Sunday 30 September 2018

Autumn Again...

Goodness where has September gone?

No, I haven't been wasting my time since my last post. I've been working on an entry for one of the annual competitions at the writers' club and putting into practise some of the skills I learnt over the summer.

As home life has been a bit disruptive with various family members at home during the day, I've been trying out writing in the evening. Until daytime's settle down again I'm going to concentrate on rewriting in the evenings, while I can use the time during the day for research, admin, and catching up on interesting programmes and Twitter.

It's not ideal but I will be able to get quiet and work intensively.

Yesterday (Saturday) I was at a half-day workshop on dialogue, so I have been writing a bit.

On my travels around the city centre this month I've been taking photos of the various Hoodwinked robins that have been placed across the city. They've been part of an art trail along with a number of book benches.

The robins have been sponsored by local businesses, and each Robin has been decorated by a local or national artist.

Best of all the robins will be auctioned off in October to raise money for the Nottinghamshire Hospice.

They've been popular with children and adults during the school summer holidays and at weekends. After today (30th September) they will be gathered up and taken to Fernleigh House and Garden to join two more special edition robins.

The robins will be getting a tidy up first as I'm sure they've had a few sticky finger prints on them, as well as whatever the weather could inflict on them.

I didn't get to photograph them all, but I did get eight of them. In fact one of them is on the back cover of the autumn issue of Scribe- the club magazine of Nottingham Writers' Club.

Goose Fair, Goose Fowl...
This one was just off the Market Square. It's very appropriate as this week is the annual Goose Fair and in the past it was held in the Market Square.

Nowadays it's a funfair held out at the Forest Recreation Ground and the car park- of the tram stop next door!

Like any tradition it has its roots in history; at this time of year Geese would have been driven into the city to be sold for the Michaelmas dinner. The Geese came from Lincolnshire and would have been walked all that way.

You can find out more about the origins of the Goose Fair over on the Nottingham Hidden History Team site. They're a fantastic resource for Nottinghamshire history.

Do look at the picture of the huge Goose sitting on the roundabout. Every year this heavy duty statue comes out of storage and appears at the roundabout just by the Forest, on a bus route so it can't be missed; and if you forget it's Goose Fair time its appearance soon reminds you...




7 comments:

Bea Charles said...

I like the Hoodwinked Robins. St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle did a similar event with Snow Dogs. They were great fun to see. I hope your days settle down soon. I do sympathise, evening writing isn’t good for me - I’m more a lark than an owl, but certainly not a robin.

Carolb said...

I believe a few cities have had similar trails with animal statues this summer. Snow Dogs sound quite exciting Bea.

I used to be a lark but am definitely an owl nowadays. :-)

Rosemary Gemmell said...

These animal statues are brilliant - I believe Dundee had a penguin trail during summer. Sounds like an interesting time for you, Carol - autumn certainly works better for me!

Julia Thorley said...

Any tips you can share on writing dialogue, Carol?

Carol Bevitt said...

Rosemary- I think the Penguin trail would have been good too. :-)

I do find I get more done in the autumn, winter and early spring- probably because it's colder and dark earlier.

Julia- we did some discussion which was very helpful. Tips included the listening to how people talk and the words they use- including dialect words and contractions; when you're out, or sitting down somewhere is good. Also listening to radio plays and - iPlayer can be useful.

We did some editing too; that concentrated attention on getting rid of pointless words and phrases and tightening up what's left.

Teresa Ashby said...

I love the robins - they are so cheery! They did a similar thing with pigs in Ipswich a couple of years ago. It's so uplifting to see them around.

It can be so difficult to find quiet time to write - I'm glad you've found that time in the evenings xx

Carolb said...

Teresa- I went past the station today and really missed seeing the robin there. They really brightened the city centre up. Pigs are popular too. :-)

Some days are better than others for writing and as long as I've been at home during the day I'm not too tired to write.x