ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 2022
Dancing with deadlines… and here is my super smart research assistant
As the sun returns...Happy holidays...
NOVEMBER 2022
As the days grow shorter and a parliament of owls call in the valley, I’m lost in Hookland... @HooklandGuide. So many thanks to David Southwell
In other news… my first publication in Ukrainian! Which is a real honour.
OCTOBER 2022
Guilty pleasures… After The Battersea Poltergeist and Uncanny comes the breathtaking Witch Farm.
Podcast heaven and great music too.
SEPTEMBER 2022
Have been wowed all over again by a binge re-reading of primatologist Frans De Waal. You can discover your tribe in the most unlikely of places...
NOTES FROM AN EERIE AUGUST
Our region has experienced the driest July for a century. We’re re-using all the water we can – from the shower and kitchen – to keep the garden alive. Our greenhouse is wrapped in old, white sheets to deflect the heat and plants that can be moved outside are placed under the shade of the trees. Most of the tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies have been hand-pollenated. We have seen fewer butterflies – in terms of biodiversity and biomass – than ever before. Large whites, small whites and red admirals are the most common – but not really common at all. There’s been a flutter of peacocks from early August, four or five commas and just one painted lady. Last night, under the brightest of super moons, only two bats circled the cottage. And, compared with much of Europe and those in the south of Britain, we are very lucky. The fields here are still green, even if the ash, sycamore and oak are looking a little yellowed.
As the heat builds in this temperate zone, the afternoon turns silent. Birds, bees and people quieten. There are no tractors now, harvesters, hedge-cutters or mowers; no children squealing at summer games, just families sheltering behind closed curtains, tranquilized by the heat. Forest fires blaze through France, the Rhine runs almost dry and shipping is stranded.
So much sewerage is discharged into English rivers that experts say none are safe for wild swimming. Few are home to the fish and invertebrates that once thrived there. The ponds and wetlands are drained for industrial farming and the frogs and toads of my childhood are now rarely spotted.
This briefly silent mid-afternoon world feels like a warning. Today, it’s a lull with hope that rains will arrive next month. But if we don’t take better care of the environment, treat it more compassionately and less exploitatively, we – and all those living creatures with whom we cohabit - will becomes ghosts on a burning, thirsty planet.
AUGUST 2022
Visiting the Edinburgh Fringe? Check out the always-exciting Stepping Out Theatre! @CompanyStepping
Offering includes two Philip Ridley plays – Dark Vanilla Jungle and The Beast will Rise.
JULY 2022
Absolutely loving The Mind of a Bee by Lars Chittka and learning SO much. Bees are super smart…”have distinct personalities, can recognize flowers and human faces, exhibit basic emotions, count, use simple tools, solve problems, and learn by observing others. They may even possess consciousness.” Wow. Even more reasons to fill window boxes, parks and gardens with bee-friendly plants…
JULY 2022
Also...Hen Harrier Fest 22
JUNE 2022
Thinking about sound, ghost sounds, animal sounds, place sounds?
Book launch: Mark Peter Wright - Listening After Nature: Field Recording, Ecology, Critical Practice.
MAY 2022
Very pleased to announce the publication of an exciting book and 52 fact-card kit with Claudia Martin and Michael Leach.
APRIL 2022
Very happy to announce new language editions of the Encyclopedia of Animals and the Wildlife Water. These have now been published in French Canadian and Mexican Spanish respectively.
Old news but lovely to receive, a friend just forwarded this lovely review of The Bird Book from the Lancashire Post. ‘… ideal for taking on walks, runs or bigger outdoor adventures, no bird lover should leave home without it!’
Huge thanks to Pam Norfolk.
MARCH 2022
In light of recent world events I have been re-reading the truly remarkable Beekeeper of Aleppo and Songbirds by Christy Lefteri. These books help build our understanding of the refugee and migrant experience.
FEBRUARY 2022
The highlight of February so far is The Green Planet! Learn about the private world of plants and how we rely on them for just about everything!
Available to watch on iPlayer for over a year
JANUARY 2022
So excited to announce publication of the beautiful Walking the Celtic Wheel by Julie Armstrong. I’ve been privileged to work with Julie as editor of this bewitching memoir.