A beautiful day…

I love these days that feel like summer, as long as you have a fleece on and there’s a feeling that nature is determined not to let go of summer quite yet, so this is being typed on Monday afternoon after a two-hour walk this morning, where I got further than I’ve managed to for ages. It hurts now, but I’d have done it anyway because it’s so worth it

Today’s favourite birdies were the starlings who watch out for us and arrive in a murmuring and settle down with us. The one with the deformed foot was sitting happily on my trainer and chirping up at me. Oh, how I wish I could speak starling because they seem to have a lot to say. Then, down on the Quay, where holiday makers were queuing to get across to Brownsea Island, there was a beautiful little show off of a pied wagtail. He was happy to pose for pictures, so we tried to reward him with bird food, but no, thank you very much. He’s used to better stuff, so he went and posed for someone else and got bits of croissant instead!

The other picture is of the view, because I want to share it and remember it on grey, cold days, although they’re beautiful too.

So what else is there to say? The cat of the harbour has had the stitches out of his nose, and he and the big herring gull with the wonky foot now studiously ignore each other. (He needed to go to the vet, too!) My cookbook cull is just starting. I’m keeping the ones that have more than five recopies I like and typing up the rest and noting where they came from and passing the books on. I became a sanctuary for cookbooks a few years back, and they’re lovely, but I need the space, so this seems the best compromise.

Thank heavens for Kindles for most things, which leads me on to this week’s special offers.

There’s Echoes from the Amy Hammond series, which is set in lockdown and is my personal favourite because of a certain happy ending. There’s also the Scent of Lavender, which is an anthology of the first 3 Lavender House series and four books from my cosy paranormal Christians Cross series, which are Time’s Veil. Nature Strikes Back, No Greater Love and Mistletoe and Mischief. My favourite is Time’s Veil, which is where a Civil War reconstruction meets a timeslip.

So all that’s left to say is I hope you have a good week till we meet again on Sunday.