Some Say...

Some say he sleeps upside down. Some say his boots are made from tyres left in the TT pit lane. Some say he knows 17 words for rain. All we know is he's called the RPU Stig.

In researching this story I've been asking many questions of many people. This evening, after crafting group, a police officer came into the cafe. I asked if I might ask some questions. There are times each year when applications are invited from UK police officers who would like to transfer across to the Island. These officers are first sent out on patrol to become acquainted with the Island. If the officers have specialist training, like Stig from the Road Policing Unit, they will be slotted into jobs as openings arise. There is no standard time period. It all depends on the individual and the roles that need to be filled. This is all useful for my story.

Sophie, one of the crafters, had told me a bit about casinos. This week she mentioned some casinos give new members a £10. If this £10 token was placed on a roulette table, and won, and then left again, and won again, this would mean the person had won almost £13,000 in two spins of the wheel.

I'm loving that people are now advancing ideas and additional pieces of information.

Honey Hill Farm

This morning, we took a jaunt up to Honey Hill Farm. It was rather glorious. 

Ava had a fabulous time finding all the sniffs, plants she could nibble on, and she stop numerous time to sample the water flowing down the lane. 

I now have a far better idea of where Jenny Quayle is going to be living, and an idea of where Uncle Bob lives too.

Manx Cottage

I have discovered I am a writer who loves research.  It's important to me for my tales of fantasy to be rooted in reality. 

Today, the Beloved and I drove up to the primary location in my story. I had thought it would have been a little further west along the road to the Creg Na Baa, but there was just such a convenient water supply I couldn't overlook the spot on the corner of the Creg Na Baa Back Road, and Honey Hill.

The back of the house is very close to the Creg Na Baa Back Road, and the front has a southern aspect, looking down over fields to Clypse Reservoir, over to Douglas, and the sea beyond. It's only five miles from the sea terminal in the capital, but it's in the middle of nowhere.

'Honey Cottage' is a traditional stone Manx cottage. It was known as Quayle's cottage.It has mains electricity, but the water comes from a stream running down from the hills. The water is fresh, clean and flavourful, having being filtered through layers of peat. When the rain is heavy the water is very peaty.