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Local council is running a Coronavirus Facebook page and liked my entry very much and would like to see more. Even better news, is I won a short story competition and will see the story published in Prima magazine in July as well as receiving £100. £100 for one of my stories. That is what you call a result.

November. Yes, it felt like November. Bright autumn colours, rustling leaves and in tune with Greenwich Mean Time. I like the clocks going back to the natural rhythm. Is it natural? Joan Bakewell, in the I paper, argued the case for the clocks remaining ‘forward’ so we could enjoy the golden afternoons. In these days of around-the-clock artificial light there is indeed less need for natural daylight during ‘normal’ working hours for farmers and others who need to get up early. Indeed, many jobs require people to get up earlier than the sun other than outside farm work.
It was a month for catching up with friends old and new. The winter months generally are great for catch ups in warm, cosy pubs in the shorter daylight days. The long summer days are ideal for trips to the moors, to the coast and for summer evenings outside.
In my bid to support local libraries, I have come across Reginald Hill’s wonderful non-Dalziel and Pascoe novels. They far surpass the stories containing the popular duo in that his writing is tighter and the characters come vividly and compassionately to life. I cannot put them down. I enjoy the D&P ones and like to see the TV adaptations but these others, well, I want to read them all. The one I have dragged myself away from to write this is “The Woodcutter”, following hotly on the heels of “The Long Kill”. Not to mention, “Deadheads”…a real treat for gardeners…
Coming from a background of doing everything with one’s husband, my Mum is doing her best to adapt to a future life on her own and has booked an exciting holiday for next spring. It reminded me that my generation are so fortunate to have access to various groups via the internet. Indeed, I am profoundly grateful to a group I came across while going through my divorce in Honiton. We all rallied around to help each other out in whatever way was needed at the time. And it showed me that I (nor anyone for that matter) need not struggle on alone as help was always available if one looked for and asked for it. In Exeter there are a great many groups to appeal to any age and interest and through the local community group on Facebook, I am making new friends and enjoying local meet ups and events. The latest one was an international shared lunch with belly dancing and music and craft to follow.
Looking slightly ahead to the month of buying gifts…I shall be at a craft fair in Woodbury next week with my books and other things. The All About Space magazine did indeed include by books in its gift guide and, excitingly, I had my photograph taken with the magazine where it was on sale in WH Smiths.

Mars is clearly visible to the east in the evenings (clear ones that is!) and is the closest it has been for 17 years. To help you enjoy the planet here are some notes from my book, ‘A stroll through the stars’:

Missions to Mars capture our imagination because it is the most likely destination for a manned spacecraft. Venus is nearer to us but is so inhospitable, landing there is out of the question. At least, for the time being!
So, what can we see through the telescope? If you are fortunate enough to have access to a telescope, it is possible to view the ice caps. I was fortunate enough to use Norman Lockyer’s historic telescope at his Observatory in Sidmouth and found the ice caps all by myself. The effort involved was well worthwhile.
The planet appears as a red dot in the sky and the redness reminded the Ancient Greeks of blood and war so they named it Ares. Later, the Romans changed the name to Mars – their god of war. The surface is rocky and littered with pebbles and rocks. It is very windy with tornadoes bigger than any on Earth. Visibility is poor with all the dust being blown around. Everywhere has a reddish tinge, due to iron rich content.
Some of the crevices are as deep as 8 km/5 miles and 644 km/400 miles wide. Each pole is covered by an ice cap. The crevices are evidence of water erosion. There are clouds on Mars, although they look similar to Earth clouds, these were formed from water and carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere and not from water on the surface which happens on Earth.
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in our solar system. It is a shield volcano 15 miles high with a volume greater than any on Earth. Mount Everest is a bit less than 10 km/6 miles high (8839 metres/29,000 feet).
In an article in Astronomy Now magazine (May 2016) Dr Allan Chapman noted that the transit of Mercury on 3 June 2014 was the first such transit to be observed from a planet other than Earth.
Curiosity. Spirit. Opportunity. Perseverance. Such are the inspiring names of the missions to map and photograph and take samples of the red planet.
The planet has two little moons encircling it, Phobos and Deimos, which would look like potatoes at the end of a football pitch!
Mars is half the size of Earth and takes twice as long to orbit the Sun. It comes closest to Earth every 780 days or so.
Between Mars and Jupiter is an area containing millions of small rocks ranging from a few feet/metres to about a kilometre across. The Asteroid Belt contains rocks some of which are larger than a kilometre across but all are smaller than planets. Asteroid means star like and these are small rocks that have never formed into planets or perhaps are pieces from a larger object which suffered a collision. Although far apart, these objects do present a danger to spacecraft travelling through on their way to the outer solar system.
 

Here is a poem I wrote while busy in an office…

I was just thinking
…merely thinking
contemplating the conundrums of the day
No, I am not distracted
laughing at thin air
just smiling with the sheer joy
of being alive
at work
on this hot summer’s day
Just taking a pause
a break
to stare
and smile
as the boss strolls by
…hoping he doesn’t spot
my mobile hiding in plain sight.