Emily and Poppi enjoying the sunshine.     I've begun a major clear-out of household junk.  So far I've filled two bin-bags with shredded MS and gone-curly ring-clip files, ancient plant pots and "useful" kitchen equipment which  hasn't been used since the last Ice Age.  And this is only the start of the de-junking process.  The wheelie bin is already piled high, so there's no point in me doing more until that's been emptied.   The dogs supervised, of course, until they got thoroughly bored with listening to me singing along with Suede, and  wandered off to snooze on cushions.  Actually, this afternoon I thought Poppi had somehow got out of the garden as I couldn't see her anywhere.  The garden's escape-proof but you should never underestimate the resourcefulness of a Jack Russell.  Anyway, I found her curled up fast asleep on Richard's pillow, which she'd dragged half-way across the bed to a sunny spot.   Poppi ...

Sleepi Poppy   Our chickens are now happily re-housed with a family in Bebington, who have kept hens before.  I'll miss their antics - and their lovely fresh eggs - but we've a planned big change on the home-front and so we needed to find a new home for them.   While we said goodbye to Penny and Felicity, we said hello to Poppi.  She's a fifteen month-old Jack Russell who Emily had befriended.  Her owner couldn't look after her properly anymore, and asked Richard if he'd be  interested in adopting her.  That's a bit like asking a kid if it wants ice-cream...and so we have a new family member - who will easily fit in with our planned domestic changes.  We've had a cat named Poppy, so it feel a little odd calling her this but it's been her name for so long already it seems silly to change it.  If she'd been given some pea-brained blood-and-guts name then I'd change it immediately, but Poppi is a lovely name so it's staying - we'll just lat...

Frederika I had lunch with an old friend on Thursday.  Freddie and I have known each other since high school days, when we were regular attendees at the Lowton Vortex.  I wonder how many Lowton people remember the youth club being nicknamed that?  Not many, I'm sure.  Anyway, that was a looooooong time ago; mucho aqua under the bridge etc. etc.  Freddie now lives in Nottingham but she was visiting family who still live in Lowton, and as I have family there too we decided to meet for the first time in around twenty years. I recognised her immediately, even though she was standing with her back to me.  As we crossed the road, heading towards The Waterside pub-restaurant in Leigh, who did we see but my neice Vikkey with nine-month old baby Logan.  "Hello Logan, I'm you're Aunt Adele," - and right on cue he began wailing.  I have this effect on kids.  Lunch was good.  Freddie and I had a great time catching up on each other's news, of co...

Widowed at sixteen and facing bankruptcy, Bethany Rose resolves to rebuild broken dreams. Morgan seems perfect, but he is a member of a mysterious and secretive occult order. Can he protect Bethany Rose from power-crazed assassins plotting to control the order? Terrified by visitations from a faceless black-robed spectre, Bethany runs to Morgan - and straight into danger. They want to be together. But will love keep them apart? Paperback: ISBN-13: 978-1478253211 ISBN-10: 1478253215 Ebook: ISBN: 9781476124902 ASIN: B008XNJRGY (for Kindle)    

One of our garden's visitors A friend challenged me to sum up the themes of my novels in just two or three words. After a few moments, I said that Tamsin is about making choices, Rowan is about taking responsibility, Bethany Rose is about overcoming adversity;and Fabian is about taking control. It was an interesting exercise as I'd not consciously thought about it before. Have a go yourself, either with something you've written or with a few favourites novels. If you're wondering what's happening on the writing front: (a) I've nearly finished correcting the proof copy of Bethany Rose ; (b) the Seaside Stories anthology is still receiving a few submissions; (c) I'm selecting and completing work for another short story collection; and (d) there was an article about cryonics in Marie Claire magazine's August issue which featured me and two friends. I hadn't known the relevant magazine issue had come out until Freddie told me. She and I have b...

I enjoyed this video, which shows what one man has done with the gardening space available to him.  It demonstrates how even small and seemingly uninteresting spaces can be transformed into something lovely.  The idea reminds me of the late Geoff Hamilton's BBC series, Paradise Gardens , in which he promoted a similar idea.  The series is a pleasure to watch for its own sake; it has a dreamy, tranquil quality as well as being grounded in practicality. A quick Google search for "gardening in small spaces" offered me 82,800,000 results.  Clearly there're plenty of ideas out there, such as using tubs, drain pipes, old tires, vertical gardens, home-made greenhouses, wooden palette boards and even a derelict car to house both ornamental and food plants. Our garden is a fairly decent size.  I keep talking about putting in a pond...and maybe a duck or two could then be added to the menagerie which hasn't been so small in a long time.  Having no...

Kate Wilhelm has been a writer since 1956, and after having had more than 30 novels published, (see her Amazon Author Page ) she has now embraced self-publishing and digital self-publishing in response to a long series of unsatisfactory publishing contracts.  With the help of relatives, she has now set up Infinity Box Press to re-release her back catalogue. It surely says a lot about the current situation in traditional publishing when a writer of this lady's experience and stature rejects a familiar route in preference for indie self-publishing.  Good for her!  I wish her well. Well, the July ebook bargains promo on Smashwords is over now.  Throughout the month of July I offered two ebooks free, and it was interesting to see that Spanish Jones was chosen by far more people than The Karens .  Maybe people don't expect me to have penned a sci-fi story?  The whole genre pigeon-holing issue leaves me a bit puzzled.  Ok, so I mostly write urban fanta...

Joyce Grenfell AKA Chuckzilla 4th August 2012 approx. 6 years old Joyce Grenfell and Hattie Jacques in younger days