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Friday 31 July 2015

Free Books!

All seven of my books are on free promotion today, 31st July. That's the entire Boldre Wood Trilogy, the adventure stories of Billy as his ancient homeland comes under the threat of invasion by a terrible enemy - Lucky Dip, the fun Henshall family saga, and the three Quirky Tales Anthologies packed with short stories of varying lengths and genres.

Perfect for filling your Kindle for you summer holidays! Just click the link in this post or the books on the right. Have a great summer.
K.

Friday 24 July 2015

I Think I'll Have Seen Everything ...

... when I see a Basset Hound fly. Well, technically he didn't fly, but he did survive a plunge out a window 30ft above the ground, and his owner is convinced he was saved by his ears.

When I was a child we had a Basset. She used to do the most spectacular somersaults. Not deliberately, you understand, but by the simple expedient of falling over her own ears. The Basset ear is almost a species in its own right, driven almost entirely by mischief and mayhem. So, I suppose it's possible that Remy the Basset managed to deploy his ears like a parachute but it doesn't seem likely. In our experience, they don't have a lot of control over them.

I heard a suggestion on the radio that the most likely scenario was that he did a combat roll upon landing. That conjures comical images of Bassets in cammo gear and night vision goggles, but they are surprisingly flexible and roll quite well. With ears like that they don't have much choice.

That said, I far prefer the image of Remy parachuting down, ears outstretched, to touch down like a feather. Good on you Remy. But stay away from top floor windows from now on.
K.

Thursday 16 July 2015

Beach School

What do you do if you're running a school on limited funds and desperately want to give the children a day out at the beach? If the school is Banks Road Primary in Liverpool, you think outside the playground. They approached local businesses with an idea and requests for help, and those local businesses stepped up and brought the beach to the school.

The result was ten tonnes of sand, donkey rides, fish and chip lunch, palm trees, coconuts and, according to the article on the beeb, children burying each other. I have slight reservations about that last one but kudos to all involved.

School sure has changed since my day. Can I start over please?
K.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Return of the Nomad

Good grief, it's been a while since I found my way to the QT blog. The motorhome has been a fantastic addition to our lives, but it's come at the detriment of other things. In short, I spend less and less time at the computer.

We recently returned from a great trip to Devon, unaware of the Tunisian terrorist attack, or the Greferendum/ possible Grexit brewing in Greece. In all honesty, it's completely true that ignorance is bliss, however it's a heck of a shock when you come back to it all and find out what's been going on.

I've ploughed through catching up with the news and, while most of it's depressing and demoralising, there was one gem in the form of a young boy being issued a 'ticket' by a police officer for parking his ride-on motorbike in a no parking zone. I do love it when the old bill allow themselves to be playful.

Hope the sun's shining for you.
K.