Sodden Catch-Up

I'm not sure where the week has gone. I have managed to get some writing done, but with my computer in the shop and learning to use my son's with Google Docs instead of Word which is so, so slow and having the kids around half the week, I've not done as much as I would have liked. But I've written a few poems, submitted to a few mags, had three poems accepted by a magazine and an anthology. So a good week from that perspective.

It's rained most of the week, so even with the beautiful colours going on just now, it hasn't been a get outdoors type of week, though we've picked a lot of apples, have been eating lots of apple crumble and I got most of my garden jobs done. I spent some time sorting and cleaning out the kids' stuff, their over-flowing baskets, drawers and boxes and I painted a few things that have needed it for months or years. 

None of which really have much to do with writing, but it was a week for gathering and tidying, doing the little jobs that I don't have time for while working and doing the rounds of hobbies and appointments. For sitting still and writing, for reading curled on the couch. So hopefully I can go into next week with a slightly clearer mind and a bit more energy for the long, dark slog to the winter holidays. 

I had a poem published on the Caithness Broch Project's website. They had a call for artists to submit work on brochs for an upcoming exhibition. The call wasn't clear exactly what they were looking for, but I had just written a poem based around the double defensive wall of a broch, so I submitted it. As I mentioned previously, this 'don't ask, don't get' type of submission has gotten me residencies before, so I thought I'd risk assuming that a writer is an artist too. 

They sent a receipt for my submission, but didn't mention the call was for an art auction to raise money for the project. You can't really auction a poem, especially when it's just print on white, but the organiser offered to put the poem up on the website anyway which is really nice. So please go and check out their auction, maybe bid on something. There's about seven days left. The ones I'd like are all out of my price range already, but my previous bid counts towards what they earned, so I feel a bit better. I might still put in a last minute bid, just the same. 

One more day to enjoy the autumn holiday, hopefully it'll stop raining tomorrow.