As mentioned in my previous post, I think its time to make some changes.  I am in my 60s now - time to discard some belongings that I no longer have need or space for and to shake off old habits and activities that aren't really bringing me as much joy as they. I need crack on with matters that hold more interesting prospect going forward. 

Whilst I have lapsed in my creative work recently, I started the year rather strongly.  2026 has delivered me 3 decent websites just waiting for me to spark to life thank to the work I put in during the first four months of the year- See Gower, See Swansea and See Glastonbury. These 3 sites will draw much of my attention from September. I really want to focus on adding more information and interest to these websites and get the fb and instagram pages for them more text-heavy. I've lready made a start on See Glastonbury, adding written content to many of its images on that p. I will be devoting my free time to bring in see Gone and see Swansea up to the content standard I feel is already taking good shape on see Glastonbury. The small, written, posts will then be used to drive traffic to the social media satellite-pages. Work on this will commence on this in September. whilst I have already laid muchg the background work on Page 3 the web galley shops for these sites, I still haven't tied up all the loose ends on these yet. What I have promised myself is that these gallery" will be public-ready by the end of the year-with the first item on each site on each shop respective being a 2027 calendar. My fiction writing is taking up for less of my time and ikest of late-the demise of my drive in this department most probably a result of now having an office job where I literally write for a living. By the time I clock off my paid employment, my iterest in continuing writing pages upon page in my own time has deteriorated. whilst I am happy to let the rest Page 4 of the year play out with no new fiction published, if the desire to produce a new book before 2026 takes a bow, it will probably a reworking/update of a photo-zine. we'll see.

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.