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.
Today I learned that one reason we like the smell of old books is that they give off the scent of vanillin, which is found in mother's milk.
November 11, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Today I learned that one reason we like the smell of old books is that they give off the scent of vanillin, which is found in mother's milk.
One of my lambs has found some admirers 💘
November 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
One of my lambs has found some admirers 💘
Prickles, thorns and spines - what's the difference? I tirelessly investigate for this week's Country Life.
📷 Alamy, Bridgewater images
📷 Alamy, Bridgewater images
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Prickles, thorns and spines - what's the difference? I tirelessly investigate for this week's Country Life.
📷 Alamy, Bridgewater images
📷 Alamy, Bridgewater images
Go and look at some masterful paintings of people looking. Joseph Wright of Derby at the National Gallery.
November 4, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Go and look at some masterful paintings of people looking. Joseph Wright of Derby at the National Gallery.
"So these stones have dismissed/All but all of evolution, unmoved by it." Reached for some MacDiarmid on meeting these sarsens at West Kennet longbarrow yesterday.
November 3, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"So these stones have dismissed/All but all of evolution, unmoved by it." Reached for some MacDiarmid on meeting these sarsens at West Kennet longbarrow yesterday.
Stonehenge 1 Nov. Sure the middle sarsen is trying a wee dance move.
November 1, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Stonehenge 1 Nov. Sure the middle sarsen is trying a wee dance move.
Only four more days to catch Andy Goldsworthy 50 Years at Nat Gallery of Scotland and it's selling out fast. Go if you can; you won't forget it.
October 29, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Only four more days to catch Andy Goldsworthy 50 Years at Nat Gallery of Scotland and it's selling out fast. Go if you can; you won't forget it.
Agree: they really thrive there.
October 28, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Agree: they really thrive there.
Beeches are just the best in autumn.
October 28, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Beeches are just the best in autumn.
October: cider-makimg. From Claire Leighton's The Farmer's Year, 1933.
October 16, 2025 at 9:18 PM
October: cider-makimg. From Claire Leighton's The Farmer's Year, 1933.
"Not actually very funny". An original way of reviewing a satire show. But maybe not very helpful for ticket sales. Radcliffe Square, Oxford. @oxfordclarion.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
"Not actually very funny". An original way of reviewing a satire show. But maybe not very helpful for ticket sales. Radcliffe Square, Oxford. @oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Why go to a cosy city gallery to see Andy Goldsworthy's work when you can hike for 1hr up a steep path to a remote spot in the Howgills? Corner Cairn Fold, with its cutaway cone, was built on the site of an old sheep washfold in the wake of the devastating 2001 foot+mouth epidemic.
October 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Why go to a cosy city gallery to see Andy Goldsworthy's work when you can hike for 1hr up a steep path to a remote spot in the Howgills? Corner Cairn Fold, with its cutaway cone, was built on the site of an old sheep washfold in the wake of the devastating 2001 foot+mouth epidemic.
Yup to a shepherd's hut.
September 30, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Yup to a shepherd's hut.
Herdwick sheep sure know how to pose.
September 29, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Herdwick sheep sure know how to pose.
September: Apple-picking. From Claire Leighton's The Farmer's Year.
September 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
September: Apple-picking. From Claire Leighton's The Farmer's Year.
James Rebanks enjoyably animated with engaged farming audience at FarmEd last night, on how it is an exciting time for soil-based livestock farmers and, whisper it, how he's all about cattle, not sheep these days. Should rename himself herdycowman.
September 20, 2025 at 10:06 AM
James Rebanks enjoyably animated with engaged farming audience at FarmEd last night, on how it is an exciting time for soil-based livestock farmers and, whisper it, how he's all about cattle, not sheep these days. Should rename himself herdycowman.
PSA: sloes are not just for Xmas liqueurs - they can make beautiful jelly.
September 16, 2025 at 9:06 PM
PSA: sloes are not just for Xmas liqueurs - they can make beautiful jelly.
They don't fall far from the tree, do they?
September 16, 2025 at 8:22 AM
They don't fall far from the tree, do they?
My farm neighbour's wild bird cover crop - brightening a Monday with Van Gogh vibes.
September 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
My farm neighbour's wild bird cover crop - brightening a Monday with Van Gogh vibes.
Spot the...an occasional series for friends I thought I'd try sharing here. Blurred distant pics of wildlife spotted on morning walks.You might have to zoom in like in pic 2. So, spot the fox.
September 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Spot the...an occasional series for friends I thought I'd try sharing here. Blurred distant pics of wildlife spotted on morning walks.You might have to zoom in like in pic 2. So, spot the fox.
Caithness colours, ready to be a tartan.
September 5, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Caithness colours, ready to be a tartan.
Beautiful colours. I raise you...
September 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Beautiful colours. I raise you...
They're thinking about it...what staggers me is that this lot, in Caithness, will have so much further to go than other UK summer visitors.
September 4, 2025 at 8:14 PM
They're thinking about it...what staggers me is that this lot, in Caithness, will have so much further to go than other UK summer visitors.