A Weekend Away

Posted by Colin Harvey Oct 4, 2009

We’re just back from the coast where Kate and I spent a couple of self-indulgent days with her parents.

We drove down on Friday afternoon, leaving about lunch-time. It’s a telling comment that the 67.8 miles door-to-door took 2 ¼ hours, which means that we averaged 30.1 mph along a major route linking two large conurbations. No accidents, just a dearth of passing places to pass the heavy lorries which struggle up the many switchback hills littering the route, tractors which refused to pull over** (unlike the drivers in Wales who were uniformly courteous and minimized traffic delays wherever they could), elderly locals terrified of getting a speeding ticket so that they drive at least 10 to 20mph below the speed limit, or a combination of the three main groups.

After a quiet night drinking too much wine, we bought a Guardian on Saturday morning to read the Eric Brown review of Winter Song… which included an interesting point about one of its themes, something that had never occurred to me. A review that teaches you something about your own work is a bonus.

After walking the dogs across Studland Beach to buy a sausage and bacon sandwich, ventured down to Waterstones, where the book is on a 3 for 2 offer (So you can buy Dan Abnett’s Triumff, Andy Remic’s Kell’s Legend, and get Winter Song free!).

Out for a curry on Saturday night, more dog-walking on Sunday morning, and a sadly premature return this afternoon so that I can see whether my timetable’s on line yet, and do my homework.

** Kate mooted the Python-esque concept that perhaps they have competitions, taking turns to lurk behind hedgerows before pulling out to see how many cars they can hold up at one go!