reading and writing | Wait until next year

July 28, 2016

Making up our lives – gardening, writing and “My Roots” by Monty Don

Recently I’ve heard a fair few people talk about that old curse May You Live In Interesting Times. And Interesting may be one of the more polite adjectives I might think of when thinking of 2016. And when you live in interesting times there is a great temptation to escape. In the past I might have escaped via the bottle, or a YouTube rabbit hole of nostalgic clips, or some daft game on a mobile phone. And I’m not sure any of those are entirely bad, at least in moderation. But in 2016 I have escaped by gardening. Except I don’t think it is just escape. I think it is more than that. Perhaps I should just let someone else say this more eloquently. Read the rest of this entry »

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June 7, 2016

Blurry self-portrait in a trendy craft beer bar

Trendy bar. Not sure on cost so drinking halves. That sort of place. Get my coins mixed up, so he has to return for the rest, then when that’s sorted the change is 6p and they are out of change and should I hang around for the 6p or should I go, what is the least awkward. Read the rest of this entry »

March 20, 2016

Any tense/eventual ruins

Image from page 84 of

A couple of quotations. Read the rest of this entry »

March 31, 2015

From The Top

People milling about in a bookshop

Just a quick heads-up that all-round great guy and fantastic writer Steve Harris has a new novel in the works that he is hoping to fund via Kickstarter. If you happen to have ten quid to spare you could do a lot worse with it than pledge it towards Steve’s project and in return you will receive a signed, printed copy of the novel itself, From The Top. And considering the campaign has already raised over £150 of the £500 target, there is a good chance you will be supporting a successful project too. Read the rest of this entry »

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