Good Food And Banter

Image: The Busy Brain

Bit of a busy weekend, both in the house and on the socialising-in-restaurants front. It seems Gail and I are currently in high demand for attending people’s functions. A good thing? Not if you’re a hermit like me, it’s not. Well, I say hermit, more like part time loner. Aren’t all writers, though?

I left work in the rain on Friday and got home early evening to find a phone message waiting from my mate. I had been looking forward to having the house to myself, getting some writing done and maybe ordering a pizza with a movie, but he had cancelled on me several times already and we really needed to get together to talk through his marital problems (he walked out on his family a few weeks ago). So I shifted into gear and arranged to go out.

We visited the Bonoful Indian Restaurant in Portobello, which as it happened, was an excellent choice. We talked for several hours and as we did so, also enjoyed a very impressive Indian meal: quality vegetable pakora followed by their Chilli and Garlic Lamb with pilau rice and nan bread—the most delicious nan bread I’ve had in many a time—all washed down with a couple of Cobra Lagers.

Into Saturday and the day was spent with the family and my in-laws. During the day Ian was round for tea, telly and holiday snaps (not mine), and in the evening, Gail and I took everyone out for a meal. We went to the Buffalo Grill in Stockbridge, home of the best cooked steak meals in the east. I had a rare T-Bone, and polished it off with a bottle of BYOB red wine before heading off for more of the same (wine, that is).

Yesterday was spent working in the house and garden, and today I find myself back in the day job.

I’ve been so wrapped up in other things lately, including the family holiday, I never realised July was coming to an end. I totally forgot to do my GDR wrap-up and prepare my August newsletter! Being away for two weeks and feeling like shit for a week after I got back, pretty much took up my entire month, so I’m going to roll July’s GDR into August, but add on the small extra that is the Edinburgh Book Festival. It really cannot come soon enough for me.

I’m slimming down again, in more ways than one. I’m cutting back on the broadness of my work, because each year I find that somehow I get involved in lots of other work that builds up, which pulls my attention from my original plans. My focus becomes squint, my concentration spreads, and my output suffers in quality. I am NOT going to let this happen this year. This is the perfect time for me to re-assess where I am and take a mid-GDR/year stock of my writing life.

I’m also slimming down around the waist it would seem. After this weekend you might not believe it but since all those salads must really be paying off. My trousers are hanging off me more and more, which is causing quite a stir among the ladies in the community, let me tell you!!

Anyway, back to reality…