Escapism!

So now I’m trying to get back into the writing spirit after three days of total vegetation at Ragdale Hall (a splendid health spa near Melton Mowbray). My mum came with me – we’ve been several times in the past, so going there now feels rather like coming home. We had the world’s noisiest thrush outside our bedroom window which sang from dawn until dusk like a cross between a wolf-whistling builder and a Dalek. Noisy, but strangely delightful! The wildlife in the gardens was wonderful. We even saw a hare running along the border between the gardens and the adjoining farmland – it was so close it almost ran straight into us. (Mainly, I’m glad my mum was fit enough to fully enjoy and participate in everything, after a protracted bout of sciatica last year.)

Here’s an interesting bit of info if you spend hours on the PC and have neck and shoulder problems, as I do. I had an amazing sports/remedial massage from a strong young man who clearly knew his stuff. He found pains in places where I didn’t even know I had places! He said that if you habitually work in front of yourself (it’s a little difficult to work behind yourself, I would’ve thought...) on computers as many people do, it can make the muscles at the FRONT of the neck and chest contract. He found that mine were very tight indeed. He said that although you feel the pain at the back, the problems are really coming from the front. If you don’t correct it, the muscles continue to pull forward and eventually the spine will follow, becoming curved – what a horrible thought. So he’s given me some stretches to practise every day to counteract it. Funny, I’ve had a few back massages in my time but I have never been told this vital information before.

Our favourite area at Ragdale now is their brand new thermal spa, which has a variety of unusual steam rooms, including a couple that are just warm rather than uncomfortably hot, where you can sit and inhale herbal scents, or gaze at gentle scenes from nature drifting across the ceiling. Even the showers are fun – offering ‘tropical thunderstorms’ or a blast of cold menthol mist. Then there’s the Waterfall Pool; a sort of extraordinary Jacuzzi that meanders right out into the gardens, offering various massage stations and waterfalls – absolutely delightful. For my absolute favourite experience, it was a tie between that and the Candle Pool, a magical underwater cavern lit by candles and coloured lights, full of intimate rounded ‘cells’ where you can lie and relax in the warm water. All very sensuous. Oh my goodness, I could have stayed in there all day. Water is definitely my element! Strangely all this sensory stimulation and determined RELAXATION is exhausting – it took us a couple of days to get over it and readjust to the real world! Now this whole entry reads like an advert for Ragdale Hall but honestly, they are not paying me. If only!

So now I’ve reached Chapter Nine of my current novel and I’m stuck. I know what is going to happen but I don’t know how to get there. However I’ve got bits of Chapter Ten written, and also a load of scenes that tell the part of the story that happened in the past… Flashback scenes, of a sort… and I haven’t yet worked out how they will fit into the story. Opinions on weaving in flashbacks, anyone?