Kids and Worry: When it’s more than just butterflies
Sometimes feeling a little anxious is okay! It's just a part of growing up. But for some kids, those worries can grow like giant balloons, making it hard to do everyday things like school, playing, or even eating and sleeping.Spotting these ‘big worries’ can be...
The wreck of the green house
The autumn before last I finally found the time to buy a small greenhouse. It was an optimistic first step towards bringing seedlings on and then growing some of my own food. Greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes, and all sorts of prices from pretty expensive to...
Michael Morpurgo urges the government to back early years reading
Well-known authors like Sir Michael Morpurgo and Malorie Blackman are asking the government to help more young children learn to love reading. A group of authors wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, urging them to invest in early...
Short story – Mouse Attack!
I woke to the sound of early birds and the thin light of a November dawn and wandered half asleep and barefoot into the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil. That is when the drama began. I have rather superior cat, or at least she thinks she is superior; she wouldn't...
Meet Tarka, the inspiration for Sir Sebastian in The Santa Ban
Here's Tarka in a pastel portrait of a much-loved pet. She is the inspiration for the character Sir Sebastian in my children’s book The Santa Ban. Tarka is supposed to be a British Shorthair cat but, as you can probably see from the picture, nobody told her...
Spooky times
It’s autumn; summer holidays are a distant memory and it won’t be long until Halloween and after that Bonfire Night. I have to say I prefer Halloween, I’m not keen on the noisy fireworks, they scare my cat – she hates all loud noises. Halloween, on the other hand, is...
We’re being invaded
We’re being invaded by peacocks! Well okay, maybe not invaded exactly as there are only two of them, but it feels a bit like it because they are really quite big when you get close to them. I’ve no idea where they’ve come from but I know what they’re doing – they are...
Heartless Cabbage
I’m sad to tell you that a disaster has occurred with the cabbages I planted out in the veg patch. Despite my best efforts to keep them pest free, (slug pellets etc) as you can see from this picture they have been decimated. The problem seems to be that very tiny...