I made the recording for my website, Clifftop Publishing, mentioned in my blog for 21st January. This is now posted on ‘The Author Reads’ page. I chose to read an excerpt from Betrayal, one of the short stories in my book, Truths and Lies. In the past, I recorded part of one of my other books, On the Verge, for an online broadcast. I tend to get tongue tied in places, but then I am not a professional broadcaster. Hopefully, as I complete more recordings, I will get over t

I like to check on the overwintering plants in the greenhouse, once a week. Dead leaves and blooms are removed from the geraniums and if needed, all the plants are watered. The geraniums have additional protection, to that afforded by the greenhouse, with a layer of fleece over the top of them. It has been so cold and noticing one geranium had been lightly frosted, I doubled the fleece and then moved all the fuchsias, which are starting to shoot, to one area and covered th

I almost forgot that I should be writing a blog today. In view of this I am going to make it a short one. Weather wise we have woken to a frost every morning which is something we don’t expect, here on the coast. I am hoping it will kill garden bugs and this encompasses the slugs too. Some days have been cloudy, others radiantly sunny which has melted the frost. In consideration of the frost and ice patches we have avoided walking on the promenade in the morning. With am

We woke today to a very cold, frosty morning, but with sunshine and clear blue skies I feel I really should be out in the garden but there is little I can do apart from trimming a honeysuckle which is currently bathed in sunlight. However, if I do this, leaving fresh cut open wounds, it could damage the plant if we have another frost before these heal. So, instead I have resigned myself to enjoying looking out the window, writing this blog and later I will hopefully finish n

It wasn’t until later this morning I realised what today is – Friday 13th – a date when for those who are superstitious, is unlucky. Its roots go back into Norse Mythology and the thirteen disciples in Christianity. Whether it is truly an unlucky day, I suppose depends on the individual but if you are superstitious, it may be of some consolation to know there are just two Friday 13th’s in 2023, with the next one not until October. The dry summer of 2022 has been replaced wit

I don’t remember hearing about so many people passing away, in the village, in such a short period of time. Over the Christmas and New Year period there have been very few days when we have not heard that someone has died. It would be unfair to families and loved ones to mention names so I will leave it there, apart from saying how their loss will be felt by those residents who knew them. On a more positive note, Poppyland Radio have been in the process of setting up a new

I have been browsing and tidying my blogs for 2022, prior to printing. When I read the first blog of the year, with comments about unoccupied holiday homes and lets over Christmas and more occupancies for the New Year, this almost mirrored my first blog for 2023. There is no comparison with 2021 as we were in lockdown, although some chose to ignore the guidelines. So, is this going to be the norm for future years; New Year breaks more popular than Christmas? One thing I hav

Here we are, in a new year, and with so many lows and disasters etc. in the world during 2022 we can only hope 2023 ends with a more positive feel. I’m sounding negative but I think this is unlikely to happen, however I would be more than happy to be proven wrong. For us, today has been a good start to 2023. We started with a walk along the promenade where we were joined by Oliver, the black headed gull who asks for more of the titbits I carry with me. In addition to Oliver