Well, I really have to, don’t I? What? Yes, you’ve guessed – post a poem for National Poetry Day…. it’s one I wrote for someone’s wedding…somehow the theme of love and relationships for today seem apt…. especially as I’m going over to Cleethorpes to join the Filter Festival… Stars in the Sand…

http://www.theculturehouse.co.uk/literature-festival/stars-in-the-sand

Beachcombing

Strange, how countless times a walk along the beach

fails to reveal that special stone which glints amongst the pebbles…

Perhaps at one time or another there have been sandcastles to build,

a run towards the water for a swim, or waves to watch –

or simply, a stroll in the breeze that carries honeysuckle scent

from cliff top hedgerows, lifting thoughts towards horizons…

Then, one day, strolling that way again, it catches your eye,

a dark stone, glistening, yet solid, and for you, it is the best, the most beautiful.

And so, sometimes, love grows, not in London, Africa, or Japan

or some other far-flung place, but close to home, by the sea

– though computer interface might reveal that possibility! –

And noticing at last that same shiny stone upon the beach

It becomes something enduring and exquisite

like a necklace with black stones set in silver, set for ever.

Every New Year I resolve to keep a diary, write a few entries and then fail miserably…there’s always too much else to write! So seeing as it’s just past October 1st and not anywhere near New Year, I’m renewing my efforts to keep up my blog… This may or may not work, but let others be the judge of that!

I’ll begin with some Alternative Writing Tips

1. Do not attempt to use an electric hedge trimmer whilst recovering from a frozen shoulder. I was not a pretty sight yesterday (horrendous details censored). You may be wondering what hedge-trimming has to do with writing. Everything, I can assure you. Read on.

2. Do not be distracted from your writing by anything. And that means Anything. Including washing up, twitter, washing the kitchen floor, facebook, cat litter tray, emails, weeding, paid work, phone calls… oh, and hedge-trimming.

3. Stay focussed, and do not divert to writing a diary…

Yup, it’s here, The Kiss on kindle.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Adrienne+Silcock

Only £1.96 or $3.07! All reviews welcome!

OK, I’ve capitulated. Amidst tales of publishing and not publishing, of digital slush piles and terribly bad fiction writing converting into best sellers, I’ve decided to put on my digital bathing suit and join in the swim. Shortly to appear on amazon as an e-book, hiccups apart, here comes my latest novel The Kiss, hotfoot. So here goes – my literary plunge, albeit a little crooked….

Yes, shades of grey (literarily speaking?) seem to have left the sky and now it’s wall to wall blue – at least for the time being! Good moment to post my latest novel The Kiss on to the authonomy site, methinks.

A chance meeting on holiday followed by a second coincidence ensnares two couples into deceit, blackmail, lost love and a desperate search for identity.

 http://www.authonomy.com/books/45888/the-kiss/

Do have a look, if you get a chance!

Back to England. Is it ever going to stop raining?

Even genteel Leamington Spa seems to attract that watery stuff out of the sky… good excuse to visit the Rennie Mackintosh house in Northampton instead – built and designed with the less well-known but equally important W J Bassett Lowke, who was the one who lived in the house in Derngate…. feast your eyes on all that Art Deco stuff….

Another wet day, and we arrive on the beautiful Achill Island…but a night’s sleep, and suddenly everything is sunny, despite some brooding cloud…

This is unspoilt Ireland…and even the petrol pumps are patriotic…

From the village of Keel (An Caol) we walk to the deserted village of Slievemore. The houses straggle along the hillside for about a mile…a haunting place where generations of people tried to make a living dating back to mediaeval times…and noone’s quite sure why it was deserted…

It’s certainly something of a hostile environment and of course there was famine and disease… but today it makes a beautiful walk all the way over the hills and back round to the coast…

Still some permitted peat collection here…

We head over to West Cork, near Durrus where we camp at a pretty little site, though somewhat “rustic”. Rumour has it that the origins of the literary Fish competitions lurk somewhere about. Also, plenty of non-literary fish round here, and that’s a fact, who will, no doubt, appreciate the copious rain…

Next day we continue up through Bantry and along part of the famous “Ring of Kerry”, which is stupendously beautiful and stupendously wet….

At last we arrive at one of Google’s “Stopovers” in the village of Askeaton. What a great find! There’s no-one here hardly, but there’s water and a chemical toilet facility – all for free. Plenty of water! Look! Askeaton Castle edges an ebullient river, if ebullient is the right word…

We get talking to a local who is down checking out the river levels – it’s not yet high tide, so we’re waiting for it to peak…yikes, our van is feet from the water’s edge! Is that why no-one else is here? We watch as the water creeps up until it’s lapping over the last but one step….and then magically subsides again. Saved!

But this is a great place. Lots of history. Just needs some tourists to bring the village some prosperity…

You can  look round the Franciscan Friary for free…

…and if you’re looking for mischief, what about joining the Hell-Fire Club?

The following day we head north to the Castlebar area – a beautiful, soft landscape, green and lush. In Balla we read about one Patrick William Nally who was an Irish patriot and martyr deprived of his liberty by “the brutal jailers of England” and apparently “had no enemies except the enemies of Ireland”. Touring around, you certainly get a sense of the history of oppression and “the troubles” and the pride and suffering of the Irish people…

However there are certain inhabitants that don’t look at all oppressed…

The week is spent exploring the environs. A significant harbour now, more for tourists than anything, these waters were also of historical importance. Two forts were built, on either side of the estuary – James Fort and the larger Charles Fort, for purposes of the usual historical squabbles – greed and landgrabbing – with something of a set-to between the English and the Irish, backed by the Armada, so I understand.

The late sixteenth-early seventeenth century architecture is impressive and well worth a visit…

The White Lady is supposed to haunt these walls. On her wedding day, her beloved volunteered to mind the watch while a sentry went to gather wild flowers on her behalf. However, the unfortunate groom fell asleep and was shot for it (by his new father-in-law), mistaken for the sentry. On discovering what had happened the heartbroken bride threw herself over the battlements to her death….

This guard looks rather suspect…Still used for a modern day lighthouse point, changed over the years to being powered by electricity… 

A last look over the waters before setting off west towards Bantry…

We drive from Dublin to Tramore (a busy seaside resort), spending the night on a nice enough campsite, though it feels like the middle of a housing estate – five minutes walk, though, from the cliffs and wet-suited youths diving off into the sea! Next day we head west along the Copper Coast – wonderful views and the wild flowers just now are fantastic, such variety and colour. A quick lunch overlooking Cork Harbour, then on to Kinsale for our housesit. Kinsale is a quirky little place, busy with tourists on a sunny day, but not without character…

There are several galleries and even a poet’s cafe…

 I’m looking forward to a seafood chowder…

The weather’s been warm but extremely windy and then misty, so more photos of the sea to follow. One thing’s for sure – there’s enough wind to sail in Kinsale…