A Great Weekend Near Daventry And No Place For Old Men At Playgroup?

Today is Wednesday which means that we're back in Suffolk. We've had another busy few days in Rochester babysitting our lovely little two-year-old granddaughter. We took her to two groups this week. On Monday it was Little Stars playgroup. I was sitting on the floor there reading a book to Catherine who was alongside me when another two-year-old came along and promptly sat himself down on my lap to listen in. Years ago this would have been nothing to mention but in today's climate alarm bells rang in my head as I anxiously looked around to see that I had his mother's approval. It's not easy being a bloke in the company of children nowadays as that poor man who tried to visit a falconry centre in Somerset found out when he was refused entry on the ground of being a single male. 

There was no sign of his mum but as I as in full view of everyone I thought "what the heck" and continued to read. When I finished the book he ran off and chose another four and came back, snuggled onto my lap and listened intently as I read them all. It was perfectly natural to read to him and at the end of the playgroup his mum came over and thanked me for doing so. On the following day I was the only male again at the library's Toddler Boogie but as I was not the only grandparent I felt a little more settled. I really wish that men could be more accepted around children and feel more comfortable - perhaps so few go into primary school teaching for fear of the potential accusations.

Rochester was bright, warm and sunny again this week and I think this is the first year that I can remember seeing men out in the shops wearing shorts in November - but perhaps that's just a Rochester thing. 

The building in which the Gunpowder Plot was hatched

Before heading to Rochester we had a short break in Ashby St Ledgers in the midlands. No, I'd never head of it either but we were meeting up with old friends Dave and Jane Haworth from Lancashire and wanted a half way house. At just over two hours drive for both couples, this tiny village was just right and we discovered that it was the place where Guido Fawkes and his co-conspirators hatched their failed plot.

We stayed at the homely Olde Coach House which was pleasant, inexpensive and convenient for the motorway. The rooms were good and the staff were welcoming. Although the food was fine the fine dining menu which was promoted on their website was not available and we were left with homely but basic pub grub.

It would have been good if we could have stayed in the village's manor house but sadly Lord Wimborne owns this place. It was wonderful to catch up with Dave and Jane's news. It's been many months since we last met up and I hope we don't go that far in between meetings again.

November may not be the best time to promote what is essentially a summer read but I thought I would have a look at the results of the giveaway that I did on Goodreads.com last month. I sent out twenty copies of the novel with a personal letter with each. I heard nothing directly from any of the recipients but three rated it (one at 4 stars and two at 5 stars) and two of those also reviewed the book positively. As the exercise cost over £230 including the books and the postage it's a fairly disappointing return as Goodreads suggested that fifty percent might review it. Perhaps they are just slow readers but a quick email saying "thanks for the book" would not have gone amiss. It's early days to see the effects of the free download but as that cost far less, any result will be a good result. 

We've now got a few days in Framlingham before heading back to Rochester. We've got plenty going on - there's rarely a quiet moment. 

Raving Loonies In Rochester (And On The Apprentice)

We're back in Framlingham after another stint of childcare in Rochester. We're getting into a routine now which will make it easier for us until the situation is resolved. We've got the suitcase ready and waiting early on Sunday evening and have most things packed in the car before we go to bed so as to ensure that the noise in the morning is minimal - I am sure that our neighbours won't appreciate too much door slamming at 5.30 a.m. 

This week the local Rochester playgroup was holding  a wellie walk so we had a very enjoyable trip to nearby Shorne Woods just outside Gravesend. Our granddaughter is always fascinated by throwing sticks into water and this activity kept her amused for ages. She had a good tramp through puddles and mud in her wellies before playing on the excellent playground. The weather was very kind and the whole group enjoyed two or three hours in pleasant autumn sunshine.

Back in Rochester things are hotting up for the by-election and there is a very strong UKIP presence with plenty of men who should know better wearing lurid purple fleeces and carrying placards. We even saw a dog dressed in a ridiculous UKIP coat. He and his owner looked as if they were canvassing for the Monster Raving Loonies and not a supposedly credible alternative to Labour or the Conservatives. And yet all the polls suggest that they will win. Let's hope it's just typical by-election madness.

My novel's five day free stint on Amazon certainly got it noticed and there were hundreds of downloads during the giveaway. As Lord Sugar rightly says on The Apprentice it's all about margins and any fool can be a successful salesman if he or she gives the goods away - so how can it be justified?

Well, as you can see from this screen shot, during the free period the book reached number six in the holidays category. By reaching this level it appeared on the front page of the listings in that genre and consequently was seen by far more people. Okay they were able to download it for nothing (and I know that may be galling to those who paid) but as a result of their downloads there is now a link beneath my book quoting "readers who bought this also bought ......" and a long list of books. Consequently, beneath those other books will be a link which reads "people who bought this also bought ...... " and, amongst the many titles will be Give Me Your Tomorrow . Since it returned to full price, sales have been encouraging. What really matters now is if those free downloaders now read the book and leave a positive review - we'll see how it looks in a couple of weeks.

The Goodreads giveaway of twenty paperbacks is also starting to bear fruit and I now have two five star and one four star review on that site. 

It's really time to get stuck into the new novel now and I'm doing my best to get it moving although time is in such short supply. It was never like this when we were working.

Having mentioned The Apprentice earlier I must say that last night's episode was an all time low for the show. Tasked with producing an amusing viral channel on YouTube the team's attempts were beyond derision. Lacking humour, skill, script and just about everything else I'm surprised that Lord Sugar didn't simply sack the lot and start all over again. If he does invest £250k in one of them at the end of the process, that's a quarter of a million quid he'll never see again.

Finally a word of praise for the wonderful Mary Beard. She's very active on Twitter and her tweets and blogs are always amusing and entertaining. What's more she's prepared to interact with her followers. I've commented on her tweets several times and she has always responded. Yesterday she was criticising some crassly sexist advertising in the Vauxhall Corsa brochure. She made a very good point that this sort of stuff (a leggy young woman draped across the car interior) is inappropriate in 2014 but in doing so, I felt she managed to give the manufacturers (and the page in question) more publicity than they would otherwise have had - so win win for Vauxhall. But don't stop doing it Mary, you're one of the characters who make Twitter worthwhile.

On Ayckbourn at FADS, Amazon Fire TV, Framlingham Hour Community And Not So Super Mario

I've been banging on about my novel and my various book giveaways on here this week and my readership has dwindled a little bit so I get the message and I'll get back to the retirement for today although you will have to forgive me if I write another blog pushing Give Me Your Tomorrow before the free offer runs out on Monday.

We got back from Rochester on Tuesday night after looking after our darling granddaughter for a couple of days and we can't wait to see her again on Monday when we head down to Kent again for another childcare stint.

The good folk of Rochester will be very scared on Halloween. Our granddaughter's hand made costume arrived from family in America on Wednesday and I can guarantee that there won't be a better two-year-old dinosaur trick or treating anywhere in Rochester (or the UK for that matter) this time next week. 

Marion has been busy with the garden and has done a fantastic job in digging up the perennial plants that she wasn't happy with, digging in new compost and planting shrubs as replacements. Although our landscapers did a fabulous job in designing the garden last year the planting scheme was done for instant colour and Marion wants something more long term that looks good all year round. Boxes keep arriving from Crocus and David Austin Roses and the results are starting to look impressive. 

I kept getting emails from Amazon telling me that I wasn't getting the most out of Amazon Prime. I use Prime for quick free delivery but it now includes their film and TV streaming service. Trouble is, although our Samsung TV in the kitchen has the Amazon ap, the Panasonic in the lounge doesn't and Panasonic don't seem to be in any hurry to resolve this. I don't want to be streaming films via the laptop (too much hassle) so when I saw that Amazon were introducing their own gadget to make their service available on the Panasonic  (or any tv) I thought it was worth gambling £79 on the Amazon Fire TV and giving it a try. It's  a tiny device and works perfectly (so far). Whether or not we'll watch the free films being offered is another question but at least we now can if we want to.

I supported Liverpool for most of my life and had a season ticket on the Kop for the best part of forty years. I lost interest during the Dalgleish and Hodgson years although I kept going out of loyalty but when we moved to Framlingham I had to give up the season tickets. Suddenly they started to play attractive football and came within a whisker of winning the Premiership (just my luck) so, this season, I've started watching again on TV. It seems that I missed out on the one glory season of the last decade as the last couple of performances (QPR and Real Madrid) have been absolutely dire. Much centres around signing Mario Balotelli and I find myself thinking what Bill Shankly  (yes I am old enough to have been watching when he was the boss) would have done with such a player. He's obviously a highly talented individual and anyone who has friends who set off fireworks in his bathroom and wears a "Why Always Me" t-shirt is okay with me but I reckon Bill would have given short shrift to that ginger mohican for starters. After that he would have told him to look as if he was interested. I'll never forget seeing Liverpool about three down with five minutes to go and Emlyn Hughes running around like a madman encouraging the team to keep going - Balotelli looks as if it's all a bit boring before the game's even started. Although Emlyn's exhortations didn't bring a result at least he got the crowd on his side and if Balotelli can get the crowd on board maybe he can start to make the impact that he is capable of. The day that he signed the cameras showed him leaving his seat before the half time whistle - if you are passionate about your team you don't leave until it's all over.

Last night we headed to the college to see the latest performance from FADS our local amateur dramatics society (apologies to the Framlingham website for pinching their photo). They performed Alan Ayckbourn's Season's Greetings. It was a very entertaining show although the society struggles with a shortage of young male actors. The men who performed did their very best but seemed, in a couple of instances, simply too old for the characters they were portraying.With just five males in the play this did affect its credibility. On the other hand, the female casting was very strong and the actors playing Belinda, Pattie and Rachel all put in memorable performances. The set was, as always, excellent and the audience loved it. They did their best with the cast available but I'd love to see some younger blood in future shows.

Today I've been doing my bit for The Framlingham Hour Community and taken an elderly woman shopping. It's only an hour but it makes a big difference - without this service she would be virtually housebound and have to rely on others to shop for her. The Hour Community gets her out of the house and half of the trip to the Co-Op is spent pausing for her to say hello to people she knows (she knows everyone in Framlingham). Having the shopping delivered to her house would deprive her of this important social interaction.

And by the way, did I tell you, my book is free to download until Monday?



  

Another Giveaway

In the four and a half months since I published Give Me Your Tomorrow I've been encouraged by sales and extremely encouraged by feedback by way of reviews and comments from readers but, without the backing of a publisher's publicity machine there's not a great deal that an independent author can do to keep a book in the spotlight without breaking the bank. So I am trying a short promotion offered by Amazon Kindle to all who enrol in Amazon KDP Select. This allows me to offer the book for free download for a maximum of five days. This promotion begins tomorrow 23rd October and ends on Monday 27th.

Apologies to readers who have invested a couple of pounds in buying the Kindle Edition but I am sure that you will appreciate the competition I am up against and the benefits that a jump in circulation could bring. Obviously if hundreds download the novel and hate it (and say so by way of reviews) it's a giveaway that could backfire but I am reasonably confident that this won't be the case as the reviews already written are genuinely independent comments. 

So, please spare a moment to tell your friends or anyone you know with a Kindle or ebook reader and pass on this link. Remember, the promotion starts tomorrow and runs until Monday. I will let you know how the promotion goes.

In other news, our babysitting in Rochester continues. We're only looking after our little granddaughter for two days a week for the next week or two and we went on Monday and spent a very happy time with her. We enjoyed playgroup on Monday and Toddler Boogie on Tuesday and Marion spent the rest of the time playing with her with (amongst many other things) Duplo and a set of Peppa Pig figures which she absolutely loves. Catherine insisted that I take a photo - so here it is. I cooked a roast dinner on Monday and I must mention Hall Farm Butchers in Framlingham who provided the fabulous beef that made it such an enjoyable meal. 

I should also mention Camel Footwear. I bought a great pair of Camel Active boots last winter. The laces became worn and I couldn't find replacements anywhere (they are quite a distinctive colour which matches the stitching). I emailed Camel service in Germany and asked them to tell me the name of a stockist and, just a few days later, I received a pair of laces free of charge. In these days of tight profit margins I imagine that the cost of a pair of laces plus postage and packing to the UK would almost eliminate their original profit on the boots so thank you Camel Active for your excellent service.

Grandparenting In Rochester

We've spent another busy week in Rochester helping out with our granddaughter during a temporary childcare crisis. It wasn't as tiring this week as we stayed in Kent and the driving was limited to one early start on Monday (although torrential rain at around 6.15 a.m reducing visibility to next to nothing and flooding the A12 made it a pretty hair raising journey). We enjoyed looking after our special little two-year-old and we're off there again tomorrow for a couple of days. The town is going to be very much in the news for the next few weeks in the run up to the by-election and it becomes overrun by politicians. We've seen a number of TV News crews and photographers there but haven't spotted any big names as yet. 

I'm becoming quite an expert in toddler activities. We visited Little Stars playgroup, Toddler Boogie at Rochester Library, Toddler Shake And Boogie at Chatham Library and another playgroup run by King's School in Rochester. Men are conspicuous by their absence at all of these events and there has only been the odd dad amongst the mums and grans and no other granddads. It's a pity in these days of gender equality that more males don't participate. I'm sure that Paul, who often takes Catherine to these kids' clubs, would welcome a couple of blokes to talk to.

It must be confusing for the children attending these activities as each group has its own version of songs like The Wheels On The Bus and Row, Row Row Your Boat. I'm getting the hang of it (even the politically incorrect version with Mummies on the bus going "Chatter Chatter Chatter")

We got back to Framlingham in time to take an elderly woman on her regular Friday afternoon shopping trip as part of our participation in the Framlingham Hour Community. It's a great scheme as there are plenty of people living on their own (or with disabled partners) here and simple things like shopping can present them with tremendous worries. 

Yesterday we had a day to ourselves and enjoyed breakfast and the The Times Jumbo2 crossword at the Lemon Tree (didn't finish it this week as we didn't know a Belgian composer) before Marion went to the hairdressers and I had a couple of hours out with the detector.

I tipped this lot out of the bag when I got home - that's two trips worth as I didn't have time after the last trip. And no, the detector doesn't pick up golf balls, it was just lying on the surface of the field. Here are some of the better finds from the two trips.

A Medieval Silver Penny Heavily Clipped

A Medieval Silver Farthing - Damaged

Another Medieval Penny

A Charles I Rose Farthing

Unidentified Probably A 17th Century Trade Token

There were not very many artefacts but I have found seven early hammered coins in four short visits to this very small field so I look forward to trying it out again when the crop which covers ninety per cent of it is harvested (I have been searching a set-aside strip).

I am pleased that the novel is still selling and I now have ten reviews in total on Amazon and Amazon.com. I spent over £118 posting twenty free copies to the winners of my Goodreads giveaway last week but have not heard from any of the recipients as yet and hope that the copies arrived safely. It would be great if all twenty read the book and leave constructive feedback. If I hear nothing it will be a disappointment. 

A Joyous And Joyful Trip To London

With all the driving we did last week, the last thing we needed was a trip to London on Saturday. But, having spent almost £200 on front stalls seats for Shakespeare In Love at the Noel Coward Theatre a few months ago, we weren't going to pour money down the drain and headed off to Ipswich to catch the 12.09 train. We were in good time until I foolishly followed a Satnav route that suggested we would arrive much earlier than expected instead of sticking to the planned journey. The Satnav woman was clearly unfamiliar with Ipswich Saturday traffic and we ended up collecting our tickets from the machine at the Station at 12.08 and walking straight through the barriers and onto the train. That might look like a case of perfect timing but it was, in fact, a pretty stressful arrival. 

As we can only manage a theatre trip once every month or two we have to be choosy and rely on the critics and pick only the shows that get four or five stars in the newspaper. Shakespeare In Love was universally acclaimed - and deservedly so. It's far lighter than The Crucible  which we saw at the Old Vic recently but it's still a wonderful couple of hours entertainment. We didn't see the Oscar winning movie so the story was fresh and great fun.We enjoyed spotting the Shakespeare references in the play (I'm sure that we missed plenty); my favourite was "out damned spot" directed at one of the play's star turns (I won't spoil it for you). 

Shakespeare's beautiful Sonnet 18 (Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day) figures largely in the play. It's my favourite Shakespeare sonnet and features in my own novel Give Me Your Tomorrow as well as inspiring the title The Darling Bids Of May and John Mortimer's book Summer's Lease. I think this use of Shakespeare's beautiful love poetry added a great deal to Shakespeare In Love and made it not just a great comedy but also a fabulous love story. The magnificent set was fabulous and the curtain call was one of the most joyful theatrical events I've seen in a long time - it brought tears of pleasure to my eyes. If you wan't something entertaining and light but a bit different than the average West End musical give this a try. You will definitely not be disappointed.

I was, however, disappointed by the behaviour of a group of teenagers on the train back to Ipswich. They were wearing badges which indicated involvement in a Youth Parliament event. God help us if any of that lot ever get elected. Loud, boisterous, inane and totally oblivious to the rest of the passengers these loud mouthed thirteen to seventeen year olds (plus a couple of adults - teachers?) were so childishly noisy they ruined the journey for everyone nearby. They weren't using bad language but were so loud and full of themselves that they seemed oblivious to the thought that maybe some in the carriage didn't want to listen to their views or find their practical jokes on their friends funny. As they departed at Ipswich their table was piled high with rubbish - politicians eh!

Rochester is big in the political news at the moment due to the defection of their MP to UKIP and we're off there again on babysitting duties tomorrow. and staying for a week this time. I'll be taking these 20 copies of my novel to post while we are there. Over eight hundred people entered the Goodreads competition to win a copy. I hope that the recipients in Canada, the USA and England enjoy the novel and leave some decent reviews to help me to promote sales.

Busy Days

It's been a hectic week with little time for blogging. We've been helping the Rochester branch of the family with babysitting duties due to the temporary absence of the regular carer. It's wonderful to be able to see so much of our two-year old granddaughter - she's a little angel and has been great company. On the negative side, the five a.m starts are not ideal.

On the plus side we get to see sunrises like this.

But on the negative side there's a huge traffic build up at the Dartford crossing as early as seven o'clock. We arrive in Rochester way too early but if we left Framlingham any later we would be way too late - it's amazing what a difference a fifteen minute delay in leaving can make. We're off there again on Friday and next week we're staying all week so we will avoid the early starts and long drives. 


Being with a two year old can be a lot of fun. We told her parents that we would look at some new shoes for her. "Something plain and sensible" were our instructions. 

These were her idea of something plain and sensible! Suffice to say she ended up with a very nice dark blue pair. 

While we've been back in Framlingham we've been keeping very busy. We've taken up spinning classes at Fram Leisure up at the college. We've got Becky, who is a great instructor, to keep us going and the classes provide forty five minutes of intensive exercise. Spinning apart, Marion's redesigning the garden planting and has bought two trees and lots of shrubs and climbing plants which she's managed to find time to plant . She's got plans for another few dozen plants but they may have to be delayed until spring.

We even managed to get to Cineworld in Ipswich to see Boyhood which we missed first time around. It's a unique piece of cinema being filmed over twelve years. We experience the life of  Mason (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows from five to eighteen. It is a warm and fascinating piece. With each of the cast ageing as the film progresses it removes the need for unconvincing make up or different actors and I imagine that the script was a work in progress throughout the twelve years as the director Richard Linklater (whose daughter Lorelei who plays Mason's sister Samantha and also grows up on screen) could never be certain how his cast's circumstances would change over more than a decade. There are some wonderful and very real performances especially from Ethan Hawke who starred in Linklater's "Before" series of films. Not a great deal happens but it is an extremely likeable and real depiction of a modern multi-parent family life - a must for any cinema lover.

I also found time to get out with the detector at the weekend. Although this group of finds doesn't look particularly exciting they include a medieval silver penny and a medieval silver farthing plus one particularly fascinating coin.

This is a Danish silver Skilling of Christian IV dated 1620. It's in very good condition and it's intriguing to find a Danish coin from this period here in Suffolk. I did a bit of research and local dignitary Sir Robert Hitcham, who was around in the 1600s was Attorney General to Queen Anne of Denmark. Could this coin be linked to that connection? We'll never know for sure but I doubt that many Danes were visiting here in the 17th century.

I'll leave you today with a final reminder of my Goodreads book giveaway which finishes on Friday.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Football And Footlights In Framlingham

I had a great day yesterday. We got up a bit later than usual and headed down to The Lemon Tree for an excellent full English. You'll find me doing the crossword in The Crown or The Dancing Goat over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake most weekdays but on a Saturday it's the Times Jumbo2 crossword and that calls for a more substantial meal. I'm happy to say that we managed to complete it this week which was a good start to the morning.

We then headed to the bookshop to thank Victoria for giving my novel a prominent position in the window in support of my ad in this week's AboutFram email. I'm not sure if anybody has bought a signed copy from the bookshop yet but the ad did bring a good response to the Kindle sales.

After the shopping it was time to head back home to watch Liverpool v Everton on TV. I won't dwell on that but as soon as it finished I walked up the road and settled down to watch table topping Framlingham Town against Ipswich Exiles in the Touchline Suffolk & Ipswich League.

The excellent young Framlingham side were already 2-0 up when I got to my seat and it wasn't long before the score increased to 3-0 sparking a mini riot in front of the home team dug out.

Fortunately Timothy West, taking a day off from his theatrical duties, had a good game and managed the situation well and no doubt with a "methinks he doth protest too much" sent off the Ipswich offender.

Tim In A More Familiar Role

With the opposition down to ten men, the second half became a rout and Danny Smith (at seventeen an outstanding goalscoring prospect- Brendan Rogers take note ) completed a hat trick and could have had more if he hadn't put this one over. Framingham ended 7-1 winners with some attractive attacking football. I was impressed by Bret Bellamy who took his penalty well and subs Issac Robinson and Nathan Vincent both scored within minutes of getting onto the pitch. Olly Goddard attacked well and if he had chosen to pass instead of going for goal on a number of occasions the score could have reached double figures.

After the match we headed up to the college for an hour of outstanding sketch comedy from the Cambridge Footlights (who left the stage before I had time to take a photo so you'll have to make do with these cardboard cut outs). We saw a similar show when we saw Sheeps at the Edinburgh Fringe two years ago but this was even funnier. I particularly enjoyed sketches involving a French conversation using Google translate "Sacred blue!" and "Burnt cream" , a sausage factory demonstration infiltrated by a dog and an introduction to a randy chameleon. It was a non-stop hour of excellent comedy and I am sure that we will be seeing a lot of the five (very) young men in the future. 

We were home in time to watch X Factor on Sky Plus so, all in all, a pretty perfect day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Another Year Vanishes

I can't believe that over a year has passed since Duncan rushed Sarah to Dundee on a Saturday teatime and arrived with ten minutes to spare before this little girl arrived on the scene. But yesterday was her first birthday and twelve months have passed in the blink of an eye.

We joined the family along with Duncan's parents Jack and Muriel and his sister Katriona and nephew Blake yesterday at the grand Fairmont St Andrews hotel for afternoon tea to celebrate Melody's birthday. We had a surfeit of cakes which left us more than full for the long drive back to Suffolk at the end of the afternoon.

Sarah is the busiest of busy mums with her Yoga instructing, maths tutoring, and parenting but she still found time to bake this lovely building block cake for Melody.

Melody is growing into quite a little character and it was good to get to know her a little better during our two weeks in Scotland.

And big sister Rose who had  great time at The Fairmont playing with her cousin Blake is really starting to enjoy her company. I suspect that the two are going to be great friends when they grow up.

I'll finish today with a photo for Rose to prove that we genuinely couldn't see her when she was hiding in the ball pool.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win