Saturday 13 April 2013

Once upon a time, behind a pile of books...

Once upon a time, there was a Hairy Bloke and his Lovely Lady. (Yes, that's us, just over 30 years ago - scary, isn't it?) They had just got married, and lived in their little flat in Bristol, with a little back garden and a cherry tree which gave blossom in the springtime and lots of cherries in the summertime. However, most of the year round, the Hairy Bloke never saw very much of that nice little garden, because he was a Student. He had lectures at the university, and more lectures up the road at the theological college where he was training to be a minister. Every morning, he'd kiss his Lovely Lady goodbye as she went off to work, and would pedal up the hill to the college or down to the university to start his day of study. Every teatime, he'd pedal back home again, and light the fire ready for the Lovely Lady coming in from work, and he would settle down in the sitting room at a table behind a great pile of books. The Lovely Lady would come in, and he'd come out from behind the pile of books so they could have tea together, and then he'd disappear behind them again for the rest of the evening. She knew he was all right in there, because every now and then she'd pass in a cup of coffee, and a few minutes later the empty cup would emerge. And so they lived happily together, the Hairy Bloke, the Lovely Lady, and the pile of books, until the Hairy Bloke finished being a student and went off to be a Minister.

The Hairy Bloke is still Very Hairy, but some of the hairs are grey. He is still a Minister, and the pile of books has grown to fill his study. The Lovely Lady has a study of her own, and lots of books, and even more books that she has written herself. She has some wonderful stories to tell, and is very busy writing them down. Sometimes she is sat scribbling away at the old dining table, at which she has written so many tales and stories. Sometimes she is upstairs at the top of the house in her own little study, tapping away on her laptop, getting her stories ready to send off to Editors and Publishers to make them into lovely Books. The Hairy Bloke knows she is all right, because he says "Do you want a cup of tea?" and the voice drifts back from storyland "Yes, please." Sometimes that means going all the way to the top of the house with a nice steaming mug, sometimes it means taking it into the sitting room. The cup disappears steaming into the heap of books and notes, and a while later, an empty cup emerges.

The Lovely Lady is very busy writing her stories, just as the Hairy Bloke is very busy writing his studies and sermons. At the end of a very busy day, they sit down together and talk about what they've been writing, and what they've been doing. Just now, the Lovely Lady is so busy - there are a lot of stories telling themselves to her, and just begging to be put down on paper and sent to Editors and Publishers to be made into lovely Books. It's very hard work for her, but it's very exciting. The Hairy Bloke loves reading the stories, and he knows that lots of other people will enjoy them, too.

That's why he likes making cups of tea for his Lovely Lady, to help her write her stories. Today, she is so busy that she wouldn't have time to write a blog, so the Hairy Bloke has told you his own story. It wouldn't be such a good story without the Lovely Lady and the stories she tells. Now, we can all look forward to them, and enjoy the lovely Books, and read happily ever after.

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