Tag Archives: reading

Through train windows

I’ve landed in a heap at this weekend, and I’ve so much to tell you. I’ve been sitting here, Wren at my side, trying to craft it all into some sort of narrative but February has passed in a blur … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Through train windows

Book extract

Counting down… it’s four weeks to the publication of The Spellbinding Secret of Avery Buckle. The clip above is from my publisher’s YouTube channel – me reading an extract from the book to whet your whistles. Isn’t it funny seeing … Continue reading

Posted in Making changes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Book extract

Chips!

Our week of relaxing day trips was slightly scuppered by a phone call from the plumber to say he could start work on our bathroom. He’d first phoned us back in March to say he’d penciled us in for May, … Continue reading

Posted in Family and friends, Making changes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Chips!

Rain

This is a photo from half term. I sat on the beach in the sunshine while the children pottered about in the shallows. No one needed a wee or a snack, no one was having a meltdown, no one was … Continue reading

Posted in Family and friends, Growing things | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rain

Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2019

We are very lucky to live within striking distance of the Bath Children’s Literature Festival here, which is the biggest of its kind in Europe. Little Owl and I headed up there on the train on Saturday. We hit the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2019

Picture Books 2018

I woke up one morning over the weekend and peered out bleary-eyed from under my duvet. The room was dark and nothing stirred, but something had definitely woken me up. As my eyes adjusted to the dimness they came to rest … Continue reading

Posted in Family and friends, Illustration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sky stories

The new attic room has come into its own with this prolonged spell of hot weather. In the evening Finch and I pick our way over Big Dreamer’s tools (he is building a wardrobe) to the futon for bedtime stories. … Continue reading

Posted in Family and friends, Illustration, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

July

In my seasonal reading, Stephen Moss, in Wild Hares and Hummingbirds, describes July as a month of stasis, “a chance to reflect on the rollercoaster ride of spring.” Now chicks have been raised, parent birds are moulting ready for the colder … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Illustration, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on July

May

I’ve been delving into my seasonal reading again this month. Steve Roud’s chapter on May in his book The English Year, is a riot of flower strewn celebrations. Roud says that traditionally May would have rivalled Christmas in the scale … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Illustration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on May

Fireside Tales of the Traveller Children

Getting up in the night to feed Finch has had a number of unexpected benefits. I heard the dawn chorus one morning, bright and unearthly coming through the gently diminishing gloom and seeping between the layers of my sleep-thickened brain. … Continue reading

Posted in Illustration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment