My latest Sherlock Holmes short story Miss Violet Dixon (deceased)

My latest Sherlock Holmes short story Miss Violet Dixon (deceased)
The front cover created with Gimp with help from Aubrey Watt on You Tube.

Friday 22 February 2013

Definitely chilly here in Western Brittany, the temperature fell to the lowest so far this winter to -1ºC, still much higher than most places in the UK! Beautiful clear night again with fabulous stars and it was a great sunny start for the day which has now turned cloudy. There is a wind blowing from the East which is very cold and yesterday afternoon on the beach it was OK when walking on the outward 'leg' of our walk but coming back, walking into the wind it was bitter! Last year the east wind in the winter was so cold that we each ended up buying a 'Thinsulate' lined knitted Balaclava for the beach. All you could see of us was a pair of eyes! : )

I have been looking for a new plot for my next Sherlock Holmes story and found some interesting information from 1900. I won't say more as it would spoil the story. However, the beginning of the story finds Watson learning to sail by meeting up with an old friend to sail his model yacht on the Round Pond in Kensington Park (something that goes on to this day!). This has awakened in me a desire to build a model 'pond' yacht. I have always admired the kind of "half" yacht hulls that are sometimes on display in old fashioned pubs. They are usually there to show the shape and design of race winning yachts, some from the Americas Cup. Anyway, I have found a manual on how to build one and then found on ebay a CD Rom with hundreds of different boat plans on it. I really would like to build a 1m long racing yacht in the style of those used in the Americas Cup races. Soooo, that might be a little project for me.

We do have a very large 'sous-sol' or underground cellar. It's about 65 sq. metres and has a garage door, not that we put our cars in there as it is full of trailer and ride on mower, 9 cubic metres of cut logs and loads of other stuff, including our 'summer kitchen'. This seems to be a common French idea so that if you are preparing something a bit smelly like loads of fish or you are making jam or bottling fruit, you don't have to fill up the upstairs kitchen with fishy smells and jam jars. This area does lend itself to being a great workshop space, if I can get to my bench! I do have almost all the tools needed (except for the band saw) so watch this space!

The sales of 'The Rattle-Jacks Affair' are picking up at Smashwords, I sold 2 copies yesterday. The compilation of the 5 stories I have published so far is a great deal at $4.99. Enjoy!

Dick xx

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