Battleaxe looks forward to autumn

No, really I do. Have had enough of this summer now. So much dry weather… The garden needs weeks and weeks of rain. Not torrential downpours, the prolonged, soft, wetting sort of rain. Fed up with summer clothes, too. Battleaxe wants to encase her legs in comfy, concealing black tights, sort out the winter boot cupboard… enjoy cosy evenings in front of the fire. Oh, stop moaning, Battleaxe, you’ll be the first to complain about long, cold, dark winters… If they carry on making energy bills more expensive winters will start getting very long and cold indeed. What else? Last Saturday we went to the Bottle Alley art show. Didn’t buy anything, but got some quirky photos – see below. ‘Death, Deceit and Cake’ contains to sell steadily, which is enormously pleasing, but driving myself into a frenzy about finishing the second one is doing my health no good… Talking about health, because had been feeling tired and poorly, the doctors had referred me for zillions of tests – one thing about having a cancerous past, they are very thorough… everything has come back normal so it is just stress…

What of the novel then? Am very pleased with the Amazon sales numbers, but could do with more ratings and reviews. As of today have got 44 ratings (majority 5 star)  and 20 written reviews. What the hell is wrong with that, you may say, but more are still needed to keep the book floundering towards the surface in the Amazon swamp. You can review the book even if you didn’t get it off Amazon – have sold quite a few ‘author’s copies’ of the paperback, which I can buy off Amazon at a lower price.

Here is the Amazon link just in case you need to buy/review. 

To keep the book sales up, I put regular marketing photo posts on social media and boost them – it all takes TIME. I like these two. Don’t ask me about the trouble I had getting Digby to pose like that… and the Campari soda is a reminder about good summer moments.

Let’s dwell on energy prices for a moment. It gets me really angry. Does anyone understand the crazy way our bills are calculated?  Does anyone know why our energy in the UK is so much more expensive than anyone else’s in Europe? Philosopher was trying to understand the pricing structure last night. Apparently our energy prices are based on the cost of the most expensive energy source, in our case, gas. What’s more, not just any gas, but Marks and Spencers gas – no, you fool, the cost of producing gas from the most expensive and obsolete old power stations which are only used if there is a massive shortage. So, renewable sources of electricity etc don’t get a look in. So, why is that? What is going on? Why does nobody challenge it? If any readers know any answers, Please tell me.

Battleaxe gets even more angry when she is stressed. God knows, there is enough going on to make anyone angry. Trump, Putin, oh for heaven’s sake, Gaza…. I can no longer watch anything about it. Then the limpness of our current government, standing round like lemons while the country is festooned and daubed with red and white right-wingery. If they would just communicate with us, tell us some facts, give us something to hope for… but no. Meanwhile, Farage struts, preens, tells the masses what they want to hear while lying through his teeth, like he was Prime Minister already while the media shamelessly eggs him on. Down here in Hastings, the A21 roadworks just never, never get done. Our MP can stand up and protest in Parliament until her voice is hoarse, but nothing happens…

Less of that. Am entering a zone of rapidly increasing busyness because we are off on a big holiday shortly, travelling round the north of England and into Scotland, visiting various friends on the way. Have step-son Tom coming today for a few days….

So, here are a few Bottle Alley photos to finish up. One of them is of local artist @PeterQuinnell reflected in one of his own works. He looks like he is wearing a Roman toga, but the picture was of a collection of rusty saws. We don’t own any of Peter’s pieces, but have three paintings done by his wife @ClaireFletcher. We had a pleasant stroll along the stalls, met various friends, but didn’t buy anything at the Art Fair. The payment system was very annoying. You couldn’t pay the artists direct, but had to find one of several central pay points. It was a big fair, so you were not often near one. Some poor young woman lost out, we chose a card, but then gave it back to her because we couldn’t be bothered to go and pay!

Have just been out for a nice lunch with women friends at the Tic-Tockery tearoom in Pett. Nice cheese scone, excellent cake. But talking of daft payment methods – they run quite a classy gift shop along with the tearoom and they only take cash. It’s fine – as long as you remember – paying a few quid for food, but what if you fancy a pricey house nick-nack, or want to buy a present? Come on Tic-toc, catch up!