Leonardo da Vinci etc.

I loved Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings. The one's that really drew me were the ones he did before he actually dissected a corpse. He had depicted the positions of the vital organs perfectly before he'd even opened anyone up. His diagram of the brain however varied greatly from his later findings. Before dissection he depicted the brain as just having three chambers placed one after the other. The first chamber received all the sensory information along which interacted with your imagination before passing on to the reasoning chamber before it was finally lodged in the memory chamber. I enjoyed the process of seeing someone trying to work out what was going on more than them actually working it out.

I have reached 33, 534 words with my novel - steady wins the race. At least I hope it does. Rejections from Poetry Review today.

26th September 29,324 words.
Slowly, slowly does it. My friend recommended this http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/get-started/ . So far so good - anything that makes me write without getting distracted is a good thing.
I'm going to Jo Shapcott and Maurice Riordan at a special event at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, alongside the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci tonight.

25th September 28, 319 words @ 11.07am. Will try for another 700 words later.
The forecast said rain so I had geared myself up for staying in and writing all day but it's sunny so it would be criminal not to go outside. I've still got a couple of rows of potatoes to dig up. I might as well have a look at my carrots too. The parsnips are best left till a dose of frost sweetens them. We've had loads of raspberries this year which my friends and their kids love so that's good coz I don't fancy making jam and need a break from smoothies. We did make some lovely icecream with the blackcurrants and raspberries.
I'm starting to miss Ukraine. We didn't go last year and when I haven't been for a while this yearning starts to rise. Weird really because before '99 I'd never been there or met any of the family but now it feels like it's always been home.
Have made Fridays the day for sending out poems to magazines. It's Acumen this week.

24th September - 27,275 words
Daily target 1,000

Photos from Siberia

These two pictures were taken in Siberia. My Uncle and family were sent there for being Ukrainian patriots. They were released when Stalin died. They survived many did not.

I have started writing in the mornings. I was worried that my kids would wake up and I wouldn't be able to gain any time on my own with my novel. But they are sleeping, I have written a little and now I am blogging - the power of the internet to distract. Yesterday we all went to Kew gardens and my daughter worked out for me that I had been coming there for 25 years. I felt such a pull to be there yesterday and now I feel like something that was down to critical level in me has been topped up.
In the late evening I went to the allotment with a wheelbarrow full of courgettes and cucumbers I'd raised from seed to plant outside. I hope I haven't been too hasty and that they will be struck down by frost. I might stick some seed in the ground to be on the safe side. As I wheeled through the allotment I stopped by my mate's plot. He's in hospital and coz I missed him I stopped to pull up his weeds.
It was late but there were two other people there. I dug pockets three feet apart (think it should have been 4 but needs must) for my stuff and put well- rotted manure in them then i tipped a watering can of water into each pocket. Once the water drained away I planted my seedlings into them. One of the cucumber plants already had tiny cucumbers on it but I had twisted the stalk- i hope I haven't killed it. I did Passandra cucumbers as they aren't bitter. Planted all my courgettes, one butternut squash and cucumbers. What's the best way for transporting the seedlings without getting them all twisted up?
This morning I reached 15,000 of my rewrite!!! Need to sort out a decent camera and start posting photos again. I haven't got on with the panasonic lumix. Zoom is jammed - have tried all the tips on the internet to no avail.
Enjoy the sun - happy writing and gardening.

Weekend writing

This morning my friend took my daughter swimming and my son went out and played football with his dad. I don't really understand why it was so lovely. During the week the kids are at school and their dad at work and I have the house to myself but somehow that feels different not delicious like the couple of hours I had to myself this am.

I'm now up to 4009 words of the rewrite. Have a good weekend.