Toenails, fixing things and a French fancy. And some editing.
- Karina
- Mar 19
- 2 min read
49. Thursday 19 March 2026
Why am I finding it so difficult to work through this edit? I suppose I’m doing okay and making progress, but I definitely have quite a lot to go over yet again. There was one chapter today that I spent ages on. I pretty much rewrote it. It’s still all wrong. I highlighted the entirety of the chapter in Word. I couldn’t look at it anymore. I need to write down what points I want to make and rewrite the chapter again.
I’m now on page 52 of 207 and I can see some orange highlighting within the next chapter, which is for sections I think need changing. I know I’m making it better by spending this time editing it, but I think I expected to be happier with it by now. I also spent a long time on a key chapter where the victim’s wife gives her version of events. I spotted a flaw in her story, which can work, but isn’t what I want to do. That chapter is now largely highlighted too.
I feel a bit sigh-y about my manuscript today.
In other news, I sat outside in the sun and ate a French fancy with a mug of tea. I was dressed in my work gear, which included my MKM timber merchant t-shirt (very much one size “fits” all, ie fits the largest possible person) to give me some gravitas. I won’t know until tomorrow if it worked but I am hoping that I managed to fix an issue with a pipe and the water tank from our spring. DiY is only satisfying if what you do works. I will be very happy if all is okay tomorrow.
I gave my sourdough starter a rescue feed, hung washing outdoors (first time in 2026) and emptied a cupboard (ahead of tidying said cupboard). As planned, I did have a chicken Kiev for dinner, along with chips, peas and carrots. It was a bit disappointing and dind't quite hit the spot.
I suddenly have long toenails. I find this is how it is with toenails. One day you cut them (likely tomorrow) and one day they’re suddenly long. There’s a quote in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead about this phenomenon. I was into tracing paper while I was at university (long story) and typed out the quote about toenails onto tracing paper and pinned it on my noticeboard. I’ve just Googled the quote. I was wrong, it’s more about how they don’t remember ever cutting their toenails. I might not bother typing it out onto tracing paper and pinning it up again now that it seems less relevant to my toenail “thing”!
I also found it surprisingly exciting that the siskins have returned from wherever they've been for winter. I love their lean green-yellow bodies and how feisty they are with the chaffinches. I also discovered that the crows I'm training might actually be ravens. Either way, it's unlikely they're going to end up as well-trained pets.
