Hi all, gosh I have been so remiss. The whole point of hosting a website and blog is to write it. I have been nothing short of negligent in keeping to that rather simple brief. In mitigation I have written a missive practically every single day this year, should you follow my posts, and at long last I do have a fourth novel coming along.

I hope to publish the 3rd book in the ‘One Soul’ trilogy...‘The One Soul-Into the Grey’ in the next couple of months.

Much could be made of my blogging absence or nothing, depending on your point of view. Face it, if you are reading this then at the very least you are showing interest. Of course it could be argued you have distinct and possibly questionable taste. Maybe you are serving a penance for indiscriminate reading. Who knows?

Perhaps you are even a fan. Now don’t laugh. It is rude to mock the afflicted.

But some of you will have made a choice, exercised free will (If indeed it exists at all-but that is an altogether different story- for another time...maybe) and found your own way here.

Not just a chance encounter then? An element of premeditation...Oh dear....

Is there no hope for you?

One consolation you have in your favour is the knowledge that even a stopped clock is right twice a day. On average a better strike rate than mine.

Never the less, I would prefer to believe you have invested some of your valuable reading time catching up with me and for that I will thank you.

So...what now...okay, at the very least we can agree you are still here and I would like it if you hung around for a while, if for no other reason but I like talking to you,

So... I think it would be fair to assume it is my job to keep you here.

Well...How do I go about doing it?

What will catch your eye and pluck at your chuckle muscle?

How can I tickle your imagination and keep you enthralled?

Do I need to entertain you or inform?

Should I be the BBC or ITV?

Surely a good blog should be a bit of both. If we accept that as fact ...just for the sake of argument... can we also start from the standpoint that this is a good blog...not too difficult an assumption I hope.

Taking into account international diplomacy and the concern some people may have that we might only be a couple of mistakes to one side of a catastrophe so complete it would make the term ‘dystopian future’ seem appealing, the past summer months have, for the most part been bright and full of good cheer.

The Scottish referendum has come to dominate much of the national...Oh!...sorry, if you are reading this after a ‘yes’ vote I should have said ‘International news’ Gosh! This is so complicated...Keeping a balanced position, whilst straddling a wobbly fence is not easy but equanimity has, so far, prevailed. And thank goodness, with an absence of blood-letting... which in itself (pun intended) is so typically British... and the result will soon be known.

Whatever happens I doubt the UK will ever be the same...and that might be no bad thing. Too much centralisation and the abominable presence of a Burlington Club Oxbridge elite in Westminster has hardened attitudes against the status quo. Something needs to change and as so many voters have developed a jaundiced view about the veracity of political morals a good kick up the behind can only make things better.

Well that probably frightened a few people off. A minority in the swing seats might have even nodded off, whilst one or two of you others might have chewed your own bloomin’ fingers off.

Moving on.

This August was famous for another reason. It was a time of celebration. It was my Silver wedding 25 years married to my wonderful and thankfully patient and relatively short-sighted  wife...Kay.

Wow!

Yes...I know...And they said it would never last...No seriously...they did.

An ex-girlfriend met my ex-mother-in-law in a Tesco express...which was about to close so as they walked through the exit, ex pulled ex to one side and excitedly expressed the opinion that she knew what was what. She said any relationship her ex...meaning me...may have...was doomed to fail ‘It would be extraordinary for such a union to be successful.’ She concluded.

It is with much excitement that I have to declare the ex...wrong in the extreme.  Ex...most definitely does not mark the spot.

In any event we had a marvellous day. All of our family and many good friends...all together. My daughter came from Australia and our three grandchildren were all under our roof for the first time.

We had a rather successful barbeque with me as MC. It was the first time I have presided over such a gathering since the death of my son...so it was a big deal. Thankfully all went well, with only one short and rather splendid speech from my wonderful daughter.

Oh and I read a poem I wrote for Kay.

Silver Wedding day. The 1st of August 2014.

A glance to remember.
A turn of the head
Was all it took,
The image imprinted
On my heart.
Over laid, as it has been
By the passage of time,
With its share of good and bad fortune.
Complications of life
With implications
That can destroy the best of intentions
If you let them.
Never the less,
Whenever the strain
Of living threatened
To tear at the bonds
That tied us,
And the cut and thrust
Of life
Became an unequal fight,
The love we share
Has proved too strong
To be broken.
Through all
Life has thrown at us
We have prevailed.
On days such as this,
My mind turns back
To that day
Twenty Five years ago,
When I saw you
Walking toward me
Down the aisle,
My heart thumping
So loudly
The sound filling my ears,
My eyes clouding over
With un-shed tears,
I am right back there,
Ready to do it all again,
With you,
My darling wife.
Lover and partner,
For life.

Thank you for your indulgence my friends. See you soon. Peter.