Catch Up

Last day off work for a while and I've nearly used up all my annual leave until March 2027!

Creativity-wise, I have taken a bit of a break. My. ADD symptoms definitely knocked my confidence, offer at I thought was my last edit; the GN53 book left over 50 typos uncorrected. All sorted now. Thankfully. 

That was several months ago and I am still not ready to  plunge back into writing or zine work, though I do feel the urge now and no and again.

Mrs P. L recently took voluntary reduncy and is currently looking for a new job. With money upper-most in mind, and the uncertainty of an income levels going forward, I decided to break up my Guy N Smith collection and build up a bit of a nest-egg to ensure the last item on my bucket list gets ticked off next year. 

I must have mentioned before that I really want to be able to pay for my children to come with us to South Spain next year to witness a total eclipse of the sun. And to do that I have to secure the necessary coin. 

Whilst it been kind of  sad seeing my Guy N. Smith collection dwindling, my savings for the Spanish Total Eclipse of the Sun has been fed handsomely with some great prices had to ease my losses:

Deat Meat £60 

Hangman's Hotel £57.02 

Nightmares from the Black Hill £57.02 

Deadbeat £100.29

Deatbeat £150 

Killer Crabs-The Return £90 29 

Psalm 151 £150 

Sabat 5 - Wistman's Wood £250 

The Night of the Crabs £56 

Night of the Werewolf £25 

Crabs Omnibus £130 

The Slime Beast £30 

The Last Train £85 

Nightspawn £95.48 

Spawn of the Slime Beast £150 

The Eighth Day £133. 

The Resurrected £114.71 

Carnage £114.71 Bamboo Guerillas  £100 

The Reaper £79

The Island £55

Limited Edition £99 13 

Hunting Big Cats £60 

Creature Feature £50 

Bamboo Guerillas £100.29 

At the moment, the money is outweighing the loss of the individual books, but I know, from personal experience and the other Guy N Smith fans, the regret felt later once the money side of the equation has been spent and you hit upon happier financial circumstances.

Anyway, the sun still shining again today,  so after a walk to the post office to send off another ebay sale, I sat out on the patio, continuing my reading of Man about the House.  There, that's about everything of concern  updated, I think. I think, maybe, this might be the first post I've published here without an accompanying photo or two, or 12. Perhaps there is even more change in the air...

Sunday Sunshine

The summer heatwave, still in full sway over sunny Swansea, let me into the garden for the day:

Slowly, but surely, this regular garden visitor is realising I'm a nice guy to hang out with. He used to be so timid when I came out into the garden, and now look at the furry fellow:

Badminton and the Severn

Went to the new RHS garden show in Badmington today. Not the greatest of shows but getting there through the dust filled roads was pretty cool:

As the weather was so nice, I ticked off another bucket list entry, exploring beneath the Severn Bridge:

Shefie

Shelfy

Been on a massive ebay sale and clear out of my old books. This shelf holds some of my favourite treasured childhood reads and are definite keepers:

Man about the House

Living Stones

Finally potted up some Lithops "Living Stones" succulents with the kind of stone it mimics in the deserts of Africa to avoid being eaten. In the background, are Venus Fly Traps (red dragon & zipper strains) a red Crassula O. and, right at the back, Fenestaria (baby toes).

I hit 60 and find this is the view from my new office desk

I hit 60 and find this is the view from my new office desk!

In other office news, look who I met on the back back to work after my 30 minute office break:

Escaping

Sat out in the back garden last night with the love of my life, trying to forget the rough edges of the world beyond...

The Shape of Things to Come

...

A Sunny Weekend

It has been a really splendid weekend of sunshine, which I have mostly spent chilling in the garden and enduring the horrors of hayfever! 2 trips to the city dump made a big difference to. Expect lots more AROUND THE HOME post soons too as I wand to document the place as I tidy things up.to show how our house is progressing. For now though, I will just share some pics from the garde:

Gigs in my 60s

I may officially be an old man now I am 60, but 2 of our favourite bands, playing on consecutive nights in Cardiff? Tickets had to be bought.