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.

Poetry news

Today I was meant to be working but the ground was too wet. It's a quiet time of year for me which is good as it means I can get on with writing. However some days the small tasks expand and squeeze out all the writing time. I am being disciplined today - armed with a list I stayed on track.

I am writing a synopsis of my first and second chapters and then will put them aside to bubble and brew before I continue rewriting.

I had some lovely poetry news the other day. Carol Ann Duffy is coming to my quiet bit of London. I have been asked to put forward one of my poems to read on the night. YIPPEE.

I saw a beautiful double rainbow today it spurred me onto my bike and I had a ride along the brook not far from my house.

Novelling along

This is going to be a short post. I have been writing and listening to some music from my youth thanks to youtube. I was really into lovers rock and years ago my friend made me a fab tape which I can't find - it had Carroll Thompson and Janet Kay on it amongst others.
I picked up my first pair of varifocals today - so tragic I still feel seventeen but my body keeps disagreeing.
Hoorah! I am now up to 3,089 words of my rewrite. That's chapter one done, though I think half of it still stinks. To rewrite again or carry on? What's the consensus?

Novel waiting

Not bonfire making weather so I'm here with my novel. I started it two years ago and got up to 63000 words thanks to Nanowrite. I managed to succesfully ignore it for a good six months but then the main character started popping back into my head. I ignored her and carried on editing my poems and writing some new ones. But she was still there waiting. Then I read the title of the course I'm attending through the Poetry School (I'm not good on headlines or titles) which is Poetry AND Prose. So I took along the beginning of my rewritten chapter hoping that it would be shot down, that I would be told it's not worth pursuing- just concentrate on the poetry. But I wasn't.

I felt silly when I read it out to the group- I realised what I couldn't see when it was just written down. I'd edited out some of the back story and therefore some of the meaning and I jumped around more than I realised. I did however use dialogue successfully to suggest the story. That made me really happy as I have always had trouble with dialogue. There's no excuses, apparently I have a story worth telling so more prevaricating .....

Maybe I will post my word count here

ok here goes - so far 2,357. Is 3,000 words a good number for a chapter?

I'm listening to
Pierre Henry's Paroxysms and I've started a short story to it. I like it though it's well weird.

Happy New Year!

I haven't posted in ages as I thought my blog was broken. It turns out it was just that one post that wouldn't work. This winter has been kind - there's been lots of sunlight and I've not got as down as I usually get. The mild weather has meant that I've also been able to catch up at the allotment and have done most of my digging. I haven't sown my broad beans yet and don't know whether to wait for spring or try doing them now. I'm gonna build a massive bonfire tomorrow as I need to get rid of piles of weeds I've been drying out.
In November I did some poetry with my daughter's class - I had six year olds explaining meanings that I'd missed in poems I'd read to them. Sunday I've got a poetry workshop in South London. I'm looking forward to it. In Feb I'm doing the Poetry from Art at Tate Modern and I'm really excited about that.
Saturday did some wild dancing at the Ukrainian club and spun my friend Rachel round. Her first taste of Ukrainian dancing. She managed not to fall over. We were the last ones on the dancefloor :)

Planting and poetry

Crouching down low to use a trowel to make drills made me smile. Maybe because it felt like planting hope. My daughter helped me sow beetroot seeds or 'tiny stones' as she called them. I took my daughter home then went back to the allotment and dug a trench for Charlotte potatoes. Then I sowed kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli parthenon, iceberg lettuce, parsley and rocket. A guy who has an immaculate plot stopped by to give me a yellow courgette he'd grown from seed and told me how good my plot was looking and said to keep up the good work. It made me see how much I'd done instead of worrying about all the stuff I haven't done yet. My broad beans have germinated - so exciting! I usually plant them in November but planted them late so I was very glad to see they had germinated. Our local mayor staged an exhibition of portraits of poets by Peter Edwards in the council chamber and invited a few poets to read including me. I felt quite intimidated by the chamber as it looked like a court room but I loved performing. Got such an amazing buzz. We read surrounded by paintings of Carol Ann Duffy, Penelope Shuttle, Peter Redgrove, Wendy Cope to name a few. Happy planting everyone!

small stone

the beauty of a moment
that changed the past and present
tilts hot tears.

They gathered inside my untight skin.
Now I know they aren't just mine
but that the lament of unmet relations distilled in me.

Thanks for reading though I feel it's not quite there yet but I guess that's the point of the small stone - not to be too precious.

Small stone

The wooden kitchen counter is dry
she has conserved her oil
in five jagged flakes that sparkle at me.

small stone - bath time

Water rushing down to
meet itself.
What chaos repulsion would cause.

c Sonia J

small stone ©Sonia J 2011

Thank you Fiona Robyn for getting me to take time out at this fag end time of year (I refuse to believe New Years start in January).

Green velvet strokes its way up branches
thinning and disappearing as its routeways taper.
Christ crucified at every twigs' termini.

small stone

trying to win me back
the local grey mac wearing shops have jostled apart
to a new bead shop singing and banging colours.

Happy New Year! Writing and Allotment news.

Wishing you all wealth, health and happiness.

It's taken me three days to add the picture of River of Stones to my blog. Hopefully it won't take that long before I come up with a small stone. If you don't know about river of stones hop over to Fiona Robyn's blog and take a look. I could add a link but that would probably take me a month to work out so have a look at the blogs I follow.

I don't cope with transition well (probably something to do with my star sign) so new years eve is always torturous. Now we are in the year properly I feel fine.

I suddenly finished the first rewrite of my novel. But arghh it's only 63,000 words and a load of them are slashable. I'm not going to panic. After 6 years of producing half assembled poems I managed to finish 13 into as near as possible finished poems after attending Katherine Gallagher workshops at Torriano House. The only thing that worries me is that the poems all ended up much shorter when they were finally finished. I just hope it's different for novels.

End of the month I've got a spot reading my poetry over jazz in a pub - bit nervous as they weren't written with jazz in mind. Well it's an adventure....

The allotment has been neglected- I've not been for 3 weeks but the weather has been bad for most of that time and when it improved I got a nasty cough that required bed and films back to back (ohh it was lovely). My strawberries were terrible last year and I just let them run riot afterwards. I don't know whether to just rip them out. I keep being advised to grow them in pots but I am a lazy waterer. Any ideas? I still have some leeks and parsnips to harvest but they don't mind the cold so that's ok. I still have frozen french beans but the turn out really watery - is there a secret to freezing them that can keep them nice. They are ok in soup and stews etc.

I've ordered my seeds for spring and they have arrived. Another mother and I have been doing some gardening with the kids at school - any ideas for stuff to do in January. We've already done compost- very messy and enjoyable. Is it too late /early to sow sweetpeas or herbs?

Have a fab 2011.

First reading

Saturday I had my first reading of my poetry - I was the support act for a very good local poet. I had a fifteen minute spot. I was terrified then someone passed on the advice that the best way to overcome nerves is to practise. I taped and timed myself reading my poems and forced myself to slow down though another poet said that however much to try not to speed up you do end up doing so. I practised in front of a friend who had some helpful suggests about changing the order of the poems. My husband was also subjected to a read through but nerves made him giggle- I'm so glad I didn't invite him.
On the night when I was performing my poems I had that incredible buzz that I only usually get from dancing. I couldn't stop grinning at the end and the applause made it even better.
I felt so high, I'm still floating.

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Autumn days

Had the most gorgeous day at the allotment today. The site is surrounded by mature trees and amongst mainly green were spaced firecrackers of yellowy red. I planted my red onion sets and did some weeding.
Before I started I noticed G on the other plot seemed to be trimming his artichokes worried that there was another job that needed doing I asked him. He told me that you can pull the new stalks near parent plant (use medium sized ones) and trim and pull out stringy bits then boil in water with lemon juice. Once cooked drain then roll in flour and fry in olive oil. The water you've drained off can be drunk - it''s meant to be good for your liver. I forgot to buy lemon so haven't tried making it yet.
I did a spot of digging in the old french beans ( the roots are really good for the soil as they are nitrogen fixers and the rest of the plant helps loosen the clay soil we have).
I had a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich with bread I baked that rose really well this time.
I felt so rested from being outside all day.