Do you use Vivlio? If so, you can download lots of my short stories, including this free one.

After many setbacks and delays, our office is finally finished. I don’t recommend Sharps Fitted Furniture, unless you actually enjoy stress and being constantly let down, when it comes to supplying what you paid for. However, thanks to Simon the fitter who worked really hard to get the job done, we’re pleased with the result.

Here are a few of the wonderful roses at Mottisfont Abbey gardens in Hampshire, England. This is our nearest National Trust property, so we go fairly often. It’s beautiful and romantic. I’ve already set a short story there (which is included in this collection). Now I’m thinking it would be a great location for a scene in one of my cosy crime novels – it’s even closer to Little Mallow than to our home.

… when photographing wildlife, is that it’s important to blend into your surroundings, to avoid startling the animals.

What do you think that squirrel is thinking?

More views from the mobile writing retreat…

Dumbarton Castle isn’t your typical castles with turrets, a drawbridge, and moat. It’s basically two massive rocks with steps (a LOT of steps) and a few builings and cannons dotted about.

This is the entrance to the ticket office.

And here are some of the steps on the way up.

And a few more…

You get the idea!

Here’s some of what you can see when you stop to catch your breath.

It’s a lot like writing a novel. There are a lot of steps, it takes a while, seems like hard work at times, but when you get to the top, or end, it feels as though you’ve achieved something. I still have a lot of the uphill part to do with the current book, but I’m getting there.

We are now in Scotland! Here are a few photos from the mobile writing retreat (campervan) showing our journey so far.

I’m making progress with the writing too. I’ve finished the first draft of book four in my Little Mallow cosy mystery series. There are still some gaps to fill, and plenty of work to do, but I’m getting there.

Did I mention that we’re heading for Scotland in the mobile writing retreat (campervan)? Well, we are but I managed to convince Gary that Wales is almost on the way, so we visited Bodnant Gardens. Twice actually, as a vehicle fire on the motorway meant we only had an hour and a half the first day, and that’s not nearly long enough.

According to Gary’s fancy watch, we walked for just over ten miles in the gardens over the two days. In my defence, that does include a trek to find pasties, as the first cafe we tried had sold out.

I’m not telling you how many photos I took, except to assure you, it wasn’t as many as the total word count added to the latest novel.

I think Bodnant is probably my favourite garden to visit. Can you suggest anywhere which might push it off the top spot.

Gary and I are now touring in R’ten our campervan, also known as the mobile writing retreat. Our first stop was just up the road at Mottisfont Abbey, and then a family visit, as a kind of warm up.

If you’d like to keep up with where we are, you can look out for ‘views from the mobile writing retreat’ on Facebook and Bluesky.