Tag: books

Rain Stops Play TWTW # 140

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Film, Garden / Allotment, The Week That Was, tv, work

Well a slightly earlier post than I’d planned today.

I’m just back from the allotment where I’d planned to do a series of different jobs until it started to rain hard.

The forecast must have changed a bit overnight because I thought I’d at least have 2 to 3 hours before the rain arrived.

Anyhow I finished up what I was doing and then headed for home, I’ll try again tomorrow in the meantime I’ll just have to finish my flask of coffee at home in the dry.

You know I’ve had that flask the best part of 30 years. I got it when I was working in the woods all day and needed a warm drink, particularly in the winter. It’s served me well, and still keeps my drinks warm even today.

The outer green paint is flaking off on one side and it’s a little bit rusty underneath. I did look to replace it a while ago, but that was during the first lockdown and you couldn’t get them. They’re available again now, but I really don’t want to replace it now. I think I’ll just keep going until it doesn’t anymore. Maybe it will even outlive me?

Watching.

We seem to have watched a lot this week. We’ve been continuing to watch Ghosts which I think I’ve mentioned before and have finished series 3. We also watched a couple of movies; Green Book which we really enjoyed, even if it does make for some painful watching because of some of the historical treatment of people of colour; and Pale Rider which I don’t think I’ve sat and watched from beginning to end for a very long time. It still stands up well, and the finale with Eastwood taking on an overwhelming force has been repeated many a time in the western genre and it’s a great example of it. It’s made me want to watch a few more of the old Eastwood westerns too, and perhaps some others that I haven’t seen in a while.

Reading.

I’ve been reading Arthur C. Clarke’s The Lost Worlds of 2001. A bit like The Odyssey File which I mentioned a few weeks ago, it’s more of a making of the movie, although it does contain some original stories that went into 2001.

I’ve also started on Volume One of Roald Dahl’s short stories, which are incredible pieces of work. Some I’ve read before – including Lamb to the Slaughter which has just the best telling of the the disposal of a murder weapon that I’ve ever read – but some are completely new to me. I’ve got the second volume to read as well so I could be reading these for a while.

Work.

I’ve been working on a proposal for a client at their request. It’s actually revisiting one that I worked on back in February that didn’t go anywhere due to budget cutbacks. However it seems like they now have some funding in place so I’m hopeful. They’ve also expanded the brief a bit, so it’s slightly more work than I bid for before. Fingers-crossed that it works out. It was submitted on Friday, so hopefully I’ll hear something in the next week or so.

That’s all I have for this week. It’s still raining outside, so I think I made the right decision about the allotment.

Whatever you’re up to in the week ahead, stay safe and take care.

Late Night Grande Hotel TWTW # 139

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Garden / Allotment, The Week That Was, tv

The start of this week was plagued by some ghost alarms on my phone. For an unexplained reason my phone started playing an alarm at 05.30 each morning, even turning itself on to do so. There were no alarms set on the phone and it took a couple of days to work out what was going on. Fortunately I’m normally up before this time and my phone charges in another room to the bedroom overnight so it was more of a nuisance than a disturbance.

Eventually it turned out to be a problem linked to a fitness band that I haven’t used in over a year which (at the time) had synced to the health app on my phone and was causing the alarm from there as part of the sleep / wake function.

If this happens to you, turn off the “sleep schedule” in the health app and the alarms should stop – unless of course you want to be woken at a specific time.

It seems that a recent OS upgrade has caused this and a number of other problems. I’m also suffering from my podcasts app mislabeling the podcasts in the library so that sometimes it doesn’t play what it says it is supposed to be playing.

Sometimes these things are just too complicated for our good.

So how are you? Other than the above my week has been pretty good.

I had a visit with my Mum in her care home. She was in good form, all other things considered and it was one of those lucky visits where there is no one in the slot after mine so that the staff let mine overrun so we had extra time together. It doesn’t happen that frequently but it’s good when it does.

Reading

I finished John le Carre’s The Honourable Schoolboy this week. It’s set in a very different time period, but it’s interesting how pertinent it is to today with different conflicts around the world and with Russian spies surfacing in unlikely places.

I had planned to read something else next but thanks to Hermes the rather useless delivery company who appear to have lost the package with that book in, I’m probably going to have to change my plans. Hermes only seem to have AI for customer service and no humans, the AI is insistent that they are trying “very hard” to deliver my package but I fear that they are just very trying. Sadly they also have another package of mine which is a part of Ann’s birthday present, so I’m not hopeful that they’ll manage to deliver that one either.

Allotment

The weeks of rain and warm weather have been kind to the weeds and I spent a long time on Saturday on my hands and knees weeding different bits of my plot to try and get on top of them. I had some success and the piles of weeds speak in testament to my efforts.

It’s also been good for other things, and as usual the squashes and courgettes have gotten away from me to the extent that I was leaving some on the site’s “swap” table for anyone who wants them.

I also lifted the last of the onions – it’s been a really good year for those and I’m considering switching permanently to the new supplier I tried this year for all my onions. This is in part down to the consideration that I’ve heard our allotment shop is not going to be ordering potatoes or onions sets this year.

RIP Nanci Griffith

Watching

We’ve been watching the new series of Ghosts this week. It doesn’t feel as strong or as funny as the previous series but it’s still much better than a lot of things on at the moment.

We’ve also been watching Hemingway which has been interesting and has added quite a bit to my knowledge of the life of the author.

Well that’s it for this week, I have a proposal to prepare in the week ahead but other than that my diary is looking quite empty, although I dare say I’ll be waiting around at some point for a parcel that may or may not be delivered.

Whatever you’re up to, stay safe and take care.

Eggstatic TWTW # 137

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Garden / Allotment, The Week That Was, tv2 Comments

The sounds of workmen and the smell of newly laid tar have been the soundtrack to my week as the road outside my house is being resurfaced – slowly. It’s not been too bad and at times quite interesting to watch. There are a couple more weeks of associated works to go before it’s finished although hopefully after the middle of next week we won’t be as affected.

Allotment

I’ve been doing a lot of harvesting this week. Mostly things that we won’t immediately eat like onions and potatoes. This years onions have been a good crop, both in terms of their quality and quantity. I’ve had a few that have split – probably down to inconsistent watering – but the vast majority are good.

I dug the final row of potatoes too, like the previous row they weren’t a fantastic yield but they were good quality with very little slug damage or scab. I did have one that was a little odd though.

As I dig them up I always brush off as much of the loose dirt as I can before putting them in a bucket. This one particular potato wasn’t particularly remarkable except when I went to brush the mud off and it burst open revealing that it wasn’t in fact a potato but an egg – a very old egg judging by the smell. Unfortunately when it burst it also sprayed me with it’s contents, so I had to take a moment to wash off the leg of my shorts and my t-shirt.

My assumption is that a fox or something similar had cached the egg there – when the soil was loose – with a view to eating it at a later date and then forgotten about it.

I did a quick check and I’m pretty sure that it was a wood pigeons egg (see below). I didn’t completely destroy the egg when I broke it so was able to get some photos of the other side of it and had a fairly good idea of its size and colour, so I’m pretty confident with my choice.

Reading

I no longer believe that dolphins are really intelligent. They are much too friendly to man.

Arthur C. Clarke

I’ve been reading lots of bits from lots of different places this week. The above quote is from the correspondence between Arthur C Clarke and the screenwriter/director Peter Hyams when they were collaborating on the film of 2010. Their correspondence via Kaypro computers as an early form of email is captured in The Odyssey File which I was given as a birthday present back in the early 1980’s when the film was released. I’ve been rereading this in part this week, and it’s making me want to go back and reread all of the 2001 to 3001 sequence of books.

The quote comes from a sequence in the book / film where the lead character is at his home which happens to have a pool with dolphins in it. This is based on a real home which had this “feature” and they were hoping to use it in the film. As they discover however the house is still in existence but no longer has dolphins in the pool, so they built a replica at Seaworld in San Diego for the filming.

Watching

A few things come to mind this week, we’ve watched the latest season of Baptiste which is being shown on Sunday evenings but is also available on iPlayer. As it still hasn’t finished it’s Sunday run I won’t spoil it. We’ve also been continuing our Star Trek movies rewatch and are now firmly into TNG sequence of films. We also rewatched Timecop, which if you don’t know is a Jean Claude Van Damme action movie. Although I enjoyed the silliness of it, it was also interesting watching an 90’s movie that is pretending that it is set in the early 2000’s with time travel backwards – “you can’t go forwards because it hasn’t happened yet”. The self driving cars and 90’s fashioned that seemed to prevail for over ten years were a little cringeworthy, but that said it was a pleasant diversion for an evening.

Sidenote: It was also directed by Peter Hyams.

Well that’s all I have for this week. The week ahead is looking quite quiet, roadworks excluded. So whatever you’re up to this week stay safe and take care.

Book Review: Goshawk Summer by James Aldred

On By TontowilliamsIn Book Review

Goshawk Summer by James Aldred

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

This is the story of the authors Spring and Summer 2020, and how he spent that time filming a nest of Goshawks up high in the canopy of the New Forest.

We learn of the character of this magnificent raptor and master predator and also foxes, Dartford Warbler, deer, curlew, woodlark, lapwing and many other species.

This is a fascinating insight into the Goshawk and the work of a wildlife cameraman, with incredible species knowledge and detail but also the more mundane aspects of being at the top of a tree in a hide waiting for something to happen. How everything is done to put the subject matter first and not disturb them, but at the same time being there to capture the perfect sequence.

Recorded over the period of the first lockdown in England for coronavirus and how he was able to keep working, the book also charts those changes. As the New Forest goes from relative quiet and stillness and the natural inhabitants seemingly expand to fill the void of humans; to a much busier and more frantic space as the restrictions are slowly lifted.

James Aldred takes you perfectly to the heart of his work space, I spent several hours lost with him watching the different species and captivated by their activity and behaviour. His book manages to tell the tale of what his camera sees without the moving images to back up the words. He perfectly captures the moment and takes the reader there.

From The Publisher

ln early 2020, wildlife cameraman James Aldred was commissioned to film the lives of a family of goshawks in the New Forest, his childhood home. He began to plan a treetop hide in a remote site that would allow him to film the gos nest, the newly hatched chicks and the lives of these elusive and enchanting birds.

Then lockdown. And as the world retreated, something remarkable happened. The noise of our everyday stilled. No more cars, no more off-roaders, no more airplanes roaring in the skies, no one in the goshawk woods – except James.

At this unique moment, James was granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to keep filming. And so, over that spring and into summer, he began to write about his experiences in a place empty of people, but filled with birdsong and new life. Amidst the fragility and the fear, there was silver moonlight, tumbling fox cubs, calling curlew and, of course, the soaring goshawks.

About The Author

JAMES ALDRED is the celebrated author of The Man Who Climbs Trees (Allen Lane) and an Emmy Award winning
documentary wildlife cameraman and film-maker. He works with the likes of the BBC and National Geographic and has collaborated with Sir David Attenborough on numerous projects including ‘Life of Mammals’,’Planet Earth’ and
‘Our Planet’.

He grew up in the New Forest and now lives in North Somerset. A product of the BBC natural history unit in Bristol, he has been a wildlife cameraman since 1997 and has been nominated for BAFTA/RTS awards many times. He specializes in forest filming, especially at height within forest canopy, where he uses ropes and canopy platforms to film orangutans, chimps and birds of prey. He spent the national lockdown of Spring and Summer 2020 filming in the New Forest.

Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other by James Aldred is published by Elliott & Thompson and available from 29th July 2021

[Disclaimer: The publishers very kindly sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have received no payment for this review, and the thoughts are my own.]

Hot Tomatoes TWTW # 136

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Dog, Garden / Allotment, podcasts, The Week That Was, Wilson's Story, work1 Comment

It’s been a hot one this week, temperatures in our garden topped 30°C on several occasions, shade and fluids have been priorities all week. It’s curtailed a lot of the plans that I had and instead the focus has been on keeping the house and the dogs as cool as possible as well as ourselves. Friday and the weekend became a bit cooler and a welcome respite. We can only expect more of the same. We topped 42°C (110F) in the potting shed which the tomato and cucumber plants loved but they were the only ones!

Meanwhile another billionaire has shot himself into “space” (I’m sorry but it’s not really space is it, there was no passage through the atmosphere into orbit. Being shot into the sky in something akin to a giant dildo, which is barely in flight for ten minutes is not space travel it’s more like a glorified carnival ride). But have no fear, he’s not an astronaut.

I really don’t get it. I support meaningful exploration of space from a proper scientific approach but I just can’t support the massive waste of resources that this kind of “space” tourism brings. I can see benefits to the Space X programme supplying the international space stateion, although I question why it has to be private companies doing that, but what Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are doing just seems like someone playing with very expensive toys.

We’ve seen just what can be achieved with tackling covid and “space” travel, perhaps it could be used on something else like tackling climate change or getting vaccines out to the remaining 99% of the population of poorer countries who have yet to have a supply of it?

We had a bomb scare in our little town this week. A “suspicious” package was reported outside Poundland and the town centre closed and evacuated. Now it’s not clear what was in the the said package, but the bomb disposal team deemed it not to be explosive. It does sound like it had been there for some time before it was reported.

I’ve had some new subscribers this week, if you are one of them – Welcome!

If you’re new here and wondering what an earth you’ve signed up to, welcome, this is my website / blog.

By training I am a biologist and by profession I generally make most of my income from being an independent environmental consultant. Outside of that I have a fairly wide interest in all sorts of things. I normally publish a post like this on the weekend at the end of the week (TWTW = The Week That Was), and talk about what I’ve been doing in the previous week, links to things I’ve found and anything else that I think might be interesting. Other occasional posts will appear at other times e.g. book reviews.

Thanks for signing up, but if after reading my ramblings you’re regretting your decision feel free to unsubscribe, there is a link to do so in each post if you subscribe by email. Obviously I hope you’ll stick around.

I also post on Instagram and Twitter where I am also @tontowilliams

Work

I was all set for a meeting this week, but as the date drew close I realised the details hadn’t been confirmed and queried whether the meeting was going ahead. Turns out it had been cancelled but no one had bothered to tell everyone invited. It is being reorganised but all the proposed dates are difficult, although not impossible, for me. Yet nothing has been confirmed so it looks as if that might not go ahead either.

Reading

I’ve not read much this week, my brain has just been too fried in the heat to make much sense of a book. I did pick up Philip Kerr’s A Man Without Breath again, which I’ve only read about half of. At this rate I might actually finish it this time. For fiction it is great how historically accurate it is and how many of the characters, particularly the minor ones were real individuals, now brought to life again.

Allotment

Far too hot to get much done this week, but with the cooler temperatures on Saturday I did manage to get some weeding done and a few other smaller tasks. The heat is causing things like lettuce to start bolting, and also the onions to finish their growing cycle. This year has been one endless battle with the weeds and it does seem like they’ve got the upper hand at times. It’s at this point each year when I’m thinking whether I am going to renew my licence in October or give up my plot.

Watching & Listening

We’re progressing with our Star Trek rewatch and watched films V and VI this week but other than that we’ve not had the television on much. I’ve been trying to catch up on a few podcasts but it’s one of those situations were as soon as I’ve listened to an older episode a newer one pops into the feed. So far I’ve been keeping the unread count about level.

Links

Cockatoos in Sydney are learning and teaching each other to bin dive for food

Grizzly Bear Terrorises Man for Days in Alaska – Rescued By The Coastguard

Neil Gaiman Also Working On Bringing Anansi Boys To The Screen

We had another vet appointment on Friday, we’ve reached the point where we’re not sure that any of the interventions that have been made are making much of a difference, so the vet is going back to the specialist for further advice. Until we’ve heard back we’re just carrying on as we are.

Well that’s about it for this week. In the coming week I may or may not have a work meeting, plus I am going to visit my Mum so will be sticking a swab down my throat and up my nose. I think I’m getting used to this, but each time is as unpleasant as the last but the thought of covid is worse.

Whatever you are up to this week, take care and stay safe.

Raindrops on the Shed Roof TWTW # 133

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Cooking, Dogs, Garden / Allotment, Quick Links, radio, The Week That Was, tv, Wilson's Story

A follow-up trip to the vets this week, these will continue for a few weeks to monitor the effects (if any) of his new pills. So far it’s hard to say whether there has been any difference. I also need to book Ruby in have her annual inoculations and go back and collect some tablets that I forgot to collect last week.

Reading. Not much to report, I’ve been reading John Le Carre’s – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; meaning to reread the Karla trilogy as I’ve only ever read them separately at very different times and never together. I’ve also been reading a biography of James Ravilious who was a photographer and son of the war artist Eric Ravilious.

Allotment. In between the showers this week I’ve been trying to get on top of the weeds. It seems that most plot holders are having the same problem, and there is rumour that perhaps it was one of the deliveries of manure that perhaps had a lot of weed seed in it. It’s certainly possible but also the fact that the cycles of rain and warm sunshine are also a contributing factor. I spent a little time hiding from the rain in my shed with a flask of coffee and a notebook to write in. Quite relaxing in it’s own way.

We’ve started to get a lot of soft fruit, mostly gooseberries, but also a few loganberries. So we’ll be making the most of them while they are abundant. I also lifted the over-wintering onions as they are ready to be dried and used. The spring plantings aren’t far behind, but it will be a few more weeks before they are ready. Theoretically our potatoes are also ready to harvest as from Monday, but when I tried a few a couple of weeks ago it seemed that they needed a couple more weeks, so I’ll wait a little longer before I lift them.

Work. Some meetings arranged for the not too distant future, and I’ve paid my tax bill.

TV / Film / Radio / Podcasts. I finished watching Bosch, which was excellent. We’ve also watched a few episodes of The Sandhamn Murders which has the beautiful scenery of the Swedish archipelago islands for it’s back drop but a pretty weak story. We might watch some more or we might not bother. There’s a Star Trek movie marathon on this weekend and we’ve been watching them in slow time through the benefit of dvr. Star Trek: The Motion Picture stands up really well considering it’s age but I know there are a few howlers coming.

I’ve been listening to Pilgrim this week. Series 7 is available at the moment, as is the Halloween special, but the first episode of series 7 is only available for another day or so if you want to listen yourself. If you like fantasy drama it’s worth a listen.

Links.

Cheesy Cauliflower Steaks – I made these this week, they were gorgeous, so much so that I forgot to take a photo. I also made the pesto much more like a mousse than the recipe suggests, which also works well and is a lot less oily.

Make a bottle raft – I guess if you’re ever stranded on a desert island, plastic pollution might makes this an alternative to a raft made from palm trees!

That’s it for this week, have a good week ahead, stay safe and take care.

Of Dogs, Vets and Hollyhocks TWTW # 132

On By TontowilliamsIn Birds, books, Dogs, Garden / Allotment, podcasts, Quick Links, The Week That Was, tv, Wilson's Story2 Comments

I’m not sure where this week has gone, but it feels like it’s been quite constructive. I do seem to have broken something on the blog though as ads appear to have returned. I’ll try working out how to turn them off.

I took Wilson back to the vet’s on Tuesday, a pre-booked appointment to have some stitches removed but also to see if they had received the outstanding test results. We achieved both, the tests were delayed by a covid outbreak at the lab where they do the analysis but they had now had the outstanding ones. It turns out he has an autoimmune disorder – Pemphigus Foliaceus – on top of everything else that he has. This latter point dictates a certain treatment regime and he’s started on a course of medication. We’re back at the vet’s this coming week for a blood test to see how the treatment is working. I’ve now been able to file an insurance claim and I hope that will be accepted.

I didn’t manage to make it to the 1984 Symposium this week. George Orwell’s – Eric Arthur Blair – was born on 25th June 1903.

Reading. I read an article on The Last Word on Nothing this week that sent me down another rabbit hole. It bought back memories of sitting and watching coastal birds through a telescope in the early 1990’s, in Devon I was counting Avocets. I sat and sketched an avocet and made plans to dust off my telescope and go out and look at coastal birds through it again. The article also mentions a book by Peter Matthiessen – The Wind Birds – which doesn’t look like it was ever released here in the UK, probably because it’s about US coastal birds. I did track down a paperback copy though and I would like to read it, given how much I have enjoyed many of Matthiessen’s other books including the Birds of Heaven, The Cloud Forest and The Snow Leopard.

Watching. The final season of Bosch was released this week, it’s only an eight episode season and I’m nearly finished watching it. If you haven’t watched it yet I recommend it, it’s consistently good from season one through to eight and I’m pleased that it gets to go out on a high. A spin-off series is planned, so there might yet be more.


Great to see the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness video podcast back again

Allotment. I’ve been pretty busy in the garden and allotment this week, I’ve had a lot of Hollyhock plants to transplant into bigger pots, and I still have a tray of seedlings which I’m planning on transplanting out around the garden. These won’t flower until next year, assuming that they survive, but I’m investing in future colour in the garden. I don’t know quite what colour they will be as they are saved seed from a number of different plants and I suspect that there has been some cross pollination. They could be anywhere from jet black to a light pink colour.

My neighbour gave me some sweetcorn plants that she had spare and I’ve planted them out onto the allotment, I didn’t grow any myself this year because of the risk that the badgers will come and knobble them before I get to eat the cobs. So at some point I’ll have to construct some sort of frame around them to keep the badgers at bay!

I’ve also sown Tuscan kale, pak-choi and mixed mizzuna seeds this week.

Links.

The Greatest Walks in Literature.

Half the Trees in Two New English Woodlands Planted By Jays.

Stories to Save The World: A New Wave of Climate Fiction.

That’s it for the week ahead. I have a few diary commitments this week but many are weather dependent. Whatever you are up to take care and stay safe.

Extremes of Time and Weather TWTW # 131

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Dog, Garden / Allotment, Quick Links, The Week That Was, Wilson's Story, work

It feels like it’s been a long week, but I also feel like I’ve been particularly time poor this week, with the days themselves passing very quickly. The weather has flipped during the week, from hot and scorching at the start to wet and cooler by the time I am writing this on Sunday.

There isn’t an update that I can provide on Wilson, other than to say lots of things have been ruled out, but there is still one set of results outstanding. He’s back with the vet on Tuesday to have some stitches from a biopsy site removed. Hopefully by then that outstanding test will be back. It’s difficult to see him so unwell it makes my heart hurt, but he’s pretty stoic and seems to be very much himself beyond the visible symptoms.

I’ve had a few new sign-ups this week, some off of the back of a book review (see below) that I published, and also a few (I think) from being involved in AudioMo.

If you’re new here and wondering what an earth you’ve signed up to, welcome. This is my website / blog, by training I am a biologist and by profession I generally make most of my income from being an independent environmental consultant. Outside of that I have a fairly wide interest in all sorts of things. I normally publish a post like this on the weekend at the end of the week (TWTW = The Week That Was), and talk about what I’ve been doing in the previous week, links to things I’ve found and anything else that I think might be interesting. Other occasional posts will appear at other times e.g. book reviews.

Thanks for signing up, but if after reading my ramblings you’re regretting your decision feel free to unsubscribe, there is a link to do so in each post if you subscribe by email. Obviously I hope you’ll stick around.

I also post on Instagram and Twitter where I am also @tontowilliams

Work. I had a virtual meeting with a client on an ongoing project that has been significantly disrupted by covid. It doesn’t feel like there is much work there for me in the near future.

Reading. Not that much. I’ve been dipping back into Ernie Pyle’s stories of the second world war in Italy in 1943, and also the war artist Edward Ardizzone’s second world war diaries. By coincidence these are also from the same time, but the similarities and differences between the two men’s experiences are quite marked.

I also published a review for Rob Cowen’s book The Heeding which I’ve been holding at the request of the publisher until the week of publication. It’s such a great book, and I’d recommend it, particularly if you like narrative poetry.

I always carry a notebook. They normally last a few months until they’re full, and then I swap them out for a new one. I write ideas for stories, shopping lists, nature observations, draw sketches and all sorts of other things in them.

It’s taken a bit longer to fill each one during covid times (although I have been writing more in my main journal) but this week it was time to swap the old for the new. In this instance from a Field Notes to a Moleskine. Moleskine went through a patch where their paper quality wasn’t all that great but they seem to have gone back to better paper stock again so I’m trying a newer book from their limited edition Lord of the Rings series.

Allotment. The rain has been great, but it has really promoted week growth, so I’ve been doing quite a bit of weeding. I also harvested the last of the broad beans this weekend, and have now dug over that part of the plot. I’m planning on sowing some more salad crops in the space which I’ll do next weekend if not before.

Links.

Covid: How have allotments helped people during the pandemic?

After walking to work, Beau Miles has now tried paddling to work:

That’s it for this week. Depending on how things work out in the week ahead, I might be travelling to Oxfordshire to celebrate George Orwell’s birthday, and I have that appointment with the vet but otherwise no specific plans.

Whatever your plans, take care and stay safe.

Book Review: The Heeding by Rob Cowen, Illustrated by Nick Hayes

On By TontowilliamsIn Book Review1 Comment

The Heeding by Rob Cowen, Illustrated by Nick Hayes.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

There will be a few books in life that you will always treasure, it might the content of the book itself or where you were or who you were with when you read them. Common Ground by Rob Cowen is one of those books for me. I can tell you when and where I was when I was reading it (in the last couple of weeks in my last paid job before going freelance), and to a limited extent I can tell you about the effect it had on me – I actually find it difficult to truly find the right words if I’m being honest.

It is the book that I have gifted / given more than any other book.

But. Rob hasn’t written another book until now and I really have waited for this book. This could go either way really couldn’t it?

Now let’s be honest, when I knew this book was coming I asked if I could go on the review list, before I was asked if I’d like to review it. I never do this. I pre-ordered a copy (it’s out tomorrow – June 17th). I wanted to read this book. I wanted it to be as good as Common Ground.

But. What if it wasn’t?

But. It’s better.

My god. IT. IS.

In many ways it couldn’t be more different, it is a book of poems not prose, but they tell a story just the same. Written during lockdown in 2020 and illustrated by Nick Hayes (I reviewed Nick’s the Book of Trespass here) – the two aspects merge together into an amazing book.

The Heeding is a message to us all. We need to heed what is going on around us. To call out what is maybe not quite right and to celebrate the good and the beautiful in our world. To take the time to actually look and listen to the world around us. To pay attention to those things that maybe we take for granted, and make sure that we don’t loose them through our own inattention.

It had me captivated from the first page. I devoured it, and did so again, finally slowing to read each poem more deliberately and going back over them. To be honest I’m still reading it. Although it’s sitting next to my keyboard right now, it’s always close at hand, my proof copy is falling apart through use. This is a special book, it’s another one that I’ll treasure and will be gifting to others.

If you should read this book, and you should go and order a copy right now. I think you’ll find your own meaning in the poems and the illustrations, if I had to pick a couple of poems that are personal favourites it would be; This Allotment; The Lovers; and The Heeding. These and the others have made me smile, laugh, cry, rant & rave and be grateful for the world. If we were all to heed the world around us in this way what an amazing place it would be.

The illustrations elevate the words too, they bring the poems to life with their striking, contrasting style as well as having a life of their own.

I am truly grateful for this book, it is beautiful. You may be able to tell that I am struggling to really find the words to truly express how I feel about it and just how good it is.

Please go and get yourself a copy, in fact buy a couple and give one to a friend.

From The Publisher: The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. The Heeding paints a picture of a tear caught in the grip of history, yet filled with revelatory perspectives close at hand: from a sparrowhawk hunting in a back street, the moon over a town or butterflies massing in a high-summer yard, to remembrances of moments that shape a life. Collecting birds, animals, trees and people together and surfacing memories along the way, The Heeding becomes a profound meditation on a time no-one will forget.

The Heeding is a book of our time: conceived in lockdown by two creative people who have yet to meet in person. Across four seasons, Rob Cowen and Nick Hayes lead us on a journey that takes its markers and signs from nature all around us, coming to terms with a world that is filled with terror and pain, but beauty and wonder too.

Rob Cowen is an award winning writer, hailed as one of the UK’s most original voices on nature and place. His book Common Ground (2015) was shortlisted for the Portico, Richard Jefferies Society and Wainwright Prizes and voted on of the nation’s favourite nature books on BBC Winterwatch. He lives in North Yorkshire.

Nick Hayes is a writer, illustrator and print-maker. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines That Divide Us (2020). He has published graphic novels with Jonathan Cape and worked with many renowned titles. He has exhibited across the country, including the Hayward Gallery. He lives on the Kennet and Avon canal.

The Heeding is published by Elliott & Thompson on 17th June 2021.

[Disclaimer: The publishers very kindly sent me a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have received no payment for this review, and the thoughts are my own.]

Jabbering TWTW # 129

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Fork To Fork, Garden / Allotment, Kindle, The Week That Was, tv

Welcome, this is going to be a short one this week, mostly because I’ve not been doing all that much.

As trailered last week, I’ve had my second covid vaccine. The theory that in a couple of weeks I’ll be fully protected doesn’t really make me feel much like changing much in my approach at the moment however. In theory everything should be back to “normal” after June 21st. Quite what that means isn’t clear, but there is a good debate at the moment in terms of whether we should hold back a bit longer or carry on but keep some elements like masks in public and some physical distancing. I think the latter makes a certain amount of sense if we do fully open up, but the public, politicians and scientists seem fairly evenly split over what the right direction is.

Allotment. The combination of sunshine and showers over the last few weeks has really made everything grow, especially the weeds. I’ve been harvesting broad beans which are young and sweet and don’t need cooking, so have been making salads with them. Also our radish crop continues, so plenty of them too. I’ve been planting out the last of the current batch of plants grown in the potting shed from seed, including courgette, squash, cucumber and fennel. The latter is a new one, so I’m not altogether sure whether they will continue to grow at all and if they do how they will turn out. I’ve also been doing the inevitable weeding and mowing of paths.

Books. I finished Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie and then after a couple of days of not reading much picked up the second book in the series Sidney Chambers and the Peril of Night. I already had both of these on my kindle but if I want to read the whole series I’ll have to track down the remaining books.

TV & Film. I’ve watched a few things this week, including Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse which Ann loved (she even said she’d watch it again, which is unheard of for a Marvel film) but I found it a little underwhelming. I also watched The Outpost which is based on a true story, and I found a bit disturbing.

I am looking forward to watching the biopic about Anthony Bourdain when it’s available. I’ve really enjoyed his books and tv series, a troubled soul who we lost too soon. Here’s the trailer.

AudioMo. June is AudioMo month and I’m participating again by posting a short piece of audio each day. As with last year there isn’t any particular theme to my posts. If you’d like to listen to them, they are all posted on my Twitter account, to listen to other people’s posts you can follow the hashtag #audiomo on twitter. There seem to be a lot of people taking part this year which is great.

That’s it for this week. Whatever you’re up to in the week ahead, take care and stay safe.