Why are penguins such a popular bird? I believe we associate them with being relaxed, happy, living in the present, taking life as it comes. Of course life isn’t really like that for penguins in the wild, but it certainly is for the King and Humboldt penguins living on Penguin Shore at Birdland, Bourton-on-the-Water inContinue reading “January 2026 – Happy Penguins”
Category Archives: love
Remembering a Visit to Dennis Severs’ House, Spitalfields, London
Christmas Wreath Making Workshop at Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire: reblog
The Best Books About the Paranormal or the Supernatural With a Creeping Sense of Unease
Today I share my entry on the book recommendation website shepherd.com. With Shepherd, you can explore, discover, read. It’s a brilliant idea for readers to find books based on themes, tone, plot elements and many other variables more subtle than broad genre categories. The best books about the paranormal or the supernatural with a creepingContinue reading “The Best Books About the Paranormal or the Supernatural With a Creeping Sense of Unease”
Book Reviews: The Newland Trilogy by E.M. Carter: YA Dystopian Trilogy
Today, I’m pleased to share my reviews of two outstanding young adult novels, books 1 and 2 of The Newland Trilogy published by Resolute Books in 2023 and 2024. I received ARCs of these two excellent novels, for my honest review. Here are my reviews of these first two books in the trilogy. Repression GroundContinue reading “Book Reviews: The Newland Trilogy by E.M. Carter: YA Dystopian Trilogy”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Five: What further stories can you tell about your time at the BBC?
Working at 1 Portland Place opposite Broadcasting House (BH) at London W1A, we often saw well-known presenters and personalities. We’d be queueing up for lunch in the canteen at the top of BH and I’d see a familiar media figure in the queue just ahead of me, and think, ‘He looks much smaller and moreContinue reading “QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Five: What further stories can you tell about your time at the BBC?”
Book Review: Small Wars in Madrid by Anthony Ferner
Today, I ‘m pleased to share my review of an outstanding new novel, published by Fairlight Moderns on 14 March 2024. ‘Small Wars in Madrid’ by Anthony Ferner is a novel that evoked a number of emotions in me as a reader; at different times, I felt shocked, moved, and a strong sense of illumination.Continue reading “Book Review: Small Wars in Madrid by Anthony Ferner”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Three: What Books Did You Love Reading as a Child? What Made You Want to be a Writer? What Authors Have Influenced You?
Which books did you love reading as a child? My earliest choices included the stories of Mary Plain by Gwynedd Rae – a little bear born in the Bearpit at Berne in Switzerland who is found and adopted by a man she calls The Owl Man because of the glasses he wears, and she is taken byContinue reading “QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Three: What Books Did You Love Reading as a Child? What Made You Want to be a Writer? What Authors Have Influenced You?”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Two: What is Your Earliest Memory? – The Tale of a Much Loved Family Pet
What is your earliest memory? A car journey when I was four years old. I grew up in Orpington, Kent, and our family were driving back home after a visit to pedigree poodle breeding kennels near Tunbridge Wells. We had bought a miniature poodle pup. We called him “Kimmings”. He was officially a silver poodle, but when veryContinue reading “QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part Two: What is Your Earliest Memory? – The Tale of a Much Loved Family Pet”
A Visit to the Newly-Reopened Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick December 2023
Lord Leycester Hospital is one of the town of Warwick‘s great medieval treasures, formerly a home for the Brethren (injured military heroes of Queen Elizabeth I‘s wars), and the pride and joy of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester, from 1571, the time when he first took it over to please Elizabeth. It is nowContinue reading “A Visit to the Newly-Reopened Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick December 2023”
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