Because We Have Our Home (by sarah)

This time last year we were not sure if would get this house, we were not really blogging about any of the trials and tribulations of it as we didn't want to get our hopes up. Alaric and the baby were both quiet sick and I was still on crutches and even Jean was not 100% with a repeating stomach bug. But we got through all of that and we got our shiny new home 🙂

With more than a little help from our friends. And feeling secure within this lovely house I finally felt able to write a story about our time after the 2007 floods. Again a time we would have really struggled with if it were not for family and friends!

So when I found out that over 75, 000 children will be without a home this year I thought, I am luckier than them and I should do something to help give them what our friends and family helped us get... A Home. Alaric agreed but we are not flush with money so how? And then a thought.

My mother asked me why didn't I draw the pictures and make the story into a little book for Christmas presents like I did last year with The Little Book of Festive Poetry. My initial reaction was 'There's not time!' and then I thought but I could do it as a mad sponsored thing and raise money for Shelter. So that is indeed what I am doing!

So here is the page where you can sponsor me. The money goes straight to Shelter. You are sponsoring a Draw-a-thon, the idea being that Christmas Eve I will release a free e-book for you all to enjoy 🙂 It will be an illustrated version of Percival's Christmas Wish and it is not going to be a five minute job so I am going to need lots of encouragement!

I have set the target as £100 as that will help five families not to end up homeless in the first place. More money = more people helped. If the target is reached I will be adding in the audio version of Percival's Christmas Wish as a free download for the 12 Day's of Christmas!

Families need homes

I'm not sure if you can understand what it is like to being staying on friends sofas and things unless it has happened to you - no it is not sleeping rough but it is unsettling and exhausting. Especially with little ones. And not everyone has friends and family they can get help from. We are lucky others are not. Please donate/sponsor me.

Patrick Moore RIP (by sarah)

Yesterday I heard the sad news that Sir Patrick Moore had died. He would have been 90 next year but didn't quiet make it. I feel there is very little point in giving an over view of his life and triumphs but instead I feel very much that I need to say what he ment to me and others like me.

I remember as a child being excited if I got to stay up and watch Sky At Night, I remember being plucked out of bed to watch the most amazing meteor shower ever with my father - because he had been watching The Sky At Night. I was so small I had to be carried out and I remember it! Along with the moon eclipse and looking at creators on the moon with my uncles telescope.

But this is standard - this is what everybody has as memories of him. But we were fortunate enough to have met him, to have had a conversation and to have been inspired more. He was giving a talk somewhere in Croydon - I can't remember explicitly where but my friend Becca worked there part time and so we had discounted tickets and we got together a huge group of us, from Imperial College and Alaric's friends from various mailing lists.

This was pre-blog days so I've had to look it up in my diary 🙂 Below is the book I got him to 'sign'. There was no photo as as we didn't have the digital camera either.

The talk itself was interesting though we did struggle with understanding everything that was said - this was less than ten years ago so he was already an old man. He sat there like the typical eccentric English gentleman and pulled off stunts like inflating balloons and sending them whizzing around to demonstrate the physics of rockets 🙂

Alaric's party piece for many years was a demonstration of this!

During the break we went and purchased books and I was barged out the way by some ingnoramous who had to have his book and NOW! I was awaiting the first lot of back treatment and it put my shoulder in spasm. I couldn't stop shaking with the pain but I went back for the last half none the less and then I asked a question which got answered and was really chuffed. It was at the point were I was getting into the meteorites at the Natural History Museum and was attempting to find a PhD.

Me and Becca wondered down to queue to get our books signed, but when we got there it was obvious he was in a lot of pain, his fingers where in a dreadful state from the arthritis and too my horror I watched the guy who had barged me out of the way earlier on, grab his hand and shake it!

The poor man was now in even more pain and yet he then stopped to talk to me and Becca when there was alot of people to get through still. We told him how much he had inspired us and that we were both going into related fields. He gave us lots of encouragement and the fact I was ill suddenly seemed a very small barrier, he had had medical stuff all through his life too. He then tried to introduce us to same people he thought would be useful for us to know but they had had to leave already to get trains etc...

I have not gone on to have my career but I am writing scifi and that is something else he has inspired me in. Becca on the other hand is working her socks off getting informations about space and science and what not out there to the public!

We will miss him and as I delve further into the realms of science communication I realise that he was perhaps the first in the age of the T.V.

p.s. the signature in the book was done by Patrick Moore but using a stamp and ink pad as his arthritis made holding a pen impossible.

Cirencester’s First Christmas Slam (by sarah)

I had a great time on Friday at the first Poetry Slam to be held in Cirencester. It was organised by the fab Marcus Moore and Sara-Jane Arbury and was lots of fun. Of course I did not score very high but that is not why I go to them - this was my third Slam and I think I have drastically improved from my first one.

I performed Mummy's Socks from The Little Book of Festive Poetry and even sold a copy! Which means I have enough money to another book for the school library!

Here is a picture of me mid sock swing.

I had a great time catching up with old friends plus it was my first time out in not completely flat shoes since Mary's pregnancy. So it was win win and yes I had to use the walking stick to get back to the car but that was due a) it being cold, b) having stood around chatting to people and c) having parked far away from the venue as our sat nav doesn't understand Cirencester!

Once again I got to perform with Breda Reed Brown who is The Gloucestershire Poet Laureate, Joy-Amy, Cloe who I normally see telling stories rather than reading verse! and The Luchador Poet. Plus the lovely Tommie who I met at the qualifier for the Cheltenham Literature Festival Slam.

This time I also had Alaric with me which was lovely as we got to have a meal together as well 🙂 Just a shame he has a cold at the moment so wasn't feeling to hot on the night! (hence no video!).

However there is a video of me performing the poems at The Brewery in Cheltenham last year!

And you can go and listen to nice recordings of the poems and my christmas story at my Bandcamp.

Sarah’s Christmas Collection – audio book (by sarah)

I have spent the last week sorting out this audio book / album - it contains The Little Book of Festive Poetry, a story about a mouse and Jean and Christmas during the flood era and a song. You can listen to it free on my Salaric Bandcamp.

Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to embed it at the moment and also Bandcamp have decided to make the song the main thing so it always starts with it - this is what they've put into there home page and stuff but I can't currently unselect it. So to actually listen to the thing from the beginning you have to either download it for £3 (all profits are going to buy books for Jean's school library) or you click the back button to get to the first track. A bit annoying I know and I'm sorry about that but thought you would all like to hear it rather than me continue to faff ad infinitum.

NaNo Finishing Party 2012 (by sarah)

We were at a wedding the day of the Gloucestershire NaNoWriMo Thank Goodness It Is All Over Party. But Sunday Alaric finished everything he could on the leaky workshop, we'd done a bit of house decorating with the kids and it was raining - we needed to go to Costco which is in Bristol so we thought - hey! We can make it to their NaNo finishing party and so we did 🙂

Jeany decided that she would have her own party at home with Ferfer (my dad) and watch films, Alaric who did not reach 50 K was desperate to get a chance at more noveling and so sat at the party writing 🙂

I think we both are struggling with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) being over as is my Dad and Jean. Sunday I got up early to get my pre-kid writing in so as to boost my word count and it was only once I'd opened the laptop and sat down with tea in hand that I realised 'Damn! NaNo's over isn't it? This is December!', Dad and Jean can both be found scribbling in notebooks when ever the chance arises and Alaric too has been glued to his laptop - this is not unusual but every time I ask him what he is doing he is working on his novel 🙂

Of course this is exactly what I was hoping for - I use NaNo and the other writing challenges to help me keep up momentum on project which I struggle with.

We also got to catch up with some friends and I may have ended up singing light opera in the pub :/