Down by the sea…

It was a beautiful hot, sunny day as we walked down by the Harbour and then sat and watched the little boats and the paddle boarders out on the water. The waves sloshed gently on the sandy and pebbled shore. Overhead, the seagulls flew. Over at the harbour, we could see the Border Force boat as well as the ferry taking people on holiday. Smaller ferry boats took people on adventures to Brownsea Island.

By our feet there were hopeful sparrows, starlings and robins, who very much like suet coated mealworms, thank you very much. They’d like to make it clear that they are our bestest friends and are very happy to pose for pictures, singly and in groups.

I’m reminded of naturalist Simon King, who was talking about his beloved Somerset Levels as the real world and the bit with the politicians and self-appointed judges of what we should do and say as the illusion. He said that when he came down there, he saw the real world, and so for a little while did I. There are 6 osprey chicks from 2 breeding pairs. There are sea eagles, and the water quality is better than ever after the oil spill.

And all this is on the site of a former landfill, so of course there is hope. Of course people are making things better. So please, this week, try to edit out the noise and look at what we can do and see and be. And believe in happy endings, or beginnings, because if you don’t believe, in them you can’t find them!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to say that they enjoyed last week’s 2 slushy romances. Here we have some more for you on special offers, at 99p in the UK and 99c in the US. As always, there are also anthologies of 3 books which cost £2.97 for those who can’t get special deals. So please, this week, settle down with a nice drink, a good book, and maybe some cake and escape from the things we can’t change for long enough to look at the world as it is and can be.

So this week we have the Harbourside series, which is set around a sheltered living complex because people live longer and relationships become more complicated. Imagine Romeo and Juliet with disapproving families for one thing! They are Crafty sew and sews and a patchwork life.

There’s also Vintage Girl Summer which is a Windy Bay book with happy endings, vintage style weddings, bunting, cake and bikes. It’s just as well that I decided not to flatten the heroine in the first chapter.

Last but not least, something completely different. Imagine a beautiful Dorset village with an idyllic pub, a local shop that has everything you could want, a lovely school and a church. Pretty much like Windy Bay, in fact, except that it’s on the junction line between universes, so an unlikely group of guardians are called to protect it and the world.

If you’re prepared to give a virtuous vampire, a were cat, some white and grey witches, a not too homicidal river spirit who doubles as the neighbourhood watch and only eats the deserving and the Archangel Michael a try, then these might be for you. They’re Times Veil, Nature Strikes Back, No greater love and Mistletoe and Mischief and there is cake, and good food and happy endings, but you’ll need to watch out for the Gremlins!

Take care and see you on Sunday