Stories and photos from Scotland
Aden Country Park in Aberdeenshire is a wonderful place to visit, though I have to admit that when I lived near it I took it a bit for granted. In fact I became a little disenchanted by some aspects of the place.
But it’s beautiful. From the ruined mansion house…
Continue reading “Gnarly Roots and Carbolic Soap at Aden Country Park”
I came across this rather lovely little scene in the woods on a rainy day last week. It made me think of fairies…
Yesterday Paragraph Planet revealed the opening of The Mermaid and the Bear on their site. It’s gone now, but I took a screenshot, below. It was while walking in the same woods pictured above that the first line of the book came to me.
Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books have published my article Researching Historical Fiction: Immersing Oneself in the Past in which you can read about me setting off smoke alarms and eating primroses (yes, really) in the name of research.
There’s a public art project going on in Aberdeen for the next ten weeks: Wild Dolphins (post from 2014).
Continue reading “Dolphins and Leopards, art in Aberdeen”Three little woodpeckers. Fighting in a tree. That’s what I encountered on my daily walk today. Turn up the sound and you can hear them, along with a distant pheasant.
#AWindowOnScotland is a nice little tag on Twitter at the moment. Lots of lovely views from Scottish windows. Mine:
Talking of Twitter, and good things, I’m collaborating in a great initiative to help small businesses, especially ones that have fallen through the gaps of governmental help. I’ll be retweeting lots of wonderful products and services between 9-10pm GMT tomorrow, Friday 17th April on the tag #CelebsForSmallBiz (yes, that is Mrs Fitz from Outlander!)
The Evening Express have published a wee article on the next book, Fireflies and Chocolate here.
Meanwhile, The Mermaid and the Bear sits among the primroses, flowers that I ate while researching medieval foods for it! See research article.
Now free on Kindle Unlimited. Also available in paperback. Book info page here.
Stay safe and well. Look after yourselves. For me, this involves sitting in the sun, eating chocolate and listening to those woodpeckers!
Originally posted March 2020.
It feels like the world has changed dramatically since I last blogged at the end of February. I very much hope you are all safe and well. My pneumonia experience last year has left me with a damaged lung, so I am social distancing. Being at home. Writing. Editing. Actually getting round to cleaning the cooker!
Continue reading “Social Distancing and Kindle Unlimited”
Quine is the Doric word for girl. The Quines (or Super Quines as we have become recently) are a group of women that met on Twitter. I can’t recall the exact ways in which we all first started chatting, though these has been much hilarity from the start. I follow many local people as well as those who share various interests, and there’s a mix of that among The Quines. Last year some of us met up in person, out in the wider world, and we hope to meet our more distant living Quine one day too.
On the way home from a hospital visit in 2020, I stopped at Balmedie beach.
I crossed the boardwalk slowly, being careful not to catch my slippers in the gaps between wood. My foot is a lot better, though I still can’t wear proper shoes or put my heel right down on the ground, but I was determined to walk on the beach.
Continue reading “Walking on Balmedie Beach in my Slippers”
Golden mornings follow bright sunrises and the low sun does things to the sky:
The view turns green.
Fairies dance and laugh in the woods.
The canopy returns.
Trees froth and flower, filling the air with their sweetness.
There’s blue above and blue below. The return of summer.
