Writer's Blog 21

I've just re-read my last Writer's Blog (Blog 20).   It was a humbling experience.   There I was, back in June, banging on about how I could still manage to fit in some writing, even when circumstances were difficult.  At that time, my partner and I were clearing out our London flat and getting ready to move back to Scotland.    If you've ever rented a furnished flat, you'll know what it's like when your lease is coming to an end.  Your number one priority is to get back the substantial deposit that you paid when you moved in.  That means giving the place a real power-clean - the sort of deep-down scrub-up that no house of mine would ever get in any other circumstances.  Then there's the matter of finding every item on the inventory and making sure it's in good nick, clean and available for inspection.  After that, there's the small matter of all the stuff that you've accumulated during your stay but which you don't require in your new abode; that'll mean many trips to the local charity shop.  So it's true that we were busy then and that other things - like writing - were stuck on the back burner.  So what's happened since then? It's hard to remember, exactly.   We moved from London to one house in Fife - then on to another.  Various people came to stay, most of them elderly. I was roped in to redecorate part of one old person's house.  Then my partner carried out a long-term threat.  She bought a puppy. His name is Bertie.  He's a cute-looking black-and-white cocker spaniel.  But, although he's cute looking  and although he's a pleasant companion some of the time, on other occasions he's definitely Asbo material.  OK, that's all my excuses out of the way.  And I have started writing again - at long last.  A new chapter of my book has been written.  The passage I'm working on now is the very turning-point scene that I drafted back in June - the one I was bragging about managing to draft despite being so busy moving out of the London flat.  Yes, that's right - I haven't finished it yet. I'm glad that I didn't know that back in June!