Kenya

I spent last week in Kenya and it was...well...heavenly.

Here's me in our lodge near to Lake Navaisha. I managed to read 2 books during the week (when did I last do that?), write some haiku, organise cover letters for the different agents I'm going to send my manuscript out to, eat far too much, sleep more than I've slept in months, do some yoga overlooking the lake and also spend proper time with my hubby (the longest alone since our honeymoon!). I also found out whilst I was away that a short story of mine is going to be published soon in What the Dickens magazine :)

Without even going on safari, we saw some incredible wildlife and I'm so excited to share this with the children when we move out in 6 weeks (yikes, 6 weeks, is that all?!!). It feels like a bit of a tick-tock countdown now I'm back in the UK, so much to do, so many people to see. I don't think we're going to be back here for at least a year and admittedly, everyone is so busy these days with work and family lives that quite often a year goes by anyway without seeing people. But even so, our move to Africa is feeling nearer and more real and I'm feeling a mixture of dizzy excitement on how our lives in Kenya will unfold and sadness at this chapter ending here in Twickenham.

I spent the morning in a frenzy of printing and by the end of this week I'm going to send out my manuscript to ten more agents. Then next week (or the week after), the final ten. A friend on saturday made the point to me that it takes a mere half hour to upload one's ebook on to amazon (really?) and yes, that may be what I'm looking at in a few months time and if that's the case, I shall endeavour (!) to embrace it. But until then, I'm fighting till the death for the analogue / acoustic version of my book ;)

Here's me getting to know a wild fig tree!