and this month I'm not being stiffed by Amazon

Instead its the economy, a strong pound means a poor exchange rate but I guess we can't have everything.

Anyhow, things are moving along and if not rosy, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccinations are moving apace but it'll still be some time before travel becomes a possibility, that relies as much on outside forces as internal government - we might be given the green light but that doesn't mean other countries will let us in! So it looks like UK tourist industry will get a boost, accommodation prices will rocket, beaches will be packed and those who don't have deep pockets will be forced into 'vacation poverty', denied even the cheap option of camping as even 'fields with a tap' will be booked out with the 'entitled'.

There has been some recent discussion on reader numbers here on BC which prompted me to have a look at my own figures. What became immediately apparent was that numbers are lower than even a year ago, its taking longer for read counts to climb although they do all eventually reach similar numbers. By contrast, kudos are fairly static which suggests there is a 'hard core' of fans, its the more casual readers which have reduced - and its not confined to Gaby postings but across the board.

So out of curiosity I moved on to look at Kindle sales where such variations make themselves felt very directly. Now, not to brag but of the @ 70 live Scaramouch publications available, @ fifty are Maddy Bell fiction and each month there are purchases of 80% of them. Of course there are more of the latest releases sold but even quite obscure one offs like Unexpectedly Mary released in November 2013, regularly see sales - not in big numbers but one is better than none right? (Maddy Bell author page) A special thank you to all buyers, thank you for your support.

So as the third week of February draws to a close, its time to recap the week. So on Thursday I rolled the bike out, a chip run to Weston SM on a bright but breezy day - except I had to forego the cheeps, there were just too many people about around the purveyors property and given the fried potato sticks aren't anything special and I had my sandwiches, well I gave the chance of Covid infection a miss. The wind direction encouraged me to start a longer route back but a puncture, from hedge cutting, grr, revealed a tyre that was not long for this life. As a result I started a more direct route back, fingers crossed the tyre would cover the remaining distance. It did, 115km added to the years total which is something like 1000km behind where I expected to be at this point.

Friday was a longish shopping trip on foot, damp and windy but it was Covidercise. Yesterday then was another damp, windy day but I had a list of jobs to do starting with an Easter egg purchasing expedition - grand children, who'd have 'em? well me at least even if I seem to spend an awful lot of my limited finances on 'treats' for said child. To be fair to myself, a lot is for future gift times rather than immediate consumption, even if I'm a pauper it doesn't mean I can't spoil the next generation.

Anyhow, after the egg trip it was time to sort out the bike, I had a spare tyre so that was fitted and a few other small jobs attended to - my Triggers Broom of a bike will go on for a while yet! After some refreshment, it was onto the next job - a search for a cover image to use on the new Gaby book. Okay, not an arduous task but nevertheless, matching an image to the 'feel' of the tome is an art that is too often overlooked - I hate covers that promise one thing but the contents fail to meet expectations. Anyhow, I found one, hope you like it, it is of course another Tabaraku Mizutamari work and will of course have some appropriate titles by print time!

I finished the day with some model construction, I'm working on building a small diorama, something for my sanity, so it was a painting, glueing session for an hour or so. Access to resources is limited at present so I can't go much further but I'm quite pleased with how its going.

I had expected to go for a ride today but a showery forecast has kept me inside, hence this fairly early post. There is a new Avoidance chapter, Not to plan has more Spanish racing for you and sunburn for Gaby. As the title suggests, even the best laid plans can go awry and in true Gaby fashion, they inevitably will!

That pretty much rounds things up for today,
Adios Amigos
Madeline Anafrid

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