BLOGetc

I spent many an hour in this nook of Bedales library poring over texts of Zola and Beckett. I used to love staring out onto the apple orchard dreaming of becoming a famous writer and having my book placed in this section. Sadly nowhere near that goal yet but at least my name may crop up from time to time in their new magazine section! Returning here after 10 years made me realise that very little changes in this space of time. The library smells exactly as it did, the globe still glows and the teachers remain timeless masterpieces. So I guess there's plenty more time to write that chef d'oeuvre; the 25 year reunion should be about right.

According to an article in The Times today, mafia-style gangs from Russia are plundering protected stocks of cod and then laundering their illegally-caught hauls through fishing ports in Britain. Read the rest of the article here: ">How the fish on your plate makes you an accessory to crime at sea Some interesting facts in it too: FALLING CATCHES How quotas have altered over the last five years: Cod down 15% to 20,180 tonnes Herring down 15% to 100,304 tonnes Whiting down 15% to 11,796 tonnes Haddock down 13% to 42,770 tonnes North Sea prawns up 32% to 1,418 tonnes Hake up 3% to 4,699 tonnes So next time you head down the chip shop, why not opt for something less endangered such as hake, colney or Dover sole. it will taste even more delicious than your usual cod. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) publishes a Good Fish Guide and you can find out Species to Eat and Species to Avoid . It has compiled a “Sustainable Seafood Supermarket League Table”, based on the performance o...

Exciting news today as I found out that BLOGetc has been given the accolade of Blog of the Month in the Summer edition of The Chronicle. Delighted to know that my blog is being read. I'm now more determined than ever to write as often as possible and win lots more awards!

Mary Gaitskill at Voewood I love Norfolk in the summer. Made the most of the glorious weather this weekend at the Voewood Literary Fete, High Kelling, Holt. Set in the grounds of the beautiful country house Voewood, it was the perfect setting for a picnic and my first delicious Pimms of the summer (why does the first Pimms always taste the best?). I enjoyed Mary Gaitskill's lyrical, poetic reading from her new novel Veronica and although I had no idea what Yang Lian (poet now resident in London after his work was banned in China) was reciting in Chinese, it sounded beautiful. His short, sharp, heavily punctuated words seemed to bounce seamlessly through the humid evening air. Met Voewood's eccentric proprietor Simon Finch and marvelled at his exquisite taste in furnishing and renovating this fine example of Arts and Craft architecture. Voewood was built by E.S. Prior for Percy Lloyd between 1903-5, and cost the staggering sum of £60,000 to construct. A rich combination of conc...

Is it just me or is advertising getting even more 'in yer face' than ever before? Never seen this before - advertising for cheap flights by BA via a projector onto a side wall on Old Street - images flashed up on rotation every few minutes. No idea where the projector is hidden or how they got planning permission but it certainly catches your eye as you walk past. Must be really annoying for residents but reminded me of the recurring debate about low cost flights and carbon emissions. Just written an article on responsible tourism for Sprouts magazine and discovered that short flights are more polluting per passenger mile than long-haul flights as take-off and landings generate a significant part of the total emissions per flight.