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A very strange but good day

Well, the good news was that I got out for a walk along Harbourside. As you’ll see from this picture, it wasn’t necessarily an ideal day for a walk, and it was definitely damp, but I wasn’t freezing cold or being blown about and the wildlife was as incredible as the light. Eerie didn’t begin to describe it because it was so still that the sea was totally flat and the reflections were gorgeous. That's Brownsea Island in the distance and a stripy sea.




Tonight, the first episode of the BBC’s Winterwatch series comes from RSPB Arne which is just on the other side of the Bay. We waved to them just in case they could see us and then went back to enjoying the wildlife without any commentary. The starlings swooped and flew in a way that’d leave the Red Arrows green with envy (or maybe stripy because they're pretty awesome too?) Then they came swooping down ever so casually to surround a van where people were eating their sandwiches. Some perched on the wing mirrors and they chirped endearingly and… yes, you guessed it. They were fed by the humans they’ve trained and tamed. I do like starlings, but then again I liked the little robins and the hen and cock blackbird and the mating mallard ducks who will never, ever get a role in a romantic novel too. A male mallard who hasn’t drowned his often reluctant partner counts as a romantic hero, but the duck has the last laugh because she can expel the sperm if she doesn’t fancy him!


This is an egret. They're like small herons and this one is a very confident bird who often looks extremely fed up. Not today though. Today there was grey mullet around and he was filling his beak!






The Brent geese flew in convoys, which seems a better name than a skein which is the official name for geese in flight. A gulp of cormorant found a shoal of grey mullet. And I sat and watched until the cold and wet forced me to head for home and thought, yet again, how lucky I am to know this beautiful place that was made from rubbish to reclaim the land. Once, it was an industrial site. Now it’s a site of special scientific interest. This gives me so much hope for the world, as does the people and dogs I meet there on our walks. So many breeds and some of them so BIG. Fluffy too, and I do wonder why a white dog seems so determined to be a dark brown muddy and wet dog by the end of their walks. Are they showing who’s in charge? Or do they have nasty senses of humour? All I know is they’re much loved and overwhelmingly well trained and I enjoy meeting them.


Other than this, it’s been grey and cold again so I’ve been indoors and (and I wouldn’t tell just anyone) I’m paying the price for my walk this afternoon in terms of pain. But the next Esther and the Professor is coming well, and little by little spring is coming.


Till then I can enjoy reading and writing, and so we’ll end with the books that will be on special offer this week at 99p in the UK and 99c in the US. I’m trying something different this time and offering the first 6 books in the Windy bay series. This is set on the Studland side of Poole Bay which is unbelievably different from the Poole side. It’s countryside, with the hills and the sea and a glorious sense that time goes more slowly and they’ve looked at the twentieth century and made a careful selection of the bits they like best.


Windy Bay is an old-fashioned bit of this incredible place. If you cross on the chain ferry, drive through Studland and head towards Corfe Castle then you can take a right turn into my imagination and find it. Even if you can’t manage that (and I can only do it in front of my computer, I’m sad to say) you can find beautiful villages, great pubs, lovely little shops and lots of very nice people.


So, there’s the scene set. The six books on special offer are A fresh start, Starting Over, Second Chances, Endings and Beginnings, Building a Future and A Healing Time. Major characters in each book become minor characters in the next ones so you can follow them through their relationships and they’re unashamedly cosy and reflect my belief that far more people are good than bad.


Here’s hoping you find that this week, and see you on Sunday when I’ll show you my latest embroidery. Amy’s been a bad influence on me because I’m really getting into crewel work…

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