The Beautiful Build-Up...

Same people, same place, 
same weekend. 2023.

Exciting times ahead! The annual family caravan shebang is mere days away. Twelve people, three caravans, and a boot full of Prosecco. It's the same every year so I know how this goes. I know that the anticipation of the event is always better than the actual weekend away. I LOVE the build up. All week I'm going to be giddy and excited. I'm going to buzz off making lists. I'm going to pack the car whole days before I need to. I'll be looking up the route on Google maps even though my sat-nav will be doing all the work. I'll plan all the evening beach walks and sunset backdrops in my head. 

Taken at a previous
Bond weekend in
Wales. It doesn't
 *always* rain.

The reality, as I know from many years' experience, will be different. It'll rain, I'll have a bad back from three nights away from my super-king Hypnos, and on more than one occasion I'll remember why Teenage Me was desperate to leave home. But still... I'm genuinely excited. It's one of my favourite times of the year, and even though I know I should manage my expectations, I'm fizzing with giddy anticipation. Let's be honest, it's not a bad way to feel for a week.

Return next week
for INSIGHTS.

Writing News

This blog is my regular writing shift now. While the book is in its pre-order stage (and until I start the next novel) my only creative output is Writer's Ramblings. That usually takes three hours a week. In fact the writing takes less than an hour. It's the GIF-finding and link-searching that takes the time. But basically, it's no major effort. Not this week, though. This week it's been full on. Because of being caravan-bound in a few days, I won't have time to write Monday's blog. No biggie - I wrote it last week. As it's going to be May's Long Ramble - the monthly post where I riff on one topic and give the Update format a week off - it can be easily written before time. But... but... but next week is the big one. It's EUROVISION. 

Yep, it's that time of again. Can it really be a whole twelve months since Liverpool? Ah, happy happy times. But back to my point. Every year I provide some thoughts about the contest ahead for the reading public. For that, a shit-tonne of research has to take place. Over the past few days I've written the introductory paragraph about how I haven't listened to any of the songs, I've listened to the songs, and then I've written about my favourite entries. It's taken a lot of time. This week, purely so you get my Eurovision opinions next Monday, I've been a busy bee.

It's only be a matter of time
before I watch Colonel
Nathan Jessep lose it again.

Culture

Did you know that the film Speed is thirty years old? Mad, innit. On Tuesday I watched it at the cinema in a special anniversary showing. It was a hoot. Full of machismo and overblown action sequences with a boyish Keanu Reeves. What's not to love? Then, further to last week and my current obsession with a certain ongoing courtroom drama, I've been hammering the John Grisham adaptations. So far I've done The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and - as last week's blog foreshadowed - Runaway Jury. All good legal fun.

Food and Drink

This is as simple as it gets. Peel and segment a bag of seedless tangerines. Freeze them. Whizz them up in a mixer with some dark chocolate and voila! You've got a orange-chocolate sorbet thingamajig. Fit as, and full of vitamin C. I was sceptical but it's delish!

Out and About

I got a hair cut and a mani, I did a station pick up and a hospital drop off. It's been a week of jobs! But no matter. In just a few days time, I'll be chilling/chilly by the sea. And relaaaaxxxxx.

Have a lovely week, folks.