Book Launch

I recently took Herself to Philip S Davies' book launch in Oxford. It was for the release of the final book Destiny's Ruin in his fantasy trilogy about Queen Kat of Anestra. I had to fight Herself to get to read it, she wouldn't put it down long enough for me to grab it. But it was worth the wait when I did get my paws on it.

Setting off in the car.

On the Park & Ride bus in Oxford.

Ooooh! There's Blackwell's bookshop.

Posing for a sneaky photo with the artefacts.

Close up of the cake (which tasted as good as it looks).

 

Exciting moment when uncle Philip cut the cake.

I think uncle Philip must be a best-seller! Look at all these books he's written.

Posing with the author.
(I think that makes me famous.)

I met a new friend at the book launch.
This is Sheepish.

Oxford is very historic.

What a marvellous read. Loving this book.

NaNoWriMo!

It's NaNoWriMo time! For all you uninitiated, November is novel-writing month. Writers from all around the world aim to write 50,000 words in thirty days. That sort of word count would give any novel a good kick-start. 

Some of Herself's friends (auntie Fiona and uncle Dan) are doing NaNoWriMo so we all decided to get together for a day's write-in last Saturday. Guess where? We went back to Hobb's Cafe at Monsal Head in Derbyshire. 

All packed and ready to go, er write.

Here we are again!

Hard at work at Hobb's Cafe.
(Drinking lots of tea is very important when writing.)

After a hard couple of hours' writing, I took Herself for a walk along the Monsal Trail.
I told her we were 'looking for inspiration'.

It's hard to admire the view when you're hiding from an over-friendly dog....

 

Sir Scamper Hillary conquering 'Everest'.

Beautiful view.

Which way now?

 

Huh. Photo-bombed by a sheep.

That's Cressbrook Mill in the background.

Looking back up the valley.
Marvellous autumn colours.

Do hills have memories?
I'm sure I could hear the sound of a steam engine chuffing along this old railway line.

The leaves on these trees were beautifully golden-yellow in real life.

'Looking for inspiration' is a hungry business.
I enjoyed every bit of this Stilton, walnut and apricot tart. Yum.

It's not the Three Stooges, it's
The Four Writers.

Scargill

This is the best adventure so far! Herself took me to Scargill. I made lovely new friends and even learned a skill (see below). I am a bear of hidden talents.

I'm still learning about selfies.
You can just see Scargill House (a bit wonky) in the background.

Chocolate on big squishy pillows!

Room with a view.

Posing with my two new friends in the walled garden.
Love auntie Fiona and auntie Helen.

Saturday's adventure was a beautiful walk in the Dales:

Scamper the Explorer!
With Snowy, Creamy and Chocolate.

Like Herself, I'm curious to see what's off the beaten track.
So we climbed a wall to see what was on the other side....

The view was worth the climb.

Scamper the Explorer finds a rabbit hole!
(Herself wondered if it was a mole hill (there were lots around) until she realised,
in my excitement, I'd sat on a pile of rabbit droppings....)

King of the castle.

Do I like butter?

Just 'resting my eyes' before the long climb down.

Sunday's adventure was learning a new skill with auntie Cathy:

Manoeuvring a needle is tricky with paws.
But auntie Cathy was very patient.

Ta da!

Bye bye Scargill.