Land Ahoy!

Gosh, I'm getting rubbish at writing this blog. I just never seem to have the time these days. Well, I guess that isn't strictly true because I have lots of time on my hands really, but I mainly waste it by messing around on Facebook, ironing, or trying to compile my Great Aunt Dolores's memoirs into something worth publishing. When she died, she appointed me as her 'literary executor' which was quite typical of her – a grand claim, considering that her writings are a somewhat meaningless jumble of incoherent ramblings, mainly about how she was the love-child of Coco Chanel and had once beaten General Franco in a game of strip poker ("Believe me boy," she once said, "he was no Spanish donkey, that's for sure. If you catch my drift, as Hazel would say."). So I shouldn't put my blog aside for these trivial matters – instead I should attend to you, dear reader, and I should do it more often.

I've been thinking about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens recently. I've been trying to compile a list of my favourite things because that's what is supposed to make us feel better. So, here is a list of some of the things that simply don't make me feel so bad when the dog bites, or when the bee stings:

· Whisky – and in particular, the first time I realized that I could drink it neat and savour its taste.
· Taking a scalding hot cup of tea back to bed on a Sunday morning and reading a book.
· Sneezing – well, this used to be a delicious pleasure, until we all became spooked by swine flu.
· Whisky – in particular when it's not drunken neat, but in a whisky sour. Yum!
· Thunderstorms – I love switching all the lights off and standing naked in the garden singing: "Come on thunder, come on thunder."
· Cutting my toenails – I used to be able to bite them, but my legs aren't bendy enough these days.
· Brown suede shoes – I once met a man who said that you could only be assertive by wearing shiny shoes. Well, he was wrong.
· Whisky – particularly when it's mixed with dry ginger.
· Speaking Italian – I can't actually do it, but it's a great idea.
· Getting to that point in writing a story when the character starts to tell me what he/she wants to do next.
· Kite flying – except that I've never actually done it. Well I have, but not successfully.
· Recovering from a headache – pure bliss.
· Whisky. However it comes.

So, those are a few of my favourite things. You'll probably have noticed how watching television doesn't appear in the list. Neither does chopping off my own head. Strange that.

Now, back to Dolores's memoirs.....