained here. Things may appear a bit chaotic until this has been concluded, probably towards the end of the week.
One more journey round the Sun begins...
Amazing day on Saturday. Heard - and saw - a wren in the morning. Piercingly beautiful song! In the afternoon, Peg asked me which animal terrified me - really only one, the slow worm, last seen when I was four, traumatized. And what did I encounter in the garden that evening? A slow worm! We made up, long time coming.
Merciful heavens, the water is back on Living without running water is incredibly difficult.
Even my vegan fish seem relieved
Some of whom have with me 25+ years
No water since Thursday for many people here in Hastings area. No sanitation, no washing up, businesses closed, long traffic jams for water distribution points (no car? forget it). This is Southern Water at it’s chaotic finest, a rerun of what they did to neighbouring Rye last year. How on earth did we agree to privatise this so-obviously public utility?
Maintenance has finished, all is well.
The Colony will be going down in a few minutes for maintenance.
Decayed alien mural in Warminster car park. Alien, left, literary agent, right.
I read a book about Warminster’s space visitors, “The Warminster Mystery” when I was ten. That’s what propelled us here 18 months ago: childhood curiosity.
I found no trace of aliens.
Just as well.
Instead, I found a mystical landscape as wild and unsettling as anything Lovecraft could conjecture.
And people whose wit, kindness and generosity is as boundless as space itself.
p.
Warminster's Mors Janua Vitae, Death the Door to Life. A Christian message of hope, or possibly a whisper of something far older. The ancient ones are never far away in fierce, perplexing, bawdy and bewitching Wiltshire.
I never knew what these spring wreaths really meant, nor would I necessarily have been told: at least, not told the truth, whatever that is.
There is an earthy, pagan quality about Wiltshire that was wholly unexpected, disturbing, atavistic. This is the land that gave birth to crop circles, had Britain's own Roswell in Warminster. Where deception and the profound are easy bedfellows. They are moonrakers here, one and all.
And back to Warminster one more time today, pre-dawn start. Need that espresso!
Yesterday was Fish Transport Day, a Colony of 30 Golden Ancistrus some 25 years old. Pleased to say all now happy in Hastings, no casualties.
Just a few more days of chaos, but expecting to be back at this week’s Huddle on Saturday! Focus at the moment is on closing down things in Warminster, will be doing two return trips there from Hastings before the weekend… and kipping on the floor in a sleeping bag! Roll on Saturday.
Same boxes, different place Apparently I'm an undiagnosed pack-rat...
It begins...
Exhausting day, and two more coming up, but here's a summary so far.
Completed the purchase yesterday. Traveled down to Hastings for electricity and gas visits this morning. Both need a lot more work than expected, ouch.
But no complaints from me. The place has bags of character. Very warm vibes.
The best news so far is that the internet gear was ready waiting for me to hook up and it worked flawlessly. Disaster scenario would have involved getting BT to send engineers, literally taking weeks until everything working properly. But that's avoided. Next step will be this weekend when the rest of the network stuff, computers etc are here and hopefully reassembled. For the moment just getting by with my cellphone.
Getting back very late tonight to Warminster for an early load-up tomorrow...
Back from coffee this morning to find this guest sitting outside the door. Very tame. But what is it…?
Me and my therapist, Oscar.
I think he’s actually Lurcher x Collie.
Going to say goodbye to pub dog Oscar the Lurcher today, in advance of our move from Wiltshire. I will miss him like mad. He could be a licensed therapist, he’s that caring and empathic.
Have just exchanged contracts on new home. After 16 months searching, it’s hard to believe. Hasn’t sunk in yet.
Updates done, all seems OK, but let us know if something isn't working as expected.
Lots of updates happening over next few hours, some possible downtime. -
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