Laura Parker
@lauraparker.bsky.social
Countryside writer, sheep keeper, drystone wall lover. Features for Country Life mag on the fun and the fascinating. Lives in Cotswolds, from Scottish Borders. Late of ChipLitFest, which is now sadly an ex-LitFest.
Pinned
Laura Parker
@lauraparker.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Dummy eyes, faking death and and the whiff of rotting flesh: The great deceptions of Nature's most cunning creatures - Country Life
A whiff of rotting flesh, the flash of a painted eye, a dead-faint to the floor: Nature is full of cunning survival tricks, says Laura Parker, as she explores the greatest mimics and frauds you'll fin...
shorturl.at
Hi #naturewriting. Here's the kind of thing I write: fascinating facts and some fun along the way!
shorturl.at/EsNNJ
shorturl.at/EsNNJ
Reposted by Laura Parker
January 31, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Can we smell spring yet? My piece on the scents of the seasons in this week's Country Life. Sniff it out for all things petrichor, coumarin, indole and the therapeutic power of nature's aromas.
📷 Alamy; Getty; Future
📷 Alamy; Getty; Future
January 31, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Can we smell spring yet? My piece on the scents of the seasons in this week's Country Life. Sniff it out for all things petrichor, coumarin, indole and the therapeutic power of nature's aromas.
📷 Alamy; Getty; Future
📷 Alamy; Getty; Future
Sun's up.
Spot the sheep.
Spot the sheep.
January 28, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Sun's up.
Spot the sheep.
Spot the sheep.
You see the first snowdrops and aconites and wonder how you got through those first three weeks of January.
January 23, 2026 at 4:31 PM
You see the first snowdrops and aconites and wonder how you got through those first three weeks of January.
Oscar for Best Bird should go to Mabel the goshawk in H is for Hawk - a much more rounded performance than the Harris Hawk in Hamnet, I feel. (could say the same for some of the actors...)
January 22, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Oscar for Best Bird should go to Mabel the goshawk in H is for Hawk - a much more rounded performance than the Harris Hawk in Hamnet, I feel. (could say the same for some of the actors...)
Reposted by Laura Parker
And now the weather. The thaw arrives in Glasgow, 200 years ago (Scotsman, 21 Jan 1826).
January 21, 2026 at 7:26 AM
And now the weather. The thaw arrives in Glasgow, 200 years ago (Scotsman, 21 Jan 1826).
Reposted by Laura Parker
Half tree, half beast: the twin yews at St Edward's church, Stow on the Wold, flexing their feet in the rain.
January 19, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Half tree, half beast: the twin yews at St Edward's church, Stow on the Wold, flexing their feet in the rain.
Reposted by Laura Parker
Cow Tools www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Cow Tools www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Tune into a river with this lovely fluent piece by @derekniemann.bsky.social. Sound is so important in nature writing.
Delightful start to the day with a musical watery @theguardian.com country diary by @derekniemann.bsky.social.
#countrydiary #naturewriting
#countrydiary #naturewriting
Country diary: This is true water music – and the more you listen, the more you hear | Derek Niemann
Frome, Somerset: Get tuned in to the river’s sounds and you’re treated to a symphony of noise, from susurrating hisses to great belches
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Tune into a river with this lovely fluent piece by @derekniemann.bsky.social. Sound is so important in nature writing.
Reposted by Laura Parker
Interested in #Memoir? Then, join our upcoming #WomenWritersNet #AuthorInterview with @lilydunn.bsky.social when we'll chat with Lily about her recently published book on memoir writing, #IntoBeing. We're meeting on Thursday, 22 January, 6pm GMT here on @womenwritersnet.bsky.social. #Memoirists
January 17, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Interested in #Memoir? Then, join our upcoming #WomenWritersNet #AuthorInterview with @lilydunn.bsky.social when we'll chat with Lily about her recently published book on memoir writing, #IntoBeing. We're meeting on Thursday, 22 January, 6pm GMT here on @womenwritersnet.bsky.social. #Memoirists
Reposted by Laura Parker
A lovely blog. When a reader of #thecuckooslea is inspired to explore their own local place-names … well, there’s nothing better to me. ☺️😄. #naturewriting
One of my new years resolutions was to work on the blog that I set up over the festive period.
So here you go; my very first blog post! And hopefully the first of many.
Inspired by @drmjwarren.bsky.social's brilliant book; The Cuckoo's Lea.
www.thisfamiliarspotofground.co.uk/bird-place-n...
So here you go; my very first blog post! And hopefully the first of many.
Inspired by @drmjwarren.bsky.social's brilliant book; The Cuckoo's Lea.
www.thisfamiliarspotofground.co.uk/bird-place-n...
Bird Place Names of East Yorkshire
I have recently read - and then subsequently listened - to Michael Warren’s book; The Cuckoo’s Lea which the blurb describes as a captiva...
www.thisfamiliarspotofground.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 3:33 PM
A lovely blog. When a reader of #thecuckooslea is inspired to explore their own local place-names … well, there’s nothing better to me. ☺️😄. #naturewriting
Want a better crop from your apple 🍏trees this year? Some tips here👇(and a lot of fun stuff about wassailing)
tinyurl.com/bdd5v2ds
tinyurl.com/bdd5v2ds
Making sense of the cider soaked wassail
The cacophonous, cider-slinging midwinter tradition of wassailing is an ancient one that continues to this day. Laura Parker offers a toast to harvests anew
tinyurl.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Want a better crop from your apple 🍏trees this year? Some tips here👇(and a lot of fun stuff about wassailing)
tinyurl.com/bdd5v2ds
tinyurl.com/bdd5v2ds
Waes hael! Its wassailing season. Grab some cider and toast and enjoy a noisy apple tree ceremony. Fun to find out about a fine tradition for Country Life mag.
January 8, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Waes hael! Its wassailing season. Grab some cider and toast and enjoy a noisy apple tree ceremony. Fun to find out about a fine tradition for Country Life mag.
Sun's up on the last day of the year.
December 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Sun's up on the last day of the year.
Giving everyone this book this year. 🟦🔷️🔹️💙
December 24, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Giving everyone this book this year. 🟦🔷️🔹️💙
This sounds fun for those ekphrasically-inclined.
So I had this mad idea and now it’s a real life thing. So proud and excited. If you like art and you write poetry or short stories or non-fiction, please take a look and share. Thank you so much
ifwisheswerehorses.org
ifwisheswerehorses.org
If Wishes Were Horses – Featured Artwork & Call for Responses
View the featured artwork and send your short stories, poems, and other responses for the next season of If Wishes Were Horses.
ifwisheswerehorses.org
December 18, 2025 at 8:53 PM
This sounds fun for those ekphrasically-inclined.
“I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am,” Jane Austen's words resonating today.
December 16, 2025 at 4:36 PM
“I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am,” Jane Austen's words resonating today.
The funniest Advent thread to follow from @lissakevans.bsky.social Particular love for nos 1-3 and 7 and 8.
Well, I seem to be back on Blue Sky, so straight into a catch up of my #LIteraryAdventCalendar2025.
Day 1, and it's one of my all-time favourites: journalist Lynn Barber attempts to interview Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, (ultra posh, with a scandalous past) about her book on dinner parties.
Day 1, and it's one of my all-time favourites: journalist Lynn Barber attempts to interview Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, (ultra posh, with a scandalous past) about her book on dinner parties.
December 16, 2025 at 12:11 PM
The funniest Advent thread to follow from @lissakevans.bsky.social Particular love for nos 1-3 and 7 and 8.
And I chose the gem that is Clear, by Carys Davies. A great range in this books of the year selection from @writersreview.bsky.social
Great recommendations here! In the first of three roundups, our contributors choose their Books of the Year (not necessarily published in 2025). What's your best read this year? Tell us in the comments! reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com/2025/12/book... #greatreads #BooksoftheYear #bestreads #whatsyours
BOOKS OF THE YEAR Part 1 - chosen by our contributors
reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
And I chose the gem that is Clear, by Carys Davies. A great range in this books of the year selection from @writersreview.bsky.social
Reposted by Laura Parker
Who went bra shopping with John Berger? Whose childhood routine involved visits from the snake charmer? Who disliked the “big, unfriendly giant” Roald Dahl? Was it the same person Dahl told to try children’s fiction because “the little bastards’d swallow it?”
I read some memoirs by Booker winners:
I read some memoirs by Booker winners:
Ten of the best memoirs by Booker Prize-winning authors | The Booker Prizes
Discover the inner workings of some of the greatest Booker Prize-nominated authors with our list of captivating memoirs
thebookerprizes.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Who went bra shopping with John Berger? Whose childhood routine involved visits from the snake charmer? Who disliked the “big, unfriendly giant” Roald Dahl? Was it the same person Dahl told to try children’s fiction because “the little bastards’d swallow it?”
I read some memoirs by Booker winners:
I read some memoirs by Booker winners:
My choice in the @writersreview.bsky.social round-up was Carys Davies's 'Clear'. Slender, elemental, profound. Such a joy to discover.
Great recommendations here! In the first of three roundups, our contributors choose their Books of the Year (not necessarily published in 2025). What's your best read this year? Tell us in the comments! reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com/2025/12/book... #greatreads #BooksoftheYear #bestreads #whatsyours
BOOKS OF THE YEAR Part 1 - chosen by our contributors
reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com
December 15, 2025 at 6:12 PM
My choice in the @writersreview.bsky.social round-up was Carys Davies's 'Clear'. Slender, elemental, profound. Such a joy to discover.
Reposted by Laura Parker
Something new. A #postcardadventcalendar. Stick with me for some nicely odd vintage images for the month, and you may end up with an expression like our friend in a deckchair in front of painted sea. Hold tight. The thread starts today:
1. Woman in a deckchair.
Cheers, T.
1. Woman in a deckchair.
Cheers, T.
December 1, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Something new. A #postcardadventcalendar. Stick with me for some nicely odd vintage images for the month, and you may end up with an expression like our friend in a deckchair in front of painted sea. Hold tight. The thread starts today:
1. Woman in a deckchair.
Cheers, T.
1. Woman in a deckchair.
Cheers, T.
Freelance life 👇
December 12, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Freelance life 👇
Reposted by Laura Parker
Good morning, please can you share this petition by @peatfree.bsky.social to end peat sales - all previous petitions were for the Conservative Government, and we're now close to making this law with Labour so peat habitat can never be used again actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...
Sign the petition to end peat sales!
No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.
actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Good morning, please can you share this petition by @peatfree.bsky.social to end peat sales - all previous petitions were for the Conservative Government, and we're now close to making this law with Labour so peat habitat can never be used again actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...