Looking for fairies and tropics has arrived plus a great giveaway.

There’s nowhere like Warwickshire when the bluebells appear in the woodlands. Ann and Sophie have the same thoughts on a warm sunny April afternoon. Sophie is on the hunt for fairies.

Bluebell woodfairy huntANN = SOPH

You never know when they may appear and glad to see she found them. Good to see magic in the air. Hope you’re enjoying the Easter break and doing things you enjoy.

FAiry houseIt’s been a while since I’ve blogged, so to make up for that I’m doing a giveaway. Not one or two but three of my Redington paperbacks to give you some great sunshine reading. It’s a collection of short stories set in Norfolk, a mixture of happenings and characters to keep you entertained for a while. Obviously if you’ve read the book you wouldn’t want another one, so only for people who haven’t already got one can apply. Just pop a comment saying why you’d like one, and good luck if you have a go.smaller pic

Other great news is my tropics skin-care storybook has arrived. It’s called the story book of skin care as it’s adapted to what you need. Here’s mine on the right, and a tropical day in Torquay on the left.

The complete boxed set has cleanser, toner, moisturiser, green serum for lovely skin, face mask full of natural products, see more here.

They really work well and if you want to know more about that, let me know and I can put you in touch with Ann, who will give you more information. PHOTO-2019-04-16-21-41-24PHOTO-2019-04-16-21-41-27Redington books

Enjoy the weekend, and get your name in the comments box if you’d like a free signed copy of my book.

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Her Own Robinson Crusoe

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This is what I’m off to read in the garden under the umbrella of course. It’s still hot here in Warwickshire, but before long I’ll be taking the plane journey with Serena off to the Caribbean. Better get a cool drink to go with it. It’s in the shops today.

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Sophie had good news today as well, she got her first swimming certificate. Well done, little swimmer and  hope it’s the first of many.

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She looks as proud as Grandma with her books doesn’t she? Well done, Sophie.

 

 

 

Updating the blog…

It’s been a few months since I updated the blog – here’s me and Sophie having a swing in our local park. Always great to spend some time together, and she’s growing into a clever little girl. Making cakes and loving her reading books and spending lots of time outdoors.

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Swing-time

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Making cakes for nursery

 

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Marble Arch at dawn, for
any Fools And Horses fans

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Two handsome chaps relaxing and chatting by the seaside.

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Magic moments xx

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Sly doesn’t want to get his feet wet today…

The building work on our house is finished for now, and we have a jukebox in the corner of the room so we can listen to fabby music all day long, when not at work. Alan retired this year, so it’s smashing to enjoy long walks in the afternoons together.

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A quiet moment before we walk a bit further.

Now today it’s snowing and the scenery looks great. Funny how everything looks different coverd in snow and so glad it’s a day when I don’t have to go out to work.

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Gathering sticks for a real fire

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Mom and Dad’s dog – Tess

A couple of fun pics to finish with, and enjoy the festive season spending time with loved ones – More blogging news soon, I’m off to edit the last chapter of my latest pocket novel, more news on that later.

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Billy and the blue jeans will be on tour next year

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With Suzy on guitar:))

 

 

Anyone for lettuce?

We’re fully stocked with salad leaves. At the moment it’s all year round lettuce, spinach and rocket leaves available in the kitchen garden. And growing on we have yellow courgettes, mini munch cucumber, tomatoes, money maker are my favourite variety. As well, we have normal cucumber, green courgettes, dwarf beans, and dwarf peas, lots of herbs and tons of strawberries with heaps of flowers on them as well.

Good job the garden is looking rosy as we’re having the house re-vamped and it’s going to be a bit of a building site during the summer months

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Redington 2 cover

In writing news, this will be available soon.

And I’m busy working on my next pocket novel, which is a romantic story set in the Caribbean, so off there now. So I’m going to have some chopped pineapple to eat while I’m sailing away… Up to chapter 6, and more news on that as it develops.

Enjoy the lighter nights and mornings. It’s getting light at half past four in the morning now when I go out to my cleaning job.

skunkAnd the great thing is I’m all done by coffee time.sun

Family time

We had fun today, opening presents with Ann and Sophie as they’re going to her other gran and grandad’s for Christmas Day.

sophie-today Here is the must have p’j’s – clangers and the unicorn handbag for all the best dressed girls about town.

And in the middle picture, pink fluffy marshmallow dressing gown for when a young lady is chilling on the settee.

Speaking of the settee, no day is complete without jumping off the back and rolling on to the floor.

 

boinging-aroundme-and-annus and Sophie.jpgAny time spent with loved ones is special, it doesn’t have to wait until a certain date on the calendar. Enjoy Christmas, and don’t forget to tell people who matter that you love them. Now I think it’s time I found something yummy to eat. Happy Christmas.

 

Gran gets a make over

Hello to all my lovely followers, hope you’re all well.

Remember I was going for the granny grey look. Well sadly she’s moved away, and Mrs Brown is back in town.

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Our lovely daughter paid a visit today, and she’s now selling make up. That’s how I come to have blended brown eye shadows, ladylike (mmm?) lipstick, that’s the name of it, and special lashes that are made up of gel and then fibres. The brand in question, (I’ll put a link when she’s up and running) also do a brows kit that’s a gel and fibres to keep your eyebrows looking neat all day.

Now that’s enough about me and make up, here’s Sohpie Suzy having fun…

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She’s a little cuddle bunch isn’t she?

On the writing front, one of my stories is on the Editor’s choice list of Alfie dog.

You can download it for your kindle here for only 25p instead of the usual, 39p. Enjoy it if you read it. About a mother in law, and you have to read the full story to understand the little lady. We love them don’t we?

Have a great week whatever you’re doing.

Something to make you smile

Hello to all my lovely blog followers. I’ve been a bit skinny on here lately. Not skinny as in super slim. I’ve been to the gym most days though, and me and my gym buddy get each other to do more working out than we would if we went on our own. We do sit ups on one of those bouncy balls.gym-ballLeaning back to look at the wall, then sitting up.

Lift ups on the monkey bars, then I go on this thing like an upside down spaceship. One of these… only turned upside down, then I balance on it. Most of the time.

balance ballHello to all my new followers in America. Hope you’re enjoying the blog. I’m busy re-writing something special for someone special. Can’t say more than that at the moment incase I jinx it. I usually talk about writing more than getting on with the writing, so I’ll let you know soon.

Here’s something funny that happened yesterday. Being of a certain age, me and hubby take a vitamin tablet. You’ve heard of wellwoman and wellman. Those. I had two boxes in my hand, and for some reason, my eyes, saw him with the woman box and me with the man one. He had a tablet on his lips about to swallow it – I had as well. With the awful thought of him swallowing a woman one and me the man one, I did what came to mind and yelled out, ‘Stop!’ Turns out he was taking the right one, and I was as well. Good job he did stop to check, so if they had been the wrong ones, we’d have been alright.

Happy Easter to everyone, and thinking of our friends in Brussels.

Peace

 

Knitting and a tea party

Sophie 1st BirthdaySophie & taidSophie's birthdaySophie in pink

We’re quite a family of knitters, so when a little girl is having a birthday, she ended up with a peach cardigan from great-grandma, and a pink one from Gran, and a knitted mouse from Aunty. She looks quite happy with things and likes tuna sandwiches and salad, and cake of course.

And it’s always good to make time for a tea party, even if we had frothy coffee instead.

Sophie & Gran

And seeing as it was a lovely day, but a bit cold, we went for a swingalong in our local park.

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Most of my blog followers will know that Glam gran is all in fun. I’m more of a muddy boots and mop and bucket gran really. The building site is cleaned up as the job is close to finishing now. They still need me so I keep turning up.

Here’s our little gem in her boat. She’s cruising the med, and going by first class travel as you can see.

Sophie in her boat

 

Thanks to all the lovely people who are downloading and buying my books. Here they are on goodreads if you’re interested.

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I’m in the kitchen, brewing a proper cup of coffee. We live near the midland’s best market according to the media. In Nuneaton there’s a lady who grinds the beans and you can choose whichever blend takes your fancy. All glam gran’s know it tastes the best and seeing as it’s winter we need a piece of cake to go with it. Promise I’m back swimming or gyming soon. My cleaning job keeps me fairly fit at the moment.

You may or may not notice that I’m leaving off the hair colour for a while. Over colouring made it go brittle and broken. Normally I have shiny hair and when I looked at the roots it made me realise that my own colour goes better with my skin and eyes. That’s the plan for now. In a few months I may have a completely different idea. I’ll let you know. I may be Granny Grey by the summertime, or not.

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For anyone interested in the next part of chapter 1 of Redington book 2, here it follows.

Janice is in the shop and talking to Ivy about the rumors of a royal coming to Redington.

 

“I think there might be something in it, Ivy. I heard on the radio just before Christmas that he was going to be attending Nursery in mid-Norfolk.” Janice was marking the boxes of mince pies at half price. Nobody would want them now, and the sell by date was the end of the month.

Ivy picked up two boxes of the special offer cakes, and popped them in her basket, she frowned. “From what Edna Bailey was telling me last night after choir practise there are already quite a few names down, and they’ve appointed a new teacher there. She’s moving in about now I think. She’s bought one of the new flats on the edge of the village.”

“Flipping heck, Ivy, you know all the gossip.” Janice patted her arm as she noticed the look of alarm on the old lady’s face. “In a good way, don’t take it to heart. That’s what’s good about having a village shop. We exchange news, better than in here really,” Janice patted her fingers and glanced at the Gazette as she passed it across the counter. “Oh my God, Ivy…” Janice put her hand to her mouth and gripped Ivy’s hand. “Just when I was saying we only gossip in a nice way.”

The headline in the paper showed a picture of the new building site where some flats and houses were finished and others were still being built. Ivy dropped her basket as she read the headline out loud… “Body found on a building site…”

Janice pushed her purple glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. “There’s no news of who it is.” She clasped her hand over her mouth again. “I didn’t even notice this morning when I bagged up the papers. Oh, Ivy, let’s get us a cup of tea. I don’t want to send you off up the street after a shock like that. Here, sit down.” She pulled out another chair from under the counter, and returned her specs to the place she usually kept them; on top of her head.

They were still sitting chatting and not wanting to contemplate who or what was behind the tragic discovery, when Betty stuck her head through the door. “You’ve heard the news?”

“Only just now, I can’t believe it.” Janice got up and walked towards the door. “Who told you?”

Betty put her hands into her pinafore, and pulled a tissue from the front pocket. “One of the gang of builders; he comes in for a pasty most mornings. They were about to lay some cement, and one of them spotted that the earth had been disturbed. Ugh.” She shivered and screwed her face up. “What is this village coming to? A body buried under the foundations of the new houses. Imagine if they hadn’t been alert to the soil being tampered with, that poor person would have been buried forever.”

“Have they any idea who it might be?” ventured Ivy. “It sounds like something from a mafia film; not something that goes on in our back yard. It’s made me feel quite sick.”

Janice put an arm around Ivy’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll get Richie to drop you off in the van. He’s going out in a minute anyway with the deliveries. It’s been a shock for us all but I’m sure they’ll find out more when they’ve done tests and things.” She called to the delivery boy, who had almost finished loading up. As Ivy settled into the van, Janice whispered to Richie, “Make sure you see her into the house, and then tell her to lock the door.”

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More news from Redington soon. I may set up a newsletter where you can read the first chapter in full rather than bits. Word count is 4,740 and I’m on chapter 2.

 

 

Special guest

This week I have a special guest appearance on the blog. Sophie is busy pressing buttons on her favourite toy and making lots of animal noises appear.

Sophie

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Writing News…

Early chapters of Redington book 2 are getting underway, and the locals in the village are speculating about the new nursery school that’s been built at the end of the village by the new houses.

Here’s the first few paragraphs.

 

Janice pushed a mug of hot chocolate across the counter for the milkman as she sorted out early morning papers and magazines for delivery.
“You’re not telling me they’ve rushed that new school through for only a handful of Redington nippers!” Stanley delivered milk along with orange juice and other essentials like digestive biscuits and bread, yoghurts or cakes to elderly residents in the village. He took a huge swallow of his drink and raised his bushy eyebrows in Janice’s direction. “I mean, fair enough, the old school was in a state of ruin, but the way they’ve gone to town. Makes you wonder.”
Janice took a deep breath, and wiggled her shoulders when she’d bagged up two sacks full of papers ready for delivery, she’d done the job for so long she could have done it with her eyes closed. “Mm, I wouldn’t be sure. There’s all those new houses going up on the estate remember. People are already moving in over there now. The way it’s going, Redington will be double in size before long. It’s only from being in the shop that I get to know the new ones. It’s a good thing, building that new estate; you have to go with changes. I know a lot don’t agree though.”

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word count is now around 2,500 so almost at the beginning of chapter 1. Details are being published on the blog to keep me motivated. That’s the plan anyway.

Have a great week, and watch this space for the wordcount next weekend.