We've been pretty well organised for Christmas this year. Marion has been brilliant in her planning and she had almost everything sorted before the end of November.
Whilst Marion has been run off her feet, I've had a pretty lazy time. I've been suffering from a couple of injuries. My shoulder has been painful for some months so I finally went to see a doctor. He sent me for a scan which shows tears to some ligaments and a lot of other wear and tear from old age and we're now waiting until February to see if there's any improvement or if I've got to have an operation. To add to my woes, my hip has also been playing up so it's been double doses of painkillers.
Of course this has resulted in a cut back on my regular exercise classes and metal detecting and instead I've filled my time reading and getting back into the old hobby of antiques buying and selling on eBay.
Last week we drove up to Southport and collected my mum for a week here in Suffolk.
She'll be 93 in a few weeks and she's looking very well. We enjoyed having her and I think she had a good break before her long trek back. She coped really well with a return journey that involved two drives, two trains and two tubes. We're looking forward to welcoming her back here in 2019. At this rate she might get to clock up a 100.
We watched Murder On The Orient Express and The Greatest Showman with her on TV but the best film we saw during her stay was Wildlife starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhall at Aldeburgh Cinema. It's a touching and stark examination of a marriage in crisis and quite beautifully done. Do see it if you can.
We also saw Widows recently. I wanted to enjoy this film as I like Steve McQueen as a director but, despite the tremendous reviews we both found it a bit slow and disappointing.
I said earlier that I've filled in some time, during my enforced inactivity, with eBay and I've certainly caught the bug again. My novel Mr Prendergast's Fantastic Find tells the story of a man who spots an incredible bargain on the website and I've tried to emulate his efforts. I've not quite reached the dizzy heights achieved by my eponymous hero but I've loved trying. There's a special Christmas gift offer at the end of this blog so you can learn Mr P's methods for free.
Here's one of my best finds so far.
I absolutely loved this piece.
Especially when I spotted this little fellow in one of the chimneys.
This is some of the stuff I'm selling this week - all bought on eBay
My only eBay failure has been our lounge curtains which cost about £2,000 and are only six years old. They attracted no bids at all at £50. I'll try again over Christmas
I set myself a target of 35 books to read during 2018 on my Goodreads reading challenge but I've managed to get through 46 so far. I've enjoyed most of them.
My favourite? I loved A Man Called Ove and Less but Middle England, being so much a novel for these Brexity times, possibly topped what has been a very enjoyable year's reading.
Which leads me to my Christmas gift to you. I've self-published two novels and they've both been well received. (I've started a third but it stalled in April although I'm ready to get going again now). You can download both of these very different books for free by clicking the links below any time between 12 noon US East Coast time on 22nd December until the end of December 26th. Both have high ratings on Amazon.UK and on Goodreads.
Give Me Your Tomorrow is a romance set on a beautiful Greek Island in 1969 against a background of the Apollo moon landings click here from late on 22nd December to Boxing Day and download for FREE
Mr Prendergast's Fantastic Find is a comedy about the hapless Dave Prendergast and his quest for treasure on eBay click here between 22nd December and the end of Boxing Day to download for FREE.
Have a wonderful Christmas
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