All went well with the Garden Storytelling. Now in a quiet time, and I'm trying to pick up a writing project. to get into the writing rhythm. I was working on a rather sad section of the story, so a rather painful time today.

But some good news: I got the rough illustration sketches for my next Walker book in the post today. A great pleasure! I'll enjoy really looking at them over the weekend.  ¶ 7:38 PM

A hot, hot visit on Tuesday to NEWMAN SCHOOL in Rotherham for a Storytelling & Craft Day, so many thanks to all the children and staff for keeping their cool by making THE SINGING BIRD into an amazing story with their masks and fishes and costumes and singing and everything. A lovely time.

Today I've been busy getting my GARDENS THROUGH TIME stories ready for reading & telling at RHS HARLOW CARR tomorrow. Hope the sun shines a bit more gently. Must remember to take along the aged sunhat!

Meanwhile, I had a wonderful time down at THE GLOBE on London's South Bank, watching the piratical UNDER THE BLACK FLAG. Lots of swashing, and buckling, and much grim humour, rather like a dark pantomime with a very relevant conclusion. Great fun!  ¶ 6:46 PM

Hello to everyone at ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL, Castleford, and thank you for a very happy Monday. Hope the rest of your Book Week is going well! And greetings to all at NORMANTON COMMON PRIMARY SCHOOL, who are also having a Book Week this week. Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday!

For those of you who are wondering how come these schools are having Book Weeks so late, the answer is that schools in that area break up a week later! Aaagh! Though they have had their traditional two weeks off for the May half-term. Moving into Philip Larkin's "Whitsun Weddings" here, I think!  ¶ 8:04 PM

Today's the day when "MR POD & MR PICCALILLI" comes out as a Walker paperback. This is the picture book I worked on with the clever illustrator NICK SHARRATT, and is a delightful quirky story about two men and their cats, Tod & Millie. So rush out and buy it in its new (and cheaper) format as soon as you can! Miouw! Miouw!  ¶ 11:06 PM

And it's back to a quieter week-and-a-bit, thank heaven, and time to deal with my untidy desk and piles of papers and so on. It is always a mystery (and a great annoyance)that so many kinds of "administrative" work get into my life. However, I must add that the tidying-up routine is a very good activity to do while mulling-over one's writing. So a useful thing to do, as I am yearning to get back to a certain story.  ¶ 10:51 AM