We wandered down to Preston Park for the fireworks on Saturday. And that's after seeing Daniel Kitson's Almost A Ghost Story at the Dome on Friday. We're doing the season properly for once!
November 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
We wandered down to Preston Park for the fireworks on Saturday. And that's after seeing Daniel Kitson's Almost A Ghost Story at the Dome on Friday. We're doing the season properly for once!
Very damp run today, but I was pleased to hang around briefly with this leaf.
October 29, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Very damp run today, but I was pleased to hang around briefly with this leaf.
After an early start and some writing I got out for a run. All the seasons at war today.
October 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
After an early start and some writing I got out for a run. All the seasons at war today.
Voted in the #GreenParty leadership election. Important one this given the lack of any serious pushback on the left to whatever it is the Labour Party think they're doing.
ballot.greenparty.org.uk
#Greens #BackZack
ballot.greenparty.org.uk
#Greens #BackZack
August 1, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Voted in the #GreenParty leadership election. Important one this given the lack of any serious pushback on the left to whatever it is the Labour Party think they're doing.
ballot.greenparty.org.uk
#Greens #BackZack
ballot.greenparty.org.uk
#Greens #BackZack
Customers outside a fishmongers on Paxos this morning
July 12, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Customers outside a fishmongers on Paxos this morning
In Greece for a couple of weeks. Here is some blood on the page. Sorry, mosquito ... it was an impulse kill. Book is Playing with Reality by Kelly Clancy and it is really good.
July 7, 2025 at 9:33 PM
In Greece for a couple of weeks. Here is some blood on the page. Sorry, mosquito ... it was an impulse kill. Book is Playing with Reality by Kelly Clancy and it is really good.
June 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Nice retro SF haul today.
May 10, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Nice retro SF haul today.
Skipped samey pictures of planting out perpetual spinach, chard, and lettuce. Peas are coming up. Earthing up potatoes. Apple tree is in blossom. We generally lose the fruit to cheeky squirrels. So it goes.
WIP continues. One week in three on short fiction.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
WIP continues. One week in three on short fiction.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
April 12, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Skipped samey pictures of planting out perpetual spinach, chard, and lettuce. Peas are coming up. Earthing up potatoes. Apple tree is in blossom. We generally lose the fruit to cheeky squirrels. So it goes.
WIP continues. One week in three on short fiction.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
WIP continues. One week in three on short fiction.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
I feel your pain. This strategy (netting over our large 'litter tray') did not work!
April 2, 2025 at 7:56 AM
I feel your pain. This strategy (netting over our large 'litter tray') did not work!
Sowed climbing beans and dwarf French beans. Also, it turns out a netting experiment on the lower bed did not in fact deter my cats. I'll omit the 'after' pic.
Still writing. Still wrestling with thoughts of a pivot to short stories. Sticking with the draft.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Still writing. Still wrestling with thoughts of a pivot to short stories. Sticking with the draft.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 31, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Sowed climbing beans and dwarf French beans. Also, it turns out a netting experiment on the lower bed did not in fact deter my cats. I'll omit the 'after' pic.
Still writing. Still wrestling with thoughts of a pivot to short stories. Sticking with the draft.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Still writing. Still wrestling with thoughts of a pivot to short stories. Sticking with the draft.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Cat, books, beer, and the Freak Zone Playlist - not a bad way to end Saturday night.
March 29, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Cat, books, beer, and the Freak Zone Playlist - not a bad way to end Saturday night.
Sowed more tomato under cover. And perpetual spinach in an outside bed. It's good to be planting out at last.
The cats have been loving the huge well-raked litter trays I have set up for them.
I am writing long hand at night, a scant few hundred words a day.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
The cats have been loving the huge well-raked litter trays I have set up for them.
I am writing long hand at night, a scant few hundred words a day.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 25, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Sowed more tomato under cover. And perpetual spinach in an outside bed. It's good to be planting out at last.
The cats have been loving the huge well-raked litter trays I have set up for them.
I am writing long hand at night, a scant few hundred words a day.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
The cats have been loving the huge well-raked litter trays I have set up for them.
I am writing long hand at night, a scant few hundred words a day.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
784 words yesterday. But built a spreadsheet which tells me how far behind I'm falling. I'm incurring editing debt too. Everything I inscribe tortures me with thoughts of better scenes I should have written.
Decided to give peas a chance. I don't like peas.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Decided to give peas a chance. I don't like peas.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 19, 2025 at 5:12 PM
784 words yesterday. But built a spreadsheet which tells me how far behind I'm falling. I'm incurring editing debt too. Everything I inscribe tortures me with thoughts of better scenes I should have written.
Decided to give peas a chance. I don't like peas.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Decided to give peas a chance. I don't like peas.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Just as every prisoner must do their own time, every writer has to focus on their own project. But occasionally I regret not opting for short stories this summer. More chance of some much needed validation. Oh well. Too late.
Potatoes. In containers and out.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Potatoes. In containers and out.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Just as every prisoner must do their own time, every writer has to focus on their own project. But occasionally I regret not opting for short stories this summer. More chance of some much needed validation. Oh well. Too late.
Potatoes. In containers and out.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Potatoes. In containers and out.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
The theme of my Bronze Age set story is becoming dangerously contemporary. Which is inevitable, I suppose, and a great excuse for yet more research.
The chard alone is thriving right now. But then temps are bumping along in single figures centigrade.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
The chard alone is thriving right now. But then temps are bumping along in single figures centigrade.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
The theme of my Bronze Age set story is becoming dangerously contemporary. Which is inevitable, I suppose, and a great excuse for yet more research.
The chard alone is thriving right now. But then temps are bumping along in single figures centigrade.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
The chard alone is thriving right now. But then temps are bumping along in single figures centigrade.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Hard to get over stage fright in the opening. The temptation is to rewrite it over and over again... But I'm 1500 words in and less shy now.
Planted leeks and stared impotently at last week's trays, wondering if the old potting compost was a fatal mistake.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Planted leeks and stared impotently at last week's trays, wondering if the old potting compost was a fatal mistake.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
March 11, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Hard to get over stage fright in the opening. The temptation is to rewrite it over and over again... But I'm 1500 words in and less shy now.
Planted leeks and stared impotently at last week's trays, wondering if the old potting compost was a fatal mistake.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
Planted leeks and stared impotently at last week's trays, wondering if the old potting compost was a fatal mistake.
#bookandgardensummer #writingcommunity
I read some of The Phaedo and a little of Greek and Roman Political Ideas by Melissa Lane. I rolled around some in Rabih Alameddine's Divas of Verse - www.divasofverse.com. I ignored geese at Sheffield Park and tolerated cats. I bought seeds. Tomorrow, I start writing again.
#bookandgardensummer
#bookandgardensummer
March 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I read some of The Phaedo and a little of Greek and Roman Political Ideas by Melissa Lane. I rolled around some in Rabih Alameddine's Divas of Verse - www.divasofverse.com. I ignored geese at Sheffield Park and tolerated cats. I bought seeds. Tomorrow, I start writing again.
#bookandgardensummer
#bookandgardensummer
A very satisfying revelation about my finale today -- that the boss fight will play out like a Socratic dialogue with poison and swords on hand to mark the score.
Some bed prep, and sprinkling around wild flower/grass seed like a delightful fairy.
#bookandgardensummer
Some bed prep, and sprinkling around wild flower/grass seed like a delightful fairy.
#bookandgardensummer
March 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A very satisfying revelation about my finale today -- that the boss fight will play out like a Socratic dialogue with poison and swords on hand to mark the score.
Some bed prep, and sprinkling around wild flower/grass seed like a delightful fairy.
#bookandgardensummer
Some bed prep, and sprinkling around wild flower/grass seed like a delightful fairy.
#bookandgardensummer
Story planning ongoing, but I won't be finished by next week. Need to decide whether to hold back or wing a draft.
Meanwhile prepared the top bed for beans. Adding lots of compost and erecting wigwams. Made a half decent loaf of bread.
#bookandgardensummer
Meanwhile prepared the top bed for beans. Adding lots of compost and erecting wigwams. Made a half decent loaf of bread.
#bookandgardensummer
March 6, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Story planning ongoing, but I won't be finished by next week. Need to decide whether to hold back or wing a draft.
Meanwhile prepared the top bed for beans. Adding lots of compost and erecting wigwams. Made a half decent loaf of bread.
#bookandgardensummer
Meanwhile prepared the top bed for beans. Adding lots of compost and erecting wigwams. Made a half decent loaf of bread.
#bookandgardensummer
Worked on the 'all is lost' sequence. It has to be more than despair. There needs to be an awakening.
Which, reading the news, feels apt today.
Sowed tomatoes in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, the rhubarb is showing every sign that it will go crazy again this year. Also apt.
#bookandgardensummer
Which, reading the news, feels apt today.
Sowed tomatoes in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, the rhubarb is showing every sign that it will go crazy again this year. Also apt.
#bookandgardensummer
March 5, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Worked on the 'all is lost' sequence. It has to be more than despair. There needs to be an awakening.
Which, reading the news, feels apt today.
Sowed tomatoes in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, the rhubarb is showing every sign that it will go crazy again this year. Also apt.
#bookandgardensummer
Which, reading the news, feels apt today.
Sowed tomatoes in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, the rhubarb is showing every sign that it will go crazy again this year. Also apt.
#bookandgardensummer
Worked on the story's finale, raising the stakes and building in surprising inevitabilities. Not there yet but it's better.
Meanwhile, planted perpetual spinach. Still frosty here in the morning, so not planting out yet, but preparing the beds with kitchen compost. #bookandgardensummer
Meanwhile, planted perpetual spinach. Still frosty here in the morning, so not planting out yet, but preparing the beds with kitchen compost. #bookandgardensummer
March 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Worked on the story's finale, raising the stakes and building in surprising inevitabilities. Not there yet but it's better.
Meanwhile, planted perpetual spinach. Still frosty here in the morning, so not planting out yet, but preparing the beds with kitchen compost. #bookandgardensummer
Meanwhile, planted perpetual spinach. Still frosty here in the morning, so not planting out yet, but preparing the beds with kitchen compost. #bookandgardensummer
With spring almost here, I'm going to devote more effort to my writing project and my veg garden. Both often neglected in the past.
Refining my outline this week before beginning another draft.
In the garden, I straightened my tumbledown greenhouse tent and planted my first seeds. Up first: chard.
Refining my outline this week before beginning another draft.
In the garden, I straightened my tumbledown greenhouse tent and planted my first seeds. Up first: chard.
March 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM
With spring almost here, I'm going to devote more effort to my writing project and my veg garden. Both often neglected in the past.
Refining my outline this week before beginning another draft.
In the garden, I straightened my tumbledown greenhouse tent and planted my first seeds. Up first: chard.
Refining my outline this week before beginning another draft.
In the garden, I straightened my tumbledown greenhouse tent and planted my first seeds. Up first: chard.
Home made pizza disaster. Send food!
February 14, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Home made pizza disaster. Send food!
Our garden is depressing right now... but this cheered me up. Sometimes, a scrap of colour goes a long way.
February 1, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Our garden is depressing right now... but this cheered me up. Sometimes, a scrap of colour goes a long way.