Escape from the Vagabond Prince, a short story I wrote a few years ago in the style of H Rider Haggard, has characters that persist in wanting more to do, so one day I may free them from the laptop and let them have the adventures they need.

I thought: this is the life, this is how JK Rowling did it, so I should do the same. All I had to do was to bring my notebook, pen and laptop and come here to write down words that would flow as easily as the coffee that would sustain me …

My new study is almost finished. The walls and woodwork are painted, there are blinds at the window. All it needs are a carpet, furniture, a lampshade, ie, everything. Oh, and it needs a cushion, it definitely needs a cushion!

The wild part of our garden is looking beautiful; all the trees are now in fresh green leaf and most most have tiny flowers only noticeable if you look closely. The horse chestnut is not so modest and shows off with a blaze of large white candles. And underneath …

We’ve just had a few days in SW Scotland where I had a writing holiday. I don’t mean a holiday with writing, rather a holiday from writing, something I hope will lead to me being so reinvigorated that words will skip from my pen when I next take it up.

Ash before the oak, we’re in for a soak. Oak before the ash we’re in for a splash.

I recite that saying every spring and …

The swallows are back! There had been only one until this morning when I saw two pairs flying not far away. I am hopeful that they will return to nest under our eaves as they have done for a few years. When I see them I can almost feel my heart lift!

I have lived in quite a few flats and houses, or properties as house programmes on the telly will call them. A quick count on my fingers says this is the tenth. I do not want there to be an eleventh because this is the one I want to stay in; it is my perfect house, in a perfect place.

Twiddling and Tweaking

When I won a writing competition I thought I could begin to call myself a writer, and so should have a designated space in which to write words that would set the world on fire/make lots of money, or preferably both. (Neither of those things have happened.) I called it The Wendy House.