Archives

January 2019

1 January

2 January

• This year, @whogivesacraptp #NoMorePlastic #2minuteresolution
• Just because its January and it's back to work, doesn't mean that one can't still enjoy that festive feeling... #tea #afterwork #relaxation
• That moment when you get an email from @unbounders and you think it might be about your submission but it's not, it's about the book you're supporting. Yeah that... 😕 #patience #tryingtobepatient #justwannaknow @bookshopblogger #bookloversguidetobookshops
• I believe in fairies (and chocolate hedgepigs) #amreading #PeterPan
• Good form. Good form. In which I discover that @creationtheatre's most-excellent retelling of #PeterPan was one of the most-faithful adaptations of the J.M. Barrie classic (with some of the more out-dated notions updated)

3 January

4 January

5 January

6 January

• New winter warner in the form of a @deliciouslyella two-bean and sweet potato Shepherd's Pie and only 326 calories too!

7 January

8 January

• Blue sky. I have missed you. #bluesky #sunshine🌞 #nofilter

9 January

10 January

• Lots of new music on the stands tonight at @abingdonconcertband, and you know our next Storytelling concert is going to be a good one when there's the theme to my own #MrTumnal to play. Sorry oboes (@laurapicklechop and Mary) for the solo but it's what @vnemma heard and transcribed and was in my head even though I didn't know it. And thank you @neilbrownless for making it real.

11 January

• One large cage purchased for 6 weeks of bed rest for my little @bellafanella. She's only just gone and ruptured her cruciate ligament. Ouchy! Poor little girl! #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Feed me, feed me now!!!! @catnamedafteramouse #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats

12 January

13 January

• Winter walks have big skies and subtle colours... #nofilter #PortMeadow #Oxford
• Little squiggles harvesting ash keys #squirrels #nature #winter

14 January

• I still can't believe that doctor refused to write down ptarmigan as a word beginning with p... #ptarmigan . #Repost @bbcspringwatch • • • • • Happy Monday guys! What a fabulous ptarmigan! 😍 ✨ These masters of the mountain slopes are perfectly equipped to deal with the cold. Their feet act as snowshoes and are covered in feathers to keep them warm! Even their eyelids, nostrils and legs have feathers for extra insulation! ✨ Gorgeous! ✨ Image credit: Paul Jesset via Flickr

15 January

16 January

17 January

18 January

19 January

20 January

• Best friends forever. @vnemma enjoying a weekend with @caroline_wakey64
• Snowdrops have always been, and always will be my favourite flower.. #favouriteflower #snowdrops #galanthus #galanthophile
• Nana, retired chicken.
• When "dead" sticks flower its literally the first sign that winter is failing and Spring is coming... #witchhazel #hope

21 January

• Marie Kondo might say that you should have no more than 30 books in your house and get rid of anything that doesn't bring you happiness, but I think that if you only have 30 books that bring you happiness then you are deeply sad and unhappy #books @mariekondo

22 January

• Posted on Instagram
• Snow... 🌨😃
• Wintry scene at @oxfordbrookes... #snow🌨 #cold❄
• All stillness in the parks... #snow🌨 #cold❄
• In the bleak midwinter... #snow🌨 #cold❄
• @elena_tsang was talking to me today about her love of Hello Kitty, and I had to mention how I gave @vnemma space in my booklined study to display it...

23 January

• This book should have been called P is Ptarmigan but in all other respects its perfect. Thank you @vnemma for encouraging my weird brain and Lucy Titley for finding it! #amreading #theworstalphabetbookever #Pisforpterodactyl

24 January

25 January

• This is so sad. Horrible, horrible news. I really hope that it was deceased or dying or this is murder of Morse proportions... . #Repost @weloveoxford • • • • • The tree that announced spring in Oxford has gone. I can’t believe it. 😔 #universitychurchofstmarythevirgin #stmaryspassage #oxford #pinktree
• The weekend starts here... #longweek #notbadjustlong
• Catching up with the #manbooker50 longlist and #costanovelaward winner... #NormalPeople #SallyRooney #books #amreading
• Dear Mr Haggis, how should I address you? #BurnsNight #haggis #neepsandtatties

26 January

• Journey into Narnia with small Niece. Look at all the weird and wonderful creatures I found there! #Narnia @vnemma
• Magical beasts and where to find them... #Narnia #believeanditisreal

27 January

• Now, where was I? #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting #beendrawingtoomuch
• Why are metaphors considered *better* than similes? Or are they? Am I wrong about that? #amwriting

28 January

• Between day-job-web, author, and illustrator I lose track of how many jobs I have. Some post-work writing-work... #amwriting #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends
• If #TheImaginaryWife was the slim volume of short chapters, then #ForgottenFriends is shaping up to be something altogether broader with long chapters... #MrTumnal3 #imaginaryfriends #amwriting
• Something I realise now about my #ImaginaryFriends trilogy is that it's more about Kathryn, Watts, Chloë, and Lucy rather than the central characters of Louis/Lewis and Amanda... #MrTumnal #amwriting
• Purry girl out for a a cuddle and a stretch for the evening before going back to cage rest...

29 January

30 January

31 January

• You wouldn’t believe how happy this makes me... @oxfordbrookes #BrookesVR ☺️👏

February 2019

1 February

• Obligatory #snow🌨 pictures in the garden...

2 February

• Duck's feet and air holes in the frozen canal... #Banbury #canal #winter❄
• Ended my January book-buying-fast in style today with these two great additions to my #EdwardArdizzone collection. Thank you, @booksandink! 😊📚
• Shameless bookshop snap of my book children out in the wild... #instock @booksandink #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #authors4bookstores #serviceyoudontgetonamazon
• It's so, so simple and understated and yet so incredibly brilliant. The way that #EdwardArdizzone captures the expressions and personalities of people in a few sparse lines. It's something I strive for.. #TheYoungArdizzone #AnAutobiographicalFragment #amreading @allthingsardizzone

3 February

4 February

5 February

• Celebrating J.L. Runeberg's Day (born 215 years ago), the National Poet of Finland by eating yummy Runeberg's Torte. Thanks @millakontkanen! #runebergstårta #runebergsday

6 February

• Met a little friend this morning at the bus station.Who else thinks pigeons have character and are adorable? #pidge #pigeon #apigeonisnotawigeon

7 February

• Public toilet... #lavatory #ondisplay
• Out now and in the wild, @elvesden's latest book is more than just #APinchOfMagic. I was fortunate enough to read a pre-publication copy of it last year and it is amazing: http://shepline.com/2018/12/01/a-book-of-magic-with-twists-and-turns-aplenty/
• Yay! My hydraulic desk at work is working again. turns out it wasn't a burnt out motor but just needed resetting by putting it to the lowest setting and pressing down on its further... Who knew? #electricdesks #standupandwork

8 February

• I am literally, and by that I mean actually, wet through... 😩 #drenched #sopping #waterproofsmakenoodds
• Since moving offices I have missed our height chart we made on the wall... #heightchart #9000sweets #5000envelopes #officetraditions #napoleon #gnome

9 February

10 February

• Today @vnemma and I had to say sad farewell to our adopted, retired chicken. We may have only enjoyed 2 months with her but she was the most-beautiful, good-natured hen. ••• R.I.P. Nana 2010-2019
• Galanthophiles of the world unite. I love snowdrops, they really are my favourite flower - I think because they are simple and unshowy... #snowdrops #galanthus
• More snowdrops and spring flowers at @evenleywoodgarden... #snowdrops #galanthus
• Did I mention that I love snowdrops...? #snowdrops #galanthus #galanthophile #springiscoming

11 February

• Discovered an unexpected upside to a (sometimes) standing desk; when you're feeling peckish it's a great way fight those feelings for crisps or chocolate... #tryingtodotherightthing @oxfordbrookes
• Well that's got my heart rate up. Discovered at the bottom the hill that the bag with my waterproofs in had fallen off my bike at the top so had to go all the way back up The Hill to get them and then pedal like crazy to get to the bus with seconds to spare... #cycling🚴‍♂️
• Not all eggs are the same... #eggs🥚 #spaghetticarbonara #MondayNightTraditions

12 February

13 February

14 February

• Regular observers of this feed will know that I write. You might not know that I am part of a family of writers... #imaginaryfriends #dragons🐉 #buttons #greekmyths #norsemythology #amwriting #amreading #TEShepherd #AndyShepherd #DeborahShepherd #books #storytelling #stories
• Whilst @vnemma's Grannie is in hospital we have a lodger living in my study. Chloe is a nervous little girl but I'm allowed strokes now... #catsofinstagram #catsagram

15 February

• The beauty is in the details... #naturewriting #TheLivingMountain #NanShepherd #amreading @chris.packham
• Belated Valentine's meal with my @vnemma! Love you lots xxx 😍❤💕 #valentines
• "Hi, my name's Aslan..." #catsofinstagram #catsagram

16 February

• I do love a bit of curling... #curling @team_muirhead #scottishcurling

17 February

18 February

• Mysteriously misty moon tonight... #moon #mist #winterskies #redskyatnight

19 February

20 February

21 February

22 February

23 February

24 February

25 February

26 February

27 February

28 February