No - I didn't forget!

 A day late and a dollar short. Sadly because of events beyond my control. My Internet connection and landline phone went down on Saturday and has only just been fixed. So no blog on Wednesday. The isolation and panic have given me a strong prompt to do something about a smart phone that would at least help with some of the problems - but I don't think I could have written a blog on one! 

Anyway. I am here now. Waiting for the builders to arrive to investigate just how bad the crumbling of the wall between my house and next door is - I pulled off some ivy and it didn't look good. It's the wall in the pic that is header for the blog, by the way. It seems as if my summer are spent on restoring expensive walls - last year it was the retaining wall that kept the back of the garden from becoming the front of the garden. We won't mention the pile of rubble that the builders next door - other way - have made of that adjoining wall. Not sure why it was knocked down when they were not ready to re-build it - but that's not my problem, thankfully. .

The lack of communication facilities made me think about the issue in relation to writers. I've been reading quite a bit of cosy crime lately, a lot of it period stuff. (Would I like to write one? Hmm. Maybe?) Time periods well before everyone (except me) had a magic phone in their pocket/handbag. In relation to crime that is a two edged sword. Research and following clues is much easier for sleuths - amateur and professional - with the internet available but it has its downside Those of us who read period stuff have probably often come across a plot that would have been settled in a few moments, and so ended the book, if someone/anyone had had a mobile phone. And how often have you heard an author complain at the lengths they have had to go to make sure their characters can't get a phone signal at a crucial moment. That always seem contrived - although if you are a regular listener to the Radio 4 Today programme you will know just how often a connection is poor or fails completely - and not just when talking to someone overseas. The presenters probably squirm, but it cheers me up - See it does happen, often. 

Anyway I am back now and life is a lot easier. I hope it stays that way!!!