my journey as a civil war novel writer

Happy samhain to those who celebrate it tonight. Me I don't adhere to one relgion. Wiccan is maybe the closest I have ever felt to a religion but there is alw ays something I don't like. So I create my own. I have a house altar with an i mage of jesus, a rosary, a small buddha and an idian medicine pouch. I would love to add something pagan and wiccan as well. And I take the thoughts and teachi ngs that speak to me and make them my own. It makes me pretty happy. Bookwise I have been a very bad, bad girl. I ordered more books yesterday. It is like a drug, I can't stop. And I like too many genres. The recent interviews on realms on our bookshelves have given me so many new tips again that I could not resist. Yes you may slap me. But reading keeps me sane. It makes me slip away i n fantasy worlds for a few hours. I can salivate over Jean Claude and nobody notices. I prefer books over dvd. When I read I can see the pictures in front of me. I love movies but if I have to choose...

Finally decided on a pair of glasses yesterday, not funny. My ideas are very difficult to measure, that means I cannot go to the cheap chains. I did not go for the most expensive option yesterday also because I am 99% convinced that it is not for me. The shop assistant was 99% convinced it would work but I have leant to listen to myself better and stick to my guns. But still the total sum comes close to 700 e uro and I can get only a third back from the tax man, nothing from health insurance because my last glasses are not 3 years old. And there is the dentist with the 2 crowns still to come. Joy! Tax etc i s on my mind a lot today. I need to finish the email for the accountant. The one that is coming to talk to us in december during the 4th study day. Boy do I have a lot of questions for him. I don't understand money matters easily and the site of the tax office is like greek to me. Hopefully this man will be able to make me understand, it is his job after all. Finished Jean Plai...

I am doing a bit better so today I want to return to the blog. Also because I think one of the reasons of the stress is clearing up. There was some disagreement with a friend that I hold very dear. And I think we are getting closer again. That makes me very happy. Later this afternoon I will send her another email. And then go into to wn to talk about my glasses situation once more and determine how much money I want to spend on them now. I also have two crowns coming up this year and none of these costs were planned. Gulp! But as promised books! I finished a book of lists. Movies made about the american civil war. It wasn't much more then a list with lots of photo's. But it did give me ideas for of the older movies I would still like to see. Not sure if they are available on DVD. I also finished the second J.D. Robb novel, Glory in Death. They are futuristic detective novels and I am really starting to like them. The third book I finished was a dutch book with tips for peole s...

A short blog message from me today. I am still in fair bit of pain. I had a good summer and then it is even more annoying. It is a combination of pulling a mus cle and stress. Always a bad one for me. So I have taken it easy today. Did a bit of research on the tax side of starting the practice. Watched some dvd and read.Started the fourth Merry Gentry book. The new book is al most here so i have to keep reading. Tonight I am not going on the computer, watching some DVD's with a friend. Hopefully I can do some more tomorrow. I hate not being able to write much.

Yesterday was a pretty tiring day. Second studyday. It was a good day learnt a lot and the group is wonderful. It feels safe and already close after just two days. But I was exhausted at the end of the day. The chairs are not exactly comfy for me and I pulled a muscle in my back. Which of course leads to more pain in my arms, grumble. It meant i could play with the new scanner a little less then I had planned. But I did man age to get the first set of family pics done. It is pretty amazing to look at. There are photo's of nearly a century old which depict my great grandfathers, and my grandparents as young people. It awes me. And it makes me happy that they are now safe on the computer and the internet and not just in an old drawer. A nd I finally have a photo of Timmy, the dog I had for 14 years on my computer . I love scanners, I really do! I have also been ordering some books. 3 studybooks and some fun books. Book 6 and 7 from the Merry Gentry series. Now I am rereading them I...

Woke up this morning with the wind blowing outside of the window. Now that is not a nice thing to wake up to if you are as prone to seasickness as I am. So I had to gulp and get past it and hope for the best. It was not difficult to leave the cottage by the ten o'clock deadline. We had not spend much time there so there wasn't much to clean up. Most difficult was cra mming everything in the car, but we are creative! Before heading off to Dover there was a stop at Tesco's. Mel needed to get some things that they don't have in Belgium. I didn't really stock up as there was no room . Next time! At Dover castle I joined english heritage. The membership is valid for a whole year and I do plan on some short trips to England next year. The entrance to this castle already covers a quarter of the fee. Those things are getting soooo expensive. The wind was really picking up now nearly blowing us away! We were booked on a tour of the secret wartime tunnels first. These tunnel...

At least today we did not have to get up before dawn. But still we would not be sleeping late as we were meeting friends at Leeds castle at 11. Not a long drive so getting up by 9.30 was doable. Leeds castle is close to Maidstone in Kent, and not Leeds in northern England. Don't ask me why. :) It is nicely situated with a park around it , we walk ed through i t towards th e castle entrance. Our friends were running a little late and of course we made jokes about that. There is a history of being late and getting lost there. But it was great to see them again. Robert and Dru and Chris. Dru and Chris are brother and sister. I know them through Robert who has been a friend for a few years now. In April of this year they came over to the Netherlands with another friend Sarah, and we had a great time then. With the seven of us we toured th e castle. I was pleasantly s urprised that we were allowed to take pictures inside, usually it is not allowed in houses like this. And there was plen...