This short story was previously published in the 2012 anthology, Seaside Stories , which can be downloaded FREE from this URL:- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/241567

Shabby Chic - Toad Style!   One of our compost bins has been selected as a desirable residence by a toad.  Here he is, perched on top of an egg shell amidst a colourful squelch of veg and fruit peelings.  Toady seems entirely content, and has shown a distinct disinterest in moving on despite the lower edge of the compost bin having been propped up on an old brick so Toady can come and go easily.  Each time Richard or I go to the compost bin, we first have to check to make sure Toady has ambled off to one side to avoid being buried by a small avalanche of soggy teabags and kitchen peelings.   Location, location, location...  It's a handy spot for an amphibian.  The decomposing compost will help keep Toady warm in winter, and the thick recycled rubber walls of the bin itself will protect Toady from the worst of the winter storms.  The neighbours are edible.  And come spring, when Toady's feeling especially so...

Romance, heartache, treachery and death! Eighteen stories and poems inspired by the sea, from a group of imaginative writers who live surrounded by water on the Wirral peninsula in England. Featuring: Tim Hulme * Andy Siddle * Adele Cosgrove-Bray * Peter Caton * Nikki Bennett * Ruth Ann Titley ISBN: 9781301150069; published 2nd October 2012. FREE from here! This ebook was first mentioned at a Riverside Writers meeting early this year.  We had produced a paperback anthology in 2010, and fancied doing something similar.  It had been a fun project for our group to work on together.  This time around we wanted to be certain of a much wider distribution, and so an ebook was suggested.  And here it is!  Enjoy!

Never underestimate a Jack Russell Terrier     It's a pity this photo didn't turn out better.  I've tried tweaking it but the image suffers from poor exposure.  I had been busy in the kitchen and decided to check up on our two Jack Russells.  They'd dragged a cushion off the couch and taken it onto the patio.  And there they were, contentedly sunbathing in comfort.  I didn't want them to stand up before I had chance to take the photo, so I quickly put the batteries back into my digi camera - it devours batteries if they're not removed - and snapped this on Auto.  Is that cute or what, hmm?   It is as well that they enjoyed the sunshine as it's poured with rain almost non-stop since.  The car park behind The Concourse was largely underwater last night as Tim and I arrived for the Riverside Writers meeting.  We discussed several versions of the proposed front cover for Seaside Stories, as this project is nearing complet...

Poppi   Poppi and Emily, blanket buddies   Sunny snoozes     These photos answer the queries about how our two dogs are getting along with each other.   They're both doing fine together, as can be seen.   A fresh coat of white emulsion is now on the kitchen walls.  A second coat will be needed, and I'll need to do the ceiling too.  The external doors and a few internal doors are sporting fresh paint as well.  All of them need doing though,  the problem of new white paint being that it makes every other surface look like it needs painting.  We're just doing everything white, doing the Blank Canvas thing.   I've begun compiling the contributions for Seaside Stories , which will be a free ebook showcasing original stories and poetry from Riverside Writers members, including me.  As a group, we published a paperback anthology in 2010 and while we had fun doing that we also found that distribution was an iss...