Short on Money, Long on Time...

It's official.  The four-day week starts now.  "Goodbye," I was told as I went out of the office.  "Have a nice weekend."

It's Thursday.  This doesn't feel right.  Okay, I've got loads to occupy my time, but I have a terrible feeling I'll spend tomorrow moping.  Does this mean I'm going to go rushing into the office to offer my labour for free?  Ah, no.  But it's going to be a peculiar episode in my life.  I've grown used to being institutionalised!

I shall ride my bike.  I shall do some gardening.  I shall try and find my muse and do some writing.  (Hello, Muse!  Where are you?  Please come and see me some time!)

This may be easier said than done.  I wrote a basic draft of my current work in progress in just over a year, then promptly lost half of it in a Great Memory Stick Disaster.  Okay, so I should have been taking a backup (no lecturing, please, Bellakara!  I've heard it all before).  But I have this weird ritual where I don't consider anything worth saving or printing until I've done a certain amount of work on it.  This is illogical.  This is borderline insane.  It's not like I haven't had computer disasters before, either! 

Anyway, since the Great Memory Stick Disaster, I've lost a bit of momentum.  I'm almost at the end and I know exactly what's going to happen.  But I've reached a stage where I've started a rewrite which is omnisicient as opposed to situated in the third person, and somehow the later bits are in a strange hybrid state...  I suppose I should go back and start the whole thing again.  My latest reading matter has also changed my perspectives somewhat....

I don't get worried when I hit these dithering phases.  They pass, and I regain my usual passion for all things writing and writing-related.  I should go back to Novel #2 for a bit, I suppose, and maybe try and find out what's happening with Novel #1 (ah, that vexing situation!!),

Too much to do.  No time to do it in.  But at least now I'll have a chance to catch up with things.  Though getting things done in the allotted hours at work is going to be mad!!!

Short on Money, Long on Time...

It's official.  The four-day week starts now.  "Goodbye," I was told as I went out of the office.  "Have a nice weekend."

It's Thursday.  This doesn't feel right.  Okay, I've got loads to occupy my time, but I have a terrible feeling I'll spend tomorrow moping.  Does this mean I'm going to go rushing into the office to offer my labour for free?  Ah, no.  But it's going to be a peculiar episode in my life.  I've grown used to being institutionalised!

I shall ride my bike.  I shall do some gardening.  I shall try and find my muse and do some writing.  (Hello, Muse!  Where are you?  Please come and see me some time!)

This may be easier said than done.  I wrote a basic draft of my current work in progress in just over a year, then promptly lost half of it in a Great Memory Stick Disaster.  Okay, so I should have been taking a backup (no lecturing, please, Bellakara!  I've heard it all before).  But I have this weird ritual where I don't consider anything worth saving or printing until I've done a certain amount of work on it.  This is illogical.  This is borderline insane.  It's not like I haven't had computer disasters before, either! 

Anyway, since the Great Memory Stick Disaster, I've lost a bit of momentum.  I'm almost at the end and I know exactly what's going to happen.  But I've reached a stage where I've started a rewrite which is omnisicient as opposed to situated in the third person, and somehow the later bits are in a strange hybrid state...  I suppose I should go back and start the whole thing again.  My latest reading matter has also changed my perspectives somewhat....

I don't get worried when I hit these dithering phases.  They pass, and I regain my usual passion for all things writing and writing-related.  I should go back to Novel #2 for a bit, I suppose, and maybe try and find out what's happening with Novel #1 (ah, that vexing situation!!),

Too much to do.  No time to do it in.  But at least now I'll have a chance to catch up with things.  Though getting things done in the allotted hours at work is going to be mad!!!

A Diversion to Midlothian..

Here, as promised, is a guide to the delights of Cockpen Old Parish Church and burial ground. 

The church itself has its origins in the 13th century, but according to the inimitable MacGibbon & Ross, very little of the original fabric remains intact.  I presumed that the windows in the East wall (see below) were medieval, but evidently the 13th century elements comprise little more than some ashlar masonry:-

 

This presumably means that the nice lancet windows are later additions, with the ashlar just visible to the left of the picture. 

Galleries were added at either end in the 17th century, with some evidence of the timber work visible below in the form of joist-holes:-
 

 

Some of the funerary monuments are rather fun, too.  This looks like a late 18th/early 19th century example, presumably commissioned for the grave of a carpenter (I thought the set square might signify a mason, but I'd reckon the axe/hatchet is a woodworking implement).

 

It's a fine piece of craftsmanship, marking the resting place of a man named 'Robert Rough'.  Sadly, the sandstone has eroded and delaminated, so much of the inscription is now lost.  Let's hope some enterprising antiquarian had the foresight to take a note of what it said before it was lost to the mists of time...

Another monument that caught my eye was this pleasant little table-tomb.  I like the carving - again it strikes me as being quite early, perhaps early 19th century in date.  I didn't loiter long enough to find out - it was 2.30 pm, I'd forgotten my lunch and I had a one and a half hour drive ahead to get home. 

 

It was a lovely little place, and well worth the visit.  And when I paid my respects, it was deserted, which made it even more satisfying.  Here's a more general view, just to give you a better idea of its setting. 

 

A Diversion to Midlothian..

Here, as promised, is a guide to the delights of Cockpen Old Parish Church and burial ground. 

The church itself has its origins in the 13th century, but according to the inimitable MacGibbon & Ross, very little of the original fabric remains intact.  I presumed that the windows in the East wall (see below) were medieval, but evidently the 13th century elements comprise little more than some ashlar masonry:-

 

This presumably means that the nice lancet windows are later additions, with the ashlar just visible to the left of the picture. 

Galleries were added at either end in the 17th century, with some evidence of the timber work visible below in the form of joist-holes:-
 

 

Some of the funerary monuments are rather fun, too.  This looks like a late 18th/early 19th century example, presumably commissioned for the grave of a carpenter (I thought the set square might signify a mason, but I'd reckon the axe/hatchet is a woodworking implement).

 

It's a fine piece of craftsmanship, marking the resting place of a man named 'Robert Rough'.  Sadly, the sandstone has eroded and delaminated, so much of the inscription is now lost.  Let's hope some enterprising antiquarian had the foresight to take a note of what it said before it was lost to the mists of time...

Another monument that caught my eye was this pleasant little table-tomb.  I like the carving - again it strikes me as being quite early, perhaps early 19th century in date.  I didn't loiter long enough to find out - it was 2.30 pm, I'd forgotten my lunch and I had a one and a half hour drive ahead to get home. 

 

It was a lovely little place, and well worth the visit.  And when I paid my respects, it was deserted, which made it even more satisfying.  Here's a more general view, just to give you a better idea of its setting.