I'm afraid we weren't impressed by the way she was ridden as she seemed to be boxed in and then finished strongly. If the race had been another furlong she would undoubtedly have won. It was all made worse by the fact that the winner was called Blakeney Point!
Talking of Blakeney and North Norfolk in general, it would be lovely to go up there at the moment but, like so many others, we have decided not to move about at present apart from our daily Steward Stroll round Hethersett and a few short trips to Norwich and Wymondham.
I have taken up reading again - not that I ever stopped. It's ironic really that during lockdown, when I have supposedly had more spare time, I seem to have read less. In the past I have comfortably averaged a book a week but last year I struggled to make it a book a month.
I think it's the enormity of having a stack of books by my bedside just waiting to be read. Books on Clement Atlee, John Peel the disc jockey, the history of Norfolk and many more diverse titles.
I have also taken to what I call multi-reading - that is to say reading a number of books at the same time. It's an interesting pastime now that we have so many devices to read on, including the old fashioned printed book. The books have to be very different, however, as I wouldn't want to mix-up plots or get confused.
On my phone I'm reading an interesting book on the Second World War "The Splendid and the Vile" by American author Erik Larson, on the ipad I'm reading a book on Norfolk and Suffolk villages that have disappeared and on my kindle I am re-reading David Copperfield. I try to read at least two chapters of each every day and so should comfortably finish the three during January.
Larson gives an interesting insight into politics and the Churchill family during the war. It was a book recommended by an American friend and reads like a novel. It was only when I looked the author up that I realised I had read one of his books before - "The Devil in the White City" which I really enjoyed. It's a non fiction book about murder at the Chicago World Fair of 1893. Again it reads like a novel.
My primary interest in the "disappeared" Norfolk and Suffolk villages is in Shipden which was in North Norfolk and a twin village of Cromer. Now it lies submerged about half a mile north of Cromer Pier. An entire village was destroyed including the church. More about this later.
As for Copperfield - well this will be my third or maybe fourth read. I would like in 2021 to re-visit all of Dickens' novels, possibly in the order they were published once Copperfield is finished with.
I do have a tendency to start a book with great enthusiasm only to lose that enthusiasm 100 pages in. Reading on electronic devices is a difficult science as well. You don't have the thickness of the book to go on how many pages you have left. It will tell you how many pages you have left in the book and how many in a particular chapter if you click or touch the screen but it's not quite the same as being able to judge by the physical thickness.
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Saw a note on Facebook about people saying good morning to each other whilst out walking and how heart-warming this is. I have to say that I have noticed this during our Steward Strolls. I think it's an acceptance that we are all in this mess together and need to be pleasant and support each other. I have to say I have made a point during the walks to at least say "good morning" or "good afternoon" to everyone I pass rather than walk on with my eyes firmly fixed to the ground as I might have done in the past.
I hope this can continue when we have eventually kicked this virus into touch.
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Yesterday I began downloading all my blogs which started at the end of March last year. As mentioned before, it is my intention to edit them and turn them into a written publication. Does anyone have experience of self publishing through Amazon, how I would go about it and what the costs are? My idea would be to sell the books cheaply to just recover my costs with any money over and above that being donated to charity.