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2020 |

• Saturday 4 July | Bella – a purrfect girl
• Friday 26 June | First attempt at shortbread. I think it’s more longbread. @rosiebrandreth, any pointers? . #shortbread
• Thursday 25 June | Hanging the cats paws out to dry…
• Thursday 25 June | Interview with #MegRosoff for #IndieBookshopWeek, hosted by @aldeburghbookshop and @aldeburghjubileehall_ . #IndieBookshopWeek
• Thursday 25 June | Spent a day in the garden office today which included 3 hours of meetings and the running of a training course. An ill-timed ice cream van and a lawn mower did force me inside for some of it… #workingfromhome #gardenoffice #sohot #toohot
• Thursday 25 June | Spent a day in the garden office today which included 3 hours of meetings and the running of a training course. An ill-timed ice cream van and a lawn mower did force me inside for some of it… #workingfromhome #gardenoffice #sohot #toohot
• Wednesday 24 June | I’ve relocated to alternative office space today….
• Sunday 21 June | Lilium rhodopeum in every colour… #lily @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 21 June | Bee happy amongst the flowers… #bees🐝 @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 21 June | “Be careful what you wish for, especially if that thing is THE END.” @simonarmitage_official #WalkingHome
• Saturday 20 June | Watching the be sun go down… #solstice #stonehenge #longestday #midsummer @englishheritage
• Friday 19 June | My #ToBeRead pile has got out of hand again… 😂🤣📚 #amreading #books
• Friday 19 June | I accidentally bought a book. No really, I know what you’re thinking, but this time I really did. I might have enquired about this preorder of a signed copy of #MegRosoff’s latest. Then today it arrives with an invoice. Still, at least I did support a good #indiebookseller… #shoplocsl #loveyourlocal #books #TheGreatGodden #amreading
• Friday 19 June | This might not be *my* Grannie’s hand-knitted tea cosy but it’s still a tea cosy knitted by a Grannie I knew and loved, and that makes me happy… ☕♥️ #tea #teacosy #teacosiesofinstagram #teaofinstagram
• Sunday 14 June | My fave, Edward Ardizzone, at work in his studio. It’s a sel-portrait, but it could just as well be me… #EdwardArdizzone via @allthingsardizzone
• Saturday 13 June | Butterfly watching makes being in the shop queue at @rectoryfarmpyo a joy… 😊 #butterflies🦋 @rectoryfarmlife
• Thursday 11 June | Exhibit A. Look what the cat dragged in… #eatingout #cats #catsofinstagram
• Wednesday 10 June | Day 3 Book challenge. Anna Shannon nominated to post the cover of 10 books that I have read, enjoyed and been influenced by. A book a day for ten days. No review, no explanation, just the cover. Each day I’ll ask a friend to do the same. Today I nominate @janerawson.
• Tuesday 9 June | Day 2 Book challenge. Anna Shannon nominated to post the cover of 10 books that I have read, enjoyed and been influenced by. A book a day for ten days. No review, no explanation, just the cover. Each day I’ll ask a friend to do the same. Today I nominate @vnemma.
• Monday 8 June | I accept Anna Shannon’s challenge to post 10 books which influenced me, day 1. I nominate @laurapicklechop.
• Sunday 7 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Blackwell’s Bookshop Selling as part of #artistsupportpledge created by @matthewburrowstudio. Each #illustration will be £200 or below (not including postage and framing if required) and every time I reach £1000 I promise to buy another artists piece for £200. DM me if you are interested. Thanks! • • • Two years ago I began a project to create an illustrated #BookloversGuideToBookshops, and @blackwelloxford has to be the biggest bookshop of the lot. • • • Blackwell’s Bookshop Oxford Pen & Ink 10×6” £200 • • • #artistsupportpledge #supportartists #penandink #bookshops #indiebookselleres #bookshops #artistsoninstagram #illustratorsofinstagram #contemporaryartist #support #artist #lockdown #lockdown2020
• Saturday 6 June | Birthday book haul is in. Thanks again to @vnemma, @jefferyshelen77, @shepherd_ij, @andyshepherdwriter, and my parents-in-law. Going to enjoy reading @simonarmitage_official, @kiran_mh, @joannechocolat, @charliemackesy, @dara_mcanulty, and @nataliehaynesauthor #amreading #books📚
• Friday 5 June | Ventured into the office for the first time today to collect something for work, and did #OperationPlantRescue whilst I have it. We now have a plant hospital of wafes and strays to care for. Only one fatality, one in intensive care, and two in critical condition…
• Sunday 31 May | Last night @vnemma and too a trip in the #CreationTimeMachine. ♥️ live theatre. #lockdown #LiveLockdownTheatre @creationtheatre
• Sunday 31 May | The weirdness that is Lilium rhodopeum… @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 31 May | Bee happy amongst woodlands and flowers… #nature @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 31 May | Let there be Love In The Mist . #Spring #flowers🌸 #LoveInTheMist
• Sunday 31 May | Moon.
• Sunday 31 May | 1. The Beatles – Paperback Writer 2. Vampire Weekend – We Belong Together* 3. Julie Delpy – Mr Unhappy 4. Maurice André / Hayden – Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, I 5. Kerry Ellis – Defying Gravity 6. Bizet – Entr’acte, Carmen Act III 7. Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36, Andante sostenuto 8. Vampire Weekend – Stranger . Book: The Complete Oxford English Dictionary (20 volume set) Luxury: A lifetime’s supply of notebooks, and a magical ink pen that never runs dry . #MyDesertIslandDiscs #DesertIslandDiscsChallenge
• Sunday 31 May | Enjoying the finale to the @hayfestival with Sandi Toksvig whilst sat in my garden… #HayDigital #ImagineTheWorld
• Saturday 30 May | Preparing to travel through time with @creationtheatre… #StayHome #LiveLockdownTheatre
• Saturday 30 May | Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year from the @hayfestival with Allie Esiri, Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West
• Saturday 30 May | Always interesting to see the actual synopses that did the *necessary* with publishers… #HarryPotter #AHistoryOfMagic @britishlibrary #amreading
• Friday 29 May | Thank you @lucycaitlinkettlewell, you really shouldn’t have! 😊🍰 #WhenGoodFriendsBringYouCake #GoingToHaveToCycleMoreNow
• Wednesday 27 May | Taking a time out from work for a lunchtime trip to the @hayfestival… #HayDigital #JackieMorris #TheLostWords
• Monday 25 May | Shades of green… #light #green #woods @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 25 May | I’ve never seen Lilium rhodopeum before… @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 25 May | Flora and fauna in @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 25 May | I’ve always loved silver birches… #trees #woods #woodland @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 24 May | Blackbird broadcasting his song…
• Sunday 24 May | Chloe cat or Fat Francis as she’s otherwise known out and on her rounds… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 24 May | Enjoying Natalie Hayes and @chris_riddell at the @hayfestival… #HayDigital
• Sunday 24 May | Went out thinking I might do the shorter Fringford Stratton Audley loop, but decided to extend it to include Poundon. Somehow I managed to miss the turning in Poundon and ended up accidentally cycling 14 miles of what I shall call the Marsh Gibbon Mistake… #DailyExercise #Coronavirus #amcycling🚴
• Friday 22 May | Bright colours on a blustery day… @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 22 May | Not going to let some #StayHome #lockdown thing from stopping us going “out” to celebrate my birthday. Dinner in courtesy of @chequers_wotg…
• Friday 22 May | Experiencing my first @hayfestival event, with a celebration of #Wordsworth250… #HayFestival #HayOnWifi #HayDigital
• Friday 22 May | Blustery birthday walk with @vnemma at @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 22 May | I’ve never had a virtual birthday tea party, but thank you to @vnemma for the all homemade cream tea, and to my mum and dad for helping me blow out the candles on my cake and for playing happy birthday to me! Feel proper loved! 😊🎂♥️🐕😻🌞 #socialdistancing #birthday #StayHome
• Friday 22 May | Blustery birthday walk with @vnemma at @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 22 May | Sleeping cats, and all that… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Thursday 21 May | Brill windmill on birthday eve…
• Thursday 21 May | Baby sparrow… . #sparrow
• Thursday 21 May | Cats repose… . @bellafanella #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Thursday 21 May | Stay Alert . #sparrow #StayAlert #StayHome #Coronavirus
• Thursday 21 May | Aqualegia
• Thursday 21 May | Small can be beautiful… #fly #OftenForgotten
• Thursday 21 May | A year okay I finally made it to Hay-on-Wye. Tomorrow I finally make it to the @hayfestival thanks to the wonders of modern technology…
• Wednesday 20 May | Colour and shade
• Wednesday 20 May | The new normal is no pollution and the purity of the view… #normal #newnormal #lockdown #Coronavirus
• Wednesday 20 May | I tried to head to the river for a walk today, but there was nowhere to park and the loosest form of social distancing was impossible so I found a windmill, on a hill, instead…
• Wednesday 20 May | Well, the stock fencing for the wildlife meadow didn’t work. @bellafanella just walked straight through it… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Wednesday 20 May | Them are the rules (with apologies to Singer Sewing Machines)… #amwriting #writersofinstagram #authors
• Tuesday 19 May | Close up cats… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Tuesday 19 May | A triptych of cats… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Tuesday 19 May | Hazel on blue.
• Tuesday 19 May | Iridescent. #starlings #gardenbirds #SIBirdClub #bbcspringwatch #springwatch @bbcspringwatch
• Tuesday 19 May | A field day of sparrows… #sparrows #gardenbirds #SIBirdClub #bbcspringwatch #springwatch @bbcspringwatch
• Tuesday 19 May | Daisy Johnson’s writing is as clear and deftly written as David Almond’s, and as every bit as powerful and dangerous. This collection of short stories is outstanding… #Fen @djdaisyjohnson #amreading
• Monday 18 May | Social distancing for cats… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Monday 18 May | Fen by @djdaisyjohnson is deliciously easy to read but the subjects of the stories are not always easy… #Fen #shortstories #amreading
• Monday 18 May | Woodland flowers at @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 18 May | Aliums… @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 18 May | Pure as butter… #buttercups #yellow @evenleywoodgarden 💛
• Monday 18 May | Meconopsis at @evenleywoodgarden #meconopsis
• Monday 18 May | No filter necessary… #nofilter @evenleywoodgarden
• Monday 18 May | I am actually trying to write a novel, @catnamedafteramouse! #helpful #nothelpful #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 17 May | Aqualegia
• Sunday 17 May | My happy place #woods #woodland #roofcanopy
• Sunday 17 May | Fields at sunset… #nofilter
• Sunday 17 May | Cow parsley… #subtlety #contrastsofcolour
• Sunday 17 May | Erigerons in the garden…
• Sunday 17 May | Sparrows in the garden…
• Sunday 17 May | #WildlifeFromMyWindow Baby magpies…
• Tuesday 12 May | Can’t take my eyes off of you…
• Tuesday 12 May | Look into my eyes… (or, if you go down to the garden today…)
• Tuesday 12 May | Hello, Mr Pigeon!
• Tuesday 12 May | Woodland glade…
• Tuesday 12 May | Wearing my words… #MrTumnal #NovelOnATShirt
• Sunday 10 May | Healthy, seasonal lunch on a Sunday that has taken a decidely wild turn… #asparagus #poachedegg #hollandaisesauce
• Friday 8 May | Social-distancing street party for #VEday75. I might even have sold a copy of my book… (all major credit cards accepted…)
• Friday 8 May | Pure as butter! #buttercups @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 8 May | Love poppies 😊♥️ @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 8 May | Lilly of the valley… #woods #woodland #flowers @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 8 May | Shades of green… #woods #woodland @evenleywoodgarden
• Friday 8 May | More woodland flowers at @evenleywoodgarden
• Thursday 7 May | Page 78, and I can feel the story getting to the end of Michaelmas Term. Nothing like writing a seasonal bookout of season… . #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Thursday 7 May | Garden flowers on a Spring day… #garden #flowers #Spring
• Wednesday 6 May | Evening sun // dappled sun #bluebells #Hawethorn #MayFlowers
• Wednesday 6 May | The glorious oak! #oaks #woods #woodland
• Tuesday 5 May | Today’s #lockdown #DailyExercise was 11 miles of the Hethe Bucknell Loop… #coronavirus #amcycling🚴
• Sunday 3 May | Inside the flower… #rhododendron
• Sunday 3 May | The thick-skinned magnolia…
• Sunday 3 May | More colours and smells of rhododendrons… #rhododendron
• Sunday 3 May | Rhododendrons! #rhododendron
• Sunday 3 May | Guardian of the garden…
• Sunday 3 May | Pictures of a woodland garden on Spring… @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 3 May | Simple is beautiful… #daisies #dandelions #cowslips
• Sunday 3 May | Contrasts of colour… #bluebell #whiterhododendron
• Sunday 3 May | Thanks to Zoe Seaton and @big_tellyni for another great evening of LIVE theatre during lockdown. Operation Elsewhere was madcap, faery fun using making the most of zoom and interactive theatre. Two more performances tomorrow and maybe more. . Thanks too, to @creationtheatre for coordinating… #OperationElsewhere #LiveTheatreDuringLockdown #lockdown
• Saturday 2 May | A collection of hag stones from my Suffolk shore… #witches #hagstones
• Saturday 2 May | Complimentary strawberry in the #socialdistancing queue at @rectoryfarmpyo… 😊🍓
• Saturday 2 May | @oxfordshireartweeks has begun! Take your first trail… . #Repost @oxfordshireartweeks • • • • • • See the local countryside through the eyes of dozens of #oxfordshireartweeks artists and then head over to www.artweeks.org for amazing art, video tours, daily themed art trails and live events. (art by Oxfordshire Artweeks artists 2020; music from bensound.com)
• Friday 1 May | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Oxfordshire Like art? Like the artists… #OxfordshireArtweeks @oxfordshireartweeks
• Friday 1 May | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Oxfordshire I’m taking part in #OxfordshireArtweeks thrpughput May. Watch this space for more about my exhibition. Follow the hashtag for everyone…
• Friday 1 May | Because you can’t have too many bluebells… #bluebells #woods #woodland
• Friday 1 May | Springtime in the woods…
• Friday 1 May | When we make the mistake of zooming (is that an adjective yet?) my parents before feeding the five thousand… #cats🐱 #catseyes #devilseyes #catsofinstagram
• Thursday 30 April | So, @catnamedafteramouse joined us for tonight’s @abingdonconcertband virtual band natter…
• Sunday 26 April | First barbeque of the year… #bbq #alfrescodining
• Sunday 26 April | When all you want to do is read your book… #ASprinkleofScorcery @elvesden #amreading
• Sunday 26 April | Happy, Spring colours in @evenleywoodgarden… #woods #woodland #flowers #Spring
• Sunday 26 April | Woodland white #nofilter #woods #woodland @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 26 April | #DailyExercise walk in @evenleywoodgarden today involved being adopted by the owner’s Springer Spaniel for a bit…
• Sunday 26 April | Woodland bells of every colour at @evenleywoodgarden… #woods #woodland #Spring #bluebells #whitebells #pinkbells
• Sunday 26 April | Nesting, in my happy place… #woods #woodland @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 26 April | Dandelions and daisies in the woods… #dandelions #daisies #slugs @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 26 April | Went for a walk and adopted a dog for part of it… @evenleywoodgarden #woods #woodkand #gardens
• Saturday 25 April | Colours and contrasts in the garden… #Spring #flowers
• Saturday 25 April | 12.5 miles of cycling today in 1 hour 8 minutes involved going up a hill and down again (that was fun!). Such a clear light I could see so far. I love the lack of pollution in these #coronavirus #lockdown times… #amcycling🚴 #DailyExercise
• Thursday 23 April | Only 4.6 miles on today’s #DailyExercise. I went uphill today on what I shall call the Stratton Audley / Fringford Half Loop due to a tyre blow-out half-day… #amcycling🚴
• Thursday 23 April | Sorry, not sorry. When you go make a second mug of coffee to go with the emergency hot cross bun because Howard Goodall’s music from the Vicar of Dibley comes on the radio and you burst into tears for you Grannie-in-law. #RIPGrannie #sorry #notsorry #WorkingFromHome
• Wednesday 22 April | It might be an “excellent tale” but The Window Seat Reporter is a bloody peculiar one. I think my weird brain was at the height of its weirdness when I wrote this aged 14… #authorsofinstagram #amwriting #childhoodwriting #stories
• Tuesday 21 April | Considering that I never really socialised, went to the pub, or swore as a teenager, all my early stories written at that time seem to involve socialising, going to the pub, and swearing. Clearly I was living my life in fiction. #FictionIsMoreRealThanReality
• Tuesday 21 April | Adorable little church of St Edmund and St George, Hethe… #churches #churchesofinstagram
• Tuesday 21 April | The Church Pigeon… #pidgeon #churches
• Tuesday 21 April | Today’s #DailyExercise involved a 9 mile cycle ride on the Fringford-Hethe loop. Hethe is a very nice little village… #coronavirus #amcycling🚴
• Tuesday 21 April | Found my Sennheiser headphones circa. 1987 in the #GreatGarageClearout. Replaced the earpads and they still sound great! #sennheiser #headphones🎧 #SennheiserHD450 #SoundOfThe80s
• Sunday 19 April | Found a bunch of my old stories and poems dating from when I was 13-16, and decided to type this one up. It’s actually quite well written but bloomin’ heck it’s bleak! It involves a man who’s recently broken up with his partner and drives off into a storm with her kids and a gun. It doesn’t end well… . #amwriting #DidIWriteThis?
• Sunday 19 April | Found lots of my old school stories yesterday. It seems I’ve always had a problem with switching between tenses in my stories… #writing #stories #tenses
• Sunday 19 April | Sunday morning #DailyExercise before breakfast… #lockdown #coronavirus #bluebells #woods #woodland @woodlandtrust
• Saturday 18 April | So @whogivesacraptp were sold out so I had to turn to @thegoodroll instead for all my toilet needs. To quote their despatch email, #HappyShitting…
• Wednesday 15 April | Have made some progress… #TheNovel #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #amwriting
• Tuesday 14 April | Fourteen years on, happy birthday to my @bellafanella and @catnamedafteramouse! #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Tuesday 14 April | Team Shepherd’s (@shepline and @vnemma) Mission for Tiesday. Part 2 of Operation Garage Sort out achieved. Just waiting for the IKEA shelving to arrive on Thursday to store away my art sale stuff and Emma’s eBay stock.
• Tuesday 14 April | Happy 14th Birthday to @bellafanella and @catnamedafteramouse. Love you both! 😄🎉🎂🐈🐱 #cats #catsofinstagram
• Monday 13 April | Love that @creationtheatre enabled me to share live theatre with my Mum and Dad on the other side of the country. A truly inspiring way to bring people together in these #coronavirus #lockdown times. Made me feel like I had met up with at Easter after all…
• Monday 13 April | Only @creationtheatre could bring live, interactive theatre to households in their native Oxfordshire and far beyond. Thank you everyone for bringing #TheTempest to my living room.
• Monday 13 April | Outstanding theatre as always from @creationtheatre. They’re extending the virtual #TheTempest run so catch it if you can…
• Monday 13 April | Assembling in the auditorium for tonight’s @creationtheatre performance of #TheTempest. Live! #lockdown #livetheatreneverstops
• Monday 13 April | That third part of the trilogy. It won’t write itself you know… #TheNovel #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting #tea #EasterBiscuit #TeaAndInspiration
• Sunday 12 April | Happy Easter everyone! Love roast lamb dinners… 😊🐑 . #Easter #EasterSunday #RoastLamb
• Sunday 12 April | “Reading’s our thing.” . Bookworm by @lucy.mangan is a book for ever book and reading obsessed bookworm, but for someone of with Lucy’s or my age (there’s a year in it apparently) there is so much more. . #books📚 #amreading
• Sunday 12 April | 👆👆👆 This!! #books #amreading #Bookworm @lucy.mangan
• Sunday 12 April | #Covid19 might have put an end to my planned markets and exhibitions this Spring/Summer but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy my art. . Today, I’m launching my new online shop with prints available from as little as £12. Link in the bio…. https://www.teshepherdart.com . #artistsofoxfordshire #art #Illustration #illustratorsofinstagram #OxfordshireCollection #OxfordshireArtweeks
• Sunday 12 April | Local landmarks. St Lawrence’s Church, Caversfield, and the Bucknell water tower… #DailyExercise #amcycling🚴
• Sunday 12 April | Spring flowers on today’s #DailyExercise…
• Sunday 12 April | “You got any lunch?” “Is that taramelsolata on my cheek?” #Easter #EasterSunday #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 12 April | The M40, Easter Sunday, 2020. #lockdown #coronavirus
• Sunday 12 April | Thought I’d get out for #DailyExercise before it got too hot and ended up going for an 8 mile bike ride… The Bucknell-Middleton Stoney Loop as I shall call it. #lockdown #coronavirus
• Saturday 11 April | Reading a book about reading, quality cuddles with @bellafanella, and time in a sunny garden. Today has been a Good Friday. #Easter #GoodFriday #catsofinstagram #amreading
• Saturday 11 April | Simnel cake. . I always think that Judas gets a bit of press over whole Easter thing so I’ve restored him to his place amongst the apostles on top of my cake… . #Easter #SimnelCake #JesusChristSuperstar
• Saturday 11 April | Probably to my shame I’ve never read any Just William books so please excuse a small squeal of reading reminiscence when @lucy.mangan moves on to talk about Elizabeth Enright’s Saturdays books… #Bookworm #MemoirOfChildhoodReading #amreading
• Saturday 11 April | Tea. Book. Garden. . #LifeIsGood
• Friday 10 April | No more day job for 10 days so moved to the al fresco home office to work on launching a new online shop for my art… . #illustration #art #artistsofoxfordshire #comingsoon #OxfordshireArtweeks
• Thursday 9 April | Thanks @neilbrownless for another entertaining @abingdonconcertband quiz…
• Wednesday 8 April | Today’s exploits involved the Bainton Bucknell Loop which turned out to be 8 miles in 40 minutes (inc. photo stops) in glorious weather and quiet countryside… #DailyExercise #coronavirus #lockdown . Anyone know of any good distance tracker apps?
• Wednesday 8 April | On Wednesdays we do user testing in silly headgear… #UXDesign #UserTesting #WorkingFromHome
• Tuesday 7 April | Today’s outing is what I call the Bucknell Loop. Discovered that Bucknell Church is trés adorable and needs to be drawn for my #OxfordshireCollection… #coronavirus #DailyExercise #amcycling🚴
• Tuesday 7 April | The colours of Cotswold stone and Oxford colleges… #illustration #TheCotswolds #Oxford #amillustrating @colouredpencil.shop
• Tuesday 7 April | Just in the last few days the Spring blossom has started blooming… #Spring #sun🌞 #hope #nofilter
• Monday 6 April | The Tale of Two Bad Bunnies. There’s a bad Drífa down here somewhere…. #badbunnies #badrabbits
• Monday 6 April | Today’s post-#WorkingFromHome #DailyExercise during the #coronavirus #lockdown. About 6 miles in about half an hour. I can extend this route to make it longer…
• Sunday 5 April | Book. Tea. Biscuit. Sunday afternoon sorted.
• Sunday 5 April | I ask you, is *this* a dignified look?!? @i.am.aslan #lazy #oldcat #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 5 April | I have my first virtual cake meeting tomorrow for Camilla’s birthday, so I baked Easter Biscuits for the occasion… #baking #WorkingFromHome #Easter
• Sunday 5 April | I’m bringing to wonder whether @lucy.mangan and I actually share the exact same library of childrens books. Once again, just from her description here I know that this is my edition of #TheLionTheWitchandtheWardrobe… #books #Bookworm #Narnia #amreading
• Saturday 4 April | Silhouette…
• Saturday 4 April | Spring has arrived and so have shorts… #Bookworm @lucy.mangan #amreading
• Saturday 4 April | Perfect sky… #nofilter #sun🌞
• Friday 3 April | Stereo. #FridayNight @bbcradio4 #TheNowShow
• Friday 3 April | Veg shopping under lockdown… #lockdown #coronavirus
• Thursday 2 April | Good for some more @abingdonconcertband virtual band room chats tonight! #lovemyband #windband
• Wednesday 1 April | Today’s new skill learnt. Replacing the brake lever on the aforementioned bike. #lockdown #DailyExercise #amcycling🚴 #MissionAccomplished
• Tuesday 31 March | My bike with the big wheels has been off-road for two long with a puncture in the rear wheel because no was under the impression they were hard to do. Worse, I’ve had an inner tube waiting for years. . Today I fixed it myself, and got my bike back on the road… #LifeInLockdown #lockdown #coronavirus
• Tuesday 31 March | Love the fact that whilst reading @lucy.mangan’s description of the cover to #RoaldDahl’s #CharlieandtheChocolateFactory, I recognised it as the exact same edition as I remember falling in love with… #books #amreading #illustration #BookIllustration #FaithJaques
• Monday 30 March | Today’s cycle ride round the #InnerBicester: 6 miles in about 40 minutes… #coronavirus #lockdown #amcycling🚴
• Monday 30 March | #Coronavirus #lockdown day 7 rush hour traffic in Bicester, and an eerily quiet @bicestervillage car park… #DailyExercise #amcycling🚴
• Monday 30 March | I’ve had help at work today from my new office assistant… #WorkingFromHome #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 29 March | Just been for my allotted daily exercise. Today it was a cycle tour of Bicester involving a deserted Bicester Village and an almost post-apocolyptic A41 with NO traffic. Not to shabby a distance in less than an hour and against some strong winds… #lockdown #coronavirus #dailyexercise #amcycling🚴
• Saturday 28 March | Genesis of a delicious meal… #lasagna #allhomemade #AubergineLasagna #aubergines🍆
• Saturday 28 March | I colori del lasgna sono magnifici… #lasagna #colours
• Saturday 28 March | Lasagna making is all the colours of the rainbow… #lasagna #pasta #allhomemade
• Saturday 28 March | The need to kneed… #pasta #pastaverde
• Saturday 28 March | ‘You are what you are,’ said [his mother]. ‘Yes, I know,’ agrees Plop. ‘Anf what I are is afraid of the dark.’ . You really aren’t well-read if you didn’t grow up reading about Plop, the owl who was afraid of the dark. . #LucyMangan #Bookworm #amreading #TheOwlWhoWasAfraidOfTheDark
• Saturday 28 March | Arthur “two blankets” Shepherd…. @catnamedafteramouse #LazySaturday #cats #catsofinstagram
• Friday 27 March | I recruited a new member to the web team. @bellafanella will be taking on web dev tasks from next week, @jennaa0… #WorkingFromHome #WebDesign #UXDesign @oxfordbrookes
• Friday 27 March | We can’t visit the Veg Stall in town as usual tomorrow but they have been brillianly going round delivering veg boxes to over 250 houses… 🍏🥕🍅🥔🍊🥦 #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #coronavirus
• Friday 27 March | @bellafanella wanted to join in with a virtual coffee and chat with Liz and @jennaa0 this morning… #WorkingFromHome #coronavirus
• Thursday 26 March | Lots of fun to be had at the @abingdonconcertband Skype pub quiz, and our Any Key Will Do team came in a respectable second place after a tie break… #lockdown #whenyoucantgotoband
• Thursday 26 March | I have been usurped from my study chair… #coworker #newcolleague #WorkingFromHome #coronavirus #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram
• Wednesday 25 March | With the peaceful quiet, reduction of transport, and clean and clearness to the air I’m really hoping that when all this over we don’t completely go back to “normal”… . #lockdown #coronavirus #change #ClimateChange #ThingsCanBeDifferent @chrisgpackham2 @gretathunberg
• Wednesday 25 March | Thank you to @vnemma for the yummy #WorkFromHome lunch (all the better for being eaten in the garden). Whilst under #lockdown we might not be yet to the point of rationing, but Fadge actually really nice and can be made with any excess potatoes from the evening before… . #fadge #rations #coronavirus
• Tuesday 24 March | Sunshine in the grass… #daffodils #flowers #Spring
• Tuesday 24 March | Had a dream last night that I these #lockdown times @creationtheatre had brought back 1984 online via Skype, with audience members also on Skype being part of the action on the virtual stage… #coronavirus
• Sunday 22 March | Video chat with my Mum, including Jess! Love you Mum! 😊❤️x #MothersDay2020 #StayHome
• Sunday 22 March | Here’s to my mummy, and to mother’s everywhere. . PS. I might have over-estimated the amount of breast of lamb, so we only devoured half each. Colds tomorrow it is then… 😊🐑
• Sunday 22 March | In lots of theatres, there is a tradition; whenever the theatre is empty to leave at least one light on. Typically on a stand in the centre of the stage, this light is known as the ghost light. There are many stories about its origin- but it’s meaning is unmistakable. It means though the theatre is empty, WE WILL RETURN. . Let’s leave those festive lights on for the duration of or current situation, as as reminder that we will get through this… . #coronavirus #Covid19
• Sunday 22 March | Cat on a hot wood roof: @bellafanella is taking it easy… #cats🐱 #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 22 March | @catnamedafteramouse has been enjoying some Spring sunshine… #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram #spring #garden
• Sunday 22 March | Meet the flock. Slow-mo chicky-wick-wicks… #chickens🐔 #Spring #garden
• Sunday 22 March | So glad that I was able to give my mummy a Mother’s Day lunch a few week’s ago. And thank you to @arena_flowers for the gorgeous flowers that I sent her. I would love to have seen my Mum today but in these weird, scary times the best gift you can give is to stay away. #StayAtHome #MothersDay2020
• Saturday 21 March | After four days of #SocialIsolation and #WorkingFromHome we needed get out into countryside… #WythamWoods #woods 😊🌳🌞🥀
• Saturday 21 March | Woodland textures… #woods #WythamWoods @wytham_woods
• Saturday 21 March | Spring has arrived! #primoses #daffodils #flowers #WythamWoods @wytham_woods
• Saturday 21 March | Homemade pasta was so much fun to make and tasted so good. Although Tagliatelle Carbonara on Saturday is going to mess up the days of the week… #pasta #tagliatellacarbonara #makeyourown
• Saturday 21 March | Can’t get no pasta for love nor money so I’m going to make my own… #pasta #tagliatelle #makeyourown
• Saturday 21 March | Solitary daffodil at Wytham Woods… #daffodils #WythamWoods #hazelwoods #Spring
• Friday 20 March | First day of Spring and Scramble or Pancake has started laying her delicious tiny eggs… #eggs🥚 #Spring #1stDayOfSpring
• Friday 20 March | Very busy in the home office working remotely with my UX partner-in-crime @jennaa0. Thankfully I had chilli con pasta brought to me so I could get my prototypes finished before our meeting… #he #uxdesign #workfromhome
• Thursday 19 March | Just because you’re self-isolating doesn’t mean you can’t still go to band on Thursday nights… #FriendshipOfMusic @abingdonconcertband #music #friends 🎶🎵🎷🎺🎼
• Wednesday 18 March | I’ve just signed a petition asking @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak to give everyone a universal basic income in light of #coronavirus #COVID-19 #Budget2020
• Tuesday 17 March | Settling into the my new work space in these weird times… #coronavirus #workfromhome
• Monday 16 March | #FarmTherapy #Repost @pintsizedfarmers • • • • • • Feeling anxious due to #covidー19uk or #selfisolating? I’m going to try and post cheerful videos from our farm as a way to help anyone feeling a bit under the weather. Enjoy this short clip of Parsnip the pet lamb in the sunshine and the sounds of birdsong – hopefully it’s peaceful and relaxing! (We are all self isolating from today for a fortnight – as I have a temperature and a sore/itchy throat. I’m 110% it’s just a cold but I suppose it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. The kids, Steve and I are all sat staring at each other…It must admit it’s pretty easy to isolate on the farm as we usually don’t see anyone for days at a time. 😁) #lambingseason #lambing #lambing2020 #farmerswife #farming #selfisolation #coronavirus #coronavirusanxiety #covid #anxiety #anxietyrelief #petlamb #parsnipthelamb
• Sunday 15 March | “I needed to know I could trust you.” 15,391 words and counting of 100k… #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #AnalogueFuture #amwriting
• Saturday 14 March | The tiny, tiny church at Ducklington in Oxfordshire is simply an adorable little thing… #StBarthomolews #church #illustration #illustratorsofoxfordshire #illustratorsofinstagram ##OxfordshireArtweeks #oxfordshirecollection #amillustrating
• Monday 9 March | #Repost @abingdonconcertband • • • • • • St Helen’s Church, Abingdon Can’t travel because of #Covid19? Come and journey round the world with us on the 4th April in our next concert – Windows of the world. We’ll be whisking you away to all four corners of the globe and you won’t need to worry about your carbon footprint. Tickets available now! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/windows-of-the-world-tickets-96757750035 . . . #abingdon #makingmusic #oxfordshire #familyfriendly #concerts
• Sunday 8 March | Reading pile has got out of hand again! 📚😂
• Sunday 8 March | Rediscovered today, tucked inside the @ladybirdbooks Birds of Prey, possibly my first ever story, written c. aged 6. . This is the story of John and Alfonse and the first two cards were dictated by me to my Dad, and the third was written by me with suspect phonetic spelling… . #earlyworks #stories #authorsofinstagram
• Sunday 8 March | Spring is coming… #Spring @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 8 March | Hellebores at @evenleywoodgarden #Spring #colour #helebores
• Sunday 8 March | Sunday lunch with mum and dad! 😊🐑 (with apologies to vegetarians) #roastlamb #sundaylunch #family
• Sunday 8 March | The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci as found in @evenleywoodgarden #VitruvianMan ##LeonadoDaVinci #DaVinci
• Sunday 8 March | Spooky goings on in the @bodleianlibs tonight…
• Saturday 7 March | I don’t know what I imagined when I heard @creationtheatre were doing a musical adaptation of Bleak House, but the engaging, funny, faithful to the story, outstandingly amazing evening that we have just been witness to surpassed my expectations! I’d say go and see it if you can, but tonight was the last night…
• Tuesday 3 March | I didn’t know they still did upgrades for my kindle…
• Tuesday 3 March | So pleased to have my little camera back sans vignetting! Thank you @imagexphoto @imagexbicester 😀📷 #nikon #coolpix #repair #repairnotreplace
• Sunday 1 March | Who’d have thought that I would be leading @vnemma in the #40DaysOfLent #LentClearout?!?
• Thursday 27 February | Oxford snow… ❄️🌨️☃️ #Oxford #snow #slowmotion
• Thursday 20 February | #loveyourpetday
• Wednesday 19 February | Two introverts unleashing their inner-extrovert at work today, UX User Testing for e new library website… #introverts #extroverts #usertesting #uxdesign
• Monday 17 February | A 24-hour triumph
• Saturday 15 February | 160 cards folded, 140 to go… . #stock #cottageindustry @t.e.shepherd.art
• Saturday 15 February | My challenge should I choose to accept it… #stock @blackwelloxford #300cards #folding #greetingscards
• Saturday 15 February | Hibernating from #StormDennis with @scottish_curling’s #scottishchampionships2020… #curling @team_muirhead
• Friday 14 February | Me and my girl… #catsofinstagram #cats🐱🐈
• Friday 14 February | Valentine’s night in with my dearest @vnemma… ♥️💖💕 #valentines♥️
• Friday 14 February | Happy Valentine’s Day! #valentines♥️
• Sunday 9 February | My artistic life http://shepline.com/2020/02/09/my-artistic-life/ Thoughts inspired by @kiran_mh, @libbypagewrites, @blackwelloxford, and @oxfordshireartweeks • • • #amillustrating #amreading #amwritingart #ArtWeeks #books #bookshops #creativity #illustration #OxfordshireArtweeks #reading #writing
• Sunday 9 February | My artistic life
• Sunday 9 February | Hibernating from #StormCiara and I #amreading @libbypagewrites’ #24HourCafe with my next good read in sight… @kiran_mh #TheMercies
• Saturday 8 February | Got to finally meet @kiran_mh and listen to her talk about and hear read from her new novel, The Mercies #books #limitededition #home #TheMercies
• Tuesday 4 February | The world’s smallest #bookshopwindow display at @blackwelloxford… #books📚 #antiquarianbooks #bookshopsofinstagram @blackwellbooks
• Monday 3 February | Enjoying @libbypagewrites’ new novel, The 24-Hour Café. It’s the story of best friends Hannah and Mona, but so far I’m connecting with Hannah more, maybe because from the start it’s seen more from her point of view… #24HourCafe #amreading
• Monday 3 February | One week to go… #TheMercies @kiran_mh @blackwelloxford #books📚 #bookstagram
• Sunday 2 February | Just spent an inspiring evening of John Clare in reading and song, as part of @oxfordbrookes’ @thinkhumanfest… #JohnClare #JohnClare200 #ThinkHuman #TobyJones
• Sunday 2 February | Repair not replace. Shop local not national.
• Saturday 1 February | Been looking forward to reading @libbypagewrites’ new book ever since I finished reading The Lido back when that was first published…
• Saturday 1 February | Early Spring colours at @evenleywoodgarden
• Saturday 1 February | Did I say that I ♥️ snowdrops? #snowdrops #FavouriteFlower #galanthophiles #galanthus @evenleywoodgarden
• Saturday 1 February | Snowdrop season has arrived at @evenleywoodgarden! #snowdrops #snowdrop♥️ #galanthophiles #galanthophilesofinstagram
• Saturday 1 February | The colours and textures of Spring… #SpringComeEarly #winterwatch #colour #texture @evenleywoodgarden
• Thursday 30 January | P is for Ptarmigan! 😊 • • • • • • #Repost @joshuacopping • • • • • • Cairngorms National Park Ptarmigan high up in one of the corries of the Cairngorm Plateau. These awesome little birds are one of the most hardy species in the U.K., living in tundra like conditions ❄️
• Saturday 25 January | I love boxes… @i.am.aslan #boxes #BoxLove📦
• Saturday 25 January | Pizza time! #SaturdayNight #pizza🍕
• Saturday 25 January | Saturday night is pizza night… #kneeding #pizza🍕
• Saturday 25 January | When I wrote #MrTumnal I made a conscious decision to set it in Wren Hoe (a carefully chosen anagram) but to all intents and a purposes a well-known university town on the edge of the Cotswolds. Now I’m wondering, should I revise it to be full on Oxford. If an Oxford with a twist?
• Friday 24 January | Burn’s Night is a dangerous business. Swedes are impossible to cut and when you do get through them they are bloody dangerous when half of it hits your foot! Owowow! #Haggis #BurnsNight
• Thursday 23 January | motes. just learnt a new word. I’ve seen it loads but never realised until now that there was a special word for it… #motes #newwords #TheBinding @Br1dgetCollins
• Tuesday 21 January | Stop what you are doing now, this is important. 7.7 Billion people and counting… @chris.packham #BBCHorizon https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dl6q
• Monday 20 January | Signs of Spring… #garden #SpringIsComing #SpringFlowers
• Saturday 18 January | Posted on Instagram
• Saturday 18 January | Enjoying the winter sun… #winter #WinterWalks #PortMeadow #Oxford #OxfordOnSea
• Saturday 18 January | After the wind and the rain, it was a day of clear skies, cold air, and flat calm. Went for a walk down my the Thames aka. Isis which was inseparable from Port Meadow beyond… #winter #WinterWalks #PortMeadow #Oxford #OxfordOnSea
• Friday 17 January | I have a problem with this @nationalexpress advert. Those coaches straddle two lanes of the road. At least the roads are demonstrating how much they carve up our environment…
• Tuesday 14 January | #Repost @brookespoetry • • • • • • As part of the @thinkhumanfest here at @oxfordbrookes next month, there are six terrific (and terrifically free) #poetry events! Here’s a list so you know what they are and can attend them all! Don’t forget to register asap as spaces are limited – and please do share! On Sun 2 Feb, join very famous actor Toby Jones & almost-as-famous John Clare supremo Prof Simon Kövesi for an evening of poetry and music celebrating Clare’s life and work! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/john-clare-an-anniversary-celebration-with-toby-jones-tickets-75734657399 On Mon 3 Feb, Dr Dan O’Gorman has organized a magnificent panel of speakers, including Momtaza Mehri, to discuss ‘Stories of Hatred: how writers fight Islamophobia’: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-of-hatred-how-writers-fight-islamophobia-tickets-81243831487 On Tue 4 Feb, experience poet Jay Bernard’s stirring augmented reality installation that explores how we can be haunted by our histories and our everyday lives: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unbody-get-haunted-in-augmented-reality-tickets-80832081933 Also on 4 Feb, join the Poetry Centre, poets Susie Campbell, Jo Young, psychologist Dr Rita Phillips, & war expert Dr Jane Potter as we showcase extraordinary work from our military veterans’ poetry workshops! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poet-as-a-soldier-and-veteran-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-soldier-tickets-81245811409 Then on Thu 6 Feb, join us for ‘Constitutions and poetry’ – a multilingual poetry reading & discussion about how poets & writers respond to law, nationalism & cultural identity. With Niall O’Gallagher, Llŷr Gwyn Lewis, Stacey Astill, Prof Peter Edge & Dr Catriona Mackie: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/constitutions-and-poetry-how-writers-relate-to-authority-tickets-81225606977 And finally on Mon 10 Feb, our fab colleague Dr @maryjeanchan hosts ‘Intersectional Identities: exploring race and culture through poetry’, with the fantastic line up of Anthony Anaxagorou, Will Harris & Nisha Ramayya: https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/intersectional-identities-exploring-race-and-culture-through-poetry/ And did we mention that all these events are free! Come
• Tuesday 14 January | February is going to be good month for books. So looking forward too these new releases from @kiran_mh, @elvesden, and @libbypagewrites • • • What #books📚 are you looking forward to #amreading?
• Saturday 11 January | Found my spiritual home today, and got to meet both the real Aloysius and the one from the TV series… #teddybears #bears🐻 #Aloysius #BridesheadRevisited @teddybearsofwitney
• Thursday 9 January | 14:8? What is this madness? @abingdonconcertband #newmusic #windband 🎶🎵🎷🎺🎼
• Wednesday 8 January | I know, I might be 26 years late, but better late than never, there’s a first time forever. Never feed your penguin marijuana. #TheLionKing🦁
• Tuesday 7 January | Get ready for the #AnalogueFuture… #WhenThePowerGoesOut http://www.fraw.org.uk/meir/2019/20191109-the_invisible_footprint_of_digital_tech.html
• Sunday 5 January | In grey winter days there are signs that #SpringIsComing… #wisteria #WinterFlowers #WinterMagic
• Sunday 5 January | Tea, book, and curling… #loveWinter #curling #TeamMuirhead @team_muirhead @evemuirhead
• Saturday 4 January | A writing cat in the @fortnums windows…
• Saturday 4 January | Christmas window displays in @fortnums… #cats🐱🐈
• Saturday 4 January | Such a beautiful window display in @piccadillywaterstones it was no wonder I was going to be deduced in buying Bridget Collins’ #TheBinding… #books📚 #BridgetCollins #bookbinding
• Saturday 4 January | Eleventh Night Boy! @i.am.aslan #ChristmasTree🎄 #EleventhNight #12DaysOfChristmas #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Saturday 4 January | London Town #StJames #Picadilly #London
• Saturday 4 January | Took myself off to London today to satisfy my love of #EdwardArdizzone to see this year’s #TheIllustrators exhibition before it closed. Had a good chat with Chris Beetle too – thanks for the cup of tea too! #illustration #BookIllustration #London #StJames #Picadilly @chrisbeetlesgallery
• Saturday 4 January | Just got to see these original paintings from Helen Oxenbury’s Red Riding Hood sand discovered that she too is a massive fan of Edward Ardizzone! @chrisbeetlesgallery #TheIllustrators #HelenOxenbury #EdwardArdizzone
• Thursday 2 January | It might be back to work Thursday, but that doesn’t mean one can’t still enjoy, tea, cake, Christmas tree and a damn good book… #StillChristmas #ChristmasIsNotOver #EighthNight #PagesandCo #TillyAndTheLostFairytales @acaseforbooks #amreading
• Thursday 2 January | Twinkly lights this morning… #StillChristmas
• Wednesday 1 January | Day 1 of 366 in 2020 and I’m about circa. 800 words down in my quest to complete Book 3 of my #ImaginaryFriends series… #MrTumnal #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Wednesday 1 January | For old and new friends and followers alike, a reminder that my cards and prints can currently be found stocked in @blackwelloxford and my books in the wonderful @booksandink in Winchcombe. Drop in if you’re near then and show our high street some love in 2020. • • • If you can’t get to them, contact me online for my art, or ask in your own local #indiebookseller about my books. #shoplocal #loveyourlocal
• Wednesday 1 January | Getting back to the novel. These #ImaginaryFriends have a story to tell… #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Wednesday 1 January | To everyone who steps the house of Christmas at the vaguest hint of New Year… The 24 days of rampant consumerism trust leads up to 25 December is called #Advent. The period from Boxing Day to 5/6 January is called #Christmas. Relax. Live it. Enjoy it.
• Wednesday 1 January | 2019 was a bit of a fallow year for me when it came to my writing. In 2020 I will vow to find some way to balance better my wrong with my illustration as my #MrTumnal trilogy reaches its conclusion… #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #AlternativeOxford #amwriting
• Wednesday 1 January | Incredible way to see our the old year last night. @creationtheatre were at their finest once again for the #SnowQueen. Mr and Mrs Crow stole the show as they helped an incredible Gerda (@annabellemt) in her quest to defeat the evil Queen (@natasharickman – who did manage to make me feel sorry for her at the end). #NewYearsEve #theatre #regionaltheatre #theatreatitsbest
• Wednesday 1 January | #MyReadingYear in 2019… http://shepline.com/2019/12/31/book-review-of-the-year-2019/ #books📚 #amreading

2019 |

• Tuesday 31 December | What had the last decade brought me? 10 years of marriage to @vnemma, I published three books and began my art and illustration career. #DecadeChallenge #10years
• Tuesday 31 December | Book Review of the Year: 2019
• Tuesday 31 December | #NewYearsEve theatre from @creationtheatre is fast becoming a firm, festive, favourite, and this time we took our neice! #theatre #CreationTheatre #SnowQueen
• Tuesday 31 December | It’s not often I get to pay for my drinks with baubles… @creationtheatre #NewYearsEve #TheSnowQueen
• Monday 30 December | Me and my @bellafanella. She has severe heart problems, so I have to make the most of my girl and her big purr whilst I can… ♥️🐾🐈xx
• Monday 30 December | Prepping for tomorrow afternoon’s @creationtheatre magic… #NewYearsEve #theatre #SnowQueen @annabellemt
• Sunday 29 December | Dangerously unsustainable… #amreading #books📚 #toreadpile #lovereading
• Sunday 29 December | Jess with Rudolph… (and Mum and Dad too!) #family #Suffolk @rspbminsmere
• Sunday 29 December | My family. 😊🧓👨‍🦳🐕🐾
• Sunday 29 December | The funghi of Suffolk… #funghi🍄 #Suffolk @rspbminsmere
• Sunday 29 December | Regenerating in the Christmas Day sun… @vnemma #sun☀️
• Saturday 28 December | Just sobbed my way through the end of @21stcenturyyokel’s #RingTheHill. Descriptions of Dartington’s history and culture suddenly leading me in to the last days of The Bear and Shipley. Powerful stuff! #books📚 #naturewriting #memoir #naturalhistory #amreading @unbounders
• Saturday 28 December | Found a way to keep my Dad awake at Christmas! 😂🤣 #jigsaws #puzzles
• Saturday 28 December | A little bit disappointed in myself. It’s getting close to the end of the year and I’m still only on 1,898 books in my library… 😂 #books📚 #notquiteat1900
• Saturday 28 December | “Hi, my name’s Jess.” #dogs #dogsofinstagram
• Saturday 28 December | Just been to the @aldeburghbookshop and bought probably the smallest thing in the shop. Nib reservoirs for my dipping pen is just what I was looking for… #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #indiebooksellers
• Friday 27 December | Found my own little mousey to watch my new Children of Green Knowe dvd from the 1986 drama series. Absolute classic! 😊 #ChildrenofGreenKnowe #mousey #Tolly
• Friday 27 December | #Repost @booksthatmatteruk • • • • • • Baby it’s cold outside, book edition 📚😂
• Thursday 26 December | Boxing Day cat… @catnamedafteramouse #BoxingDayCats #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Thursday 26 December | This pen wasn’t exactly a Christmas present, but a exchange for one of @t.e.shepherd.art’s fine art prints of Blenheim Palace. • • • It writes very well, and is so very nice to hold . It is made by Jake Ashmore of @incendiumglass. #realpens #realwriting #allartiststogether
• Thursday 26 December | Jigsaw puzzles are a matter of serious, scientific business… @vnemma #jigsaw #periodictable #science #puzzles #BoxingDay
• Thursday 26 December | There’s been a murder… #christmas🎄 #christmasisover #santa🎅
• Thursday 26 December | Love this place so much. #10years ago this year this is where @vnemma and I got married. #Repost @ntwales • • • • • • Craflwyn, Beddgelert That feeling on Boxing Day after you’ve had one too many mince pies and the only chair that will do is one fit for a giant #NTWales #NationalTrust #Wales #Cymru #Craflwyn #BoxingDay #walk #winter
• Thursday 26 December | I think @vnemma might be regretting giving me this as I proceedin boring her about paper sizes, folding techniques, point sizes, and bleed… 😂🤣 #printgeek #design @designfortoday
• Wednesday 25 December | Christmas lunch with @vnemma sand the in-laws…
• Tuesday 24 December | Merry Christmas to All And to All a Good Night. 🎄🎄🎄 #TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas
• Tuesday 24 December | Some traditions are meant to be observed… #ChristmasEve #TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas
• Tuesday 24 December | I’m popular tonight… #catsofinstagram #cats🐱 #festivecats @scooter.mchooter
• Tuesday 24 December | Happy Festive Cat… #AllThePurrs #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram @bellafanella
• Tuesday 24 December | One of our latest Christmas tree decorations. This one, a hand-blown bauble from @incendiumglass which together with a glass fountain pen was an exchange for a @t.e.shepherd.art art print… #allartiststogether
• Tuesday 24 December | Christmas Day prep. With apologies to vegetarians… #ChristmasEve#StuffingBalls #pigsinblankets🐷 #MerryChristmas
• Monday 23 December | Bookishness cat… #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Monday 23 December | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 cats, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 cats Mad cat lady… @vnemma #cats🐱🐈 #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Monday 23 December | The thing I love about @21stcenturyyokel’s writing is the way that it shifts between between biography, to nature writing to uniquely wry observance of modern life… #naturewriting #observations #RingTheHill
• Monday 23 December | Crackers can be be a wasteful indulgence of plastic and tat, but eschewing the expensive shop bought ones doesn’t mean going without. Some @whogivesacraptp toilet rolls, paper wrappings, hats, wooden toys, and bad jokes later, and… #christmas🎄 #crackers💥 #festive #sustainable #noplastic
• Monday 23 December | 540 posts later and 3000 likes, my #best9 photos of the year… #ReviewOfTheYear
• Sunday 22 December | Christmas cake decorated… ✔️ Too much? #christmas🎄 #cake
• Sunday 22 December | Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some Christmas carols with @abingdonconcertband at @milletsfarm… #christmas🎄 #carols #music 🎵🎶🎼🎺🎷
• Sunday 22 December | Christmas sproutage! #christmas🎄 #vegetables #sprouts🥬
• Sunday 22 December | Icing… #Icing #StiffPeaks
• Saturday 21 December | Presents under the tree…. @williamo.jefferado #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram
• Saturday 21 December | Togetheness
• Saturday 21 December | The all new iCat, featuring Bluetooth, 5G, and wi-fi connectivity…. @bellafanella #cats🐱🐈 ,#catsofinstagram
• Saturday 21 December | The Festival of nine Lessons and Carols in a tiny village church on the chortestvday… #Souldern #midwinter #solstice #advent #christmas🎄 #ninelessonsandcarols
• Friday 20 December | Presents (and cats) under Christmas Tree… #presents🎁 #cats🐱🐈 #christmas🎄 #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Wednesday 18 December | Christmas trees of Oxford… #christmas🎄 #trees #balliolcollege #broadstreet
• Tuesday 17 December | Christmas is coming folks! #christmas🎄 #bicester #bicesterroundtable #fatherchristmas🎅
• Saturday 14 December | It’s not often that one sees your name on the band info board as being the band’s own author… @abingdonconcertband
• Saturday 14 December | Tonight’s Christmas Overture with @abingdonconcertband #concerts #windband #christmas🎄
• Friday 13 December | Copse at sunset… @nt_stowe #fridaythe13th #StoweLandscapeGardens
• Friday 13 December | Festive wreaths at @nt_stowe
• Friday 13 December | Twelfth Night Feast at @nt_stowe… #TwelveDaysofChristmas
• Friday 13 December | More of the Twelve Days of Christmas…
• Friday 13 December | Twelve Days of Christmas treasure hunt at @nt_stowe #TwelveDaysofChristmas #christmas🎄
• Friday 13 December | Treasure hunt to find ingredients for a Twelfth Night Cake at @nt_stowe… #TwelveDaysofChristmas
• Friday 13 December | Winter light
• Friday 13 December | The Holly and the Ivy… When you go carolling and wassailing into the twelve days of Christmas.
• Friday 13 December | Birthday outing for this crazy loon who is apparently 47 years old today. I don’t believe it…
• Thursday 12 December | Snuggled by the fire…. #cats #catsofinstagram #christmas🎄
• Thursday 12 December | Posted on Instagram
• Monday 9 December | Fully-dressed Christopher M. Tree has come out of the cold for the festive season…
• Sunday 8 December | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Bicester Zoo Pizza and #HisDarkMaterials to round off an enjoyable and exhausting weekend. Extra special thanks to @vnemma for sticking with me in all weathers and the cold to help me in my first market at @cogges in spite of her M.E. Thank you too for @beth_johnson_jewellery, Sue the silversmith from @the_woodland_witch, @chickenrunstudio and the other sellers from our corner of the farmyard and various gazebo-wrestling.
• Sunday 8 December | Thank you to @kavalociraptor for encouraging me into my first fair selling my drawings. Exhausted but proud of myself after the weekend – and possibly a little flat now it’s all over (until the next one). @rach.h.art’s sheep baubal takes pride of place on our tree…
• Friday 6 December | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Cogges Looking forward to taking these and my other artwork and books to @cogges Christmas Market this weekend. Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm. It would be great to see you there. #illustration #ChristmasMarkets #christmas🎄
• Tuesday 3 December | On being invited to pop in for a cup of tea: “Being Dutch, [or autistic, either/or…] I didn’t realise that British people say that kind of thing without meaning it” #saywhatyoumean @21stcenturyyokel
• Saturday 30 November | Little donkeys… #christmas🎄 #LittleDonkey #carols #carolling
• Saturday 30 November | Jack Frost visited ‘The Zoo’ last night and left the garden looking like a winter wonderland…
• Thursday 28 November | I’ve had a good and successful week so I decided to treat myself while it was on offer. T E Shepherd Art & Illustration as powered by #AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall… #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 22 November | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • My range of greetings cards, including my Christmas card have arrived. Looking forward to unleashing these babies on the public! @oxford_waterstones @blackwellbooks @bodleianlibs @sheldoniantheatre @hertfordcollege @blenheimpalace @eynshamhall @cogges
• Friday 22 November | One of @i.am.aslan’s favourite things… #boxes #catsofinstagram #cats #catsagram
• Wednesday 20 November | More morning sky… #sunrise #morningcommute
• Wednesday 20 November | Today’s Bicester sunrise… #Bicester #sunrise #morningcommute
• Tuesday 19 November | A properly cold and frosty morning… #fog #frost #sunrise
• Monday 18 November | A river runs through it… #Oxford #Cherwell
• Monday 18 November | This isn’t a lake… #Oxford #floodplain #AngelandGreyhoundMeadow
• Saturday 16 November | Getting ready for markets… #illustration #illustratorsofoxfordshire
• Friday 15 November | Fairy trees… #Oxford #fairies #FaeryMagic #trees #treesofinstagram
• Wednesday 13 November | Sunrise this morning over Otmoor…
• Monday 11 November | “Oh hi, I’m Chloe. Yeah, I’m sitting on the side, what of it?” #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 10 November | After the rains, The river runs swiftly. #autumn🍁 #rain #swolen #rivers #poetry
• Sunday 10 November | Autumn light through the trees… #autumn🍁 #light
• Sunday 10 November | Grannie’s bench and Grannie’s bunny reunited in the garden… #GrannieFrancis
• Friday 8 November | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • • Bicester Zoo Very exciting to be working on my latest commission. @debbieyoungauthor has previously asked me to illustrate the bookshop from her #SophieSayersMysteries books, and now I she has engaged me to draw the school from her new #SecretsOfStBrides series… #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 8 November | Whatever you do, don’t let the cat out the bag… #cats🐱🐈 #catsofinstagram #catsagram #Aslan
• Friday 8 November | Why are all Lucy’s both always musical and such brilliant friends? #Lucys #musical #friends
• Friday 8 November | Relaxed… @scooter.mchooter #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Thursday 7 November | A couple of month’s ago I joined the @theaoi. I’ve already received my welcome pack and magazines bit today a free watercolour and pin badge popped through the letterbox… #FeelingTheLove #illustrating #NotJustAWriter
• Tuesday 5 November | Interesting book placement in the window of @waterstones_oxford… 😂🤣 #DavidCameron #ForgottenBastards
• Sunday 3 November | A walk in the woods in the autumn leaves… #autumn🍁 #KickingLeaves🍂
• Sunday 3 November | Driving through autumn… #autumn🍁
• Sunday 3 November | Accidental mistake…
• Saturday 2 November | Just rediscovered my Gumdrop books that my Grandpa gave me. I never realised that he lived in Amersham and that’s where the books were set! @samthebook, have you encountered them… I think I might need to collect the other 15 titles… @booksandink #ValBiro #Gumdrop #amreading
• Friday 1 November | How many apples make as harvest? #apples🍏 #harvest
• Thursday 31 October | @bellafanella has always loved watching @BBCSpringwatch! #mousecam #bbcautumnwatch
• Thursday 31 October | Pumpkin cat! #halloween🎃👻💀 #pumpkin🎃 #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Thursday 31 October | Happy Halloween! #AllHallowsEve #halloween🎃👻💀 #pumpkin🎃
• Sunday 27 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • And so it begins… @bodleianlibs #ChristmasCard #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 26 October | Back with my girl after a worrying evening involving a trip to the vets. Love my @bellafanella 🐈❤x #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Thursday 24 October | Too soon! #Christmas @abingdonconcertband
• Wednesday 23 October | O that’s how you draw trees! ••• #Repost @ancientmodernist • • • • • Darwin’s mulberry tree, in the garden at Down House #Inktober #ancient
• Sunday 20 October | Last night I woke up at 5am this morning cursing that I had forgot to set my alarm. I was halfway through setting it when I remembered it can be later for Monday because of working home… before then realising it was still Sunday! 😂🤣⏰
• Sunday 20 October | Just like Chloë, writing essays never came easily to me. I love research, and pouring out pages of creative story, but essays… I really struggle we with them. What are you writing on #NationalWritingDay? #amwriting #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal #TheNovel
• Sunday 20 October | Just imagine a world in the #AnalogueFuture where the @bodleianlibs has a room devote to the 3000 volumes of printed @wikipedia to refer to during #research… ••• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_in_volumes
• Sunday 20 October | The original Shepherd Two… @bellafanella @catnamedafteramouse #BrothersAndSisters #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 20 October | If you were to print the entirety of @Wikipedia into multiple bound volumes how big would it be? ••• #research #Wikipedia #amwriting #NationalWritingDay #AnalogueFuture
• Saturday 19 October | Fairy houses or fungi…? @evenleywoodgarden #fungi #fairies #Autumn🍁
• Saturday 19 October | Seasonal colours in @evenleywoodgarden #AutumnWalks #Autumn🍁 #AutumnLeaves🍂
• Saturday 19 October | Happiness is being surrounded by trees… #trees #woodland #Autumn🍁 @evenleywoodgarden
• Saturday 19 October | Much needed countryside and fresh air with @vnemma… #AutumnWalks #Autumn🍁 @evenleywoodgarden
• Saturday 19 October | Autumn fruit… #fungi #fungiphotography #Autumn🍁 @evenleywoodgarden
• Saturday 19 October | #Repost @wcleeward • • • • • National Writing Day is this Sunday! Tell us a story down below. We’d love to hear your crazy and fantastic stories! 👨‍💻📚👩‍💻 #Nationalwritingday #leewardcc
• Friday 18 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • I’m thrilled with how well my #illustration of #Oxford’s @sheldoniantheatre has worked out. I’d love to know what you think? ••• The original and prints now available from @etsyuk and at this year’s @cogges #ChristmasMarket: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/731912258/sheldonian-theatre-oxford #SheldonianTheatre #amillustrating
• Wednesday 16 October | Just realised that by buying the new @philippullmanofficial from @booksandink, not only did I support a #indiebooksellers but I saved £2 (5 quid off instead of 3) than if I’d bought the #SecretCommonwealth from @waterstones! #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #amreading
• Sunday 13 October | I’ve been reading @philippullmanofficial’s #SecretCommonwealth and with its descriptions of a not-quite Oxford I’ve been wanting to get back to my novel. I’ve typed up everything I’ve written to dat and its pleasingly near to 14k words… #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #TheNovel #amwriting
• Thursday 10 October | On #WorldMentalHeathDay when you see that post by a friend that brings you up short and makes you think, remember, or learn something new that changes the way you act and do… If you do just one thing as a result of it, please don’t forget tomorrow. #ChangeEveryDay
• Thursday 10 October | My reaction to the end of tonight’s #TheArchers… #RIPJoeGrundy #RIPEdwardKelsey
• Sunday 6 October | Is the person in charge of flowers at @sainsburys actually the Queen of Hearts who orders her staff to paint the flowers in store?!? #paintedflowers #weird
• Sunday 6 October | Yesterday was my 10th #work #anniversary at @oxfordbrookes so I’ve made Chelsea Buns for tomorrow to celebrate. @jennaa0 doesn’t like raisins though so tagged is her special one… #ChelseaBuns #TearAndShare #TeamUX
• Saturday 5 October | There are always woodsmen in good fairytales and legends… #TheGirlWhoSpeaksBear #amreading #fairytales @sophieandersonauthor
• Saturday 5 October | Happy #BookshopDay everyone! I did visit my local @colesbooksbicester but for once I didnt buy, mainly because @21stcenturyyokel’s newly released #RingTheHill was “bought” a year ago when I funded it and @philippullmanofficial’s #SecretCommonwealth was purchased my currently between locations fave, @booksandink… #BookshopDay @booksaremybag #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #indiebooksellers
• Saturday 5 October | So glad to have the brilliant @imagexphoto back in town. Popped in today and they were really helpful with my camera and its slight glitch, and offered to do some investigations for me. #shoplocal #loveyourlocal @peckhamrobert
• Saturday 5 October | It’s here! So looking forward to getting stuck into this – that’s my weekend sorted! And good to support @booksandink even if they are technically “between shops”… #bookshopday #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #indiebooksellers
• Thursday 3 October | Today’s the day for the next instalment of Lyra’s story. Window display going up at @waterstones_oxford but I’ve already preordered my copy from the marvellous @booksandink 😊📚 @philippullmanofficial #SecretCommonwealth
• Wednesday 2 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • It was the illustration that defeated me twice, but I’m so glad I persevered with it. I’m so proud of how @blenheimpalace has turned out. • • • Prints now available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/727647230/blenheim-palace-woodstock #Oxfordshire #landmarks #BlenheimPalace #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 1 October | Really trying not to overdo this… #sky #clouds #ItIsAllInTheSubtlety #amillustrating
• Tuesday 1 October | Looking forward to reading @21stcenturyyokel’s latest book! #books #amreading @unbounders
• Monday 30 September | Red sky in the morning Shepherd’s warning… …of the deluge we’re forecasted for the evening commute…
• Sunday 29 September | Crabapple harvest… #crabapple #harvest
• Wednesday 25 September | I would like to apologise to @vnemma for inflicting a real life #StoryOfAFierceBadRabbit this morning after I inadvertently left the hutch door open last night and she had to fetch them in from the garden… #DrífaTheEscapologist #NotReallyFierce #NotReallyBad #BeatrixPotter
• Monday 23 September | I love #Autumn🍁 and I love #conkers🌰… #AutumnEquinox
• Saturday 21 September | I got a bit distracted buying vegetables this morning when a drag Queen came by in mobility scooter flanked by two beefeaters and followed by a giant bee, a whale wrapped in plastic and a mechanical fox… #weirdthingshappeninbicester
• Saturday 21 September | Arrived at the Oxford Covered Market for @creationtheatre’s Don Quixote and once again I’m greeted by name without showing my tickets… #localfame #regular
• Thursday 19 September | This is me. All the time. But I ever don’t regret it. #books #amreading #BooksBooksBooks📚 @allthingsardizzone
• Thursday 19 September | This #EdwardArdizzone #SketchesforFriends is perfect for @andyshepherdwriter… #dragons @allthingsardizzone
• Tuesday 17 September | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • The #bookloversguidetobookshops was always going to feature the King of Hay’s @richardboothsbookshop with all its fiddly architectural details. Its also the #bookshopsofinstagram that has had the original sold even before it was started. I’m looking forward to seeing it go to its new home, but prints are still available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/723656644/richard-booths-bookshop-hay-on-wye #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 17 September | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • #EdwardArdizzone is just brilliant, don’t you think? #myinspiration #inspiration #illustration
• Sunday 15 September | Love the simplicity of lines that make the riverside trees moving in a light wind… #EdwardArdizzone @allthingsardizzone
• Sunday 15 September | He has such a way with drawing figures. I was sat in the concert last night imaging drawing the players in an #EdwardArdizzone style…
• Sunday 15 September | Fond farewell yesterday to @booksandink in its Banbury location. Here’s to many years to come Winchcombe. Don’t change anything except the location, @samthebook. #indiebooksellers #shoplocal #loveyourlocal @booksaremybag
• Sunday 15 September | Dappled light and fleckled bark of plane trees… #trees #canopy
• Saturday 14 September | Time to say goodbye to @neilbrownless for Towcester Studio Band. Great concert tonight!
• Saturday 14 September | Love ❤ that i now have my own section in a bookshop! @booksandink #indiebooksellers #shoplocal #loveyourlocal
• Saturday 14 September | Visited @samthebook on her last day in Banbury. It’s not every day that you are presented with a present from your favourite bookseller. Looking forward already to visiting @booksandink when it opens in Winchcombe! #indiebooksellers #shoplocal #loveyourlocal
• Thursday 12 September | Remember, remember, you must never, feed a penguin marijuana. Never feed a penguin marijuana… #CircleOfLife #TheLionKing @abingdonconcertband
• Thursday 5 September | Small harvest of runner beans for dinner tonight! #garden #veggies #harvest
• Wednesday 4 September | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Illustrating #RadcliffeCamera has to have been one of my biggest challenges to date, and I’m really pleased with how its come out. ••• You can now buy the original drawing or order prints from as little as £18! https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/720267002/radcliffe-camera-oxford #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating @bodleianlibs
• Tuesday 3 September | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • And its done. Oxford’s #RadcliffeCamera is complete. Prints and original will be going on sale very soon. What do you think? #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating @bodleianlibs @weloveoxford
• Sunday 1 September | September Sea Bounty by @foxgloveandcowslip with added book about trees, a slice of tree drinks coaster, and a piece of fossilised tree… #nature #naturetable #bedsidetable @21stcenturyyokel
• Saturday 31 August | Presents!!! 😀🎉 #birthday #party #neice
• Saturday 31 August | Happy Birthday little Lily! 8 Today! 🎂🎉 #birthday #party #neice
• Friday 30 August | My little boy and girl… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Wednesday 28 August | My obsession with Edward Ardizzone. I love how the most recent addition to this shelf has been hiding on my bookshelves for over 30 years… #EdwardArdizzone #illustration @allthingsardizzone
• Wednesday 28 August | If you want to read #MrTumnal and its sequel, like #SignedEditions and want to support both me and one of the best, if not the best, #indiebooksellers in the country, then head on down to @booksandink in Banbury.
• Wednesday 28 August | I was talking to @booksandink about Chester Cricket’s adventures and about #GeorgeSelden’s other book Oscar Lobster’s Fair Exchange. Brilliant. Just brilliant. Absolute classics. #books #amreading #ChildhoodFavourites
• Wednesday 28 August | If it hadn’t been for our visit to @booksandink this morning I wouldn’t have realised that I was sitting on another #EdwardArdizzone back home hiding in plain sight. @samthebook, you should check yours… #PhilippaPearce #MinnowOnTheSay
• Wednesday 28 August | Who doesn’t need a bed that does this? #YurtLife #YurtYami #glamping
• Tuesday 27 August | Erica, my co-author of the #bookloversguidetobookshops, has already visited and written about #BlandfordBooks in her @bookshopblogger blog. Today I visited to get the photos from it from which to #illustrate it. I also found an appropriate book to buy… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #amillustrating
• Tuesday 27 August | Big towers and even bigger views… #BroadwayTower #folly #CapabilityBrown
• Tuesday 27 August | Gothic faces. The stuff of nightmares. #gothic #gargoyles #BroadwayTower #folly #CapabilityBrown
• Tuesday 27 August | Our Little House in the Woods… #YurtLife #YurtYami @holycombe #glamping
• Tuesday 27 August | Yesterday’s bank holiday lunch at the @whichfordpottery… #strawkitchen #bankholiday
• Monday 26 August | I really, really want to light that woodburner, but… still 20° and all that… #YurtLife #YurtYami @holycombe #glamping
• Monday 26 August | Just met the organist of the #TheArchers at @holycombe whilst settling into #YurtYami… #glamping #yurtlife @bbcthearchers
• Sunday 25 August | I want to be out there enjoying the nice weather, but umm… no! #TooHot☀️
• Sunday 25 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Wby everybody needs stripey badgers. My #review of #thestripeybadgerbookshop, jewel in the crown of the #YorkshireDales: http://shepline.com/2019/08/25/everybody-needs-some-stripey-badgers/ ••• See link for availability of prints and original. #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @booksaremybag @bookshopblogger
• Sunday 25 August | Everybody needs some stripey badgers
• Saturday 24 August | Relaxing on the Saturday night and listening to the Nina Simone Prom… #proms #NinaSimone #MississippiGodDamn🎶
• Saturday 24 August | A year ago i swapped my conventional razor with horrendously expensive refills in favour of an old fashioned safety razor where the only waste is this small pot of metal. Not full yet but when it is I will find somewhere to recycle them. #nomoreplastic
• Tuesday 20 August | With thanks to @laurapicklechop for the recipe, i made this rather delicious and healthy Shakshuka for dinner tonight. Apparently its normally a breakfast or lunch dish in Tunisia but it seems to do equally well as a main meal… #recipes #shakshuka
• Tuesday 20 August | So @vnemma decided to let the chickies out in the garden. Photo 1, left to right: Scramble, Pancake, and Mrs Chirpy. #chickens🐔 #chickensofinstagram
• Sunday 18 August | Please keep dogs on a lead, and no faster than 20mph… 🐕😂🤣 #BlenheimPalace @blenheimpalace
• Sunday 18 August | If I’m going to do the @cogges #ChristmasMarket then I need to extend my range of local landmarks. I may regret the number of windows and finicky bits in #BlenheimPalace… ••• #sundaystrolls👣 #wewentinthefreebackdoor #illustration #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram
• Saturday 17 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • One year old today, #thestripeybadgerbookshop is as delightful inside as the building is outside… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating #grassington #Yorkshire #yorkshiredales
• Friday 16 August | Couldn’t have put it better myself! #Repost @pintsizedfarmers • • • • • A level results? I got 3 A’s & spent 95% of my terrible “corporate” career hiding in the toilets and sob/ranting on the phone to my mum about what Linda said to me by the coffee machine. Getting good grades is not as important as looking after your mental health or happiness. Don’t force yourself into a career that doesn’t fit. Your exam results, good or bad, do not define you. Embrace your personality, cultivate your confidence/resilience and work at something you enjoy. (And which also pays a few sheep feed bills) 😁 #examresults #oldiewonk #advicefromanoldlady #farmer #highhousefarmbrewery #mabelthelamb #afarmersdiary
• Friday 16 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Friday night sketching at the #stripeybadgerbookshop… ••• #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating #grassington #Yorkshire #yorkshiredales
• Monday 12 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • The picture that almost defeated me. Oxford’s #BridgeofSighs is now finished. Prints and original are now available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/714577204/bridge-of-sighs-oxford ••• #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 11 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Almost there. One more evening should do it… #BridgeofSighs #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating @hertfordcollege @weloveoxford
• Saturday 10 August | It’s not often that going to the theatre involves you meeting royalty on woodland paths, being locked in a meat freezer with zombies, boarding a bus with sprites, stand round a tree summoning a lover who ends up being locked in the boot of a car, walk down a road wearing headphones listening to a man in a car. @creationtheatre’s #CreationTempest was weird theatre at it’s best!
• Saturday 10 August | Listening to elevator music on our @creationtheatre cruise and waiting for the show to start… . Theatre doesn’t get weirder than this. 😉😀 #TheTempest #CreationTempest
• Saturday 10 August | A little pre-show snacket before seeing @creationtheatre’s The Tempest in tempestuous winds… #outdoortheatre #promenadeperformance #CreationTempest
• Wednesday 7 August | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Ah… the Bridge of Sighs… *sighs* I think it’s going okay. What do you think? . #BridgeofSighs #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 5 August | Out and about in the Yorkshire Dales…
• Monday 5 August | Might have to sketch this one in pen and ink… #gordalescar #illustration #penandink #betterinblackandwhite
• Monday 5 August | Gordale Scar and a gorge-ous selfie… #gordalescar #waterfall #Yorkshire
• Monday 5 August | Malham Cove and Yorkshire Dales #limestone #geography
• Monday 5 August | Lonely tree… #gordalescar #Yorkshire
• Monday 5 August | Harebells and drystone walls
• Monday 5 August | Lest you forget… #Thomas #myname
• Monday 5 August | Between the two storms last night. Just about time to cook dinner. Just… ⛈⛺
• Sunday 4 August | 3 miles away still, apparently…. #Thunderstorms⛈ #camping⛺ #Yorkshire
• Sunday 4 August | Storms here! 😊 #Thunderstorms⛈ #camping⛺ #Yorkshire
• Sunday 4 August | A terrace with a view for lunch… @laurapicklechop @vnemma
• Sunday 4 August | Gothic times at #boultonabbey
• Sunday 4 August | Could almost be an album cover… #steppingstones #dontfallin
• Sunday 4 August | #boultonabbey #steppingstones #wharfedale #nofilter
• Sunday 4 August | Step carefully… #boultonabbey #steppingstones #deepwater #fastcurrent #wharfedale
• Sunday 4 August | Three friends and an old ruin… #boultonabbey #Yorkshire #ruins #priory
• Sunday 4 August | Obligatory #boultonabbey #steppingstones #selfie with @laurapicklechop
• Sunday 4 August | Three loons and a wonky doorway. @laurapicklechop might’ve moved to Yorkshire but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends… 😊 #friends #bandmates #Yorkshire #boultonabbey
• Sunday 4 August | After the rain, the perfect view to wake up to… #mistymornings #views #viewstowakeupto
• Saturday 3 August | Happy 18th Birthday Alex! 😀🎂🍾🥂
• Saturday 3 August | Yorkshire Tea for two and a spot of lunch at the #stripeybadgerbookshop. Perfect, and books too! 😀📚 I love how they make you go next door to the bookshop to pay for your food!
• Saturday 3 August | Room with view. When in Yorkshire it’s important to drink #YorkshireTea. And with a bookshop attached, yes @sarahjanenaylor you’re right, the #stripeybadgerbookshop is definitely one for @@bookshopblogger’s and my #bookloversguidetobookshops… #bookshops #wheninyorkshire #grassington
• Friday 2 August | Not a bad spot for a mini-brea, camping in Yorkshire… #camping⛺ #yorkshiredales
• Friday 2 August | Ahh… this is the life! #camping🏕 #Yorkshire
• Tuesday 30 July | Take two… #BridgeofSighs #Oxford #landmarks #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 30 July | This just happened. . I think the #BridgeofSighs has defeated me. . Of course when you fall off a horse, what’s it important to do? #illustration #landmarks #amillustrating
• Sunday 28 July | Grannie in the armchair with a cat on her lap. Perfect! @bellafanella #catsofinstagram #granniesofinstagram
• Sunday 28 July | “My seat! All mine!” @bellafanella
• Sunday 28 July | Steak lunch for Grannie Francis on a Sunday.
• Saturday 27 July | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • I don’t just #illustrate #bookshops. Manstone Rock in the Stiperstones Nature Reserve is the second highest peak of Shropshire. ••• Prints are now available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/724577447/manstone-rock-stiperstones-shropshire ••• #landscapes #ManstoneRock #Stiperstones #shropshirehills #Shropshire
• Saturday 27 July | As it stands the #Tories are 4th behind the #LibDems, #Greens, and #Labour. Please head over to Twitter and vote, and retweet… #GeneralElection #ukpolitics
• Saturday 27 July | Sorry, @bookshopblogger, I put clouds in. I hope they work for you? #ManstoneRock #landscape #notabookshop #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 27 July | Just debating whether I should attempt to add clouds, or will that only go and ruin it? #ManstoneRock #landscape #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 27 July | If you’re on Twitter head over and vote in my little #GeneralElection #poll… … And please RT
• Saturday 27 July | Straw poll in Bicester this morning. The will of the people seems to be pretty indisputable to me. And this from a (marginally) Leave voting region. #BorisJohnson #NotMyPM
• Thursday 25 July | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Too hot to do anything other than draw. The original and prints of #ManstoneRock will be available once its finished. #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 23 July | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • This one is for Sam at @booksandink. She told me that I simply must visit the #HayCinemaBookshop and she wasn’t wrong. It’s a book depository of your dreams and worthy of inclusion in @bookshopblogger’s and my #bookloversguidetobookshops ••• Prints also available now: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/723586147/hay-cinema-bookshop-hay-on-wye #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 23 July | Summer salads for summer days…
• Tuesday 23 July | Wilting… Melting… #toohot
• Sunday 21 July | Light, seafood supper… #tasteofNorfolk #tastethesea #samphire #salmon
• Sunday 21 July | Reflections on still water… #reflections #monetesque
• Sunday 21 July | Grotto art at @nt_stowe #grottos #art
• Sunday 21 July | So good to meet up with Lucy and Luke and little Lyra and Bernard today at @nt_stowe. Love the grotto of shells…
• Saturday 20 July | Guinea pigs and little woolly baaa lambs are so cute… #guineapigs #lambs
• Saturday 20 July | More animals and Grannies and weirdos enjoying #Farms2Ewe
• Saturday 20 July | Who you looking at? #Farms2Ewe
• Saturday 20 July | Emma’s Grannie had a visit from #Farms2Ewe at the home where she’s saying. So many cute animals…
• Friday 19 July | Not enough bookshelves
• Friday 19 July | Visited simply the most adorable little #bookshops today in Snettisham with the spritely 86 year old proprietor, Mrs Shepperd, and picked up two more little #EdwardArdizzone beauties… ••• #bookloversguidetobookshops @bookshopblogger @allthingsardizzone
• Friday 19 July | A little taste of Norfolk back in The Shire… #dressedcrab🦀 #samphire
• Friday 19 July | My life. 😊📚 #toomanybooks #notenoughbookshelves #torcbooks
• Thursday 18 July | Sunset over the holiday… #burnhamoverystaithe #NorfolkRiviera
• Thursday 18 July | Today’s bookshop finds… #drummerhoff #EdwardArdizzone
• Thursday 18 July | Hot dog on the beach… #dogsofinstagram #dogsagram
• Thursday 18 July | Sea Holly, Sea Spurge, Hemp Agrimony, and a funnel web spider #holkhambeach #NorfolkRiviera #flora #fauna
• Thursday 18 July | Sea Lavender makes for shades of purple on the beach… #holkhambeach #NorfolkRiviera
• Thursday 18 July | Six-spot Burnet moth #holkhambeach #sanddunes
• Thursday 18 July | Half sand, half sky (and a dog) #holkambeach #NorfolkRiviera
• Wednesday 17 July | Lunch on the beach… #seaview #sanddunes #shade
• Wednesday 17 July | Meadow Pipit amongst the sand dunes… #meadowpipit #sanddunes
• Wednesday 17 July | Markers in the sand… #beach🏖
• Wednesday 17 July | Holme Beach…
• Wednesday 17 July | Oh I do like to be beside the seaside Oh I do like to be beside the sea…
• Wednesday 17 July | Carpet of blue… #harebelles #sanddunes #wildflowers
• Wednesday 17 July | Grasses…
• Wednesday 17 July | Hawkweed, harebell, yellow vetch, centaury, cinnabar moth caterpillar on ragwort, marsh helleborine, viper’s bugloss at Holme Dunes Nature Reserve #wildflowers #sanddunes #NorfolkRiviera
• Wednesday 17 July | Architectural… #dandelions
• Wednesday 17 July | Orchids on the beach… #orchids #wildflowers #sanddunes #NorfolkRiviera
• Wednesday 17 July | Post-swim, local crab, al fresco dinner last night…. #NorfolkRiviera 🦀🏖🌞
• Tuesday 16 July | Swimming in the sea… #NorfolkRiviera 🏖🏊‍♂️🌞😊
• Tuesday 16 July | Avocets, curlews, and seven spoonbills amongst other bird life at @rspbtitchwell… #birdwatching #rspbtitchwell
• Tuesday 16 July | Perfect day for a picnic on the beach after a spot of birdwatching. Maybe even a swim later… #NorfolkRiviera #❤Norfolk 🌞🏖😊
• Monday 15 July | A summer’s evening in North Norfolk #sunset #burnhamoverystaithe #NorfolkRiviera
• Monday 15 July | A summer’s moon… #moon #sunset #burnhamoverystaithe #northnorfolk
• Monday 15 July | Oyster Catchers down on the creek… #sunset #burnhamoverystaithe #nofilter
• Monday 15 July | Sunset stroll at Burnham-overy-staithe… #sunset #northnorfolk
• Monday 15 July | More of the old hall of Baconsthorpe Castle…
• Monday 15 July | The Normans and the wool trade… #baconsthorpecastle #ruins #northnorfolk
• Monday 15 July | Hollyhocks!!
• Monday 15 July | The wibbly wobbly shops of Holt… #northnorfolk #holt
• Monday 15 July | Country cottage with hollyhocks around the door… #northnorfolk #cottages #hollyhocks
• Monday 15 July | More Norfolk textures… #walls #doors #brick #flint #ruins #textures
• Monday 15 July | Being Derbyshire born, and given that Chapel-en-le-Frith is my hometown, this is definitely a bookshop I’m going to have to visit, buy from, illustrate, and include in @bookshopblogger’s and my #bookloversguidetobookshops… #ReadingMatters #amillustrating
• Sunday 14 July | Textures and colours. And you wonder why I have a thing about doors, walls, and cobbles… #textures #colour #walls #doors #doorways
• Sunday 14 July | Little cottage for the week by the seaside… #Norfolk #NorfolkRiviera #burnhamoverystaithe
• Sunday 14 July | The artist and her work. I remember like it was yesterday, Rachel painting this picture of Corton Church for her A-Level. And I remember it inspiring my own drawing. It still does. #art #artists #friendswhoareartists
• Sunday 14 July | Always good to catch up with old friends. Emma and I spent the afternoon with my oldest school friend Rachel. And she’s pointed me in the direction of another bookshop to visit and draw… #friends
• Friday 12 July | Always good to finish a great book and find a mutual friend in the acknowledgements! 😊 #theislandattheendofeverything @kiran_mh
• Thursday 11 July | Out of office on. Let the holiday commence… #NorfolkRiviera 😊🏖🌞
• Tuesday 9 July | London. A nice place to visit but I couldn’t live there… #countrybumpkin #shiresboy
• Saturday 6 July | Chloe Francis hiding in the clover and the meadow grass… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Saturday 6 July | Chicory flowers in the #garden🌿🍃 #selfseeded #weedsdontexist
• Saturday 6 July | Little pidgie sitting on my nest… #pidgin #pidgeon
• Saturday 6 July | Bella, out and about in the garden… @bellafanella #catsagram #catsofinstagram #cats #garden🌿🍃 #outandabout
• Saturday 6 July | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • The Addyman Annexe was the first #HayBookshop that I went into and is the latest #illustration to join the #HayCollection of my #bookloversguidetobookshops. I’ve also drawn their main shop, and the murder and mayhem shop across the road. ••• Prints available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/719395425/the-addyman-annexe-hay-on-wye #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #amillustrating @addymanbooks @bookshopblogger
• Friday 5 July | My beautiful Bella. #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram 😊🐱❤x
• Friday 5 July | From garden to table in 5 minutes… #garden🌿🍃 #raspberries🍇 #dessert
• Friday 5 July | The two ends of the day. Ploughing through New Students page edits and sketching into the evening with one constant companion… #workingfromhome #amillustrating #wimbledon
• Friday 5 July | #Repost @booksandink • • • • • Just some of our signed books…. . #indiebookshop #indieretailuk #indieretail #bookshopsofinstagram #bookstagramit #bookstagramuk #signedbooks #signedbytheauthor #newandold #instabookshop #instabooklovers
• Thursday 4 July | Lots of hugs and snuggles to my little @bellafanella who’s today been diagnosed with heart failure. Love my little girl with the biggest of purrs… #catsofinstagram #cats #catsagram
• Tuesday 2 July | Would you want to read a massive book on the humanistic, geopolitical, and geographical reasons for the fall of the digital era for your first college tutorial? #AnalogueFuture #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Sunday 30 June | Cats chillin’ in the garden… #garden🌿🍃 #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 30 June | This is the life… #garden🌿🍃 #amreading #summer #AFarmersDiary @pintsizedfarmers
• Sunday 30 June | @vnemma and I honeymooned on this island 10 years ago. I agree with this post completely… • • • • • #Repost @jesskatbee • • • • • If Narnia met a Greek island, that might be @eileanshona in the summer. I’m not even sure where we went was real. It was a 50 min walk to any electricity or internet, so we didn’t bother. Our cottage was in a valley, looking out towards Eigg and Rhum, lit by gaslight and heated by a wood burner. We picked mussels from the rocks at low tide and cooked them for next morning’s breakfast. We watched a stag and a hind move past the valley at dusk, his antlers like branches come to life among the ferns. Saw curious seals and their little sausage pups resting on the rocks as we navigated the loch by kayak, who then followed us in the water as we tried to avoid being blown slowly into the Atlantic Ocean. We read about 85 times more books than usual, and put our brains and souls in a form of deep refreshment that actually came as a disconcerting shock to me. We saw sea eagles and pine martens and mainly just listened to the water. I think it’s the first time I’ve been disconnected from my fragmented social media self for years, and it was a slow process of changing thought patterns and realising how I used to be, in the 90s, as a kid, as a teen. I miss that sense of being fully present. It’s so rich. It’s so calm. And yet, I wouldn’t have found this island if it wasn’t for social media. So. Heading back home now, with midge-ravaged ankles, but I will never forget the golden light of solstice, when there was still sun on the horizon past midnight, a book could be read in a day, and the day’s most pressing task was making a fire and hoping your chocolate biscuit ration lasted.
• Saturday 29 June | Aliens have landed in my garden! #ufo #ufosighting
• Saturday 29 June | Summer sky #nofilter
• Saturday 29 June | 9pm, and it was finally cool enough to cook and eat the barbecue! #bbq #alfrescodining
• Saturday 29 June | Loving the descriptions of lambing from @pintsizedfarmers… #afarminglife #farmlife🚜 #sheep #shepherds
• Wednesday 26 June | Back into the novel, and it’s going well. I’m loving the new characters but it’s nice to bring back old favourites to the story… #NationalWritingDay #amwriting #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends
• Tuesday 25 June | Annexe to the main shop it might be (albeit on a different street) #TheAddymanAnnexe is another of @addymanbooks’ #HayonWye shops. #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 24 June | “Since the reduction of shipping trade between England and the Far East, and the flooded plantations, the traditional British beverage had become increasingly hard to come by. Chloë was used to nettle brews; on her arrival at college she had found a caddy of tea made from oak leaves.” #tea
• Sunday 23 June | The Vale of Aylesbury #walks #CoombeHill
• Sunday 23 June | Flowers in the meadow and the hedgerow… #buttercup #gelderrose
• Sunday 23 June | Layers if green… #trees🌳
• Sunday 23 June | The Last Slice. 10 years and one month to the day since @vnemma and I first cut this gorgeous cake, this is it, there is no more… #weddingcake #tin #10years #toptier #thelastslice
• Sunday 23 June | Today I have turned one old pallet into what might look like the world’s most rustic coffee table but is in fact a tunnel to link up chicken coop 1 with chicken coop 2. #chickens🐔🐔🐔 #oldpalletsandsomenails #supercoop #chickenpalace
• Saturday 22 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Just for a change… and in case you had forgotten that I also write… #MrTumnal #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Saturday 22 June | I wish I could talk with the confidence of some of my characters… #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Saturday 22 June | Spot the difference… @williamo.jefferado #cancersurvivor
• Saturday 22 June | My fridge door hasn’t looked like this since before the turn of the last millennium… #milk #milkman #NoMorePlastic
• Saturday 22 June | The future is here. Real milk comes in glass bottles. #milk #milkman #NoMorePlastic
• Friday 21 June | #midsummer #solstice #nofilter
• Friday 21 June | Happy solstice! Five to eleven and still light in the sky. #midsummer #solstice
• Friday 21 June | @samthebook has created my all time favourite bookshop in @booksandink. She is a true #bookshophero #Repost @booksaremybag • • • • • I’ve been a bookseller for 14 years, dreamed about being a bookseller for a lot longer and I love helping to share and spread the love of books, all day every day. I love our shop, it’s interesting, unique, full of serendipitous finds – a browser’s paradise. There are too many memorable moments in my bookselling career but one moment in particular has stayed with me, when a customer cried with happiness when I found them the book they were looking for. I love almost everything about being a bookseller (less keen on the paperwork…..) I can’t imagine doing anything else. Well, because it’s Indie Bookshop Week I’m going to pick some of my favourite books about books: 1. The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot, 2. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan, 3. The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street ed. by John Saumarez Smith, 4. Writers: Their Lives and Works, foreword by James Naughtie, 5. Women Who Write Are Dangerous by Stefan Bullman.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sam Barnes is the bookseller / owner / manager / all book duties undertaken at @booksandink in Branbury #BookshopHeroes
• Tuesday 18 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Possibly not since I #illustrated @rach.h.art’s windows in @waterstones_oxford have I enjoyed detailing every intricacy of shop display. #MurderandMayhem seems to have it all… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @hayfestival @addymanbooks @bexturner23
• Monday 17 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • #MurderandMayhem is a shop so creepy, just walking by the outside could send a shiver down your spine… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @addymanbooks @bookshopblogger @bexturner23
• Monday 17 June | “The saying comes from the Middle Ages when villagers were only allowed to take dead wood, not cut down trees or bushes.” #byhookorbycrook #derivation #TheGloriousLifeoftheOak #johnlewisstempel
• Sunday 16 June | Fun times entertaining the hoards of Henley-on-Thames with an afternoon of @abingdonconcertband music (even if the wind cause my music to end up in the middle of the saxophone section at one point!)
• Saturday 15 June | This is a great little book of mini-essays. The title says it all really. Basically read children’s books, and if you don’t believe me read this book, and then read some children’s books… @katherine.rundell #WhyYouShouldReadChildrensBooks #evenThoughYoyAreSoOldandWise #amreading
• Saturday 15 June | “Ignore those who would call it escapism: it’s not escapism: it is findism. Children’s books are not a hiding place, they are a seeking place.” ~@katherine.rundell, Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise #amreading
• Saturday 15 June | It’s #independentbookshopweek and I popped in to my local @colesbooksbicester and ended up spending my birthday book voucher from @jefferyshelen77… 😊📚 @mjphaddon @katherine.rundell
• Saturday 15 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • This was the shop where I found my twin loves of #RexWhistler and #EdwardArdizzone on adjacent shelves. @addymanbooks is a marvellous place, prints now available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/714304273/addyman-books-hay-on-wye ••• #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @hayfestival #indiebookshopweek
• Saturday 15 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Last month we had a great holiday in rural Shropshire (is there any other kind?), camping at Middle Woodbatch Farm where they have an old working granary, ripe for the drawing… ••• Prints available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/700449726/old-granary-middle-woodbatch-farm ••• #farms #farmlife🚜 #camping #granary #illustrations #amillustrating #Shropshire #BishopsCastle
• Wednesday 12 June | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • And we’re done. Who’s been to @addymanbooks in #hayonwye? It’s a most wonderful place that shelves my twin loves of #RexWhistler and #EdwardArdizzone on adjacent shelves… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @hayfestival @bookshopblogger
• Sunday 9 June | There be poppies at the end of my road… #poppies #poppyred #red
• Sunday 9 June | The colours continue through to the front garden… #flowers🌾 #garden🌿🍃
• Sunday 9 June | There’s love in the mist… #loveinthemist #flowers🌾 #garden🌿🍃
• Sunday 9 June | The colours in the garden… #flowers🌾 #garden🌿🍃
• Saturday 8 June | Today I accompanied @vnemma on her rounds to kitten-sit a gorgeous bundle of fluff… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats #petsitting @catstalespetcare
• Monday 3 June | Not quite a national collection but my Erigeron garden is doing well… #garden🌿🍃 #erigeron #erigeronkarvinskianus #mexicanfleabane #erigeronseabreeze #nationalcollection
• Sunday 2 June | Just chillin’ in the garden… #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 2 June | She’s not in trouble but Chloe is still in the duck house… 😂 #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 2 June | Summer sky… #nofilter #bluesky #blue
• Sunday 2 June | Flag irises… #pondlife🌾
• Sunday 2 June | Shades of blue… #forgetmenot
• Sunday 2 June | Alberto Frog is back in town! #pondlife #springwatch #frogs🐸 #frogsofinstagram
• Friday 31 May | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Another one for my #bookloversguidetobookshops and the first of my #HayCollection. Anyone know if Clock Tower Books are on social media? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #hayonwye #illustration #amillustrating @hayfestival
• Thursday 30 May | The best #weddinganniversary present from our niece! #tin #wizardofoz #tinman #heart❤
• Monday 27 May | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Just back from a lovely, relaxing holiday in the Welsh borders staying at the best farm campsite… #shropshirehills #camping #farmlife🚜
• Saturday 25 May | Textures of an old door… #textures #doors
• Saturday 25 May | I’m gonna miss the funky coloured houses of Bishops Castles… #brightcolours #houses #zips #buttons #jigsaws
• Saturday 25 May | When a castle is more just an opulent home – now for the swallows (sorry, not s great picture of this poser!) #castles #swallows
• Saturday 25 May | A study of doors… #castles #medieval
• Saturday 25 May | Messing about in #castles…
• Saturday 25 May | Stokesay Castle is the photographic dream that just keeps giving… #castles
• Saturday 25 May | More medieval details… #castles #details
• Saturday 25 May | Architectural details of Stokesay Castle #castles #carving #details
• Saturday 25 May | Post birthday and #hayonwye trip and things have got to dangerous levels of the #toread pile… #confessionsofabookoholic #amreading
• Friday 24 May | It’s been 30-somethong years since I visited Stokesay Castle but I love it just the same. One day I will use it as a template for the house I will build… #dreams #homes #nottoostately #pretentionsofgrandeur #castles
• Monday 6 May | “I’ve read all my father’s history books” says the man from 1481. So future books then… #amreading #TimeShifters #alongwayfromhome @katefrostauthor
• Monday 6 May | Farm garden down at the manor… #garden #wisteria @cogges
• Monday 6 May | Through doorways… #throughdoorways #whatwondersawait
• Monday 6 May | For my Cotswold Collection I’m going to #illustrate @cogges. See me at the next *coughs* Christmas market… #amillustrating @t.e.shepherd.art
• Monday 6 May | My loon! #lovemywife❤️
• Monday 6 May | Shades of blue… #wisteria #cianothus @cogges
• Monday 6 May | Down on ye olde farm… #pigs #sandyandblack #goats🐐 #goatsofinstagram #chickens #creamlegbars #ducks #muscovyduck @cogges
• Monday 6 May | Unexpected bonus of going to the @cogges #SpringFair was finally meeting @rach.h.art’s adorable Dash! ••• #corgis #corgisofinstagram @kavalociraptor
• Sunday 5 May | Pictures of a Wisteria #garden🌿🍃 #flowers🌾 #wisteria #spring
• Sunday 5 May | Colours in the garden… #flowers🌾 #Spring
• Sunday 5 May | Clematis Montana and a selfie… #garden #flowers🌾
• Sunday 5 May | Scramble and Pancake foraging for food in the zoo… #chickens🐔🐔 #chickensofinstagram #chickensagram
• Sunday 5 May | Chloe’s getting used to life in #BicesterZoo… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Sunday 5 May | Following up on yesterday’s yellow, and continuing the @revrichardcoles and @libbypagewrites inspired efforts to release my inner/hidden self-confidence I’ve found this red shirt in my wardrobe…
• Sunday 5 May | I go and play music with @abingdonconcertband at the #AbingdonAirShow and actually what I’m more interested in is the baby lambies and bunnies!
• Sunday 5 May | Seriously cat. #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Sunday 5 May | Looking forward to watching @vnemma when she sings in next year’s choir concert… #choir #concert #musicinspires
• Sunday 5 May | Buttercups and Spring lambs in a Oxfordshire field… #eveningwalks
• Saturday 4 May | Wisteria is flowering well in the garden…
• Saturday 4 May | “I like clothes, but not on me” said @revrichardcoles on #SaturdayLive today. Inspired by this, @therealgokwan’s response to him, and @libbypagewrites’ attitude I’m going to try and bring out my inner self-confidence for a change. #colour #colourful #selfconfidence
• Friday 3 May | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • And its done! It’s amazing how just putting a bit in to each side of @kewbookshop grounds it so much into the street. ••• #stationapproach #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @bookshopblogger
• Monday 29 April | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Not so many bricks in this one, one-stroke by pen-stroke, the @kewbookshop is taking shape… ••• #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @bookshopblogger
• Monday 29 April | Spring flowers in the garden… #spring🌞 #flowers🌾 #garden🌿🍃
• Sunday 28 April | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Heading into London Town for the first time for the next of my #bookloversguidetobookshops illustrations with the @kewbookshop… ••• #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #amillustrating @bookshopblogger
• Sunday 28 April | Chloe and the garden… #catsagram #catsofinstagram #cats
• Sunday 28 April | I love looking up into the tree canopy. Woodlands are my cathedrals… #bluebells #woodlands #trees #itsspiritual
• Sunday 28 April | #bluebells #bluebellwoods #woodlandwalks #lovenature
• Sunday 28 April | A walk in the bluebell woods with my @vnemma… #bluebells #bluebellwoods #woods #lovenature #nationaltrust
• Sunday 28 April | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • That special moment when you get to see your own artwork in someone else’s book… #illustration #inscribedcopy #signedbytheauthor #amillustrating #maps #itakecommissions @davidpennywriting
• Sunday 28 April | That moment when you search frantically with your left hand for your Moleskine notebook… …that’s in your right hand!
• Saturday 27 April | You can’t attend a literary festival without enjoying cake… #bookishdelights #literarycakes #literaryfestivals #HULitFest #TheCotswolds 📚
• Saturday 27 April | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • An exhibition of my pictures from my #bookloversguidetobookshops is on today in the Methodist Chapel at this year’s #HULitFest! #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #amreading #amillustrating @bookshopblogger @barterbooksuk @bartons.bookshop @jaffe_and_neale @octaviasbooks
• Friday 26 April | Wasn’t too impressed by the burrow of Great Escape proportions that the bunnies were caught digging but cool to see some of the archaeology of a 1990s housing estate that they found… #agriculturalpast #thesewerefieldsonce #naughtybunnies🐰
• Friday 26 April | Last month I was lucky to have the the theme from my novel #MrTumnal premiered by @abingdonconcertband. Tomorrow I’ll be talking at #HULitFest about books inspired by music (or visa versa). There’s lot more besides, and it’s all free! hulitfest.com/programme/
• Thursday 25 April | Unlike so many dream stories, this one was really good. Why did my decision to write it down have to be a dream too? Its annoying!!
• Thursday 25 April | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Well this might confuse the tourists… #bookloversguidetobookshops #notallmapsaretobefollowed #mapscanbeillustrationstoo #amillustrating #maps #mapwork Look, @debbieyounghawkesbury, you’ve made it onto a map!
• Thursday 25 April | Every guide book needs a map (or two), and the #bookloversguidetobookshops is no exception… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #amillustrating @bookshopblogger
• Tuesday 23 April | Textures on the beach… #texture #beach #Suffolk
• Tuesday 23 April | Life on the marshes…
• Tuesday 23 April | The Wenhaston Doom…
• Tuesday 23 April | The #bookloversguidetobookshops by @t.e.shepherd.art and @bookshopblogger is to be a celebration of what makes a good bookshop… ••• @heffers_cambridge @toppingsely @bookendskeswick @samreadbookseller @ylbooks @jaffe_and_neale @borzoibookshop @octaviasbooks @thesuffolkanthology @whitehousebooks @barterbooksuk @bartons.bookshop @the_book_house @colesbooksbicester @blackwellsoxford @booksandink @madhatterbookshop @waterstonesoxf @toppingsbath @harrisharrisbooks
• Monday 22 April | I remember when this church was far further away from the sea. It’s still got about sixty days but I can’t bear the thought of the North Sea taking this special place…
• Monday 22 April | St Andrew’s Church. I love this place so much!
• Monday 22 April | Jess, running down smuggler’s lane from beach to church…
• Monday 22 April | Covehithe is one of my my most favourite and special places. I always have and always will love it…
• Monday 22 April | Flora and fauna at Covehythe… #kestral #pussywillow
• Monday 22 April | Sculpture rescued from the sea at Covehythe… 🌊
• Monday 22 April | Jackdaw nesting… #corvids
• Monday 22 April | A walk in the woods… #spring #Easter🐥🐰 #deer #dogs
• Sunday 21 April | The face that launched a dozen years. Happy Anniversary @vnemma! 😊❤💕xxxx #12years #firstdate #anniversary
• Sunday 21 April | Apple blossom and coconut gorse.. 😊 #Easter🐥🐰
• Sunday 21 April | A little perambulation before Easter Sunday dinner… #Easter🐥🐰
• Saturday 20 April | I think that was successful… #ringueypie
• Friday 19 April | Flame-grilled cow for dinner tonight… #GoodFriday #Easter🐥🐰 #steak #barbeque
• Friday 19 April | Birdies bathing in the garden…
• Friday 19 April | First al fresco dinner of the year, and a barbecue too… #Easter🐥🐰 #GoodFriday #steak #garden
• Friday 19 April | My first Ringuey Pie that I’ve made. This was one of my favourites when I was little that my Mummy would make… 😊 #recipes #summercitrus #GoodFridayBaking #Easter🐥🐰
• Friday 19 April | Cup of tea, book, and #Easter🐥🐰 biscuits… 😊
• Friday 19 April | Walking amongst the bluebells on #GoodFriday… #woodland #nature #spring #flowers🌾 #bluebells
• Friday 19 April | Anemones are not our enemies, at the sign at Stoke Woods says… #Spring #flowers🌾 #woodland #walks #GoodFriday
• Thursday 18 April | Our lodger, Chloe, has been soaking up the sun…
• Thursday 18 April | Enjoying the first evening of the Easter recess in the garden… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Sunday 14 April | We’ve only gone and done it again! @abingdonconcertband take #gold🥇 at the @ncbf_festival national competition! #windband #musicinspires #music 📯🎺🎶🎵🎼
• Sunday 14 April | So already @laurapicklechop has the celebration and/or commiseration drinks planned for after our @ncbf_festival set…
• Sunday 14 April | Listening to the Band of the Band of the Scot’s Guard at @ncbf_festival #windband #musicinspires 🎶📯🎺🎷
• Sunday 14 April | Listening to wind at @ncbf_festival… #music
• Sunday 14 April | Jnct 16 of the M6… a reminder of university days. I can see #MowCop as we head north to @ncbf_festival… ••• #alsager #creativearts #cheshirefield #woodiwissforever #mmucheshire
• Sunday 14 April | On the road to Manchester and the @ncbf_festival finals… @abingdonconcertband #windband #concertband #notacompetition
• Saturday 6 April | Had a 10% voucher for @mostlybooks_shop following last week’s @abingdonconcertband concert. Oops! I didn’t mean to honest…! And then a cup of tea at @throwingbuns after…
• Thursday 4 April | Why do I always draw buildings with so many bricks? #somanybricks #amillustrating #illustration #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 30 March | The day my writing and musical worlds collide, playing in the world première of #MrTumnal, a theme by @vnemma and made into a piece of music by @neilbrownless, performed by @abingdonconcertband. Thank you to Neil for making it possible, and to @laurapicklechop and @sarah.cronin.73744 and the rest of the band for making it a thing. 😊🎵🎶🎷🎺📯✒
• Wednesday 27 March | These lovely #vouchers for the @audible_uk #audiobook of #MrTumnal will be up for grabs in the @abingdonconcertband #Storytelling concert on Saturday!
• Wednesday 27 March | Lots of great raffle prizes to be one at Saturday’s #Storytelling concert! #Repost @abingdonconcertband • • • • • No points for guessing some of the great pieces that will feature in our storytelling #concert this Saturday #30thMarch. However, here is a selection of the fab raffle prizes up for grabs! Tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-music-inspired-by-stories-tickets-55865508239 #Oxfordshire #MakingMusic #Abingdon #familyFriendly #MothersDayGift #books
• Tuesday 26 March | Chloe getting herself familiarised with the house… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Monday 25 March | The lodger having a tentative cuddle… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Monday 25 March | Just kickin’ back and relaxin’… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Sunday 24 March | Always good to see the mark of your friends on the next read, @lexiesox… #amreading #TheFamiliars @staceyhallsauthor
• Sunday 24 March | Carpets of blue… #springwalks #springiscoming #spring #flowers🌾 @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 24 March | Spring walks amongst the flowers… #springiscoming #springwalks #spring #flowers🌾 @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 24 March | The colours and the light of the season… #springwalks #spring #flowers🌾 #camelia #cherryblossom #blossom @evenleywoodgarden
• Sunday 24 March | The magnolias of @evenleywoodgarden on a Sunday… #magnolia #spring #flowers🌾
• Sunday 24 March | Booked our May today. Going to escape all of this #Brexshit rubbish and celebrate my birthday and @vnemma and my 10th wedding anniversary in the middle of nowhere… #middlewoodbatchfarm #WelshBorders #BishopsCastle
• Saturday 23 March | Saturday’s magnolia is my own, in the garden of Bicester Zoo, and is the purest of whites… #magnolia #stellata #spring #flowers🌾 @vnemma
• Friday 22 March | When you find yourself up shit creek in a leaky boat with no paddle, sometimes it is better to jump out and swim for shore rather than going over the waterfall down stream… #NoBrexit #RevokeArtical50
• Friday 22 March | This seems like a reasonable suggestion to me… #nobrexit🇪🇺
• Thursday 21 March | On Thursday it’s all about the colour yellow as springtime in Oxford continues… #Oxford #SouthPark #yellow #daffodil #spring
• Wednesday 20 March | Wednesday’s Oxford magnolia is all about the pink! #Oxford #universitychurchofstmarythevirgin #pink #magnolia #spring #springequinox
• Wednesday 20 March | “Wasn’t that what writers were supposed to do – make things up, make lies seem like truth, create new versions of themselves?” #DavidAlmond #onwriting #halfacreaturefromthesea
• Tuesday 19 March | A meeting of the (soon-to-be) friends is getting closer… #SplitChloë #FluteyLucy #whenChloëMetLucy #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Tuesday 19 March | More of the Oxford magnolia, this time with added lantern, and dreaming spires… #Oxford #magnolia #radcliffesquare #radcliffecamera
• Monday 18 March | The magnificent magnolia tree… #magnolia #radcliffesquare
• Monday 18 March | Spring colours in the garden… #flowers🌾 #hazel #mahonia #blackthorn #daffodil #forsythia
• Monday 18 March | Is this because @jennaa0 thinks that I am bananas…? 😊🍌
• Sunday 17 March | I’ve written a lot of chapter three today but it has mostly been narrative description. I’m looking forward to chapter four because I get my two new favourite characters come together so they can actually talk! #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Sunday 17 March | Listening to #MauriceAndré playing Handel’s Trumpet Concertos (albeit on CD not over-played cassette) still evokes 35 year old memories of reading Arthur Ransomes Missee Lee and still inspires me creatively. ••• What music and listening format still brings back those first memories for you? #music #inspiration #creativity #iwasnotacoolkid
• Sunday 17 March | iPods are too easy. I don’t play my CDs enough… #TheFirebird #stravinsky #cdcollection #CDs #iknowpuristswouldargueforvinyl
• Saturday 16 March | A little bit #fairytale magic from @creationtheatre in my house… #thriftshop
• Saturday 16 March | We’ll always have Neverland! @vnemma and I visited the @creationtheatre #thriftshop today and came away with some memories… #peterpan #snowqueen #treasureisland #swallowsandamazonsforever
• Wednesday 13 March | I’m a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer rather than a meticulous plotter (where’s the fun on that?) but I do like to have a plan for little bits so these notes are going to be invaluable for completing the current chapter… #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting
• Tuesday 12 March | “Somewhere, from a far off room a tune made it’s way out – oboe or flute – lilting out through the stillness” ••• Love it when *that* music makes its first appearance in #MrTumnal3: #ForgottenFriends. @neilbrownless and @abingdonconcertband are familiar with the tune… ••• #music #inspiration #musicismagic #HULitFest #amwriting
• Tuesday 12 March | Tops of trees moving // whole branches swaying // Trying to remember my wind speed identification… #StormGeorge #wind🌀
• Sunday 10 March | The Tree of Life… #treeoflife #peace #remberance #woodland @rspb_love_nature
• Sunday 10 March | Every manor house needs a “goose” pond and a tree of life… @rspb_love_nature
• Sunday 10 March | The old lodge and @rspb_love_nature HQ…
• Sunday 10 March | The last snowdrop // colours and textures // heathland // woodland // gardens
• Sunday 10 March | Twisted skeletons of trees… #oldtrees #deadtrees #trees
• Sunday 10 March | On The Edge of things… @rspb_love_nature #SandyLodge #oldquarry #stigofthedump
• Sunday 10 March | On the Nuthatch trail there’s an old quarry, that looks like proper Stig of the Dump country…. @rspb_love_nature #nature #SandyLodge #stigofthedump
• Sunday 10 March | I’ve always wanted to go to @rspb_love_nature’s HQ at The Lodge, Sandy, and now I have…
• Thursday 7 March | It’s #worldbookday! I’m celebrating by wearing my words… #MrTumnal ••• What are you #amreading?
• Tuesday 5 March | It’s pancake day, it’s pancake day, it’s p-p-p-p-p-pancake day! #pancakeday #pancakes🥞
• Sunday 3 March | Black cherry cheesecake. Well that was a scrumptiously yummy result. So, so simple to make too.
• Saturday 2 March | Said goodbye to an incredible, warm, friendly man today. @chascochand, thank you for understanding me, and for everything you did for me and believing in me. You have been and always will be amazing. #RIPChasCochand #blissfordvoice
• Friday 1 March | People sometimes say that you should eat your words, well I’m wearing mine!! #MrTumnal
• Tuesday 26 February | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • From the back room of a pub five years ago to five venues and a whole village celebrating story and the power of words across five venues, #HULitFest is the place to be… #illustration #amillustrating #maps #literaryfestival
• Tuesday 26 February | I’ll be there again talking about my stories and how music influences them… #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • In my new appointment as Official Festival Illustrator, my first task is to make a map for this year’s #HULitFest. Now in its fifth year the all free festival on 27 April has got so big it now needs a map. Come along and join the fun… #illustration #amillustrating #maps
• Tuesday 26 February | Our lodger is getting braver and today came down for her dinner… #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 24 February | The colour of Spring… #garden #february #nofilter
• Sunday 24 February | Cats are busy in the garden… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Saturday 23 February | Love is… 🐱❤ #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Saturday 23 February | Went into Bicester shops this morning to park car to find this pair of shoes very neatly placed by one car; returned an hour later and they had moved to the next car and equally carefully placed… #weird #shoes #strangethingshappeninBicester
• Friday 22 February | Remembering Chas in the best way I can, wearing my Lord Darnley feather with pride, as presented to me by The Editor and friend. #bv #blissfordvoice #bvtoday #ChasCochand #rwg
• Friday 22 February | Not everyday that you get to be a judge on a #bakeoff competition… @oxfordbrookes
• Monday 18 February | Mysteriously misty moon tonight… #moon #mist #winterskies #redskyatnight
• Saturday 16 February | I do love a bit of curling… #curling @team_muirhead #scottishcurling
• Friday 15 February | “Hi, my name’s Aslan…” #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Friday 15 February | Belated Valentine’s meal with my @vnemma! Love you lots xxx 😍❤💕 #valentines
• Friday 15 February | The beauty is in the details… #naturewriting #TheLivingMountain #NanShepherd #amreading @chris.packham
• Thursday 14 February | 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
• Thursday 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
• Monday 11 February | Not all eggs are the same… #eggs🥚 #spaghetticarbonara #MondayNightTraditions
• Monday 11 February | 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🚴‍♂️
• Monday 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
• Sunday 10 February | Did I mention that I love snowdrops…? #snowdrops #galanthus #galanthophile #springiscoming
• Sunday 10 February | More snowdrops and spring flowers at @evenleywoodgarden… #snowdrops #galanthus
• Sunday 10 February | Galanthophiles of the world unite. I love snowdrops, they really are my favourite flower – I think because they are simple and unshowy… #snowdrops #galanthus
• Sunday 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
• Friday 8 February | Since moving offices I have missed our height chart we made on the wall… #heightchart #9000sweets #5000envelopes #officetraditions #napoleon #gnome
• Friday 8 February | I am literally, and by that I mean actually, wet through… 😩 #drenched #sopping #waterproofsmakenoodds
• Thursday 7 February | 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
• Thursday 7 February | 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/
• Thursday 7 February | Public toilet… #lavatory #ondisplay
• Wednesday 6 February | Met a little friend this morning at the bus station.Who else thinks pigeons have character and are adorable? #pidge #pigeon #apigeonisnotawigeon
• Tuesday 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
• Saturday 2 February | 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
• Saturday 2 February | Shameless bookshop snap of my book children out in the wild… #instock @booksandink #shoplocal #loveyourlocal #authors4bookstores #serviceyoudontgetonamazon
• Saturday 2 February | Ended my January book-buying-fast in style today with these two great additions to my #EdwardArdizzone collection. Thank you, @booksandink! 😊📚
• Saturday 2 February | Duck’s feet and air holes in the frozen canal… #Banbury #canal #winter❄
• Friday 1 February | Obligatory #snow🌨 pictures in the garden…
• Thursday 31 January | You wouldn’t believe how happy this makes me… @oxfordbrookes #BrookesVR ☺️👏
• Monday 28 January | Purry girl out for a a cuddle and a stretch for the evening before going back to cage rest…
• Monday 28 January | 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
• Monday 28 January | 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
• Monday 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
• Sunday 27 January | Why are metaphors considered *better* than similes? Or are they? Am I wrong about that? #amwriting
• Sunday 27 January | Now, where was I? #MrTumnal3 #ForgottenFriends #amwriting #beendrawingtoomuch
• Saturday 26 January | Magical beasts and where to find them… #Narnia #believeanditisreal
• Saturday 26 January | Journey into Narnia with small Niece. Look at all the weird and wonderful creatures I found there! #Narnia @vnemma
• Friday 25 January | Dear Mr Haggis, how should I address you? #BurnsNight #haggis #neepsandtatties
• Friday 25 January | Catching up with the #manbooker50 longlist and #costanovelaward winner… #NormalPeople #SallyRooney #books #amreading
• Friday 25 January | The weekend starts here… #longweek #notbadjustlong
• Friday 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
• Wednesday 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
• Tuesday 22 January | @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…
• Tuesday 22 January | In the bleak midwinter… #snow🌨 #cold❄
• Tuesday 22 January | All stillness in the parks… #snow🌨 #cold❄
• Tuesday 22 January | Wintry scene at @oxfordbrookes… #snow🌨 #cold❄
• Tuesday 22 January | Snow… 🌨😃
• Tuesday 22 January | Posted on Instagram
• Monday 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
• Sunday 20 January | When “dead” sticks flower its literally the first sign that winter is failing and Spring is coming… #witchhazel #hope
• Sunday 20 January | Nana, retired chicken.
• Sunday 20 January | Snowdrops have always been, and always will be my favourite flower.. #favouriteflower #snowdrops #galanthus #galanthophile
• Sunday 20 January | Best friends forever. @vnemma enjoying a weekend with @caroline_wakey64
• Monday 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
• Sunday 13 January | Little squiggles harvesting ash keys #squirrels #nature #winter
• Sunday 13 January | Winter walks have big skies and subtle colours… #nofilter #PortMeadow #Oxford
• Friday 11 January | Feed me, feed me now!!!! @catnamedafteramouse #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Friday 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
• Thursday 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.
• Tuesday 8 January | Blue sky. I have missed you. #bluesky #sunshine🌞 #nofilter
• Sunday 6 January | New winter warner in the form of a @deliciouslyella two-bean and sweet potato Shepherd’s Pie and only 326 calories too!
• Wednesday 2 January | 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)
• Wednesday 2 January | I believe in fairies (and chocolate hedgepigs) #amreading #PeterPan
• Wednesday 2 January | 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
• Wednesday 2 January | 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
• Wednesday 2 January | This year, @whogivesacraptp #NoMorePlastic #2minuteresolution

2018 |

• Monday 31 December | Happy New Year everyone! 💥🍾🥂 I #amreading #PeterPan in front of the Christmas tree like every good self-confessed bibliophile should.
• Monday 31 December | What a way to see out 2018 but in the more than capable hands of @creationtheatre with their decidedly Creation-take on #PeterPan. Better than any pantomime it even cleverly took on our obsession with swiping and scrolling of I internet-connected devices in favour of imagination and play. #inspirednowtoreadthebook
• Monday 31 December | In which I give my annual Review of the Book Year and reveal my standout reads of 2018 (@libbypagewrites and @acaseforbooks) along with the book of 2019 (@elvesden) too! http://shepline.com/2018/12/31/book-review-of-the-year-2018/ #amreading #books #reviewoftheyear #reviewofthebookyear
• Monday 31 December | Book Review of the Year: 2018
• Monday 31 December | The cake is beginning to resemble a house at Covehive… #Suffolk
• Monday 31 December | Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning. The stage is set to see out the year with @creationtheatre… #thetheatrewhereeveryoneknowsyourname
• Sunday 30 December | My #2018bestnine…
• Sunday 30 December | Why shouldn’t “it’s real in my head” be a perfectly acceptable explanation? #HelenMoss ##RealInMyHead #TheWritersMap #amreading
• Sunday 30 December | The best bit about the long Christmas holidays… #books📚 #TheWritersMap #amreading
• Sunday 30 December | “Like Stephenson I am a cartophiliac, but because of Stephenson I am also an islomaniac.” They are @robgmacfarlane’s words but they could equally well refer to me. #TheWritersMap #amreading
• Sunday 30 December | Taking it easy under the Christmas tree… @bellafanella #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Sunday 30 December | There’s a definite theme to my Christmas presents this year as every year. Thank you everyone! 😊📚 #booksmakethepresents #amreading #books #storytelling @21stcenturyyokel @allthingsardizzone @kiran_mh
• Sunday 30 December | Not that I’ve got plans to leave the upper woodwind but 30 years on I can still manage a tune… #istartedontrumpet #trumpet🎺
• Saturday 29 December | Shepherd Family walk #Christmas🎄
• Saturday 29 December | Storytelling with The Hollow Woods #games #TheHollowWoods #thehollowwoodsstorytellinggame
• Friday 28 December | Got any advice on how to use them @kavalociraptor @rach.h.art? #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Got some new watercolour pencils for Christmas (thanks Father Christmas! 😉) so I’m trying out some new techniques… #illustration #amillustrating #OxfordshireCollection #carandache @cogges @caran_dache
• Friday 28 December | A walk in the woods to blow the cobwebs away…
• Friday 28 December | When what to my wondering eyes did appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer, With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name: “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen! #thenightbeforeChristmas #andrudolphtoo
• Thursday 27 December | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • My one true inspiration… #illustration #EdwardArdizzone @allthingsardizzone
• Thursday 27 December | Sunset over the heath… #nofilter
• Wednesday 26 December | And a little old Cupid / Stood under a tree // How does #EdwardArdizzone do it in just black, carefree lines…? #mood #illustration #PeacockPie #WalteedelaMare #amreading
• Wednesday 26 December | Drugged-up and chilled-out… #catnip #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Wednesday 26 December | #amreading #Christmas🎄
• Wednesday 26 December | The fragrant vale of Chatnagog / Harbours the small and sprightly Nog. / His shape is oval, like an egg; / He has one short and springy leg. // #amreading #MorePrefabulousAnimals #EdwardArdizzone
• Wednesday 26 December | “I love boxes” ~@williamo.jefferado #moggymoments #turkeyboxes🦃 #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats #Christmas🎄
• Wednesday 26 December | “So that turkey… You gonna finish that?” ~@i.am.aslan #catsofinstagram #catsagram #Christmas🎄
• Tuesday 25 December | A book of stories, a book about maps in stories, and a game to create stories… #TheWritersMap @HelpTheWitch @21stcenturyyokel #TheHollowWoods #thehollowwoodsstorytellinggame
• Tuesday 25 December | Christmas dinner was yum! #Christmas🎄 #turkey🦃
• Tuesday 25 December | Carving the bird. I think we had a right hussy with those legs akimbo… #Christmas🎄
• Tuesday 25 December | Christmas table set for two… #Christmas🎄
• Tuesday 25 December | Nothing says Happy Christmas to Cats than giving them drugs for Christmas… #cats #catnip #catsofinstagram #catsagram @catnamedafteramouse
• Monday 24 December | Christmas Eve means the cutting of the cake and just one, special present from the tree. Happy Christmas to @vnemma, and to All a good night! #Christmas🎄 #ShepherdTraditions
• Monday 24 December | The first book of Christmas. I’m going to enjoy this one… Thank you Grannie! 😊❤📚 #lovebooks #lovereading #lovemaps
• Sunday 23 December | More of Christ Church Cathedral at Christmas… #ninelessonsandcarols
• Sunday 23 December | Cathedral dressed for Christmas #ninelessonsandcarols
• Sunday 23 December | An evening out in Oxford with my niece to see the #ninelessonsandcarols at @christchurchoxford
• Sunday 23 December | Ring of candlelight… #ninelessonsandcarols
• Sunday 23 December | 425 our of 875 tiles done… #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 22 December | Last caroling session of the year. Thank you for the music @abingdonconcertband! We wish you a very merry Christmas! 🎼🎶📯🎷🎺
• Friday 21 December | A little bookshop tonight, and one which involves fewer bricks even if I do have to draw the whole country street. But where is this #bookshop…? #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 21 December | Just wondering if I’ve gone a bit over the top with this year’s decorating…? #Christmas🎄 #cake #WomblesCelebrateChristmasToo
• Thursday 20 December | One of these bears is not like the others // One of these bears is not the same… // #Christmas🎄 #bears🐻 #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Wednesday 19 December | I bought this book for @vnemma about 2 years ago and have been waiting to read it for myself for all that time. She’s finally read it do that means I can now! #amreading #TheEssexSerpent @sarahgraceperry
• Wednesday 19 December | Loose tea tastes better and you can have a pot for every occasion… // #NoMorePlastic #2minuteresolution #amreading
• Wednesday 19 December | I don’t often buy vegetables from supermarkets but next time I do I’m going to either a) take my own paper bags to put them in, or b) just put them loose on the conveyor. Either way they won’t like it but if they insist on plastic bags… // #NoMorePlastic #2minuteresolution #amreading
• Wednesday 19 December | No.More.Plastic. #amreading #2minuteresolution
• Tuesday 18 December | A rather soggy Santa Claus came to visit tonight. I think he could’ve done with an arc rather than a sleigh… #fatherchristmas🎅
• Tuesday 18 December | Only asked the bus driver if he could turn the reading lights on… please, muchly, thanks. You’d be forgiven for thinking I’d asked him to murder his own mother! @Stagecoach_East #X5
• Friday 14 December | This morning Nana was having a good sand bath and enjoyed some midwinter sun..
• Friday 14 December | “Me and my likeness” ~@bellafanella
• Friday 14 December | Sorry they’re not gingerbread @neilbrownless, but if you’re good some of these might be finding their way to @abingdonconcertband tomorrow… #mincepies #Christmas #concert
• Thursday 13 December | A girl and her Sundae… #birthday
• Thursday 13 December | Birthday meal out with my lovely Emma. Happy Birthday! 😊❤💕🎂xxx
• Thursday 13 December | Sunlit reflections int the window panes…
• Thursday 13 December | Birthday outing for @vnemma in the winter sun and freezing cold at @canonsashbynt…
• Thursday 13 December | Things you might find in a Tudor kitchen… 🐀 @canonsashbynt
• Thursday 13 December | #Christmas🎄 through the ages: from the Tudors to the 80s… @canonsashbynt
• Thursday 13 December | Birthday party girl! 😂🤣🎂
• Thursday 13 December | 900 years of Christmas at @canonsashbynt
• Thursday 13 December | Birthday treat for @vnemma at @canonsashbynt… #900yearsofchristmas
• Thursday 13 December | The holly and the ivy When they are both full grown… #carols #holly #Victorian #Christmas
• Thursday 13 December | Trees all dressed for Christmas…
• Thursday 13 December | Meet Nana, the 9 year old hen who thinks she is a goat and lives in a duck house… #hensareforlife #chickens #Nana
• Wednesday 12 December | Also, today is really not a good day for doctors to ask their patients who the prime minister is?!? 😂🤣
• Wednesday 12 December | Went for my yearly epilepsy checkup at the hospital and ended up being part of a study as a “normal” person… Asked for a list of words beginning with P, only I would say Ptarmigan! 😂
• Monday 10 December | The audiobook of #MrTumnal, unabridged and read by Robert Beadle, with music composed by @neilbrownless from an original theme by @vnemma is now available on @audible, @amazon, and @itunes . https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07L5Y6XBG/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-136005&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_136005_rh_uk . #amlistening #books #fantasy #magicrealism #bookstolistento #imaginaryfriends
• Sunday 9 December | Tradition behold that each year we add a new decoration to the tree. This year’s addition is a @rach.h.art original bauble… #Christmas🎄 #christmastree
• Saturday 8 December | Visited Emma’s Grannie. Met a friend.
• Thursday 6 December | “Me and my Human” #catsofinstagram #moggymoments
• Thursday 6 December | I still haven’t found out who my Secret Santa but it was clearly someone who knows about the number of cats I have… #secretsanta #cats #moggymoments
• Thursday 6 December | When the mysteriousness of the most middle class shanty town takes over Broad Street.
• Thursday 6 December | It’s great that they were being recycled but… it’s not so great that I pulled all these with full charge in them from the recycle box… #batteries #christmaslights #outofjuice #tocheaptobuynew #whywouldyou
• Monday 3 December | Don’t be left Home Alone on 15 December, have yourself a very English Christmas Carol when you take a Sleigh Ride to the Greatest Showman of the 🥇 @abingdonconcertband https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-abingdon-christmas-carol-tickets-51945086151 #Christmas #windband #concert 🎼🎶🎺📯🎷
• Monday 3 December | Might be late to the #greatestshowman🎩 party but better late than never (especially as I’ll be playing music from it in the @abingdonconcertband Christmas concert in a couple of weeks and @vnemma will be singing bits from it in a @rockchoir workshop)
• Monday 3 December | It is in deserted squares in the twilight ends of the day that those who look might see our #ForgottenFriends… #amwriting #Book3 #MrTumnal #homelessness
• Monday 3 December | 40 years in the future with wireless communications and electricity subject to frequent outages and unreliable we will have to once again seek out the red telephone boxes and find libraries to access the internet…. #amwriting #Book3 #MrTumnal #ForgottenFriends
• Monday 3 December | Upgraded my Christmas lights this year. £15 thanks to B&M in town…
• Saturday 1 December | Sausage’n’mash… #winterwarmer
• Saturday 1 December | Day 1 of #advent and finding a little bird hiding in our @angelaharding11 #adventcalendar… #Christmas🎄
• Saturday 1 December | Winter warmer… #sausages #mash #newsaucepans
• Saturday 1 December | A book of magic with twists and turns aplenty
• Saturday 1 December | Because its the 1 December and I like carols and flutes… #Christmas🎄 #carols #advent #abingdonextravaganza @abingdonconcertband
• Saturday 1 December | On the first day of advent… Christmas carols with the 🥇-winning @abingdonconcertband at the #abingdonextravaganza. #Christmas🎄 #advent
• Friday 30 November | Looking forward to opening the first door of our @angelaharding11 #adventcalendar tomorrow… #Christmas🎄
• Friday 30 November | Apparently the accessorization at this year’s @abingdonconcertband Christmas concert needs to be more Victorian than Santa Hats… 😂 #noSantaHats #TopHat
• Friday 30 November | Oxford’s @bodleianlibs play an intricate part in Book 3 of my #ImaginaryFriends trilogy. Expect more literary and musical references in #ForgottenFriends as the story leaps forward 40 years to a world we are just now beginning to get an inkling of… #MrTumnal #amwriting
• Friday 30 November | The Bod looking festive with it’s twinkling tree… #Oxford #Christmas #festive
• Tuesday 27 November | Seaside and birdwatching. Not pictured, but saw a Great White Egret too. Very exciting!
• Tuesday 27 November | Blowing the cobwebs away down on the coast…
• Tuesday 27 November | Birthday meal with my Mum last night…
• Tuesday 27 November | Happy Birthday to my Mum for Sunday!
• Sunday 25 November | Hooky Gold in my @abingdonconcertband glass. It seems appropriate… #ncbf #windband
• Sunday 25 November | We only went and got Gold! So proud of my band today at the #ncbf regionals. We’ve invited to the finals in April in Manchester too! 🎼🎶🎺🎷📯🏆🥇😊 #windband @abingdonconcertband @ncbf_festival #gold
• Saturday 24 November | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Not a bad evening’s work. One more night and I think I might be able to finish up @southwoldbooks… #illustration #amillustrating #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 24 November | I know that for some, the introduction of Amanda Jones’ tom-boyish friend Watts in #TheImaginaryWife was a highlight. It’s always nice to see old friends make an appearance… #amwriting #book3 #chapter2 #ForgottenFriends
• Saturday 24 November | #Repost @blackwellbooks • • • • • In 2007, when a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary – widely used in schools around the world – was published, a sharp-eyed reader soon noticed that around forty common words concerning nature had been dropped. Apparently they were no longer being used enough by children to merit their place in the dictionary. The list of these “lost words” included acorn, adder, bluebell, dandelion, fern, heron, kingfisher, newt, otter, and willow. Among the words taking their place were attachment, blog, broadband, bullet-point, cut-and-paste, and voice-mail. The news of these substitutions – the outdoor and natural being displaced by the indoor and virtual – became seen by many as a powerful sign of the growing gulf between childhood and the natural world. Ten years later, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris set out to make a “spell book” that will conjure back twenty of these lost words, and the beings they name, from acorn to wren. By the magic of word and paint, they sought to summon these words again into the voices, stories, and dreams of children and adults alike, and to celebrate the wonder and importance of everyday nature. The Lost Words is that book – a work that has already cast its extraordinary spell on hundreds of thousands of people and begun a grass-roots movement to re-wild childhood across Britain, Europe, and North America. https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Lost-Words-by-Robert-Macfarlane-Jackie-Morris-illustrator/9781487005382 #blackwells #blackwellbooks #blackwellsbooks #blackwellsbookshop #bookstagram #lostwords #thelostwords #nature #dictionary #words #nature
• Saturday 24 November | Not sure how I feel about this. The Raymond Briggs original had all the words it needed (eg. THE PICTURES TOLD THE STORY DAMNIT!!). It doesn’t need retelling. #Repost @ebbandflobookshop • • • • • If you always felt like you’d like to read the story of The Snowman, Michael Morpurgo has sorted it in this beautiful book! #christmasbooks #independentbookshop #shoplocal #totallylocallychorley #thesnowman
• Friday 23 November | Warning! Cuteness overload with @scooter.mchooter. Cold days are meant for snuggling… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cuteness #snuggling
• Friday 23 November | #Repost @madoldcatladyofficial • • • • • Before you ask… 🖤. #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #madoldcatlady #catlady #crazycatlady #catlover #catlovergifts #blackcats #blackcatsrule #catsrule #blackcatsofinstagram #etsy #buylocal #smallbusiness #designermaker
• Friday 23 November | Want a magicrealism story that “pulls in Old English fairy tales […] with a modern story line […] set in a slightly different version of Oxford” for your #weekendreading? . Reader Camilla “loved Kathryn as a heroine and how she ultimately saves Louis” and rated #MrTumnal 5 stars! 😊 . https://viewbook.at/MrTumnal
• Friday 23 November | #Repost @angelaharding11 • • • • • Happy 34th Anniversary to The Box Of Delights!. First broadcast on BBC 1 on 21st November 1984 at 5pm. The wolves are running!”. 🐺 #theboxofdelights #thewolvesarerunning
• Thursday 22 November | Damn it! I’ve only gone and got Let It Snow stuck in my head… ❄☃️⛄❄
• Thursday 22 November | It’s a brass niblets kind of day…. #Thomasism #brassniblets #coldas
• Wednesday 21 November | I don’t really agree with the whole concept of #BlackFriday but hey, these were 30% off and we had 70 squid of John Lewis vouchers, and our wedding saucepans of 10 years had really reached the end of days, so for £17.50…
• Sunday 18 November | Four hours later… #ChristmasCake #stirupSunday #Christmas🎄
• Sunday 18 November | …and a little red hen who thinks she’s a goat. #goat🐐 #hen🐔 @catstalespetcare
• Sunday 18 November | Goats are adorable… #goat🐐 #goatsofinstagram @catstalespetcare
• Sunday 18 November | More goat feeding with @catstalespetcare… #goat🐐
• Sunday 18 November | The Genesis of the Christmas Cake. This is from my Auntie Jane’s school recipe from 50-60 years ago. We use brandy now instead of milk! The musical accompaniment is about 40 years old and one of my most treasured possessions. #ChristmasCake #stirupSunday #christmas🎄
• Saturday 17 November | Yup! Me too… 😀 #Repost @21stcenturyyokel • • • • • #death
• Saturday 17 November | #Repost @abingdonconcertband • • • • • It’s that exciting time of year again – our Christmas concert poster is out, as well as tickets for the event. We’ve got a wonderfully narrated show full of festive faves, including one or two you may not have heard. . . Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-abingdon-christmas-carol-tickets-51945086151 . . #Abingdon #Oxfordshire #music #concert #Christmas #homealone #muppets #familyfriendly #greatestshowman
• Saturday 17 November | In not usually one for psychological thrillers but @emmarousauthor’s debut novel #TheAuPair does look good. Would still like to know how she manages it in three weeks though. I’m a three years kind of guy…
• Friday 16 November | Submission done. Please wish the #bookloversguidetobookshops well on its journey. Fingers crossed for an exciting announcement soon… @t.e.shepherd.art @bookshopblogger @shepline
• Monday 12 November | And after yesterday’s #goats🐐, meet Nana, a hen of superannuated years. she thinks she’s a #goat🐐… @catstalespetcare
• Sunday 11 November | This weekend I’ve been helping @vnemma with goat feeding duties. Meet Hamish, Rocket, Freddie and Eddie… #goats🐐 #goatsofinstagram @catstalespetcare
• Sunday 11 November | Brother and sister just chillin’… #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 11 November | Autumn textures… #silverbirch #texture #bark
• Sunday 11 November | #RememberenceSunday #Armistace100
• Sunday 11 November | We’ve had this poppy by our fireplace for a most four years now. When I sit and look at it now it is hard to comprehend that for all that time 100 years ago there were families separated, soldiers away fighting, and dying. #RememberenceSunday #Armistace100 #poppy
• Friday 9 November | Rearranged the books in my study this evening… #books #the1793 #study #homelibrary #workinprogress
• Tuesday 6 November | Small but beautiful. The best tasting apple I have ever eaten. Fresh from my young espalier tree… #apple #russet #freshfood
• Monday 5 November | Further to my new bookshelf I’ve been reordering the other shelves and have given my Dickens and Doyle a new home. Then I needed to make dinner so I hastily put a couple of other books back on the shelf… It was accident I promise, I’m not saying anything by it honestly! 😂😂 #CharlesDickens #Dickens #ArthurConanDoyle #SherlockHolmes #TEShepherd
• Monday 5 November | As regards yesterday’s bookshelf post… ummm, make that 1,792 books! Thanks @elvesden, really looking forward to this one! #apinchofmagic #books #amreading #proofs #proofcopies
• Sunday 4 November | The one downside to owning 1,791 Books is running out of shelf space. This weekend I turned furniture maker have made this. It’s made out of solid oak floorboards and has a weight to it accordingly. I even have a shelf for my #EdwardArdizzone collection… #weekend #productive #amwoodworking
• Friday 2 November | “We are certainly on the same page, but we are not yet in the same paragraph.” #TheStormKeepersIsland @cat_doyle0 #amreading #books
• Thursday 1 November | Well, it’s that time of year when you know *it’s* coming… @abingdonconcertband #windband #band #Christmas🎄
• Wednesday 31 October | Happy #Halloween🎃!
• Saturday 27 October | Winter warmer for tonight… #bangersandmash #sausages #mash
• Saturday 27 October | I will never understand why black cats are unpopular and struggle to be rehomed. My @bellafanella and @catnamedafteramouse are the best! #BlackCatDay
• Saturday 27 October | The neverending patterns of romanesco broccoli
• Saturday 27 October | So, @vnemma asked me to tag her as the ginger ghouly on the plate… 👻
• Saturday 27 October | Me and my @bellafanella on #blackcatday… 😀🐾
• Wednesday 24 October | “I’m not sure – but I’m rapidly realising that reading a book and being inside one are rather different things, and that one is considerably more complicated than the other” #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks #amreading
• Wednesday 24 October | What are the chances that I should be reading a book published in the same year as my own with the exact same reference? #amreading #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks #TheImaginaryWife #Alice #aliceinwonderland
• Wednesday 24 October | Yesterday I finally managed to get myself to see the @bodleianlibs #Tolkien exhibition and it was marvellous, and not just all about hobbits and magic rings either!
• Wednesday 24 October | I just know that this is is going to be one of those books that I’m going to be so upset to finish reading… #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks #amreading #modernclassic
• Monday 22 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Topping and Company Booksellers have shops on both sides of the country. This is their Bath presence and it looks so damn appealing. . Prints are now available in three sizes from just £12! . https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/639263022/topping-and-company-booksellers-bath #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @toppingsbath
• Sunday 21 October | “Louis smiled, slightly more at ease by Kathryn’s reassurances. He wasn’t sure but he felt now that this might be someone who he wouldn’t mind looking through his music collection.” . When you realise that it could be love… #MrTumnal #booksforautumn #amreading
• Sunday 21 October | Old Rectory living at Deddington… #autumn🍁 #walk #sunshine🌞
• Sunday 21 October | Went for an autumnal walk at Deddington Castle and all I got was plagued by ladybirds… 😊🍁🍂 #autumn🍁 #Ladybird🐞
• Sunday 21 October | Lady Bird @vnemma… 😊🍁 #autumn🍁 #Ladybird🐞
• Sunday 21 October | As #DavidMitchell once said, “wouldn’t it be weird to discover you were related to someone fictional? You’d start to doubt your own existence.” #fiction #reality #imaginaryfriends #MrTumnal #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks #amreading
• Friday 19 October | There’s no better place than @booksandink to go #bookwandering. I’m a bookwanderer and the #Underlibrary is my second home… #amreading #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks
• Thursday 18 October | But that’s literally the best bit about books and reading and stories… #books #amreading #amwriting
• Thursday 18 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • Illustrating the @madhatterbookshop in Burford was another epic labour of love and perspective with its situation on a hill to boot but I’m really happy with the result. What do you think? . If you like a #bookshop that sells both #hats as well as #books prints in three sizes, available both mounted and not, now: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/638101222/the-madhatter-bookshop-burford . #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Wednesday 17 October | #Repost @21stcenturyyokel • • • • •
• Tuesday 16 October | It’s a bit worn but one of my most-prized possessions… Happy 60th Birthday Blue Peter! #BluePeter #BluePeter60 #bluepeterbadge #badgewinner
• Tuesday 16 October | A seasonally colourful meal… #sweetpotato #spinach #paprika
• Tuesday 16 October | “Well, why on earth does being from a book mean I’m not real?” . My point exactly! 😉 #amreading #PagesandCo @acaseforbooks
• Monday 15 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • When I first started my #bookloversguidetobookshops project it seemed like such a good idea… . It still is a very good idea, but boy is it a lot of work! #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating @madhatterbookshop
• Sunday 14 October | “Be brave, be curious, be kind.” Today has been a start-a-new-book kind of day… #pagesandco @acaseforbooks #amreading
• Saturday 13 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • From one bear to another, Happy 60th Birthday, Paddington Bear!! . #PaddingtonBear #Paddington60 #Ardizzone #bears #bearsofinstagram
• Friday 12 October | Not a bad effort for an evening’s #amwriting. It’s early days but I have a funny feeling that #ForgottenFriends might be my best novel yet… . #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3
• Friday 12 October | Moved to my new office today with my greenhouse of plants, adjustable height desk, mini wall of the weird, and miniature ottoman chairs that @nickyanderton710 made. Back to open plan office after 9 years. Not since I left the lexicographer’s “morgue”… #changeisgood
• Friday 12 October | #Autumn🍁 is a time for swirling, fallen leaves, and stories. What are you reading this weekend? If you need something new why try the ultimate in seasonal tales that is #MrTumnal – link in the bio…
• Thursday 11 October | Happy Birthday Ben! And thank you @lucycaitlinkettlewell for the exceedingly yummy cake! 😀
• Wednesday 10 October | #amwriting or #amreading? The curse of the reading-loving inspired-writer…
• Wednesday 10 October | Discussing the future of HE in the country inside the posh new building… 😀
• Wednesday 10 October | “She sighed and wished for the rapid fire of the Digital SLR she had been used to in her younger days…” #AnalogueFuture #amwriting #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3
• Tuesday 9 October | More bus writing… #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3 #amwriting
• Monday 8 October | “Was she ready? Chloë frowned and shook her head. Definitely not, but this was something that she had to do…” . Sometimes I surprise myself at what I write! 😀✒ #amwriting #ForgottenFriends #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3
• Sunday 7 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • There’s a new best in town! Meet Ardizzone Bear, childhood friend of Louis Tumnal… #Ardizzone #bearsofinstagram #MrTumnal #amillustrating #inktober
• Sunday 7 October | Ducks-a-dabbling… #duck🐤 #Douglas
• Sunday 7 October | That time when what you really want to do is get stuck into your new book but you have to finish the one you’re reading first… #amreading #PredatorsGold #pagesandco @acaseforbooks
• Sunday 7 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • It occurs to me that these stats are exactly online with the ethos behind my own #bookloversguidetobookshops…
• Saturday 6 October | My TBR pile has reached dangerously unstable proportions. It’s tetering, toppling, and wobbling… #books #obsessions #addiction
• Saturday 6 October | As an #IndieAuthor I strongly believe it’s important to support #IndieBooksellers and there is no better way to do it than on #bookshopday. So I headed out to @booksandink where you can now find the first two books in my #ImaginaryFriends series and greetings cards of the shop from my #bookloversguidetobookshops in stock. #loveyourlocal
• Saturday 6 October | Spotted this slightly unfortunate shelving at @booksandink today… 😂 #cookery #yourfirstmouse #bookshopday
• Saturday 6 October | #Dragons spotted on #bookshopday in @booksandink… @andyshepherdwriter @booksaremybag
• Saturday 6 October | When I saw this carousel book in the precious books cabinet at @booksandink it was like a blast from the past. The tale of Jack and the Beanstalk that you can really look into that I remember having (and losing ☹) in my childhood. Illustrated by Irana Shepherd (!!) they really don’t make books like this anymore… #bookshopday #amreading #peepshowbooks
• Saturday 6 October | I can’t believe that I’ve never heard of Dennis the Dragon before? Thank you @booksandink for recommending this #Ladybird🐞 favourite of yours. I think this is actually an important book for all those kind, nice people who nonetheless get picked on and bullied. You will succeed! #bookshopday #amreading #dragons
• Saturday 6 October | #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • What better way to celebrate #bookshopday but to deliver #greetingscards in person to thed amazing @booksandink. In stock and on sale NOW! 😀 @booksaremybag #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 6 October | I’ve set up a new, public, Instagram account dedicated to my #art and #illustration. Why not have a look… . #Repost @t.e.shepherd.art • • • • • It’s a cold, grey, October day – the perfect day for snuggling down with a good book (or two) that you’ve bought from your favourite bookshop. I’ll be heading down to my favourite, @booksandink to deliver these fantastic greetings cards… #bookshopday @booksaremybag #booksaremybag #greetingscards #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Friday 5 October | I get home from a Friday to start the weekend to be greeted by This! . …but more pleasurable a letter from #work confirming that my I am no longer considered at risk. 😀 Just wish the poor pidgie hadn’t have been more at risk earlier… 😭
• Friday 5 October | Nine years ago today I started working at @oxfordbrookes… #BrookesBirthday #NineYears #LifeInGibbs
• Wednesday 3 October | It’s getting real. The audiobook of Mr Tumnal, read by Robert Beadle is getting closer… #audiobooks #MrTumnal #amlistening #ImaginaryFriends
• Sunday 30 September | And so it begins… #ImaginaryFriends #BookThree #ForgottenFriends #amwriting #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3
• Saturday 29 September | Delicious breast of lamb dinner. Something special for @vnemma’s mum whilst she stays for the weekend…
• Saturday 29 September | More #autumn🍁 colour and flowers at @aston_pottery…
• Saturday 29 September | #autumn🍁 #flowers and colour at @aston_pottery
• Saturday 29 September | When @vnemma’s mum came to visit for a trip out into the country for some #autumn🍁 colour and sunshine…
• Friday 28 September | So much Cotswold stone finally finished! The @borzoibookshop is a delight of a bookshop in a charmingly, plain and ordinary building… . #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Thursday 27 September | Got home from work today to find that @vnemma had made me a present for everything that has happened recently with the work restructure… 😊❤x
• Thursday 27 September | Just turn that in 80,000 words. Yeah, no problem… 😂 #story #amplotting #amwriting #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3 #MrTumnal
• Thursday 27 September | Plotting the conclusion to my #ImaginaryFriends series… #ForgottenFriends #MrTumnal #MrTumnal3 #amplotting #amwriting
• Wednesday 26 September | Filling in the gaps… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @borzoibookshop
• Wednesday 26 September | #InternationalRabbitDay was last Saturday, but there’s no day when to #cuddleabunny doesn’t make everything okay… #bunniesofinstagram #rabbitsofinstagram #bunnies🐇🐇 #rabbits
• Wednesday 26 September | Okay, I’m looking for the names of brother and sister #fairies/#huldufólk children for my next novel. If there’s a reference to old English myth then so much the better… #amplotting #amwriting #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal3
• Wednesday 26 September | #Repost @kiran_mh • • • • • OMG OMG OMG LOOK WHAT IS HERE! Still pinching myself I’m in this extraordinary atlas alongside so many heroes. Though should maybe have rethought letting them put the terrible plot map for #TheGirlOfInkAndStars, in alongside some of the finest works of history. My essay in this is about how drawing that map was the first step to charting my way out of a darkness I’d lived in for years. There were many factors, but I’m forever grateful to writing for helping lift me out of my depression and giving me a new life. #TheWritersMap is out from @thamesandhudson on the 4th October, same day as #TheWayPastWinter.
• Tuesday 25 September | I feel like I’m building an entire Cotswold town…! #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @borzoibookshop
• Tuesday 25 September | I feel like I’m building an entire Cotswold town…! #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @borzoibookshop
• Monday 24 September | Progress is not having as many aching gaps in a Cotswold stone wall… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops @borzoibookshop
• Monday 24 September | When drawing a bookshop becomes drawing the whole street… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @borzoibookshop
• Sunday 23 September | I’m sure there was a perfectly good reason why I decided to draw both sides of the street… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating @borzoibookshop
• Sunday 23 September | Sweet potato, black beans, paprika and maple served with brown rice and guacamole… #warmingfood #autumn???? @deliciouslyella
• Sunday 23 September | What a lot of Cotswold stone wall there is in the @borzoibookshop… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 22 September | Saturday night sketching this week involves working on a #bookshop that I think @ninalsmith will approve of… #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 22 September | Artistic cat. Drawing this even I g could be a challenge… #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 22 September | Drawing this afternoon and cooking this evening whilst listening to a new audiobook. It’s rather good. “Louis existed, and Sarah existed. But Sarah had no father, and Louis had no child.” I wonder who wrote this… #MrTumnal
• Saturday 22 September | The shock! The horror! Have just discovered that the Real Wife hasn’t yet read #TheImaginaryWife! It’s not like there aren’t enough copies lying around here…
• Saturday 22 September | Where am I going now…? #amillustrating #illustration
• Saturday 22 September | Today I got meat from the butchers, some photos printed from our local independent photographers, used the library to get son A3 printing done to help with a commission, and got loads of veg from the stall in the main street. Love our little town. #loveBicester❤
• Friday 21 September | It’s finished! The half-timbered nature of this building has made drawing Barton’s Bookshop both a pleasure and a challenge. . Available to order now from my @etsyuk shop in three sizes: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/645577485/bartons-bookshop-leatherhead . #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Thursday 20 September | Almost there. It looks so much better with a door… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Thursday 20 September | What’s done is done. She all is said and done I think that I did my best… #milkshake #relax #work #restructure #interview
• Wednesday 19 September | Looking more like a building now. Time to call it a night though… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Wednesday 19 September | When #illustration becomes the #relaxation one needs be for the day after today…
• Tuesday 18 September | Lots of bricks. Lots of leaded lights. Lots of time… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 18 September | Did I mention that this #bookshop comes in two halves…? #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Tuesday 18 September | #Repost @haslemerebookshop • • • • • “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me” – C. S. Lewis ????????
• Tuesday 18 September | I woke up this morning thinking very much of this childhood favourite. I think I may have to play it when I get home tonight… #winniethepooh #blusteryday #wind
• Tuesday 18 September | “I’ve seen it on the telly […] what kind of knowing is that?” #TheColouroftheSun ##DavidAlmond #amreading
• Monday 17 September | I’m sure there was a perfectly good reason why I decided to take on this one… #thechallenge #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 16 September | Want a new book for the #autumn????? Amazon are currently discounting the paperback edition of #TheImaginaryWife to an incredible £1.62!!! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0957175698/ #autumnreads #amreading
• Sunday 16 September | First roast dinner of #autumn???? ????
• Sunday 16 September | And so it goes on… #Sundayafterboonsketching #tudor #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 16 September | Q. Why do I do seemingly always draw buildings from the roof down? #housebuilderiamnot #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 16 September | Why do I do this to myself? You’d ha e thought that a black and white Tudor building would be easy in pen and ink… #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 16 September | Jobs done. Sunday afternoon sketching… can you guess where it is yet…? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 16 September | This week I took steps to ditch some plastic use and save money. For less money than it cost for a pack of four refills for my Gillette Mach3, I now have a new safety razor and enough blades to last me the year… #savemoney #ditchtheplastic #shaving
• Sunday 16 September | On drawing, wondering, and dreaming… #DavidAlmond #TheColouroftheSun #amreading #drawing #wondering #dreaming
• Saturday 15 September | The bookshop chain with an independent heart
• Saturday 15 September | There’s a story behind this too. But how is it related to the aforementioned story I mentioned yesterday…?
• Friday 14 September | Finished at last! It’s been a mammoth epic but there’s a really important reason why I had to include this chain #bookshop in the #bookloversguidetobookshops which I’ll write about on my website soon. . Prints available on my Etsy shop now! #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 14 September | Thomas’ Adventures in Waterstonesland with @kavalociraptor and @waterstones_oxford… #aliceinwonderland #lastwindow #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Wednesday 12 September | This one’s for @kavalociraptor because without her I’m not sure I would have actually have turned my #illustration dreams into practical reality. Without her @waterstones_oxford window display I would probably have never have heard of @kiran_mh’s fantastic book… #meta #amillustrating #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Tuesday 11 September | I be a verified persona. ???? #google #verified #teshepherd #author
• Tuesday 11 September | So close to the end but #penfail has stopped play! ???? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops @waterstones_oxford
• Monday 10 September | I’m going to finish this #bookshop if it’s the last thing I do… #illustration #amillustrating #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops
• Monday 10 September | I knew that Dumbledore was another name for bumblebees; what I didn’t know was the link between bumblebees and fairies. Appropriate. ???? . #bumblebees #dumbledore #fairies #KatyBell #Summer @melissa_jharrison
• Sunday 9 September | I think that @waterstones_oxford might be my biggest , most-complicated #bookshop that I have #illustrated to date for the #bookloversguidetobookshops… #amillustrating
• Saturday 8 September | Getting down to those fiddly gable bits. @waterstones_oxford has more fiddly bits than Norway has fjörds… #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 8 September | Did you know that this is the wall outside Bevington House where Louis Tumnal lives. It’s a story that opens as summer ends and then takes you through the year. #MrTumnal is the perfect story for #autumn???? . http://viewbook.at/MrTumnal . Everyone has an idea of their ideal family. Not everyone’s become real. . #amreading #books #autumnreads
• Saturday 8 September | Late summer colour in the college grounds… #OpenDoors
• Saturday 8 September | College living at Balliol… #OpenDoors
• Saturday 8 September | Exeter College is #OpenDoors in Oxford…
• Thursday 6 September | What are reading this #autumn????? In a story that opens as summer ends and then takes you through the year #MrTumnal is the perfect story for the season. Get the link in the bio. . Everyone has an idea of their ideal family. Not everyone’s become real. . #amreading #books #autumnreads
• Tuesday 4 September | Exactly how many display windows does @waterstones_oxford have? I wonder if @kavalociraptor will recognise one of them? #meta #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 3 September | The neo-classical architecture of a bookshop… @waterstones_oxford #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 3 September | The devil’s in the detail… @waterstones_oxford #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 3 September | I feel like I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. Can you tell where it is yet @waterstones_oxford? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 2 September | @heffers_cambridge was the first *real* bookshop. I remember losing myself in the books of the children’s bookshop across the road and then losing my mum and dad in the cavernous interior of the main shop… #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 1 September | With its plain, modern frontage and concrete, cavernous interior I had always assumed @heffers_cambridge to be a brutalistic concrete building but it’s actually a rather fine old brick mid-terrace… #bookshops #illustration #amillustrating #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops
• Saturday 1 September | Since she came to live with us Drífa has proved herself quite the Houdini at getting her out of her hutch but she and Woody are bonding very well… #bunnies???? #lovebunnies????
• Friday 31 August | Happy 7th Birthday to little Lily S! 🎂😊🎉
• Friday 31 August | And I’m back to the #bookloversguidetobookshops! Can you guess where I am now, @heffers_cambridge? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 31 August | So I’ve been a bit quiet on the bookshop illustrations of late. That’s because I’ve been busy working on this original of @eynshamhall in Oxfordshire for @hendosaurus.rex and @mat_kav’s wedding present…
• Friday 31 August | Spooky! Facebook shows me the marriage of the new Rachel Kavanagh neé Henderson and next up a story by Rachel Kavanagh (now Tenant)…
• Thursday 30 August | Congratulations to @hendosaurus.rex and @mat_kav on their wedding day. So privileged to have been able to share it with you. And yes, I did get the tears I was hoping for for the present that I gave them. ????❤????????x
• Wednesday 29 August | Beautiful but busy; the charms and woes of a country Cotswold town… #Burford #Cotswolds
• Wednesday 29 August | Big bull and his hareme of lady cows… #Cotswolds #sherbourne
• Wednesday 29 August | A walk around the Sherbourne Estate… #Cotswolds #countrysideambling #walks
• Wednesday 29 August | The miniature world of Bourton on the Water. Where would you go if you yourself 1/9th the size that you normally are…? #bourtonmodelvillage #bourtononthewater
• Wednesday 29 August | The crazily busy world of Bourton on the Water. We counted 15 coaches in the car park which is well over 1000 tourists! Still beautifully though… #bourtononthewater #Cotswolds
• Wednesday 29 August | Camping in the Cotswold countryside… #Cotswolds #camping #autumnfruits????????????????????????
• Tuesday 28 August | Gulliver at home and in Lilliput… #bourtononthewater #bourtonmodelvillage #gulliverstravels #liliput
• Tuesday 28 August | Why do I always boil things (kettle, tatties…) on the left and fry things on the right? #camping
• Monday 27 August | First night of our little late summer camping getaway in the Cotswolds…
• Thursday 23 August | Love reading? Got a favourite bookshop? My #bookloversguidetobookshops pictures are now all available to buy in my brand new @etsyuk shop… #bookshops #amreading @oxfordetsy https://etsy.me/2BC8nhn @booksandink @blackwellsoxford @mostlybooks_shop @ylbooks @the_book_house @jaffe_and_neale
• Tuesday 21 August | Love that @booksandink include their #currentlyreading in their personalised replies to online orders… #indiebookshop #loveyourlocal #shoplocal
• Monday 20 August | Musings on the modern world and illiterate communication… #gailhoneyman #eleanoroliphantiscompletelyfine #amreading
• Sunday 19 August | The lyrics of pop songs really are quite ridiculous when it’s put like that… #amreading #eleanoroliphantiscompletelyfine #gailhoneyman
• Sunday 19 August | On the #progress of #21stCentury communication… #amreading #gailhoneyman #eleanoroliphantiscompletelyfine
• Thursday 16 August | #tbt to that time in 2001 when a bunch of strangers met up at one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions to build these steps that every bit as deep as they are wide. They were still there in 2012, so… good job well done I guess? @philippajane97 @heathermarples @palooka_ville #iceland #svartifoss #skaftafell
• Thursday 16 August | It’s that time of year again at @oxfordbrookes… #glitter #hellobrookes #alevelresults ????????????
• Tuesday 14 August | It just looks like a four-storey house from the outside but it’s a #bookshop win in at Woodstock Books… #illustration #amillustrating #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops
• Tuesday 14 August | Bunnies doing what bunnies do… #bunnies???? #lovebunnies???? #BicesterZoo
• Sunday 12 August | Doing my bit for the environment by trying out my new #HumbleBrush… @thehumble.co #ditchplastic
• Saturday 11 August | #lovepotatoes????
• Saturday 11 August | Drífa and Woody munching their war around the garden… #bunnies???? #lovebunnies???? @vnemma @catstalespetcare
• Saturday 11 August | It’s been too long since we’ve visited Douglas á l’Orange at his Jubilee Lake home and we didn’t realise that adult ducks lose their bright colours again at this time of year. He’s still there! We ❤ Douglas! @vnemma #duck????
• Wednesday 8 August | ???? it’s #internationalcatday????! ???? . I have lived with eleven cats in my life to date and they’re all very special: Tess, Bramble, Pepper, Bella*, Arthur*, Ronnie, Nellie, William*, Scooter*, Blini*, and Aslan*. ????❤???? . *Still with us. . #lovecats #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats
• Tuesday 7 August | I’m actually, genuinely pleased, with how this one has turned out. I just hope I’ve done it justice… what do you think? @blackwellsoxford #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Monday 6 August | Little Miss Drífa… #bunnies???? #bunnylove❤
• Monday 6 August | Bella black cat busy in the garden… #catsagram #catsofinstagram #uksummer #heatwave
• Sunday 5 August | Did I day that this was hard? @blackwellsoxford #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 5 August | Anyone notice how I’ve started at the top and working my way down to the most difficult shopfronts…? @blackwellsoxford #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Sunday 5 August | Possibly my most ambitious #bookshop to date. @blackwellsoxford has every chance to kill me… #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating #mustnotbebeaten
• Saturday 4 August | Not strictly speaking an #indiebookseller but it’s an indie chain – time to go for the BIG one… @blackwellsoxford #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 4 August | Quality time with her boy… #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Saturday 4 August | #Repost @ebbandflobookshop • • • • • ‘If you are the sort of person who feels soothed by the shipping forecast’, yes that’s me, ‘you’ll love this book about our shores.’ Couldn’t have put it better myself, thank you @guardian ! We’ve a pile at the bookshop for you to pick up before you hit the coast #summerhols #indiebookshop #totallylocallychorley
• Saturday 4 August | Sunlight through flowers… #summer???? #garden
• Saturday 4 August | Becoming acquainted with little miss Drífa… #bunnies???? #bunnylove❤ @drifaadals @vnemma
• Saturday 4 August | Woody went speed dating today to see if we could hook him up with a new girlfriend as he has visibly been lonely and pining for Cecily. Meet the bunny formerly known as Snowflake. We’ve decided to repay the honour that my Icelandic cousins gave @vnemma when they named a cat Emma, so meet Drífa (snowdrift In Icelandic) @drifaadals #bunnies???? #bunnylove❤
• Friday 3 August | Friday night sketching… #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #amillustrating #illustration @brazenheadbooks
• Friday 3 August | Another day, another bookshop. More roof tiles… #amillustrating #illustration #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops @brazenheadbooks
• Thursday 2 August | Roughing out the start to @brazenheadbooks in Burnham Market… #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Thursday 2 August | This roof is going to kill me… #Norfolk #roofs #pantiles #illustration #amillustrating #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Wednesday 1 August | I guess all things considered the size of item to packaging ratio could have been a lot worse. And at least it’s recyclable…
• Tuesday 31 July | Making progress with @whitehousebooks tonight… #bookshops #books???? #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Tuesday 31 July | Mexican Sweet Potato and Black Beans, in a bowl… thank you @laurapicklechop for suggesting this one… #goodeating #recipes #eatinghealthy @deliciouslyella
• Monday 30 July | Today, @vnemma and I had to say our goodbyes to Cecily. ???? she had such a sweet nature, and always to comfort you with one of her special bunny cuddles if you’d had a bad day. Cecily and Parsely bunnies were our first pets as a couple. Love my Cecily! ❤ #bunnies
• Friday 27 July | What is this wet stuff on the glass? More importantly how long will it last?
• Thursday 26 July | I’ve commandeered the office fan for my own purposes as we are down on numbers today. That acceptable Yes?
• Wednesday 25 July | When @vnemma goes away for just one night I get all the attention. No, MY DINNER, gets all the attention…
• Wednesday 25 July | 31°?!? This is getting utterly ridiculous… .And I bet we don’t get any of that rain…
• Tuesday 24 July | One of the few things that you can do during a #heatwave…
• Tuesday 24 July | Can you guess where it is yet?
• Sunday 22 July | Sunset over an evening’s theatre last night…
• Sunday 22 July | Watermelon Poke Bowl to end another hot, hot weekend…
• Sunday 22 July | In Liz Lochhead’s Essentials she illustrates precisely what the importance of an #indiebookseller…
• Sunday 22 July | He’s right, The Wardrobe is the most excellent of names for a bookshop. A place to get lost in and to inspire and store stories in…
• Saturday 21 July | Swallows & Amazons Forever! And ever! Another great @creationtheatre production tonight. Perfect setting for adventure on the high seas and refreshingly true to the book! @creationtheatre #swallowsandamazons #outdoortheatre #helenedmondson
• Saturday 21 July | Never seen an upside down rainbow before… #upsidedownrainbow #circumzenithalarc
• Friday 20 July | Sometimes work colleagues are just that, colleagues, and sometimes they become almost immediately proper friends who you trust and confide in. Thank you @nicolarymell, it’s been a pleasure working with you. I know we’re going to stay in touch. #friends
• Friday 20 July | What a joyous sight!
• Friday 20 July | It’s raining!!!
• Friday 20 July | Please let it be so… #heatwave #uksummer #raindance #letitrain
• Thursday 19 July | During summer recess from band @vnemma and have been enjoying some evening walks…
• Thursday 19 July | Busy in the garden…
• Tuesday 17 July | So those Rectory Farm PYO strawberries I won the other day. Yeah, those. Jam!
• Tuesday 17 July | “I want to believe that [the trees] will thrive and outlive me”
• Tuesday 17 July | Reading @thibaudherem’s #RaisingAForest and I’m wanting to gather seeds and grow my own own trees instead of just thinking that it’s not worth it…
• Monday 16 July | My first experience of #overnightoats with coconut yoghurt and chia seeds is I think a success…
• Sunday 15 July | Went fruit picking at @rectoryfarmpyo this morning and to collect my prize of four beautiful punnets of the sweetest tasting strawberries that I won by suggesting on their Facebook page to serve them drizzled with elderflower cordial and a dash log fresh cream…
• Sunday 15 July | Went fruit picking at @rectoryfarmpyo this morning and to collect my prize of four beautiful punnets of the sweetest tasting strawberries that I won by suggesting on their Facebook page to serve them drizzled with elderflower cordial and a dash log fresh cream…
• Sunday 15 July | Raspberry picking with @vnemma…
• Saturday 14 July | Working on ‘Thomas’ House’ from @davidpennywriting’s books with the men’s doubles final for company…
• Saturday 14 July | A hot, hot, hot but enjoyable time playing to (how to train your) dragon lovers to the left of us and Queen lovers to the right of us…
• Friday 13 July | So sad to hear of the death of #StigoftheDump author #CliveKing. Loved this book so much and #EdwardArdizzone’s illustrations brought it to life so well…
• Wednesday 11 July | Just because the grass is tinder-dry and barren brown in this #ukheatwave doesntvmean there isn’t any colour in the garden…
• Wednesday 11 July | My #currentlyreading and #tooreading pile has reached new levels of instability…
• Wednesday 11 July | Wonders what would happen if I emailed Susie.Betts@pdnews.co.uk…?
• Sunday 8 July | The seaside!!
• Saturday 7 July | Congratulations to my Mum and Dad on their 50th Wedding Anniversary!
• Saturday 7 July | Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. Oh I do like to be beside the sea… 🐚🦀🐟😀
• Saturday 7 July | On the strandline…
• Saturday 7 July | Today’s #EdwardArdizzone finds to add to the collection…
• Saturday 7 July | The seaside!!
• Saturday 7 July | I think I may have just found my #epigraph to the #bookloversguidetobookshops…
• Thursday 5 July | @vnemma and I were lucky enough to honeymoon on the 7th smallest of these…
• Wednesday 4 July | Today we had to say goodbye to Princess Layer and Meringue. Princess Layer had a prolapsed uterus and Meringue was egg-bound and it was the kindest thing to do for both. RIP our little hens.
• Tuesday 3 July | Working on my third commission, and my second for @davidpennywriting. There’s another map to come bit first the appropriately named “Thomas’ House” . #illustration #amillustrating #commission
• Sunday 1 July | Insects Through The Looking Glass #insects #bees #lewiscarroll #roalddahl #mgleonard #beetleboy @thestorymuseum
• Sunday 1 July | Visions of Alice… . #Alice #aliceinwonderland #ItsAlwaysTeaTime #exhibition #teatime @thestorymuseum
• Sunday 1 July | Oxford’s Story Museum: a place where creativity and imagination lives and unfolds… @thestorymuseum #stories #imagination #dreams #nofilter
• Sunday 1 July | Mad Hatter regenerating in ethereal light… #ItsTimeForTea #storymuseum #exhibition #Alice ##aliceinwonderland
• Sunday 1 July | Creating stories… #storymachine #storyloom @thestorymuseum
• Sunday 1 July | Smoked tofu and green pea salad to end a hot #summer???? day… . #BowlsofGoodness #eatinghealthy #summernights????
• Sunday 1 July | On ‘ghosting’ and discovering that you still have something worth talking about… #WhistleInTheDark @echealey #amreading
• Sunday 1 July | “It’s always six o’clock now,” said the Hatter. That can only mean one thing, it’s always tea time! The Hatter fell out with Time, and so the clock is always set to six o’clock. #ItsAlwaysTeaTime @thestorymuseum #teatime #tea #Alice #aliceinwonderland
• Wednesday 27 June | Al fresco writing is the best kind of writing! #summer???? #summernights???? #amwriting #spinoff #shortstory #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal #TheImaginaryWife #internationalwritingday
• Tuesday 26 June | Trying to get my head around the child now being a grandmother… #amwriting #nationalwritingday #spinoff #ImaginaryFriends #MrTumnal #TheImaginaryWife
• Tuesday 26 June | The pleasure of starting a new book… ???????? #amreading #WhistleInTheWind @echealey
• Tuesday 26 June | So, @roz_morris, have you ever wondered what happened when he arrived at “Kate’s” door? #NotQuiteLost #amreading
• Sunday 24 June | Birds on a hot tile roof… #summer????
• Sunday 24 June | I think that this week at #work might be a shorts kind of week… #weather
• Sunday 24 June | After #amreading the first chapter I may have just skipped ahead to read the Suffolk chapter and this description of Chapel Books… #readingaboutplacesyouknow #NotQuiteLost @roz_morris
• Sunday 24 June | #SummerReading #amreading #NotQuiteLost @roz_morris #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 24 June | Somehow appropriate that I should be following the progress of the delivery driver on a map considering the title of the book! @roz_morris #NotQuiteLost
• Saturday 23 June | #amwriting in the #sunset… . #spinoff #imaginaryfriends #MrTumnal
• Saturday 23 June | Delicious dinner in the garden… #steak #EnglishNewPotatoes #summerveg
• Saturday 23 June | Entertaining the people of Henley with music for a summer’s afternoon in the park… #windband #concertband #music #summermusic @abingdonconcertband
• Friday 22 June | It’s going to be a scorcher of a weekend and clearly #toohot to do anything but read. Here’s three that you could try and they even appeal to people who don’t usually like magic realism and fantasy – link in the bio. . What are you reading? . #books #amreading #SummerReading #summerreads #bookrecommendations #fantasy #magicrealism
• Friday 22 June | Friday evening reading with my little girl… . #amreading #skinfulofshadows #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Wednesday 20 June | The Aldeburgh Bookshop is another fine indie that it’s hard to walk out from without having been relieved of some cash… ???????? . #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Wednesday 20 June | Ooh, look, a new @joannechocolat #Loki novel. How did I not know about this? #runemarks
• Tuesday 19 June | Face painting with manure! @andyshepherdwriter #TheBoyWhoGrewDragons #amreading
• Sunday 17 June | Thank you to the whole menagerie for my #FathersDay card!
• Saturday 16 June | Ooh! Look at me! #google #streetview #trusted #photographer
• Thursday 14 June | Book launch tonight of @andyshepherdwriter’s #TheBoyWhoGrewDragons at @childrenheffers tonight. Looking forward to #amreading it…
• Thursday 14 June | A shelf-full of Shepherds… #books???? #family @shepline @andyshepherdwriter #DebbieShepherd
• Thursday 14 June | A shelf-full of Shepherds… #books???? #family @shepline @andyshepherdwriter
• Tuesday 12 June | Drawing off an “interesting” day at work with The Aldeburgh Bookshop… . #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Sunday 10 June | My local #indiebookshop just moved to a premises and I’m going to look forward to it filling up with more stock. Lots of books please! Books upon books, tables next to tables, I want to be able able to not move for books… . #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #illustration #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops @colesbooksbicester
• Sunday 10 June | Met a friend today who have me the biggest of BIG licks, discovered how much food and drink makes how much milk, and how much stinking profit the supermarkets are creaming off the meat market
• Sunday 10 June | A 3-hour old calf learning about legs and suckling at today’s #OpenFarmSunday
• Saturday 9 June | Saturday night sketching… seeing if I can finish off my #illustration of the new @colesbooksbicester which I visited today and purchased the new @echealey… . #amillustrating #books???? #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 9 June | Springtime in the garden of flowers…
• Saturday 9 June | Bunnies doing what bunnies do… #bunnies????
• Saturday 9 June | Book rest… #cats #catsofinstagram #TomCox @21stcenturyyokel
• Friday 8 June | It’s looking like another nice weekend to be out and relaxing in the garden or the local park. What are reading? . http://shepline.com/books/ . #amreading #books???? #summerreads #norsemythology #magicrealism #fantasy #ImaginaryFriends
• Thursday 7 June | And so it begins… #BevingtonHouse #ImaginaryFriends #spinoff #shortstory #amwriting
• Wednesday 6 June | If your Dad was 22 when you were born because his life goes in 11s but by the time he was 33 you were already 13 because things were already broken what with you being a boy not a girl at what age could you be a grandma to an 18 year old and how old would your Dad be? #fairies #amplotting #ImaginaryFriends
• Tuesday 5 June | Time to call it a night, but it’s going well… . #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops @colesbooksbicester
• Tuesday 5 June | Thought that it was about time to draw the #bookshop that’s on my own patch. And seeing as how @colesbooksbicester have just moved to a new location now seems to be the right time… . #illustration #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Tuesday 5 June | Wedding Day rose from @caroline_wakey64 9 years ago and other Spring flowers in the garden…
• Tuesday 5 June | The bunny and the cat… ????????????
• Tuesday 5 June | Seeing the whale on the wall of @lazenby.rachel’s new house reminds me that we’ve had #fairies hiding behind the books in the study ever since we moved in 10 years ago! ????
• Tuesday 5 June | #Repost @bbcspringwatch • • • Another fantastic show tonight! ???????? But what if Springwatch did Love Island?………???????????????? #doveisland . . . #loveisland #loveisland2018 #wildlife #wildlifephotography #springwatch #britishwildlife #tv #jokes #naturelovers #justforfun #justforyou #spring #uk #banter #bants #mytypeonpaper @loveisland @chrishughesofficial @kemcetinay @oliviajade_attwood @amb_d
• Sunday 3 June | Lazy Sunday afternoons in the garden… #garden #Sunday
• Sunday 3 June | Garden visitors… #birds #garden
• Sunday 3 June | Jobs done. Sunday afternoon in the garden… #amreading
• Saturday 2 June | Making friends with horses at @hartgemma’s wedding…
• Saturday 2 June | A jar of sweets later…
• Saturday 2 June | Had a lovely day with @vnemma at @hartgemma and James’ wedding today. Congratulations to the happy couple! ????????????
• Friday 1 June | This one probed very time-consuming! So many bricks!! The award-winning @the_book_house in Thame is such a cute little building… . #illustration #amillustrating #illustraorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Wednesday 30 May | Annual @bbcspringwatch viewing for @bellafanella… #springwatch
• Monday 28 May | Time to call it a night on this gorgeous little bookshop… . #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops @the_book_house
• Monday 28 May | More two-tone fancy brickwork and a bit of fancy detailing and flint in @the_book_house… . #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 28 May | Every #illustration begins with an eye for the detail… . #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops @the_book_house
• Monday 28 May | A good morning’s work in the garden pruning and weeding and planting. Now it’s TOO hot for gardening so time for some respite under the BIG umbrella and some drawing and reading…
• Sunday 27 May | Reed Books in Aldeburgh is a rare treat of how a second-hand bookshop should be. Floor to ceiling books and stacked on every surface… . #bookloversguidetobookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops
• Sunday 27 May | Posted on Instagram
• Sunday 27 May | The last remains of a once great town, and some random Norman… . #GreyfriarsAbbey #Dunwich #Suffolk
• Saturday 26 May | #Bookshop number 14 begins… . #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Saturday 26 May | Memories of holidays in Suffolk… . #trout #bbq #alfrescodining
• Saturday 26 May | I was unhappy with the first #illustration of this jewel in the crown of #bookshops. So I drew it again and now have something that I think properly reflects how wonderful a shop @booksandink is. What do you think? . #bookshopsofinstagram #amillustrating #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 26 May | Just puttin’ in the details… . @booksandink #amillustrating #illustration #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Friday 25 May | On libraries: “‘This is the only place where I let her get exactly what she wants,’ she had said. ‘How can letting her read all the books she likes be a bad thing?'” . #TheLido @libbypagewrites #amreading
• Friday 25 May | I felt like my first #illustration of the wonderful @booksandink didn’t really do the bookshop justice, so I’m doing a new version… . #amillustrating #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Thursday 24 May | Visited Barnabees Books and found, amongst other books, the missing book in my collection of Philippa Gregory’s #TudorCourt series. Also chatted to Tyona about books, bookshops, and soap and interested her in a print and matching business cards and postcards for the shop! . #bookaholic #authorsofinstagram #illustratorsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Wednesday 23 May | “One day I’ll probably trap myself behind a book wall for ever, but the way I look at is that I’ll be reading as I starve to death, so it’ll be okay. My to-read pile at this point split far beyond the shelves and far beyond sense, teetering in higgledy.” . #amreading @21stcenturyyokel #TomCox
• Wednesday 23 May | Not a bad spot for some reading. Just need a nice warm pool to sink into now… . #amreading #TheLido @libbypagewrites
• Wednesday 23 May | #SummerReading for the bank holiday? Book 2, #TheImaginaryWife, is getting some excellent early reports but still missing it’s first #review… Have you read it, and if so, what did you think? . Both #books available on Amazon or from your chosen book supplier. If you’re near Oxfordshire @booksandink will be sure to order you in a copy! ????
• Wednesday 23 May | Dad thought his camera was broken. It seems not…
• Tuesday 22 May | Birthday meal out, complete with extra special mango sorbet desert! . #birthday #spoiled #loved
• Tuesday 22 May | Birthday outing to Helmingham Hall Gardens… part 3 . #gardens #spring #flowers
• Tuesday 22 May | Birthday outing to Helmingham Hall Gardens… part 2 . #gardens #spring #flowers
• Tuesday 22 May | Birthday outing to Helmingham Hall Gardens… . #gardens #spring #flowers
• Tuesday 22 May | Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes! I’ve had a lovely day with by family, visiting lovely gardens, eating chocolate beer birthday cake, and sitting in the garden reading! ????????????????
• Tuesday 22 May | “When she started secondary school her fiends were the characters she met in the pages of her books. They sat with her in the library…” . #TheLido @libbypagewrites #birthdayread #amreading
• Tuesday 22 May | “When she started secondary school her fiends were the characters she met in the pages of her books. They sat with her in the library…” . #TheLido @libbypagewrites #birthdayread #amreading
• Tuesday 22 May | 21° and sunny in the garden. Seems like an appropriate sort of day to start a new #birthdayread… . #TheLido #LibbyPage #debutauthor #amreading @libbypagewrites
• Tuesday 22 May | 21° and sunny in the garden. Seems like an appropriate sort of day to start a new #birthdayread… . #TheLido #LibbyPage #debutauthor #amreading @libbypagewrites
• Tuesday 22 May | Thank you to @debbieyounghawkesbury for my swag pack of #bookloversguidetobookshops merchandise. Not sure if it was a birthday present or not but it made a very good one… ????????
• Monday 21 May | First one’s gone… . #GreatTits #fledging #nests #birds #springwatch @bbcspringwatch
• Monday 21 May | This little chap is sure to fledge soon… . #GreatTits #fledglingstobe #springwatch @bbcspringwatch
• Monday 21 May | Bohemium, splendidly disorganised, but a delight to peruse… . #BarnabeesBooks #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 21 May | A cold, ramshackle chapel of books that feeds your soul, surprisingly well-ordered… . #ChapelBooks #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 21 May | Big Great Tits and little Great Tits… . #nestbox #nests #GreatTits #springwatch @bbcspringwatch
• Sunday 20 May | Little ratty feasting at Minsmere… . #ratties #watervoles #minsmere
• Saturday 19 May | Ice cream and seaside towns…
• Friday 18 May | More brickwork buildings and this time two-tone bricks. Agghhh!!! . #books???? #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #amillustrating
• Friday 18 May | It’s not often that you suddenly find yourself reading about the place you are a literal stone’s throw from… . #ChapelBooks #TomCox @21stcenturyyokel
• Friday 18 May | Beautiful, bold, wisteria…
• Friday 18 May | Great Tit on poo removal duties… #springwatch
• Friday 18 May | #Repost @abingdonconcertband • • • This week is national mental health week. Playing in a band is an excellent way to combat some of the triggers that set off mental health issues. Becoming a valued member of a community, avoiding social isolation, not to mention the joy of playing music, learning a new skill – all reasons why community bands are the best thing ever!!! #mentalhealthawareness #itsgoodtotalk #musicforall #socialisolation #playmusic
• Tuesday 15 May | A Cosy Mystery by a ‘Reluctant Murderer’
• Tuesday 15 May | Springtime in the garden… . #Spring #flowers #garden #nature
• Tuesday 15 May | When @debbieyounghawkesbury does #meta… . #SophieSayersMysteries #amreading #HULitFest @HULitFest #hawkesburyupton
• Monday 14 May | Well that’s made a good day get loads better! No longer do I need to rely on Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act to drive! ???????????? . #backontheroad #itsofficial
• Monday 14 May | I know I have my birthday coming up next week but I don’t think I’m quite ready for this!!! ????????????
• Monday 14 May | Vote @booksandink! . . #Repost @booksandink • • • ‪Here’s a great b’day pressie to me – WE’RE IN THE FINALS of the @muddystilettos #MuddyAwards18 We’d love to have your vote, please! Thank you & please spread the word X https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/vote ‬#bestbookshop #muddyawards2018 #pleasevote #thankyouforsupportingus #bookshopawards
• Monday 14 May | Where do you do your reading? . #MrTumnal #TheImaginaryWife #amreading #books???? #booksforthesummer #summerreading . Photo courtesy of Alan Wallis
• Sunday 13 May | I think it might be time to call it a night on today’s work… . #amillustrating #commission #historicalfiction #maps @davidpennywriting
• Sunday 13 May | Springtime in the woods… . #flowers #leaves???? #woods #trees #woodland #ThomasTherapy
• Sunday 13 May | A walk in the woods… . #woodland #woods #bluebells #springwalks
• Sunday 13 May | Heaven in green . #canopy #leaves???? #nature #woodland
• Sunday 13 May | Something a bit different… #amillustrating #commission @davidpennywriting #historicalfiction #crime
• Saturday 12 May | One Saturday night later, my I introduce you to the gem that is the Framlingham Bookshop. . #illustration #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Saturday 12 May | This Saturday Night’s sketching is brought to you by the little second-hand bookshop in Framlingham… . #illustration #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Friday 11 May | And because there is another Bookstore in Abingdon-on-Thames… . #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Wednesday 9 May | A harsh, unforgiving tale that is not without hope
• Monday 7 May | When you’re down Clevedon way, look out for some Books on the Hill… . #amillustrating #illustration #bookshopaholic #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 7 May | Hands up who’s been to @booksonthehill! I already feel connected and I really want to pay it a visit… . #bookshopaholic #amillustrating #illustration #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 7 May | I have a new favourite obsession: drawing bookshops. You probably guessed that already though… ????✏???? . #amillustrating #illustration #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops @booksonthehill
• Monday 7 May | Welcome to the bookshop in Abingdon-on-Thames that is, as it says above the door, Mostly Books… . #amillustrating #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 7 May | On the left, the in-shade outdoor reading. On the right, the indoor reading currently situated next to me outdoors in the shade… . Either way you look at it, it’s bloomin’ hot! #bankholiday #temperature #toohot
• Monday 7 May | The temperature has just hit 31° in my art room… #MayDayBankHoliday #bankholidaymonday #amillustrating #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Monday 7 May | Annual pilgrimage to take in the #NationalDawnChorusDay…
• Sunday 6 May | Getting down to detail… it’s Mostly Books . #amillustrating #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshops #bookloversguidetobookshops @mostlybooks_shop
• Sunday 6 May | Al fresco drawing… . #amillustrating #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Sunday 6 May | First barbeque of the season, and a pint of #Hooky Flagship shandy to cool down with after the air show…
• Sunday 6 May | Colour contrasts in the Spring garden… #colour #contrasts #Spring
• Sunday 6 May | Slow-roasted @abingdonconcertband set at the #AbingdonAirShow… . We do this thing for fun, you know!
• Saturday 5 May | Finished off the roof of the Chaucer’s Head Bookshop in Stratford-upon-Avon tonight… #amillustrating illustrating #illustratorsofinstagram
• Saturday 5 May | Tabbouleh with Feta and Pommegranate, al fresco in the garden… #delicious #BowlsofGoodness #eatinghealthy
• Saturday 5 May | #Repost @booksandink • • • Recently finished the brilliant #MrTumnal and really looking forward to getting stuck into #TheImaginaryWife – hot off the press! Available to order from us or direct from @shepline #summerreads .•.•.• #newbooks #bookstagrammers #booklovers #fiction #bibliophiles #literature #booktag #shepline #booksandinkbookshop
• Saturday 5 May | What’s your summer reading? . In Book 1 we met the man who married his imaginary friend. In Book 2, we find out what it’s like to suddenly discover you were the imaginary creation of your best friend… . Available everywhere and in all formats. Link in the bio. . #ImaginaryFriends #amreading #books #TheImaginaryWife #bankholidayreading
• Friday 4 May | Fast forward 50-60 years and we reach the story of Chloë, as she tries to find somewhere called “home”… #ImaginaryFriends . Is this weekend the perfect opportunity to sit in the garden in the sunshine and read #TheImaginaryWife? https://viewbook.at/theimaginarywife
• Friday 4 May | Nature, red in tooth and claw
• Wednesday 2 May | More of the Chaucer’s Head Bookshop in Stratford-upon-Avon… #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Tuesday 1 May | He just keeps on going… This one is the Chaucer’s Head Bookshop in Stratford-upon-Avon #illustration #mynewobsession #illustratorsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Tuesday 1 May | The Old Hall Bookshop in Brackley makes my sixth #illustration in my project to document the best of British bookshops… . #bookloversguidetobookshops #books???? #bookshops #illustratorsofinstagram
• Monday 30 April | So exactly what possessed me to draw a three-story red-brick building… #somanybricks #toomanybricks #bricksbricksbricks #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram #bookloversguidetobookshops
• Sunday 29 April | My project to #illustrate the best of British bookshops continues… . #bookloversguidetobookshops #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Sunday 29 April | Wondering how many pictures of bookshops does a book of bookshops make…? #newbook #TheBookloversGuidetoBookshops #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Saturday 28 April | #SaturdayNightDrawing #bookshopsofinstagram #jaffeandneale #chippingnorton @jaffe_and_neale
• Saturday 28 April | #SaturdayNightDrawing #bookshopsofinstagram #jaffeandneale #chippingnorton @jaffe_and_neale
• Saturday 28 April | Saturday afternoon chilling… #books???? #amreading #cats ##catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Friday 27 April | I discovered that the @ylbooks have another shop in Nailsworrg and it looks adorable! Another one to add to the visit list… #FridayNightDrawing #penandink #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Wednesday 25 April | Timeshift that is uniquely different and entirely different
• Tuesday 24 April | Tuesday night relaxation, as I continue my bookshop series of illustration… #bookshopsofinstagram Illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Monday 23 April | Happy Birthday to Old Will Shakespeare! #ShakespearesBirthday
• Monday 23 April | One day I will actually visit Tetbury and then I will spend some time in the Yellow-lighted bookshop… #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram #penandink
• Monday 23 April | Spring in the woodland… #Spring #nature #flora #woodland
• Sunday 22 April | #SundayNightSketching and next up on my bookshop series of drawings… #penandink #illustration #illustratorsofinstagram
• Sunday 22 April | Lazing about on Sunday afternoon…
• Sunday 22 April | Lunch in the garden with my @vnemma ????
• Sunday 22 April | Reflecting on yesterday at @HULitFest. Met so many authors and readers, conquered some more personal demons, met my incredible editor, possibly got recorded for the radio… simply incredible.
• Sunday 22 April | Would like to thank @debbieyounghawkesbury for all her hard work tirelessly organising the triumph that was the Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival, and for once again inviting me to speak. Here’s to #HULitFest5 next year! Have a rest though first, Debbie…
• Saturday 21 April | A day of #books???? and all things literary in the Cotswolds at @HULitFest…
• Saturday 21 April | Chairing my first panel discussion at a Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival is a scary business. We discussed Writing for Children, and the notion that there is no such thing as children’s fixtion, just bloody good stories.
• Saturday 21 April | The poet and novelist extraordinaire, Dan Holloway!
• Saturday 21 April | Books. So many books… @hulitfest
• Saturday 21 April | Reading done. Just got the really scary panel chairing to go…
• Saturday 21 April | “Compelling storytelling wrapped around a highly original premise” says @debbieyounghawkesbury. #TheImaginaryWife launches today at @HULitFest and worldwide in all stores: http://shepline.com/the-imaginary-wife/ . #MrTumnal #booklaunch #newbooks #publishedtoday #booksfortheweekend
• Tuesday 17 April | Bun Loaf, just like the Swallows & Amazons would cut into on Wild Cat Island, also destined for the #WonderlandCafé at Saturday’s @HULitFest… . Are you coming?
• Monday 16 April | Enid Blyton themed ginger cake for the #WonderlandCafé at Saturday’s @HULitFest…
• Sunday 15 April | Just wondering whether my currently/to read pile is a little unsustainable…? #books???? #amreading ????
• Sunday 15 April | After the steak as chips of last night, a good hearty bowl of sweet potato and chickpea curry tonight… #veggienotveggie #eatinghealthy #weekendmeals @deliciouslyella
• Friday 13 April | With all due thanks…
• Friday 13 April | Look what’s just arrived… hot off the press!
• Thursday 12 April | Just penned a sketch of my favourite bookshop…
• Wednesday 11 April | We’ve got a new remote control holder!
• Sunday 8 April | Grilled Aubergine and Tagliatelle makes for a yummy Sunday night meal
• Sunday 8 April | If ivy takes an age to draw then walls take longer…
• Sunday 8 April | It’s nice too get away from the computer on a wet Sunday afternoon for some quality drawing time…
• Saturday 7 April | Hector’s Books of Wendlebury Barrow, serving up books, teas, and cakes along with solving the odd mystery along the way… #SophieSayers @debbieyounghawkesbury #amillustrating #illustratorsofinstagram
• Saturday 7 April | Working on the full-size illustration of Hector’s Books from @debbieyounghawkesbury’s Sophie Sayers series of mysteries… #artistsofinstagram #illustratorsofinstagram
• Friday 6 April | #EdwardArdizzone captures every mood in a few, simple lines… this one could be me, when I’m #amwriting…
• Friday 6 April | When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes… . I’ve decided that this is the only way to read sonnets… . #sonnets #Shakespeare #books???? #oldbooks #oldbooksmell
• Friday 6 April | I think I need some #ThomasTherapy as I try to recover from walking into my favourite bookshop to be told that they are loving #MrTumnal… ???? Maybe browsing my haul of #EdwardArdizzone books will help… #sonnetstoo #historyofwisteria
• Friday 6 April | #EmmaTherapy on a plate. Brie and bacon Dutch pancake with cranberry sauce and drizzled with maple syrup… #ME #CFS #chronicfatigue
• Tuesday 3 April | Dabbling into Spring waters with Douglas á l’Orange… #duck????
• Monday 2 April | Buddha Bowl. It was yummy and healthy but when they said 2-3 people I think they meant 6-8! @vnemma and I have only scratched the surface of this leaving plenty for lunch tomorrow… and maybe the next day…
• Sunday 1 April | Happy Easter! ???????????? #simnelcake
• Saturday 31 March | Something special for Easter Saturday that won’t break the bank balance. And in case you thought I was eating too much vegetarian food… #lamb???? #breastoflamb #BlueTexel #Easter
• Friday 30 March | Inspired by @laurapicklechop I absolutely loved this Donburi recipe. Might ease off on the carrots and cucumber slices next time though… #BowlsofGoodness #eatinghealthy #eatingveggie #notvegetarian
• Tuesday 27 March | Got tho work this morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had been busy in the office…
• Monday 26 March | A little lunchtime work on some preparatory sketches my first #illustration commission: Hector’s House Bookstore from @debbieyounghawkesbury’s #SophieSayers books.
• Saturday 24 March | I detect a theme emerging… @@abingdonconcertband #backtothemusic
• Saturday 24 March | For someone who has a book to publish next month, starting to read this might be a dangerous thing to do… @moontrugger #SkySong #amreading
• Wednesday 21 March | I love this illustration so much. I remember attempting an immature copy of it when I was little. So inspiring! #Repost @illustration.magazine • • • Spring is sprung, at least in theory, so hang spring cleaning and head off to the river bank with Ratty and Mole, shown here in Arthur Rackham’s lovely edition of Wind in the Willows published by Limited Editions Club in 1940. Rackham was asked to illustrate the first edition, but didn’t have time and eventually completed it as his final commission – the intro says he could work for only an hour or two a day. This copy is the non-limited cheaper version published by the Limited Editions Club’s Heritage Press imprint. #kennethgrahame #windinthewillows #ratty #mole #mrtoad #illustration #bookillustration #illustratedbook #childrensclassics #arthurrackham #illustrationmagazine #bibliophile #bookcollection #bookcollector
• Saturday 17 March | A night at @creationtheatre is not to be missed. I feel like I want to read #Dracula now…
• Wednesday 14 March | Last week I lost a prawn whilst I was cooking my dinner, couldn’t find it anywhere, and then tonight I found it in the pocket of the oven gloves…
• Wednesday 14 March | Anyone going too Godstow Abbey expecting to find this is going to be sorely disappointed! It’s not ed vn #Oxford!! #misleadingmarketing #PhilipPullman
• Tuesday 13 March | It’s not just the author who is behind every novel. Just working through my thanks… #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #acknowledgements
• Tuesday 13 March | A hearty, warming meal of Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew for dinner tonight… #eatinghealthy @deliciouslyella
• Tuesday 13 March | You know that Spring is about to sprung when Ye Olde Almond Tree blooms… #blossom #Spring #leavingwinter
• Saturday 10 March | Cecily and Woody Bunny are now settling into their new extension… two bedrooms, en suite… I swear that proportionally they have more living space than me! #bunnies???? #BicesterZoo
• Friday 9 March | On writing and editing in the digital and analogue ages… #amwriting #amediting #amreading #DavidMitchell #TheBoneClocks
• Tuesday 6 March | Another delish @deliciouslyella meal tonight in the form of creamy mushroom and garlic pasta… #recipes #eatinghealthy
• Sunday 4 March | Douglas á l’Orange survivived the #beastfromtheeast and #stormEmma. He and his mates v were very happy with their porridge oats… #duck???? #snow❄ #cold
• Sunday 4 March | Gulls on the lake #snow❄ #frozen #ice
• Saturday 3 March | Getting my post-#winterolympics fix of #curling… #teammuirhead @evemuirhead #lovecurling #worldcurlingchampionship
• Saturday 3 March | Post-Applicant Day drink… #hornblower #beer???? @abingdonconcertband @oxfordbrookes
• Saturday 3 March | Snowboy explores the garden… #snow❄ #snowman
• Saturday 3 March | Contrasts of colour and monochrome… @oxfordbrookes #snow❄
• Saturday 3 March | Pink snow anybody…? @oxfordbrookes
• Friday 2 March | Winter wonderland! #March #spring #snow❄
• Friday 2 March | Master of the remote, the novel, and the green blankie… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats @catnamedafteramouse
• Friday 2 March | It’s like daylight out there even late at night! #snow❄
• Friday 2 March | Guess i know what I’m doing after @oxfordbrookes applicant day! #Repost @evemuirhead • • • We’re back on the ice this weekend in Perth! ???? Winner books their tickets to the world champs in Canada! ???????? Best of 3 – Games 6pm Sat, 2pm & 6.30pm Sun. Watch here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/43132815 Or if you can pop along, Tickets here – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scottish-curling-world-championship-playoff-tickets-43096089564 @liveactive_lal @scottish_curling @teamgb
• Friday 2 March | The upside to #snow❄ in March is that you get to see shy send reclusive Fieldfares when they start to frequent your #urbangarden… #fieldfares #birds #winter #spring @chris.packham @lindsey_chapman56 @bbcspringwatch
• Friday 2 March | Mr Blackbird in the snow! #snow❄
• Thursday 1 March | Happy First Day of Spring everybody! #spring #meterologicalspring #cold❄ #stormEmma #beastfromtheeast
• Thursday 1 March | The #snow❄ is still barely 1cm deep and already it’s looking a lot like an exodus from Oxford… #stormEmma #beastfromtheeast
• Tuesday 27 February | Blizzard Tuesday… #snow❄ #cold
• Sunday 25 February | Tonight’s sauteed sesame and aubergine noodle bowl was super-noodily yummy! #recipes #eatinghealthy
• Sunday 25 February | Getting there… #amediting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Sunday 25 February | This her on was being mobbed by Black-headed gulls.. . #winterwalks❄️ #heron #nature
• Sunday 25 February | Winter Duck. We’ve missed seeing our boy for a few weeks but he still knows us and likes his food…. #duck???? #Douglasalorange
• Friday 23 February | Feeling proud of my achievement of turning around a print design job within the tightest of deadlines. Couldn’t have done it without Team Marketing but phew I’m glad this week is over… #thinkhuman @thinkhumanfest
• Thursday 22 February | A bit concerned for our conductors hearing in his left ear, as the flutes and the oboes were the only section not picked out to go over bits during this… #backtothefuture
• Tuesday 20 February | Tea, toast, and editing. Well I do have a novel to publish in April… . #amediting #authorsofinstagram #writersofinstagram #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Friday 16 February | A creative and delightful fairytale
• Thursday 15 February | A Poem for Nellie
• Tuesday 13 February | It’s pancake day Yes, it’s pancake day Yes, it’s p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-pancake day Well, it’s pancake day It’s really pancake day Yes, it’s p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-pancake day . #pancakeday2018????
• Monday 12 February | Getting that all important sea air…
• Monday 12 February | Fish’n’Chips by the seaside…
• Monday 12 February | It looks to me that this old Victorian pub has splat-landed right on top of the older building!
• Monday 12 February | Seagulls sunning themselves..
• Sunday 11 February | I don’t like to see #books???? abused but these little #flickcartoons in the corners of my #EdwardArdizzone book are actually quite delightful…
• Sunday 11 February | Starling murmuration over #RSPBMinsmere… 11/2/2018 #nofilter
• Sunday 11 February | It was like a scene from some medieval battle with a smaller band of outlaws at Dunwich Heath facing up the massed hoards on North Bank (@rspbminsmere)
• Sunday 11 February | Starling watchers’ #selfie: waiting for the murmuration
• Sunday 11 February | I went to a proper second-hand bookshop that smelt of old books like all good booshops should… #books???? #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram
• Saturday 10 February | Very cold and wintry trip made exciting by seeing a Red-headed Smew. It even got the guys at @rspb_love_nature excited too!
• Saturday 10 February | Posted on Instagram
• Saturday 10 February | Posted on Instagram
• Saturday 10 February | Posted on Instagram
• Saturday 10 February | Early #Valentines❤ present from @vnemma. She knows me so well…! ???????????? #EdwardArdizzone
• Saturday 10 February | The #coverdesign moves ahead for #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife… got a space for barcode and blurb now!
• Friday 9 February | Bleak and beautiful #blackandwhite #beach #Suffolk #Aldeburgh
• Friday 9 February | Lost…
• Friday 9 February | Considering my #amediting schedule, buying this might have been a mistake… #books???? #amreading #SkySong @moontrugger
• Thursday 8 February | Does anyone else ever #dreamread? . #amediting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #dreamreading
• Thursday 8 February | Just considering whether it is possible or not to go into a second-hand bookshop and not buy an #EdwardArdizzone book? #books???? #bookstagram #bookaholic
• Wednesday 7 February | I may be #amediting part two but that doesn’t stop me laying down some plotting for part three… #ForgottenFriends
• Tuesday 6 February | “how much of a rucksack her father sounded” Umm… No, no idea. Amy guesses?!? #amediting #writersofinstagram
• Monday 5 February | Monday night progress. Revealing some background textures, and I(I think) that imaginary wife is staring right out at you from the #coverdesign! #MrTumnal2 #illustration #ampainting
• Monday 5 February | The devil is in the detail. Eliminating the offset mouth nosecombo and addressing those wandering eyes… #ampainting #illustration #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Sunday 4 February | They’ve restored the long neglected hermitage since my last visit… #hermitage #stowe #cabilitybrown
• Sunday 4 February | Spring colours at Stowe…
• Sunday 4 February | Signs of Spring #snowdrops #gallantrophile
• Sunday 4 February | Another bowl of yummy deliciousness in the form of Roasted Aubergine and Tahini… #eatinghealthy #101thingsyoucandowithaubergines #aubergine???? #recipes @deliciouslyella
• Sunday 4 February | Characters emerging… #coverdesign #illustration #ampainting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Sunday 4 February | Really hope I’m not ruining this… #people #coverdesign #illustration #ampainting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Saturday 3 February | Finished off my drawing of Hawkesbury Upton Primary School, the venue for this year’s festival. May get some gift cards printed that people can buy. What do you think?
• Saturday 3 February | Playing with shadow and skin tones… #ampainting #illustration #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Saturday 3 February | Artist’s studio…?!?
• Saturday 3 February | Revealing the details… #ampainting #illustration #coverdesign #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Friday 2 February | Friday night sketching of the new venue of the Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival. @debbieyounghawkesbury, I’ll provide you with a proper scan for the website tomorrow if you like?
• Friday 2 February | Friday night sketching of the new venue of the Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival. @debbieyounghawkesbury, I’ll provide you with a proper scan for the website tomorrow if you like?
• Friday 2 February | Looking forward to getting gouache out and bringing this to life…
• Wednesday 31 January | Working up cover ideas and sketches for my forthcoming third novel! #amwriting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Tuesday 30 January | Tonight’s colourful, nutritious meal: sweet potato and carrot mash bowl… #recipes #healthyfood #healthyeating @deliciouslyella
• Tuesday 30 January | Oxford in the morning… #nofilter #cold #redsky
• Monday 29 January | Does #amreading my own novel pre-publication count towards my @goodreads 2018 #ReadingChallenge?
• Monday 29 January | I know it’s only the view of one reader but one reader who doesn’t really do fantasy, so allow me to continue beaming from ear to ear… #feedback #amwriting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife . . (And yes, I love the character of Watts too!)
• Sunday 28 January | @catnamedafteramouse seemed too think that this seat was all his?
• Sunday 28 January | 346 pages; 66,733. I like to call this Draft 1.5 of #TheImaginaryWife, the sequel to #MrTumnal… #amwriting #betareadersneeded
• Sunday 28 January | Tonight is a good night. #TheEnd #amwriting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Saturday 27 January | Because after an #epilogue every novel needs an afterwards… #amwriting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Saturday 27 January | Fuel for the epilogue… #vanatallinn #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #amwriting
• Saturday 27 January | Saturday night is pizza night… #pizza #mozzarella #battlestargalactica
• Friday 26 January | Me. My name in trees… #trees #mynameintrees
• Tuesday 23 January | And so it has come to this. And it’s back too where out all began two novels ago for the final chapter… #amwriting #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Tuesday 23 January | For those times when you think I’ve ignored you… see, it’s not just me! #lostinanotherworld #dreamuniverse #21stcenturyyokel @21stcenturyyokel
• Sunday 21 January | Another delicious meal from my new best #recipe friend, @deliciouslyella, in the form of a Miso Aubergine & Bok Choy Stir Fry… . #aubergine #healthyfood #eatinghealthy
• Sunday 21 January | Mad. The man is incorrigibly bonkers mad… @21stcenturyyokel #TwentyfirstCenturyYokel
• Sunday 21 January | Snowatching… #Bella #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 21 January | Snowy Sunday afternoon…. #selfie #Arthur #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 21 January | Lentil meatball served in a cup of avocado…
• Saturday 20 January | A hearty winter meal of Lentil Balls with Tomato Spaghetti… #lentils @deliciouslyella
• Saturday 20 January | #Repost @thinkhumanfest • • • Our photography competition is open for entries! On the subject of relationships, challenges and changing society we are inviting submissions on one of four themes: #Identity, #Empowerment, #Provocation, and #Empathy. . See the link in our bio for full details. Entries close 31 March 2018! . #photography #photocontest #photographycompetition #competition #contest #thinkhuman @oxfordbrookes #oxfordbrookes
• Saturday 20 January | #amwriting is not always easy… ✒???????? #writersofinstagram #catsofinstagram
• Friday 19 January | Anything but a monster: a story told in Phonetic Geordie English
• Tuesday 16 January | Bookaholic? Or just in love with stories…?
• Monday 15 January | Monday morning. Going nowhere fast…
• Sunday 14 January | Tonight’s healthy dinner, Tahini Aubergines. Thanks again, @deliciouslyella! . #recipes #aubergine #eatinghealthy
• Sunday 14 January | I’ve long been a fan of #DavidAlmond’s books, but just five books into 2018 I think I may have found this year’s challenge. Is phonics? Or something Chauseresque? . #thetruetaleofthemonsterbillydean #amreading
• Sunday 14 January | Weekend visit to see Douglas á l’Orange doing duck stuff. Took a while to find him today so he didn’t get as much bread… #duck????
• Sunday 14 January | Chickens! Doing what chickens do…! #chickens???? #garden
• Sunday 14 January | Signs of Spring in the cold, winter’s day… #witchhazel #gold #winter #flowers
• Sunday 14 January | Garden visitor… #robin #garden #birds
• Saturday 13 January | The old doppleganger myth, which dictates that if you do ever meet your double, you die…
• Saturday 13 January | “It’s only ten to nine,” I said… “I know,” said Arthur, “And I wants my dinner.” . #iflookscouldkill #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Saturday 13 January | Sausage and polenta. Suitable for vegetarians and carnivores alike… #sausages #polenta #cauldron #omnomnom #recipes
• Saturday 13 January | Saturday night in the kitchen…
• Friday 12 January | Inspired by @laurapicklechop’s meal last week, my first go at a @deliciouslyella recipe. Simple, wholesome food… #recipes #eatinghealthy #deliciouslyella
• Wednesday 10 January | Into the office slinky… #work #reportwriting
• Tuesday 9 January | Reading about storytelling
• Tuesday 9 January | Just reading my kindle… #amreading #books???? #kindle #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats #Arthur #donottellhimhewasnamedafteramouse
• Tuesday 9 January | Mushroom risotto in our week of fish and vegetables… #risotto #recipes #FrancescoDaMostto
• Monday 8 January | The Old Green Knowe that continues to inspire
• Monday 8 January | Love a good storm scene! #AStrangerAtGreenKnowe #greenknowe #LucyBoston #storms #stormsinfiction #books???? #amreading
• Sunday 7 January | Contentment is too blankies to separate arch rivals… #nemises #bella #nellie #catsagram #cats #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 7 January | Old lanes and field systems… #theoldways #farminghistory #nature #walks
• Sunday 7 January | Cold and crispy walk at Gavray Meadows…
• Sunday 7 January | Like an ivy covered stag… #trees #nature #walks
• Sunday 7 January | Cold and crispy today at the duck pond to see Douglas for the first time in 2018…
• Sunday 7 January | May I present to the deliciousness that is Celery Bake… #celery #celerybake #NigelSlater #recipes #tender
• Sunday 7 January | Cup of tea? @rad.tofu would be proud of me… #tea
• Saturday 6 January | Twelfth Night sees the closing of #TheDarkIsReading
• Saturday 6 January | Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio- A fellow of infinite jest, Of most excellent fancy.
• Saturday 6 January | Found a Fisher Price toy like I used to have in an antique shop. Winding it up and listening to it made me happy…
• Tuesday 2 January | Creativity and Me
• Monday 1 January | Musings on the first day of a new year
• Monday 1 January | Thanks to an all too generous Christmas present from @vnemma’s Mum and Dad of a new bucket and paddle we now have loaf-shaped bread from my circa. 13 year old bread maker. Here I present a multiseed loaf…
• Monday 1 January | New Year’s Day Christmas with the Jefferys/Spencer side of the family…
• Monday 1 January | For #NewYearsEve in 2007 @vnemma and I went into London to see the fireworks. Outside Buckingham Palace, this happened. The silver flutes were one if our engagement presents. #10years on it seemed appropriate… ????❤????xxx Happy New year everyone, hope 2018 is everything you want it to be!

2017 |

• Sunday 31 December | Ending 2017 how I want to begin 2018 writing pages and pages… #amwriting #MrTumnal #TheImaginaryWife #fairymagic #creativity #words
• Sunday 31 December | New Year’s Eve meal with my @vnemma! ????❤???? #newyear #newyearseve #10years
• Sunday 31 December | Review of the book year: 2017
• Sunday 31 December | Just checking out #Delias turkey soup #recipe… #catsofinstagram #catsagram #cats #Bella
• Sunday 31 December | My Instagram year in review (it seems to favour the latter end of the year) #bestnine
• Saturday 30 December | The Family Shepherd…
• Friday 29 December | Finally got to see the new #Paddington film and loved it. Favourite moments have got be when talks Aunt Lucy around London in the pages of the popup book and it reminds you of the original cartoons…
• Thursday 28 December | Cold and crispy evening walk at Somerton canal… #winter❄ #frost #canal #walks
• Thursday 28 December | “mushrooms should have pink gills, and should peel easily from the edges of the disc to the centre” . I’m sure there’s more to identifying the difference between mushrooms and toadstools than the #ladybirdbooks???? What to Look for in Autumn would have me believe… #amreading
• Thursday 28 December | The enchantment of words
• Thursday 28 December | Golden ribbons of hope emerge out of the midwinter frost… #witchhazel
• Thursday 28 December | Catnip craziness! #drugcats #cats #catnip #catnipfix #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Thursday 28 December | Contentment is a cat in a box… #catsagram #catsofinstagram #cats
• Wednesday 27 December | Lovely to catch up with Lucy and Luke again and meet the adorable Bernard! Hope he enjoys his #JustSoStories… #friends
• Wednesday 27 December | “‘I wish for someone to be with. I wish to be un-alone.’ He hoped shooting stars did not care about grammar.” And these words a modern classic is born… #OneChristmasWish @kdbrundell
• Wednesday 27 December | A little bit about how #stories are born… #books???? #amreading #thenightcircus???? @erinmorgenstern
• Wednesday 27 December | Magical Realism at its quietest best
• Tuesday 26 December | Boxing Day supper and the Christmas episode of #DoctorWho…
• Tuesday 26 December | “Funny. Things are absolutely awful and yet people look much happier than usual. Look at them all. Bubbling.” “They are English,” Merriman said. #TheDarkIsReading #TheDarkIsRising #SusanCooper #books???? #amreading
• Tuesday 26 December | Reading about the Ardizzone Pub Trail in @illustration.magazine and it’s fascinating to see photos and sketches by #EdwardArdizzone side-by-side…
• Tuesday 26 December | Boxing Day walk in some much-needed midwinter sun. Love my family! ????❤????
• Monday 25 December | Family game of #Dixit…
• Monday 25 December | I think my #toread pile might be getting a bit out of control… #books???? #bookstagram #bookhouse
• Monday 25 December | I think my #toread pile might be getting a bit out of control… #books???? #bookstagram #bookhouse
• Monday 25 December | Christmas lunch. Cheers!
• Monday 25 December | Christmas lunch in the Shepherd house… #Christmas????
• Monday 25 December | #EdwardArdizzone’s illustration of the girl in #TheLittleTrain looks in every way like it could be Sarah having stepped out of the pages of my own #MrTumnal! #books???? #amreading
• Monday 25 December | I’d say that’s done nicely… #turkey???? #Christmas????
• Monday 25 December | Present opening time! #Christmas????
• Monday 25 December | Happy Christmas Douglas á l’Orange! #Christmas???? #duck????
• Monday 25 December | I detect a theme here… thank you to everyone for my presents. I feel truly spoilt! #Christmas???? #presents #books???? #illustration #edwardardizzone #drawing
• Sunday 24 December | Christmas cheese board: charcoal briquette cheddar and Bath Blue… #Christmas????
• Sunday 24 December | Carols from Kings, Christmas tree, and a Christmas classic makes my 48th book of the year… #Christmas???? #ChurchMice???? #amreading #goodreads #books???? #bookstagram #illustratedbooks
• Sunday 24 December | Through doorways… #doorways
• Sunday 24 December | Christmas Eve celebrations in the last homely house of the shire… #Christmas???? #ChristmasEve
• Sunday 24 December | Merry Christmas everyone! Have a festive few days! #Christmas???? #ChristmasEve
• Sunday 24 December | Happy Christmas Eve to you all from the Family Shepherd! #Christmas???? #festive
• Saturday 23 December | This old barn could be from Dawson’s Farm in #TheDarkIsRising… #TheDarkIsReading
• Saturday 23 December | Deer… #stonorpark
• Saturday 23 December | In the bleak midwinter… #oldways #chilterns #midwinter
• Saturday 23 December | Brother and sister looking adorable… #siblings #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Saturday 23 December | Forty-four years ago Christmas presents were a simpler beast (and dare I say it, meant more)… #TheDarkIsReading #TheDarkIsRising #books???? #amreading #SusanCooper @robgmacfarlane
• Saturday 23 December | Before and after… black metal becomes silver…
• Thursday 21 December | @vnemma had an 80 year old, 816 piece jigsaw of the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth to sell on eBay. The problem was we had to do the puzzle to make sure all the pieces were there, which was harder than you think considering the picture on the box was bit three same as the puzzle and it consisted of large swathes of maroon, burgundy, and gold swirly bits… #jigsaws
• Thursday 21 December | Is this what it’s like for a #bookaholic to be “double-parked”? #amreading #books???? #drinkingterminology
• Thursday 21 December | #TheOldWays that would make @robgmacfarlane proud: “he walked up the narrow road that in his own time was called Huntercombe Lane […] now, it was no more than a track through a forest” #TheDarkIsReading #amreading #wintersolstice #midwintersday
• Thursday 21 December | Another year, another preposterous #Christmas???? scene… #cake #festive #joy
• Thursday 21 December | #thenightcircus???? by @erinmorgenstern is what I call a quiet novel, but there is some imagery in it that just absolutely delights… “Only the ship is made of books, its sails thousands of overlapping pages, and the sea it floats upon of dark black ink.” #books???? #amreading
• Wednesday 20 December | Had a very enjoyable evening listening to @towcesterstudio band tonight in a concert filled with #Christmas???? fun and festive solos… and I even won a chocolate Santa in the raffle!
• Wednesday 20 December | Euphonium solo by @abingdonconcertband’s Neil Brownless at tonight’s Towcester Sudio Band #Christmas???? concert.
• Wednesday 20 December | Euphonium solo by @abingdonconcertband’s Neil Brownless at tonight’s Towcester Sudio Band #Christmas???? concert.
• Wednesday 20 December | A view that I don’t often get to see of @abingdonconcertband’s Neil Brownless… #Christmas???? #concert #brassband
• Wednesday 20 December | A view that I don’t often get to see of @abingdonconcertband’s Neil Brownless… #Christmas???? #concert #brassband
• Wednesday 20 December | “This night will be bad. And tomorrow will be beyond imagining.” Day 1 of #TheDarkIsReading… @robgmacfarlane #TheDarkIsRising #SusanCooper #amreading
• Wednesday 20 December | It’s midwinter’s eve, and as #TheDarkIsRising comes the time when #TheDarkIsReading… @robgmacfarlane #amreading
• Saturday 16 December | “Some day it is held then because the tenth anniversary had come and gone…” Some – including me – might say that 13 was more of a magic number than ten… #thenightcircus???? @erinmorgenstern #book???? #amreading
• Friday 15 December | Desperate for his bread and lettuce, or just greedy…? Douglas after the snow and the ice…
• Friday 15 December | A personal library kit…? You’d think that this was perfect for someone like me but… you can’t borrow books from personal library!You’re
• Friday 15 December | Warmed Dutch apple tart and hazelnut hot chocolate at @littleamsterdambanbury…
• Thursday 14 December | Younger Me…
• Thursday 14 December | Sorting out my study and I find this. This must have been written almost 18 years ago to the day when i got that first job at the then Blackwell Science. Like a voice from the past it’s made me very emotional. Love you Gran xxx
• Wednesday 13 December | Happy Birthday to my beautiful @vnemma! ????????
• Tuesday 12 December | Frozen. #snow❄
• Monday 11 December | A Turdus iliacus aka. Redwing has visited our garden today. Very exciting! #birds #armchairbirdwatching
• Monday 11 December | I wasn’t looking forward to today, especially after the last incident in the dentist’s chair exactly 6 months ago…. …but I survived, and I’m now one tooth short of a full set.
• Sunday 10 December | Sunday roast on a snowy, midwinter’s day… #snow❄ #pheasant #roast #inthebleakmidwinter❄️❄️❄️ #thedarkisrising
• Sunday 10 December | #Snowday walk… #snow❄
• Sunday 10 December | When the dark comes rising… It’s a monochrome world out there (with a dash of colour) #snow❄
• Sunday 10 December | Snow is fallin’, All around us… (We borrowed the snowman for the purposes of this shoot) #snow❄
• Sunday 10 December | I made a #snowwife❄!
• Sunday 10 December | That’s what a bit of snow does for the old pressure charts… #barometre
• Sunday 10 December | Blizzard! #snow❄
• Sunday 10 December | Winter wonderland… #snow❄
• Sunday 10 December | Snow!!!
• Sunday 10 December | What an adorable ball of fluff is that?! #Aslan???? #cats #catsagram
• Saturday 9 December | My handsome boy! #duck????
• Saturday 9 December | My handsome boy! #duck????
• Saturday 9 December | Feeding Douglas á l’Orange on a cold winter’s day… #duck???? #inthebleakmidwinter❄️❄️❄️
• Saturday 9 December | Feeding Douglas á l’Orange on a cold winter’s day… #duck???? #inthebleakmidwinter❄️❄️❄️
• Saturday 9 December | Saturday night is pizza night. Proper thincrust… #pizza
• Saturday 9 December | Black-backed gulls on the frozen duck pond…
• Saturday 9 December | I’ve been busy… #mincepies #Christmas???? #baking #yum
• Saturday 9 December | Yesterday’s Team Marketing lunch. Don’t ask me why da boss is replaced by a smiley. Really, don’t ask!
• Saturday 9 December | A picture of cosiness is a cat asleep by the fire… ????????????
• Saturday 9 December | On the ninth day of advent, the cats opened more of their Christmas calendar… #cats #Christmas????
• Friday 8 December | On the eighth day of advent: the last post
• Friday 8 December | So happy with my #SecretSanta stress-relieving slinky from Camilla!
• Friday 8 December | The day it snowed at #work and festivities to see out 2017…
• Thursday 7 December | In preparation for tomorrow’s #lastrites on the server I did try playing this on picc. Almost, I have to say, but I think I’ll give it the dignity of the flute… #TheLastPost
• Sunday 3 December | Always a beautiful location – @cogges makes a perfect place for a Christmas market. Lovely to see @emmaloupo buying a print from my friend @rach.h.art’s stall too… ????
• Sunday 3 December | Every decoration has a memory attached to them and when we dress the tree they come flooding back… #Christmas???? #tree #decorations
• Sunday 3 December | Our oldest Christmas decoration is 39 years old this year… #Christmas???? #angels #decorations
• Sunday 3 December | Mary and Joseph look like they have the kind of perplexed and “what are we supposed to do with this now?” faces that I think all new parents probably have… #Christmas???? #advent #nativity
• Sunday 3 December | I’ve had real #Christmas???? trees that have made less mess!
• Saturday 2 December | After an hour and a half of #carolling at the #abingdonchristmasextravaganza I needed something too warm me up… #Christmas???? #hotchocolate
• Saturday 2 December | It’s Christmas! @abingdonconcertband have played our Yuletide concert… let the festivities begin! #Christmas????
• Wednesday 29 November | After https://www.instagram.com/p/BcEz3kqFKv5/ you’d probably like this, @oxfordbrookes
• Tuesday 28 November | That moment when a book gets you… “‘Nothing is impossible,’ he says. Isobel laughs, the high- pitched delightful laugh of a child.” ~The Night Circus, @erinmorgenstern #amreading
• Monday 27 November | Conclusion of a Quartet of Feline Tails
• Sunday 26 November | My boy! #Douglas #duck????
• Sunday 26 November | Emma hand feeds a moorhen…
• Sunday 26 November | Our weekly visit to see Douglas and I’m sure that the other ducks can’t work pout what’s so special about this one duck. He’s still free only one to go mental and get out for lettuce. ❤ that #duck????!
• Sunday 26 November | Genesis of the Christmas cake… #stirupsunday #Christmas???? #adventiscoming
• Sunday 26 November | This can only mean one thing… #stirupsunday
• Sunday 26 November | Sunday breakfast with the new cafetiere (it’s just happy coincidence it matches the kettle and toaster)… #breakfast #sunday
• Saturday 25 November | Impressive winter skies and seductive shop windows in Banbury this afternoon as I spurn the big chains and start my Christmas shopping in independents…
• Saturday 25 November | The boys! #sunny #wintermorning
• Saturday 25 November | Winter warmer on a cold and frosty morning… #porridge
• Saturday 25 November | Like I need an excuse to visit my favourite bookshop… @booksandink #saturdaysanctuary #bibliotherapy
• Friday 24 November | Survivor’s guide to Friday’s #envelopegate: tea, toast, and book… relax…
• Friday 24 November | Woodsmoke rises in the autumn evening light…
• Friday 24 November | “I felt sorry for George, who, as a rugged outdoorsman who’d been living off-grid, probably had no idea he was about to be put through a hipster Instagram filter, stamped with a hashtag and gasped at by dozens of strangers” ~@21stcenturyyokel, Close Encounters of a Furred Kind
• Sunday 19 November | I’ve not got see Douglas á l’Orange for three weeks now, so attack of gout or no gout I was damn well going to see him today… #duck???? #myboy
• Saturday 18 November | Saturday night is #pizza night…#rockchoir
• Saturday 18 November | Shut up and dance with me… #rockchoir
• Saturday 18 November | Spirals #twinklinglights????
• Saturday 18 November | #parallel #lines #angles @westgateoxford
• Saturday 18 November | First trip to the new @westgateoxford. It’s all slick lines but I can’t think about what it will be like nearer to Christmas… #notreallymadeforshopping
• Saturday 18 November | First Away In A Manger of the year… #carols #carolling #itschristmas
• Saturday 18 November | …and proud of it! #normalisboring #whatisnormal
• Saturday 18 November | Uptown Girl in the @westgateoxford #rockchoir
• Saturday 18 November | Listening to Emma and Rock Choir outside the new John Lewis…
• Saturday 18 November | Yeah, that just about sums it up! #me #normalisboring
• Friday 17 November | Red sky at night…
• Friday 17 November | Aww pretty, twinkling lights…
• Thursday 16 November | In case anyone was in any doubt, and as any musician will tell you, we are very close to that time of year when… It’s Christmas!!
• Sunday 12 November | Today’s modest book haul and another #EdwardArdizzone to add to my growing collection…
• Sunday 12 November | Through woods and over heath
• Sunday 12 November | Autumn light and November wind through the reed beds…
• Sunday 12 November | Coastline of my childhood
• Sunday 12 November | Fruits of autumn… #fungi #mushrooms
• Sunday 12 November | Buttons! #buttons
• Sunday 12 November | The power of the voice… #rememberance #teneberae
• Friday 10 November | The illustrations that capture the essence of Peter Pan
• Friday 10 November | Friday just got better with the surprise reunion with my key ring that I bought in La Rochelle 25 years ago! #Tintin #keyring #lostandfound
• Wednesday 8 November | “Well, I won’t. I don’t want to go to school. I don’t want to be in an office. I don’t want to grow up and be a man.” #PeterPan #wisewords
• Saturday 4 November | The most exciting thing to happen at Open Day today…
• Thursday 2 November | A book that from the first page to the last is Philip Pullman at his narrative best
• Thursday 2 November | I’ve done it with two months to spare!
• Thursday 2 November | Peter Pan’s shadow has got to be one of the finest inventions of children’s literature…
• Wednesday 1 November | An example of when my #work self and my #personal self collide…
• Tuesday 31 October | Happy Halloween
• Tuesday 31 October | Day 31: #inktober #inktober2017 The three finalists #GBBOFinal
• Monday 30 October | Day 30: #inktober #inktober2017 Douglas á l’Orange doing what ducks do…
• Monday 30 October | New member of the Shepherd menagerie…
• Sunday 29 October | Day 29: #inktober #inktober2017 All the world’s a stage… for The Bard of Stratford
• Sunday 29 October | Douglas á l’Orange having a wash!
• Sunday 29 October | My growing boy is quite the handsome chap and still loves his lettuce…
• Sunday 29 October | The beauty of #autumnleaves and water…
• Saturday 28 October | Day 28: #inktober #inktober2017 Shakespeare’s birthplace…
• Saturday 28 October | A day out in Shakespeare’s country…
• Saturday 28 October | A day of Emma Therapy today in Stratford-upon-Avon
• Saturday 28 October | I’m sorry, couldn’t resist
• Saturday 28 October | So it’s true
• Friday 27 October | Day 27: #inktober #inktober2017 #nationalblackcatday
• Friday 27 October | Bloomin’ Philip Pullman and his Jackdaw-like dæmon ways
• Friday 27 October | “Scholastic sanctuary”? Is that an actual #Oxford thing? It’s what #TheImaginaryWife got given in my current WIP… @philippullman #TheBookofDust
• Thursday 26 October | My love of Edward Ardizzone books
• Thursday 26 October | Day 26: #inktober #inktober2017 Emma climbing a tree last year
• Wednesday 25 October | Day 25: #inktober #inktober2017
• Tuesday 24 October | Day 24: #inktober #inktober2017 A little trip down my favourite Oxford lane
• Monday 23 October | Day 23: When #Autumnwatch meets #inktober
• Sunday 22 October | Day 22: #inktober #inktober2017
• Saturday 21 October | Day 21: #inktober #inktober2017 My exploration of figure drawing continues, this time my Dad walking up the beach with my cousin Melkorka… #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing @drifaadals
• Saturday 21 October | Another week, another week closer to adulthood… #duck????
• Friday 20 October | Day 20: Wondering if I’m beginning to stretch myself too far with doing pictures of people I actually know… What do you think @jefferyshelen77, anyone you know? #inktober #inktober2017 #amdrawing #penandink #penandinkdrawing
• Thursday 19 October | Day 19: Our last rehearsal tonight before Neil leaves us for a few months for basic training with the army. I hope he will forgive me tonight’s #inktober sketch! #inktober2017 #conductor @abingdonconcertband #NeilBrownless #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Thursday 19 October | 17 years on the waiting. Are you sitting comfortably? Then it’s time begin… #TheBookofDust #amreading
• Thursday 19 October | Shop window to die for, and I really, really want that book in the middle for Christmas!
• Thursday 19 October | Love my favourite #indie bookshop. Now to brew the pot of tea, settle back, and enjoy… #indiebookstores #personaltouch #shoplocal #philippullman #labellesauvage #thebookofdust #books
• Wednesday 18 October | Day 18: Watching Philip Pullman and Anna Maxwell Martin at the live launch of The Book of Dust #inktober #inktober2017 #philippullman???? #TheBookofDust
• Wednesday 18 October | It’s publicationeve for #TheBookOfDust. Really hope it’s worth the wait and that it doesn’t dissaoint, @philippullman
• Tuesday 17 October | Day 17: Worcester College, 4 May 2016 #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Monday 16 October | Day 16: #OTD #onthisday in 1900 Edward Ardizzone was born. For today’s #inktober I try a scene from #MrTumnal in his style. How did I do? #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Monday 16 October | Born #OTD #onthisday in 1900 Edward Ardizzone is an absolute favourite illustrator of mine. I really need to work on my personal collection. I did name #MrTumnal’s faithful bear after him though!
• Monday 16 October | Who else has found today’s weather inspirational for their writing? I managed about 400 words snatched in a busy refectory during lunch… #amwriting
• Monday 16 October | It’s been an odd kind of day… #redsky #ophelia #nofilter
• Monday 16 October | The end of the world is nigh… #redsky #ophelia #nofilter #saharasand
• Monday 16 October | Weird apocalyptic light up there today! #yellowsky
• Sunday 15 October | The Conclusion of the Trilogy
• Sunday 15 October | Day 15: A wren for Mr Tumnal… #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #woodcut #amdrawing
• Saturday 14 October | Day 14: Douglas á l’Orange #inktober #inktober2017 #duck???? #penandink #woodcut #amdrawing
• Saturday 14 October | Love my chicken korma meal with the Swartz mix… #simplepleasures #korma
• Saturday 14 October | Hrmm… I wonder if today’s #inktober could be a woodcut inspired version of Douglas…?
• Saturday 14 October | More ducky Douglas pictures… #duck????
• Saturday 14 October | Douglas á l’Orange is growing up fast now but still loves his lettuce! He’s a lettuce fiend! #duck????
• Friday 13 October | Day 13: Playing with a #woodcut effect… #inktober #inktober2017
• Friday 13 October | #Autumn???? is the magical time of year when, if you bend an ear and listen, you can hear the #fairies scamper through the leaves… #MrTumnal
• Friday 13 October | The #RainPavillion really comes into its own in #autumn????
• Friday 13 October | This is the kind of woodcut I find so inspiring to see, strive to do, but is actually really, really hard… #LyrasOxford #JohnLawrence
• Friday 13 October | Went looking for the #BHM2017 poetry displays that I have been helping put together for @brookespoetry. I found 4 of the 5…. can you find the rest? https://www.poetry.brookes.ac.uk/projects/black-history-month/ #BlackHistoryMonth @oxfordbrookes #poetry
• Thursday 12 October | Day 12: More canal living. A quick draw between band and bed tonight… #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Wednesday 11 October | Day 11: Shepherd’s Hut #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Tuesday 10 October | Day 10: Fellows’ rooms, Woodiwiss College, Wren Hoe #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Tuesday 10 October | The future is not VR. VR is part of the future
• Tuesday 10 October | Exploring VR #ForReal with @bbc’s @ravonski and @jessiedriscoll @bbcblueroom
• Monday 9 October | Day 9: Mow Cop is the castle that overlooked my uni days… #mowcop #folly #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Monday 9 October | I love books and analogue “technologies” but I’m going to properly geek out at work tomorrow! #vr #bbc #vrbox @oxfordbrookes
• Sunday 8 October | Day 8: Cotswold village cottages in Whichford… #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Sunday 8 October | Douglas á l’Orange two weeks on from “going wild” and he’s doing well!
• Saturday 7 October | Canal living… #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Saturday 7 October | #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing
• Saturday 7 October | Douglas á l’Orange as he was last week… #inktober #inkoctober2017 #penandink #penanandinkdrawing #duck????
• Friday 6 October | The garden beyond the gate… #inktober #inktober2017 #penandink #penandinkdrawing #amdrawing
• Thursday 5 October | I can draw landscapes and buildings fine but I’ve always struggled with people. An *attempt* then at drawing the character of Alice Watson, college porter and friend to #TheImaginaryWife in my current wip… #inktober2017 #inktober #penandink #drawing #people
• Wednesday 4 October | At least three of my friends are doing #Inktober so I thought I’d give it a go. I give you Hook Norton Brewery… #drawing #penandink #penandinkdrawing
• Tuesday 3 October | Mashed fish for dinner… #Iceland???????? #tasteoficeland #icelandic #mashedfish
• Sunday 1 October | When vegetarian food tastes this good… #mushrooms #risotto #mushroomrisotto???? #FrancescodaMosto
• Sunday 1 October | Listening to @vnemma entertaining the crowds at the #banburycanalday2017
• Saturday 30 September | Douglas showing off his lines and his very full belly! #duck????
• Saturday 30 September | Saturday visit to see Douglas a l’Orange in his new home… #duck????
• Saturday 30 September | Must. Eat. Lettuce. Omnomnomnom… #duck????#Douglas
• Friday 29 September | My fourth #Erigeron. How many do I need to have a #nationalcollection?
• Friday 29 September | Nesting… #Aslan #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Friday 29 September | “the night pulsed with the booming soundtrack of other people’s fun” #TheNovel #amwriting #authorsofinstsgram #writersofinstagram
• Monday 25 September | Little Duck Journey
• Monday 25 September | @vnemma and I heard today via our local Facebook community group that there was a stray duck rounded up one street away and released in Jubilee Lake on the other side of Bicester. After I got home from work we went out for an evening stroll to see if we could find him and on our second turn about we saw him on his own down at the end! Douglas a l’Orange!!! He’s happy and swimming in his new home! #duck???? #allducksaredifferent #noducksarethesame
• Sunday 24 September | Walk in the woods… #StokeWoods #autumn????
• Sunday 24 September | A small harvest of cob nuts from the garden… #autumn????
• Sunday 24 September | Sitting in the garden in the #autumn???? sun #amreading, and soaking my feet in a #kefir bath ‘cos that’s the way I rock…
• Saturday 23 September | The price of publishing
• Saturday 23 September | Bicester looking gorgeous in the #autumn???? sunshine. Love my little market town… #Bicester
• Saturday 23 September | A little bit of #work prep for when we perform The Final Shutdown of the millstone that has hung round my neck for the last eight years… #server #decommissioning #theendisnigh
• Friday 22 September | An introduction to Norse Mythology
• Friday 22 September | “It is not the end. There is no end.” …and thus this is how new stories are born… ???? @neilhimself #norsemythology
• Thursday 21 September | And I’m back! Not for me noise-cancelling headphones, single-cell offices, and dedicated workspaces… #amwriting #snatchedmoments #TheNovel #progress
• Wednesday 20 September | Almost too beautiful to eat. Thank you to @millakontkanen and her allotment for the butternut squash that isn’t. Now I just have to find that scrummy recipe I had… #autumn???? #squashes
• Tuesday 19 September | Soup Tuesday: time for that winter warmer on an autumn night… #Fiskisúpa #souptuesday
• Sunday 17 September | Sunday sunset…
• Sunday 17 September | Arthur had a lovely time getting all the attention when the lovely Letelliers came to visit! Thanks for coming @lettyandtiminou #friends
• Saturday 16 September | I swore I wouldn’t buy anymore books in September! But then I saw this bargain of a boxset of 16 Michael Morpurgo books for a fiver in the charity shop… #books #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookaholicsannonymous #booksofinstagram #ihaveaproblem
• Saturday 16 September | Dark chocolate and rum truffles from the #GBBO book I won at @emmaloupo’s charity bake sale last year. Should keep the visitors happy, @lettyandtiminou ????
• Saturday 16 September | It’s important to prepare when you’ve got good friends coming to visit tomorrow…
• Friday 15 September | Growing up with Facebook
• Friday 15 September | And… Friday! Le weekend starts here… ???????? #hornblower #friyay @abingdonconcertband @lettyandtiminou
• Friday 15 September | I stupidly let my afternoon cup of tea at work get cold, undrunk ???? so I’m making up for it now in my favourite mug… #tea #bestdrunkhot
• Friday 15 September | Learnt a new word at @abingdonconcertband last night – tenderly – going to have use one this in one of novels… #MrTumnal #musicinbooks #authorsofinstagram
• Friday 15 September | I’m sorry, but mid-September is too early in anyone’s book to be playing Christmas music!
• Thursday 14 September | I ❤️ confers! #conkers #autumn????
• Thursday 14 September | Fruits of the season… #conkers #autumn????
• Thursday 14 September | Ummm… very nice but spot awkward mistake! #newbuilding #work
• Wednesday 13 September | The Dreams of a Writer
• Wednesday 13 September | OMG, yes!! ???? I remember the hot orange squash in the beige plastic cups from the vending machine in the sixth form common room!! #FriendRequest #LauraMarshall #amreading
• Tuesday 12 September | Friends: for everyone who’s lived alone, we’ve all been there… #friends #The15000thTweet #FriendRequest #LauraMarshall
• Monday 11 September | What’s worse than having a picture of cat poo WhatsApped to you by your wife? Finding out that it’s being kept in the fridge… #imarriedavetnurse #itshouldnthappentoavetnursehusband
• Monday 11 September | Little #duck????is growing up quick! #mallard
• Sunday 10 September | This, from @laurajm8, completely sums up getting back in touch with not-quite-friends years later… #FriendRequest #amreading
• Saturday 9 September | Part-quest, part-treasure hunt that moves between the worlds
• Saturday 9 September | Surely this man’s appendage would get in the way of the mouthpiece and head joint? #moustache #flute #flautist #lastnightoftheproms
• Saturday 9 September | Sunset and storm clouds #nofilter
• Saturday 9 September | Mincing my own… #butchery #spagbol
• Saturday 9 September | How is @davidjalmond’s #Skellig 15 years old already? #books #modernclassic #DavidAlmond @colesbooksbicester
• Friday 8 September | You can’t go on a brewery tour and not sample the merchandise… #beer #brewery #hooky #hooknortonbrewery
• Friday 8 September | Before and after… end of #camping⛺️ trip in Whichford…
• Friday 8 September | That’s what a good thunderstorm does to a barometer…
• Friday 8 September | A year to the day between our trips to Holycombe Camping. How out tents have changed…
• Saturday 2 September | A garden is for relaxing in and #amreading in the late summer sunshine… #tea #books #flowers #garden #peace
• Saturday 2 September | Really not sure if I’m okay with finding these in antique cellars! #stillyoung #iamnotanantique ????
• Friday 1 September | Yummy plummy jam… #plums #jam
• Thursday 31 August | “those enemies of his mother’s were not in the world out there, but in her mind” @philippullman #SubtleKnife #HisDarkMaterials
• Thursday 31 August | Not my best portrait I’ve ever done but I was fortunate enough to get some “nice and quiet time” (her words not mine) with my neice and use of her new art set. Just wish she stayed still for s bit longer… #HappyBirthdayLily
• Thursday 31 August | Ever been to a #Shopkins #party? No? Me neither until today… Happy Birthday Lily! ???? ????????
• Thursday 31 August | Happy 6th Birthday ???? to Lily! ????????#party
• Wednesday 30 August | Good Reasons for Writing by Hand
• Wednesday 30 August | On learning how to listen and how to feel
• Wednesday 30 August | About music, and about learning how to listen and how to feel… #vinyl #musicshop
• Tuesday 29 August | One pallet, and a bank holiday Tuesday afternoon’s work later, and we have a new duck house for Douglas. No money was spent in the making of this abode… #duck????
• Monday 28 August | Aubergine ???? lasagna and a half…
• Monday 28 August | Butterflies ???? love budlieas…
• Monday 28 August | Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the budliea…
• Saturday 26 August | Saturday night is pizza night. A little bit stuffed… #pizza????
• Wednesday 23 August | Fruits of the garden…
• Wednesday 23 August | Waiting for dinner… #spider #autumn????
• Tuesday 22 August | First Sense of the Season
• Tuesday 22 August | Misty morning at the end of August… #endofsummer #autumn???? #inspirational
• Tuesday 22 August | First bean harvest… #runnerbeans
• Tuesday 22 August | The #BlueLine has come to Southwold… ???????? #healthybicester
• Monday 21 August | Who needs expensive cat beds? #catinabox #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 20 August | We are all explorers, and not all explorers are the same
• Sunday 20 August | Wise words from @kdbrundell in The Explorer #books #amreading #vocabulary
• Friday 18 August | On moustaches… Couldn’t have put it better myself! @kdbrundell #TheExplorer
• Wednesday 16 August | Looking all growed up! #duck????
• Wednesday 16 August | When your boss leaves you to catch a train you can’t catch and gets home before you’ve left.. revenge is a dish best WhatsApped of chocolatey cakey goodness! #yum #omnomnom #brownie
• Wednesday 16 August | Flowers in the garden… #summer
• Wednesday 16 August | Must come to Bath again for a proper nose around…
• Wednesday 16 August | It’s good to talk… to flowers ????
• Wednesday 16 August | Colourful street art in Bath… #umbrellas
• Sunday 13 August | An afternoon at Upton House…
• Sunday 13 August | A page-turning adventure in a world very much like our own
• Sunday 13 August | A nice day looking around the new house with my mum and dad… Not a bad pad!
• Saturday 12 August | Another successful visit to the marvellous @booksandink bookshop. 1664 #books in the Shepherd library now, and my mum and dad enjoyed browsing and buying too!
• Wednesday 9 August | It’s #BookLoversDay! Some of my perennial favourites old and new that always inspire…
• Tuesday 8 August | The Shepherd menagerie on #internationalcatday clockwise from top left: Aslan, Nellie, Arthur, Scooter, William, Blini, and Bella… #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 6 August | Douglass á l’Orange goes free range around le jardin… #duck???? #growingup
• Saturday 5 August | All the colours of the rainbow… ????
• Saturday 5 August | Rainbow ???? to end a productive day…
• Tuesday 1 August | Discovered why @sainsburys basics are basic. Their cans require that old-fashioned can openers… #noringpull
• Tuesday 1 August | The #alethiomter has to be one of the finest inventions of 20th Century #literature… #amreading #northernlights #philippullman
• Sunday 30 July | Entrapped by story
• Sunday 30 July | What can imaginary friends teach us?
• Sunday 30 July | I remember “finding” #NorthernLights in a bookshop in Winchester before it was huge and falling in love with the cover and not looking back. With #TheBookofDust coming out in October it’s time for a reread… #books???? #alethiometer #philippullman
• Sunday 30 July | Little #duck???? is growing up fast…
• Saturday 29 July | Another take at the courgette pie. Blind-baked the puff pastry so less soggy and more mascarpone-ary… ????
• Saturday 29 July | The power of stories… @francescahaig
• Friday 28 July | When you understand the power of stories you know that stories matter
• Wednesday 26 July | #SuperWednesday #SiteLaunch #SausageRoll #Celebration This completes the migration of the five core departmental websites with a five days to spare… #websibes #work #alliteration
• Tuesday 25 July | The attraction of echinops to insects…
• Tuesday 25 July | Stipa gigantea in the evening sun…
• Tuesday 25 July | Buddleia
• Tuesday 25 July | Busy as a bee… #teasil ????
• Tuesday 25 July | Alien in his thistle spaceship…
• Tuesday 25 July | Repost from @nationalautisticsociety using @RepostRegramApp – Yesterday we launched the next part of our Too Much Information campaign – the National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour. 79% of autistic people told us they feel socially isolated. We want to change that. We’ve teamed up with shopping centre owner intu to create the UK’s first week-long event, launching 2 October, where shops and services spend 60 minutes giving autistic people a break from too much information. Visit our website to find out more. #AutismHour #AutismTMI
• Tuesday 25 July | When you have a productive day at #gearing up for #superwednesday #sitelaunch and then turn two short lines of notes into two and a half pages of novel when you get home… #amwriting
• Tuesday 25 July | So who wants to come to a @woodlandtrust #TreeParty? How about it @vnemma, @lettyandtiminou, @laurapicklechop ?
• Sunday 23 July | Echinops in the garden #echinops #garden #summer #flowers
• Sunday 23 July | Little #duck???? is growing up… #dabbling
• Tuesday 18 July | Love it when a page of loose notes made at lunchtime expand to fill three pages of story… #amwriting
• Tuesday 18 July | Disappointingly, I think Oxfordshire is going to fall between these two groups of thunderstorms… #ukweather #myprediction
• Monday 17 July | Red sky at night, Shepherd’s delight. It’s twenty to ten and I’m still sitting outside in shorts and I’m #amwriting #nofilter #sunset
• Monday 17 July | #nofilter The moments before…
• Monday 17 July | Post-work #amwriting, fuelled by nuts and sherry and summer sunshine… #cashews #pistachios #sherry #mrtumnal2 #thenovel #theotherjob
• Sunday 16 July | The final push
• Sunday 16 July | Little growing boy… #duck???? #duckling????
• Saturday 15 July | Playing my flute… ????????????
• Saturday 15 July | 40th Anniversary massed band concert with Abingdon Concert Band and Abbey Brass tonight! ????????
• Saturday 15 July | So much 40th Anniversary merchandise for sale tonight!
• Saturday 15 July | It’s not everyday that you get to have a pre-concert cup of tea from a mug emblazoned with the logo that you designed. ????????
• Friday 14 July | Look what @millakontkanen’s massive courgette made for us for dinner! ????
• Sunday 9 July | An afternoon on the “lawn” for Douglas á l’orange…
• Sunday 9 July | Cecily doing bunny business…
• Sunday 9 July | Bunnies: what is this thing with webbed feet in our run?
• Sunday 9 July | The Pleasure of Books
• Sunday 9 July | Twenty years on: rekindling the JK Rowling magic
• Sunday 9 July | When ducks and bunnies meet…
• Saturday 8 July | A Cathedral of Books
• Saturday 8 July | A growing boy (or girl)…
• Saturday 8 July | Found my new favourite bookshop…
• Friday 7 July | Summer evening in a glass… #pimms
• Friday 7 July | Can’t believe this is actually only the second time I’m reading this modern classic!
• Friday 7 July | Tea and jam to end the week…
• Wednesday 5 July | You can’t really call this dignified can you?
• Wednesday 5 July | “Pleased to meet you. My name is Douglas, Douglas á l’orange.”
• Wednesday 5 July | Douglas á l’orange is growing fast…
• Wednesday 5 July | Needs must…
• Sunday 2 July | Cosy…
• Sunday 2 July | Tucked up…
• Sunday 2 July | Summer living…
• Sunday 2 July | “You really should see that sparrow with a Pringle!”
• Sunday 2 July | Hot coals…
• Sunday 2 July | “Like” when you see the real duck
• Sunday 2 July | Taking a few moments to relax with a book and a strawberry and raspberry milkshake whilst the next batch of jam fast boils…
• Saturday 1 July | Little duckling…
• Saturday 1 July | Duck!
• Saturday 1 July | I ❤️ Strawberry Jam!
• Saturday 1 July | “Keep smiling and making jam”
• Saturday 1 July | Strawberry picking brings out the childhood pleasures in me when life is simple…
• Saturday 1 July | Love ❤️ the cheeky pigeon that is having none of @sainsburys spikes when it comes to finding the perfect nest spot!
• Friday 30 June | I think I know which of my friends are going to squee over the new temporary resident of Bicester Zoo and Rescue Centre for Small Maminals…
• Friday 30 June | Potatoes from @millakontkanen’s allotment and peas from @vnemma are the accompaniment to tonight’s fish supper…
• Sunday 25 June | A book of Meta: The Time Traveller’s Wife meets Mark Haddon
• Sunday 25 June | The paradox of the writer…
• Sunday 25 June | I didn’t just buy a vintage stool yesterday, but these adorable Jane Austen books…
• Saturday 24 June | Love my new kitchen stool from the vintage fair!
• Friday 23 June | Healthy, summery, Friday night dinner…
• Friday 23 June | Unbelievable that this book was published 20 years ago today!
• Wednesday 21 June | Midsummer sunset over Brill Hill…
• Wednesday 21 June | Midsummer’s Day sunset…
• Wednesday 21 June | Definitely #toohot out there this afternoon!
• Tuesday 20 June | This year’s batch… #elderflower #cordial #summerflowers #foodforfree
• Monday 19 June | The upside to a bast**d #toohot Day. Sat in the garden #amwriting at 9.30 with that sky! #nofilter
• Monday 19 June | I can cook tonight’s meal from outside the back door, cant I? #toohot #slavingoverahotstove
• Monday 19 June | Today’s #amwriting spot sees me retreating to the shade and the littlest of breezes… #still30degrees #toohot
• Monday 19 June | Wilting… #work #toohot #tryingtoconcentrate
• Sunday 18 June | Bunnies ???? having a little cool off in the house this morning. “What’s this funny red grass?” #bunnies
• Sunday 18 June | Passion flower doing blooming marvellous! #passionflower
• Sunday 18 June | Passion flower
• Sunday 18 June | Love my White House Farm poppies… #opiumpoppy
• Sunday 18 June | Opium poppy
• Sunday 18 June | Moved on from #amreading to #amwriting as #TheNovel makes slow and stilted progress. Need to get back on the routine…
• Sunday 18 June | ‪It’s 31 degrees in the shade and 29 on the house! #Toohot to do anything other than read… #amreading #summer ‬
• Sunday 18 June | Foraging for summer fruits and flowers… #elderflower #cordial #cherries???? #parkcherries #foraging #foodforfree
• Saturday 17 June | Found a friend… #summer #fête #summerfete
• Saturday 17 June | Summer fete…
• Saturday 17 June | Neice at the fete…
• Saturday 17 June | Butterfly ???? Lily and the butterflies at the fete…
• Saturday 17 June | Boarstall Fete with the neice, Charlie Bear, and a butterfly balloon…
• Friday 16 June | Something to end the week on in the sun! Started off on Monday really not sure I could migrate another two websites by 1 August, and ended thinking, yes, yes it’s doable (just)… #work #productive #success
• Wednesday 14 June | And just when I think I might be getting okay at this people drawing thing I fall back on crapness… #characterstudies #coverillustration #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #amdrawing #sketching #people
• Wednesday 14 June | @vnemma and I recently went camping. You’ve seen the pictures. How times have changed! This was me, maybe on my first #camping⛺️ trip…
• Wednesday 14 June | Sketching out cover ideas for #MrTumnal2: #TheImaginaryWife… But can I pull off something so “people” dominated?
• Tuesday 13 June | @bbcspringwatch We went camping in North Norfolk last month, and this was our birdwatching from the tent! @lindsey_chapman56 @chris.packham #chiffchaff #kestrel #chaffinch
• Sunday 11 June | Love-in-the-Mist is prehistoric in its beauty…
• Sunday 11 June | Poppies in the garden…
• Sunday 11 June | William relaxing on a sunny Sunday afternoon… #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 11 June | Asleep in the hayloft… (aka rabbit hutch) ???? ????
• Sunday 11 June | Kettle BBQs are currently 25 quid at @lidluk… #barbeques #alfrescodining
• Sunday 11 June | ~Alan Bennett, Keeping On Keeping On
• Saturday 10 June | Celebrating @abingdonconcert band’s 40th anniversary with ???? and ????! #beer #music #concertband #windband #pubgarden
• Saturday 10 June | Music ???? in the pub garden with 40th anniversary Hornblower beer ????…
• Friday 9 June | Cley windmill and cobbled cottages #penandink #amdrawing #northnorfolk
• Friday 9 June | I only dared hope for this result in the circumstances… #endofmay #election2017????????
• Monday 5 June | Cley Windmill #penandink #amdrawing #cleywindmill #cley #windmill #NorthNorfolk
• Sunday 4 June | East Runton cottages #penandink #amdrawing #NorthNorfolk
• Sunday 4 June | Sunday evening sketching whilst listening to #thearchers… #amdrawing #EastRunton #NorthNorfolk
• Sunday 4 June | New barometer from the antique shop thanks to Grannie Francis’ birthday money. ????
• Friday 2 June | A rare gathering of Shepherds…
• Friday 2 June | Shepherd siblings
• Friday 2 June | Brainwashing one’s aunt… ????
• Friday 2 June | Fun with first cousins once removed…
• Friday 2 June | Never too old to make castles in the sand…
• Friday 2 June | The water clock that spits and pisses water…
• Thursday 1 June | #blakeneypoint seal. It was hard trying to get my head around foreshortening… #amdrawing
• Wednesday 31 May | Adventures under sail up and down the Norfolk Broads
• Tuesday 30 May | Remembering holidays… Last week we were in Norfolk and called in to see my old school friend Rachel. She gave me this mug for my birthday. ???? #Norfolk #friends #itisgoodtocatchup
• Tuesday 30 May | Asleep in the hay… #catsofinstagram #catstagram #cats #arthur #william
• Tuesday 30 May | Ghosts in the Woods
• Tuesday 30 May | Lion’s Mouth
• Monday 29 May | The intersection of hi tech and low tech: waiting for photos to upload #amreading #alanbennett
• Sunday 28 May | Happy 40th Birthday to my sister-in-law @jefferyshelen77! ????????????????
• Sunday 28 May | Alan Bennett on “strong and stable government”… @theresa_may
• Saturday 27 May | A summary of our holiday in one picture… #nofilter #northnorfolk #Cromer
• Friday 26 May | Tea ????
• Friday 26 May | #Textures of #beach and #woodland
• Friday 26 May | Back in #TheLionsMouth: one of my most favourite places in the whole world #peace #serenity #woods #woodland #nature #thelionsmouth #Felbrigg
• Friday 26 May | Ghosts in the Woods (or coming back to somewhere 30 years later) #Felbrigg #poetry #woods #thelionsmouth
• Friday 26 May | Inspired to write about trees… #poetry #trees #Felbrigg #thelionsmouth
• Thursday 25 May | Afternoon bliss… #beach #contempment
• Thursday 25 May | Capturing the moment… #sketching #amdrawing #holidays #beach
• Thursday 25 May | And to think that people actually go abroad for sun, sea, sand, and sky…??? #betterintheuk #holidays #20degreesintheshade
• Thursday 25 May | Perfect spot for a picnic lunch… #20degreesintheshade
• Wednesday 24 May | ❤️ Felbrigg Hall. ❤️ cream teas.
• Wednesday 24 May | When I last visited #Felbrigg 18 years ago at the very end of the last century it was to slash and burn the dreaded #RhododendronPonticum (top left) into the grassy Meadow it is today (bottom). Sign of burning to the old beech tree (top right) was just collateral damage… #nationaltrust #conservation #workingholidays #volunteering
• Wednesday 24 May | The perfect bliss of holidays. Isolated from everything that might be happening in the world, siting and reading in shorts in a field in the evening sun, when it’s gone 8 o’clock… #nofilter
• Tuesday 23 May | Sunset over another great day. Happy 8th wedding anniversary @vnemma! ????❤️???? And great to see Rachel again!
• Tuesday 23 May | Avocet
• Tuesday 23 May | Naughty blackbird… #fruit #thieving
• Monday 22 May | Birthday #sunset???? #selfie ????
• Monday 22 May | #Sunset???? over my birthday…
• Monday 22 May | Thank you everyone for all the lovely birthday messages! ???? #birthdaydrink #adnams #ghostship
• Monday 22 May | Country business… #sheep #shepherds #farming #northnorfolk
• Monday 22 May | Sea thrift #blakeneypoint
• Monday 22 May | Seal watching trip
• Monday 22 May | #textures #mud #shipwreck #blakeneypoint
• Monday 22 May | Birthday trip to see the seals at #BlakeneyPoint with @vnemma
• Monday 22 May | Birthday haul! ???? Thank you everyone for the presents, cards, and good wishes!
• Sunday 21 May | Too hot! Retreated to the shade of a tree… #amreading #keepingonkeepingon #alanbennett #roomwithaview #thisisthelife
• Sunday 21 May | When in Cromer it would be rude not to eat crab… #Cromer #cromercrabs
• Sunday 21 May | Cockles at Cromer
• Sunday 21 May | Fun at the seaside!
• Sunday 21 May | I can’t help thinking that the presence of this wild sedum is inappropriate for the book I’m currently #amreading… #redweed
• Sunday 21 May | Costa del Cromer #roomwithaview #camping #whoneedsthemediterranean
• Saturday 20 May | Room with a view… #camping #NorthNorfolk
• Saturday 20 May | Little sandwich lunch before we reach our campsite…
• Wednesday 17 May | Making notes for tomorrow’s #openmic 5 minute presentation at the work #awayday
• Monday 15 May | They don’t print books like this anymore… #amreading #books #penguinorange #penguinsciencefiction #thewaroftheworlds #hgwells
• Sunday 14 May | Cosy-mystery or Comic-mystery?
• Sunday 14 May | #Spring colour in the garden…
• Saturday 13 May | Spag bol tonight, seeing as @vnemma is on call. Thing is I forgot to buy onions at the veg stall today. Thankfully I found #TheLastOnion in the veg rack…
• Saturday 13 May | Great to see @bicesterconcert band in action at today’s #HealthyBicester event!
• Saturday 13 May | When the seaside comes to landlocked #healthyBicester…
• Friday 12 May | Where would we be without nurses? #InternationalNursesDay
• Thursday 11 May | Convocation House #Oxford #ConvocationHouse #BodleianLibrary
• Thursday 11 May | Oxford architecture… #theotheruniversity #Oxford #DivinitySchool #BodleianLibrary #details
• Thursday 11 May | Last time I was in this room, it was the evening, there was a random ice cream van in the quad, a bar, a dance floor, and a load of random Blackwell/Wiley ex-colleagues for a party… #DivinitySchool #Oxford @lettyandtiminou @cazar001 @maxinedeadman @keirajmckee
• Sunday 7 May | Sunshine, shorts, and #amwriting… #sunday
• Saturday 6 May | The White Horse from afar… #whitehorse #whitehorsehill #chalkfigures #vale
• Saturday 6 May | Hand turned maple bowl and oak spoon. Maple from the A420 and oak from Market Harborough… #woodturning
• Saturday 6 May | Inside the tree…
• Saturday 6 May | Book exchange in a box… ????
• Saturday 6 May | Why have I not been to Badbury Woods before? #bluebells #walks #beautiful #woods #woodland #spring
• Saturday 6 May | Stone tiled roof… #greatcoxwelltithebarn #tithebarn #barn
• Saturday 6 May | Exploring the 12th century tithe Barnard Great Coxwell… #GreatCoxwell #tithebarn #history #barn
• Saturday 6 May | Kaleidoscope #blacktulip #spring
• Saturday 6 May | Bluebells at Badbury Woods…
• Saturday 6 May | Time passes… #dandelionclock
• Monday 1 May | Colours of the season…
• Monday 1 May | Spring flowers and woodland walks…
• Sunday 30 April | A lovely evening with Dr @f1nches and her lovely wife and Monkey, Wombat, Possom! ???? #friends
• Sunday 30 April | 10 Years On
• Sunday 30 April | Ten years ago today, I left Blackwell…
• Sunday 30 April | A traditional tale of childhood adventure
• Saturday 29 April | Bells of Blue #bluebells #woods #spring
• Saturday 29 April | Baby squiggle fun! #babyanimals #squirrels
• Saturday 29 April | Little baby squiggle! “You looking at me?” #squirrels #babyanimals
• Saturday 29 April | Common Orchids amongst the bluebells…
• Saturday 29 April | Common orchid
• Saturday 29 April | Woodland floor
• Saturday 29 April | Walking amongst bluebell woods… #bluebells #woods #spring
• Saturday 29 April | Well, that should keep unwanted visitors way from @vnemma’s and my house…
• Thursday 27 April | And I’d recommend them all! #books #amreading #reccommendations
• Thursday 27 April | We are the same / but I am different
• Wednesday 26 April | Spring: the beginning of things
• Monday 24 April | Giving Voice to the Silent
• Sunday 23 April | So @HULitFest is no different. You can’t go to a literature festival and not come away with at least five books (okay, so two of them were gifts…) #books #amreading
• Sunday 23 April | Had a brilliant time yesterday at the 3rd Annual @HULitFest yesterday. Enjoyed mingling with authors and readers, and reprising the Writing About Difference panel from last year #books #amreading #HULitFest #literaturefestivals #democratisationofreading Top photo copyright @jfpennauthor
• Friday 21 April | #10Years on from our first date at this very table in @pizzaexpress Bicester we’ve just had a scrummy #anniversary meal. And they gave us the entire night on the house! ????
• Friday 21 April | #10Years ago today I looked into these gorgeous eyes and met my future wife. Happy anniversary @vnemma! ❤️???????? #firstdate #anniversary
• Friday 21 April | Another #SwallowsandAmazons cake destined for the @hulitfest Wonderland bookshop and café tomorrow. This time Bun Loaf, which is a bit like cut and come again cake… I didn’t have a big enough loaf tin!
• Wednesday 19 April | #SwallowsandAmazons Seed Cake for the Wonderland Bookshop and Cafe at Saturday’s Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival…
• Tuesday 18 April | Guess who’s back? Alberto’s back! #frog???? #pond #pondlife????
• Monday 17 April | Finally got a chance to put the new tent up ready for our #Norfolk holiday… #camping #tent⛺️
• Monday 17 April | Pussy willow… #nature #Spring #woodland
• Monday 17 April | Pussy willow… #detail #Spring #nature
• Monday 17 April | Through wood… #Spring #walk #woodland
• Monday 17 April | Over heath… #Spring #walk
• Monday 17 April | My east coast view. I can never get get tired of this… #coast #NorthSea
• Monday 17 April | Back to an old favourite… #Spring #walk
• Monday 17 April | The pincers of an Ant Lion preparing his trap in the sand… #springwatch #antlion @bbcspringwatch #nature #wildlife
• Sunday 16 April | Roast lamb to celebrate #Easter????! My favourite meals of meals! ????
• Sunday 16 April | That time when I was a child of a principal alien… ????
• Sunday 16 April | A slice of #Easter???? on a plate… #simnelcake????
• Sunday 16 April | Happy Easter everyone! #Easter???? #simnelcake
• Sunday 16 April | Signed first edition of a new #Ladybird???? Book… #ClimateChange #hrhprinceofwales
• Friday 14 April | Crows: the harbingers of death
• Friday 14 April | Happy Eleventh Birthday to my boy! #Arthur #birthday #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Wednesday 12 April | Rediscovering the Old Ways
• Wednesday 12 April | Easter biscuits… Yum! ???? #Easter #biscuits #baking
• Sunday 9 April | So, how do I draw all these threads together and reach The End? #sequel #MrTumnal #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife
• Saturday 8 April | Emma therapy… 🙂 Building a garden for fairies #fairies #fairygarden
• Saturday 8 April | Tea. You don’t get a photo any more British… #tea☕️ #sunny☀️ #Spring
• Saturday 8 April | What are these pale things beyond my book? #amreading #sunny☀️ #Spring #TheOldWays
• Saturday 8 April | And so we come to final quarter… #MrTumnal #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #sequel #amwriting????
• Friday 7 April | Alfresco #amwriting???? Got my tea; got my tunes; got my book. Time to get seriously back to my novel! ##MrTumnal #MrTumnal2 #TheImaginaryWife #sequel
• Thursday 6 April | Just counted the up and I have s least 100 of these little fellas budding into #Spring… #wisteria
• Wednesday 5 April | Finally! ????????
• Wednesday 5 April | And, relax… ☕️
• Tuesday 4 April | Ten years on: courting days through email subject lines
• Sunday 2 April | The relaxation of felines… #Arthur #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 2 April | The stars of Spring on the woodland floor… #Spring #anemones
• Sunday 2 April | Woodland floor… #primroses #Spring
• Sunday 2 April | Signs of Spring… #anemone
• Sunday 2 April | Pathways
• Sunday 2 April | 10 years ago this weekend this gorgeous girl “winked” at me on @match. I am the luckiest boy alive. #matchdotcom #winkaversary #10years
• Sunday 2 April | “I crunched over the shingle and swam to around 1842” #dunwich #theoldways #robertmacfarlane #eastanglia #coast
• Saturday 1 April | Saturday afternoon reading in the garden… #TheOldWays #robertmacfarlane #amreading #garden #Spring
• Saturday 1 April | Garden colour… #Spring #garden
• Saturday 1 April | Tulip red… #tulips???? #Spring #garden
• Thursday 30 March | Sticky bud, budding… #horsechessnut #Spring
• Thursday 30 March | Magnolia stellata #magnolia #Spring
• Thursday 30 March | White #magnolia #Spring
• Thursday 30 March | Yellow. #daffodils #Spring
• Thursday 30 March | Fields of gold… #daffodils #Spring
• Wednesday 29 March | The day The End came
• Wednesday 29 March | Today seemed to be an appropriate day to watch this Krzysztof Kieslowski classic… #threecolours #blue #eu #europeanunion #brexshit
• Monday 27 March | Mr Tumnal, Aspergers, and Me
• Monday 27 March | Tea, book, and garden. This is the way to end a Monday at work. ???? #tea☕️ #book???? #garden????#amreading #Spring
• Sunday 26 March | I think there might be a quiet #protest going on about the whereabouts of dinner tonight… #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram #dinner #felineteatime
• Sunday 26 March | Hi… #Bella #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram #Spring
• Sunday 26 March | Family gathering on #MotheringSunday????????????
• Sunday 26 March | #MotheringSunday???????????? lunch for the *whole* family! #MothersDay #whataspread #lunch
• Sunday 26 March | Lazing about on a Sunday morning… #Arthur #cats #catsagram #catsofinstagram
• Sunday 26 March | Mum and Dad enjoying the #Spring garden… #MotheringSunday????????????
• Sunday 26 March | A carpet of grape hyacinths… #MotheringSunday???????????? #Spring #garden
• Sunday 26 March | Scillas… #Spring #garden #MotheringSunday????????????
• Sunday 26 March | Celendine in the Spring Garden…
• Sunday 26 March | The garden huldufólk would like to wish all mothers a very happy and sunny #MothersDay! ???????? #MotheringSunday????????????
• Saturday 25 March | Saturday Night Fever!
• Saturday 25 March | Celebrating #40years of @abingdonconcert band!
• Friday 24 March | Woof! Woof! I’m barking mad for @comicrelief! #rednoseday ????
• Thursday 23 March | Is this an egg I see before me? ‘Tis yolkier in the eye than whites and meringues… It really is a whole, uneaten egg. Maybe we’re turning a corner…?
• Tuesday 21 March | The Book that is absolute and honest and filled with the disfunction of human nature
• Sunday 19 March | Blustery times in the garden
• Thursday 16 March | Adorable cake sale to raise money for monkeys and a book sale at work. Three of my loves… how can I resist? #books #conservation #cake
• Wednesday 15 March | London Olympia #lbf17
• Wednesday 15 March | A plate of carbs to wash down the @amazon free bar… #lbf17 #ALLi #party
• Wednesday 15 March | Somewhere over the rainbow ????, #IndieAuthors’s will be properly respected at #lbf17 #ALLi
• Wednesday 15 March | Online friends for ages, the multi-talented Ms Bell… #ALLi #lbf17 #party
• Wednesday 15 March | Mr Holloway, I presume… #poet #newsman #ALLi #lbf17
• Wednesday 15 March | #IndieAuthors have more fun than trad publishers… #lbf17 #ALLi #party
• Wednesday 15 March | Thank you to anyone who has ever bought anything from @amazon. The @IndieAuthorALLi are enjoying drinking the profits… #lbf17 #ALLi #party
• Wednesday 15 March | Standing room only at the @indieauthorALLi event at ##lbf17 with @jfpennauthor and @ornaross
• Wednesday 15 March | It’s a legal minefield… networking and finding out stuff at #lbf17
• Monday 13 March | I’ve always said that #PhotoMe booths do weird things to you! Just found this in the back of my notebook from last year… #weirdness
• Monday 13 March | A painting of a sunset… #sunset
• Sunday 12 March | A rare #gigselfie to show that we were their at @thefinalvoyage of @stornowayband
• Sunday 12 March | Fantastic end to @thefinalvoyage of @stornowayband. Feel privileged to have been at the end.
• Sunday 12 March | Get Low with @stornowayband #unplugged on @the final voyage
• Sunday 12 March | Just discovered @brasstronaut at @stornowayband’s Oxford gig. Any band that makes use of cornets has got to be good…
• Sunday 12 March | Repost from @21stcenturyyokel) using @RepostRegramApp – A list I wrote a couple of years ago about badgers. #badgers
• Sunday 12 March | Tonight @vnemma and I will be at @stornowayband’s final ever farewell…
• Saturday 11 March | #Crocuses in the #Spring garden
• Saturday 11 March | #Daffodil #Spring
• Saturday 11 March | Contrasts of colour #crocus #Spring
• Saturday 11 March | Garden visitors! #Spring #daffodils
• Saturday 11 March | The gardeners are getting the estate shipshape for #Spring
• Friday 10 March | Adventures in poetry
• Friday 10 March | “I am—yet what I am, none cares or knows; My friends forsake me like a memory lost:” #JohnClare #poetry #meme
• Friday 10 March | ‘I Am’ having finished #amreading just about my first ever complete volume of #poetry… #JohnClare
• Thursday 9 March | Epic scale! #ely #cathedral
• Thursday 9 March | Who needs fancy electric luminere light shows when you have sunlight and stained glass? #ely #cathedral #stainedglass #sunlight
• Thursday 9 March | When #reflections in normal glass look like #stainedglass #ely #cathedral
• Thursday 9 March | Kaleidoscopic lantern #ely #cathedral #kaleidoscope #lantern
• Thursday 9 March | Disco lights in the house of god today #ely #cathedral #stainedglass
• Thursday 9 March | Sunny spring day!
• Thursday 9 March | Ethereal light on Ely Cathedral… #stainedglass #cathedral
• Thursday 9 March | First alfresco lunch of the year #porkpie #ham #ploughmans #chutnies
• Wednesday 8 March | Bang!
• Tuesday 7 March | End of the day…
• Monday 6 March | Anyone up for an Oxford Brookes Comic Relief #BakeOff?
• Monday 6 March | Why I love autumn in one stanza
• Saturday 4 March | “And little wren that many a time hath sought”
• Saturday 4 March | “An easy thoughtlessness of thought”
• Saturday 4 March | Foil-wrapped packages of fun
• Thursday 2 March | Happy #WorldBookDay everyone!
• Thursday 2 March | Spring is sprunging…
• Thursday 2 March | Wahay!! #BrookesVR has hit 1000 downloads!
• Thursday 2 March | The Oxford lane where stories were born to happen…
• Thursday 2 March | You know that #Spring???? is just around the corner when the old cherry tree on The High is in bloom… ????????
• Wednesday 1 March | Second website migrated
• Tuesday 28 February | …and traditional sugar and lemon for pud
• Tuesday 28 February | Smoked salmon and cream cheese
• Tuesday 28 February | #pancakeday
• Sunday 26 February | Triptych of #galanthus…
• Sunday 26 February | Like little lambs’ ears!
• Sunday 26 February | A portrait of Spring flowers in the garden…
• Saturday 25 February | Thomas Two Bikes
• Friday 24 February | Gotta ❤️ Oxford in the Spring sunshine!
• Monday 20 February | I got home today and did this. @tea_topia, do I have my priorities right?
• Sunday 19 February | Two of my most favourite things
• Sunday 19 February | Loonies!
• Sunday 19 February | Snowdrops, Rex Whistler, and Emma. Love a bit of trompe-l’œil on a Sunday!
• Saturday 18 February | Signs that Winter may be releasing its grip on the garden…
• Saturday 18 February | The coming of Spring…
• Saturday 18 February | Small and beautiful…
• Friday 17 February | Powerful and disturbing drama from Creation Theatre
• Friday 17 February | Valentines meals, disturbing theatre, and college friends
• Friday 17 February | Epic #geometric floor…
• Friday 17 February | Creation Theatre really went to town on building the set for their latest show!
• Friday 17 February | Belated #valentines❤ meal with Emma
• Friday 17 February | Trying to avoid the Thought police and Room 101
• Thursday 16 February | A gut-wrenchingly open and honest not seen since Maya Angelou
• Wednesday 15 February | Epic #cycle commute today!
• Tuesday 14 February | So tell me, what exactly is the horse population of Botley…?
• Monday 13 February | A Poem A Day
• Sunday 12 February | Quiet time under the sofa…
• Sunday 12 February | Puppy face…
• Sunday 12 February | Emma gathering driftwood…
• Sunday 12 February | Playing on the beach…
• Sunday 12 February | Proper cold winter!
• Saturday 11 February | Dogerall verse
• Saturday 11 February | Walkies…
• Saturday 11 February | Puppy vs. Stick…
• Saturday 11 February | Woods are for smelling, and exploring, and sticks are for being kept in order…
• Saturday 11 February | “Hi, I’m Jess…”
• Friday 10 February | Beacon!
• Friday 10 February | Snowdrops looking marvellous in the garden today…
• Friday 10 February | I ❤️ snowdrops
• Friday 10 February | Saw this and thought of Robyn
• Friday 10 February | Inspired by Simon Kövesi’s lunchtime lecture
• Friday 10 February | 130 feet, that is #TheHill
• Wednesday 8 February | One car family
• Monday 6 February | #amwriting companion… #william #cats #catsofinstagram #catsagram
• Sunday 5 February | Of grandmothers and cunning plans
• Sunday 5 February | Yum!
• Sunday 5 February | One surprised Grannie!
• Sunday 5 February | Meals on wheels
• Friday 3 February | The Friday Commute
• Friday 3 February | Only “just” quarter to five
• Thursday 2 February | Snowdrops!
• Wednesday 1 February | I’m back and I #amwriting!
• Wednesday 1 February | #SlowGin to see out a successful day at #work
• Wednesday 1 February | New beginnings and the end of things
• Wednesday 1 February | Website migration celebratory sausage roll!
• Tuesday 31 January | Speeding downhill
• Tuesday 31 January | 0.1 mile further
• Monday 30 January | Boom! Not just a wize-cracking, page-turning adventure…
• Monday 30 January | The Monday Morning Commute
• Monday 30 January | Day 1 of the cycling commute…
• Sunday 29 January | Sunday night cuddles
• Sunday 29 January | The Last Christmas Present
• Saturday 28 January | Conceived in 1993
• Saturday 28 January | John Hurt was The Storyteller
• Saturday 28 January | I want to ride my bicycle
• Friday 27 January | #1HappyYear Day 366
• Friday 27 January | A narrative of the darkest season
• Thursday 26 January | #1HappyYear Day 365
• Wednesday 25 January | #1HappyYear Day 364
• Tuesday 24 January | Putting the Government back in its place
• Tuesday 24 January | #1HappyYear Day 363
• Monday 23 January | #1HappyYear Day 362
• Sunday 22 January | A beautiful book of dragons and wizards
• Sunday 22 January | #1HappyYear Day 361
• Saturday 21 January | The Friendship of Lady Ros Letellier
• Saturday 21 January | #1HappyYear Day 360b
• Saturday 21 January | @lettyandtiminou and @vnemma rocking the karaoke ????
• Saturday 21 January | #1HappyYear Day 360
• Friday 20 January | #1HappyYear Day 359
• Thursday 19 January | #1HappyYear Day 358
• Wednesday 18 January | Your help is needed to support a beautiful, relaxing campsite stay in business
• Wednesday 18 January | #1HappyYear Day 357
• Tuesday 17 January | #1HappyYear Day 356
• Monday 16 January | Style over Story
• Sunday 15 January | #1HappyYear Day 354b
• Sunday 15 January | #1HappyYear Day 354
• Sunday 15 January | Alice, rest in peace
• Sunday 15 January | Winter magic in book form
• Saturday 14 January | After I’m Gone
• Saturday 14 January | How did I not know about this exhibition?
• Saturday 14 January | #1HappyYear Day 353
• Saturday 14 January | #1HappyYear Day 352 (belated)
• Saturday 14 January | Bicycle investigations
• Friday 13 January | Improbable but true
• Tuesday 10 January | Observing with interest
• Tuesday 10 January | #1HappyYear Day 349
• Sunday 8 January | The need to write; the need to read
• Sunday 8 January | #1HappyYear Day 347
• Saturday 7 January | Inspiration from the streets
• Saturday 7 January | #1HappyYear Day 346
• Friday 6 January | On Death’s Row
• Friday 6 January | #1HappyYear Day 345
• Thursday 5 January | #1HappyYear Day 344
• Wednesday 4 January | Christmas Traditions
• Tuesday 3 January | The Time Was When
• Tuesday 3 January | The Miscellany of Life
• Tuesday 3 January | #1HappyYear Day 342
• Monday 2 January | Mucking Out
• Monday 2 January | #1HappyYear Day 341
• Sunday 1 January | On not doing with faff
• Sunday 1 January | Happy New Year!
• Sunday 1 January | A record of life
• Sunday 1 January | #1HappyYear Day 340
• Sunday 1 January | @vnemma is full of cold

2016 |

• Saturday 31 December | #1HappyYear Day 239
• Saturday 31 December | Review of the book year: 2016
• Saturday 31 December | My tweets
• Friday 30 December | #1HappyYear Day 238
• Friday 30 December | My tweets
• Friday 30 December | Now that Christmas is over
• Thursday 29 December | Mediterranean roasted sea bass and red peppers
• Thursday 29 December | One of The books
• Thursday 29 December | Murmuration forming… #starlings
• Thursday 29 December | #1HappyYear Day 237
• Thursday 29 December | #1HappyYear Day 236
• Wednesday 28 December | My tweets
• Tuesday 27 December | My tweets
• Monday 26 December | #1HappyYear Day 134
• Monday 26 December | My tweets
• Sunday 25 December | #1HappyYear Day 233
• Sunday 25 December | Black birds circling, descending gloom
• Sunday 25 December | My tweets
• Sunday 25 December | Merry Christmas everyone! ????⛄️????????????
• Saturday 24 December | #1HappyYear Day 232b
• Saturday 24 December | Traditional #christmaseve dinner. Yum!
• Saturday 24 December | #1HappyYear Day 232
• Saturday 24 December | My tweets
• Wednesday 21 December | My tweets
• Tuesday 20 December | My tweets
• Monday 19 December | My tweets
• Sunday 18 December | My tweets
• Saturday 17 December | My tweets
• Friday 16 December | My tweets
• Wednesday 14 December | My tweets
• Tuesday 13 December | My tweets
• Monday 12 December | My tweets
• Saturday 10 December | My tweets
• Friday 9 December | My tweets
• Thursday 8 December | On the eighth day of advent: the magic of creative theatre
• Thursday 8 December | My tweets
• Wednesday 7 December | My tweets
• Tuesday 6 December | My tweets
• Sunday 4 December | My tweets
• Friday 2 December | My tweets
• Thursday 1 December | My tweets
• Wednesday 30 November | My tweets
• Tuesday 29 November | My tweets
• Monday 28 November | My tweets
• Sunday 27 November | My tweets
• Saturday 26 November | My tweets
• Friday 25 November | My tweets
• Thursday 24 November | My tweets
• Wednesday 23 November | My tweets
• Monday 21 November | My tweets
• Sunday 20 November | My tweets
• Saturday 19 November | My tweets
• Thursday 17 November | My tweets
• Wednesday 16 November | Adventures in NaNoWriMo
• Wednesday 16 November | My tweets
• Tuesday 15 November | My tweets
• Monday 14 November | My tweets
• Sunday 13 November | My tweets
• Saturday 12 November | My tweets
• Friday 11 November | My tweets
• Thursday 10 November | My tweets
• Wednesday 9 November | My tweets
• Tuesday 8 November | My tweets
• Monday 7 November | My tweets
• Sunday 6 November | My tweets
• Saturday 5 November | My tweets
• Thursday 3 November | My tweets
• Wednesday 2 November | My approach to getting stuff written
• Wednesday 2 November | My tweets
• Tuesday 1 November | Getting my motivation back
• Tuesday 1 November | My tweets
• Monday 31 October | My tweets
• Sunday 30 October | The autobiography of a meadow
• Sunday 30 October | My tweets
• Sunday 30 October | My tweets
• Saturday 29 October | My tweets
• Friday 28 October | My tweets
• Thursday 27 October | My tweets
• Wednesday 26 October | My tweets
• Tuesday 25 October | My tweets
• Monday 24 October | A book to read with the changing seasons
• Monday 24 October | My tweets
• Sunday 23 October | My tweets
• Friday 21 October | My tweets
• Tuesday 18 October | My tweets
• Monday 17 October | Adventure on the high seas
• Monday 17 October | My tweets
• Saturday 15 October | My tweets
• Friday 14 October | My tweets
• Wednesday 12 October | My tweets
• Monday 10 October | My tweets
• Sunday 9 October | Disturbing yet brilliant
• Sunday 9 October | My tweets
• Saturday 8 October | My tweets
• Friday 7 October | My tweets
• Thursday 6 October | My tweets
• Wednesday 5 October | My tweets
• Tuesday 4 October | My tweets
• Monday 3 October | My tweets
• Saturday 1 October | My tweets
• Friday 30 September | My tweets
• Thursday 29 September | My tweets
• Wednesday 28 September | My tweets
• Monday 26 September | My tweets
• Saturday 24 September | My tweets
• Thursday 22 September | My tweets
• Tuesday 20 September | My tweets
• Monday 19 September | When fairies are all too real hidden people
• Monday 19 September | My tweets
• Sunday 18 September | My tweets
• Saturday 17 September | My tweets
• Friday 16 September | My tweets
• Thursday 15 September | My tweets
• Wednesday 14 September | My tweets
• Tuesday 13 September | My tweets
• Monday 12 September | My tweets
• Sunday 11 September | My tweets
• Saturday 10 September | The adventure that has everything
• Saturday 10 September | My tweets
• Friday 9 September | My tweets
• Thursday 8 September | My tweets
• Wednesday 7 September | My tweets
• Tuesday 6 September | My tweets
• Sunday 4 September | My tweets
• Saturday 3 September | 26 Miles of Trekking
• Saturday 3 September | My tweets
• Friday 2 September | My true desert island read
• Friday 2 September | My tweets
• Thursday 1 September | My tweets
• Wednesday 31 August | My tweets
• Tuesday 30 August | My tweets
• Sunday 28 August | My tweets
• Saturday 27 August | Better Drowned Than Duffers If Not Duffers Won’t Drown
• Saturday 27 August | My tweets
• Friday 26 August | My tweets
• Thursday 25 August | My tweets
• Wednesday 24 August | My tweets
• Tuesday 23 August | My tweets
• Monday 22 August | My tweets
• Sunday 21 August | My tweets
• Saturday 20 August | My tweets
• Friday 19 August | My tweets
• Thursday 18 August | My tweets
• Wednesday 17 August | My tweets
• Tuesday 16 August | Summer days, Olympics, and writing progress
• Tuesday 16 August | My tweets
• Monday 15 August | My tweets
• Sunday 14 August | My tweets
• Saturday 13 August | My tweets
• Friday 12 August | A story will become one of my treasured favourites to read, and re-read, again and again
• Friday 12 August | My tweets
• Thursday 11 August | My tweets
• Wednesday 10 August | My tweets
• Monday 8 August | My tweets
• Saturday 6 August | My tweets
• Friday 5 August | My tweets
• Thursday 4 August | My tweets
• Wednesday 3 August | My tweets
• Monday 1 August |