I was in my office (upstairs, computer, back door) when Sarah, the twelve-year-old from the Holmeshallow Farm family came pelting up the driveway. Unusual. She used to be running and skidding everywhere but got in with a new crowd at school, I’m told, and now it’s all about ‘the look’ and never being enthusiastic. I …
My cottage is, of course, more than it appears. What’s the point of power if you can’t have a little fun with it from time to time? To start with, it’s not a cottage, it’s a converted barn. One of those huge old stone ones with walls two feet thick. If you come by way …
When you’re driving out of Market Dingley, towards Wiggleswick, and take the next left after the Horseman’s Head, you’ll find yourself on a winding country lane. Just the type you see in any crime show set in rural England, just to remind you that, yes, you are in rural England, not downtown Los Angeles, or …
I'm lucky the farmers' market rotates through the towns and villages near me, so when I find myself suddenly, inexplicably out of flour - I'm sure there'd been another sack last time I checked the store room - I can make the trip, rather than try some unappetising alternatives for the next week. I'm also …
I hadn't planned on going anywhere today. And then I went out to the vegetable patch to pull some carrots for dinner. Gone, every last one, along with my sugar peas, normal peas and half the tomatoes. I have my suspicions on the culprit (yes, singular), I've seen evidence of a pixie in the area …
I was off to the castle again today, a little follow-up tidying and a chat with the ghost. There had been strange lights in the sky last night, and largely from over that way, and I thought it prudent to investigate. I made my way through the forest. The creatures were twitchy, staying out of …
The cold snap was still in force when I woke, no surprises there. If a chilly bit of weather is going to go to the sort of effort needed to cool down a south-eastern swamp, it was going to hang about for a bit. I decided to do some long-planned, long put-off work on the …
I popped into town today. I needed jars and sealing wax for my upcoming jam-making marathon, and the potter had sent word he'd completed firing on a batch exactly to my specifications. I walked up the hill from the little dock I preferred to use when using the boat and made my way down the …
I woke to unexpected cold, not cold by some people’s standards I’m sure, but cold enough for here that I lit the fire early and added a couple of extra layers to the day’s clothing. It’s strange to walk out and find the air in a swamp fresh and nippy but it did make my …
Isn’t it annoying when a perfectly normal day is completely thrown out by a solar eclipse. And let me point out, this was not one where the sun and the moon were meeting. I have no idea who or what decided to wander across the sun’s path but it was deeply irritating. All the swamp …
