View from the bedroom window, gargoyle on guard. It's St Swithin's Day so you know what they say! No plans to venture out in the rain for me - think I've broken my toe and have the manuscript for book two to get ready to send to my agent before the end of the week. . . #stswithinsday

A cool breeze and damp air this morning here in Northumberland. Perfect hosta growing conditions, helped too by the slug-eating hedgehog spotted trundling down the path last night. 🦔 Have a good week, everyone

Our roses have struggled this year, but today, on the first anniversary of Mum's death, the yellow rose she bought me has come into bloom.

It's the anniversary of my mum's death this week - a whole year has gone by, and it's complicated! I've written about it in my latest post, Wrestling Rhubarb: open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

Wrestling Rhubarb

On complicated grief

open.substack.com

Thinking of my mum who died this time last year as I pick the rhubarb. Mum loved a dish of rhubarb, preferably with some rice pudding on the side.

Happy Summer Solstice everyone 🌞 Come on in! We're gathering herbs & edible flowers to make Solstice Salt today. open.substack.com/pub/suereed/... #summersolstice

Starting a slow travel series, Wrinklies On The Road over in my online magazine. We take a trip down memory lane in this first article, and travel to Spain & Portugal in a converted Dodge truck, me pregnant and with a toddler in tow. Link in bio or inboxes for subscribers #travelblog

Welcome to RIPE. You can look forward to writing about post-trauma badassery, unapologetic ageing, gardening as witchcraft, menopausal resurrection, van life joyrides, better late than never publication, and neurospicy chaos. open.substack.com/pub/suereed/... #ripe #midlife #menopause

I wrote this on 1 October 2023 just after the felling of the tree that I could see from the hillside here and to which we walked on countless occasions The two men who were charged with its felling have today been found guilty. #sycamoregap open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

The Felling of Northumberland at Sycamore Gap

Don't tell us it was just a tree.

open.substack.com

I'm very excited to be coming to the end of the first draft of the second book in the Molly McFlynn series, but I need your help! What might you write on a placard if you were going to a protest to save an important tree from being felled? Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash #protest #trees

On the anniversary of the publication of John Keats' poem, 'O Solitude!' read about my recent trip to Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery and the fears & benefits of being silent and solo. open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

Solitude, Silence & Synchronicity.

On the fear and benefits of being alone and still.

open.substack.com

Sunday Storytime continues at 3pm today over on Substack. We're up to Chapter Seven, The Girl.

Make way for the lilac! Blooming marvellous 💜

Love it when a reviewer totally gets why I wrote the book! #BookSky

Over on my blog I'm talking about returning to hard core exercise at 63, of the euphoria felt and the need it fulfills, along with some of the trials and tribulations of past attempts at group exercise. Have a read then pop back and share your stories. #raveon open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

When you hear from a local high school that they'd like to book you for an author talk and they finish the email with this: “We loved The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn and one of our Learning and Teaching Assistants successfully used it with a student who was having issues with her friendship group.”

Love this photo sent by Vanessa, one of my followers. It shows many of the elements from my story, placed on a piece of recycled knitwear from my days as The Woolly Pedlar. I love how loyal folk have been, no matter what hats I've been wearing.

Have you read The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn? Set in the wilds of Northumberland during Spring, it tells of one girl's journey to find her authentic self intertwined with the true story of Ann Watson & the Newcastle Witch Trials Available wherever you get your books or signed copies from me #BookSky

Treated myself to a day of nature journalling with pen and paint with Hexham based artist Steve Pardue in Allendale as part of the Highlights Rural Touring Scheme. A morning of calm, reflection and good company. @highlightsrural.bsky.social

We have triplets! Three baby leverets, discovered while Tim was planting potatoes, nestled against the stone wall of the greenhouse. The mother hare can be seen in our wild garden early in the morning and late in the evening, as she comes to care for her young. Feeling so very blessed. #wildlife

Come on in, the garden gate is open, the kettle is on and there’s a cake about to come out of the oven. open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

Welcome to The Bridge Cottage Way, now to be found Down Clarty Lonnen.

A new home base, but the same warm welcome to the Bridge Cottage kitchen and garden.

open.substack.com

And so to write … lighting a candle and coming to the page. The end is in sight! Determined to have this first draft of book two finished by the time we set sail for France in a couple of weeks. #BookSky

Sharing a piece of writing about Sycamore Gap which was a commission from the Veteran Tree Project and which will eventually go on an app for a tree trail on Hadrian’s Wall. Thought you lot might like an early read! open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

Bloody brilliant! Been looking forward to the release of The Best of Everything by @kitdewaal.bsky.social for yonks. I love her writing! It cuts straight to the core, and has your heart aching for her characters right from the off. Oh, Paulette! Life can be so unfair. Get a copy if you can!

A day in the life of a writer - selling books at the Queen's Hall in my local town of Hexham this morning #authorlife #Hexham

Talking today about perceived rejection and how a dip in the burn helped to wash it away. It's another post in my #ADHD journey series as I learn more this late-in-life discovery, how this manifests in my life and what I can do to mitigate the fall out. open.substack.com/pub/suereed/...

Glorious sunrise that had me hanging out the bedroom window in my nightie to take this! #GoodMorning

Spent a wonderful afternoon in the presence of the Beltingham Yew. I always get such a sense of awe as I approach this majestic tree. I sat for a while with my notebook, recording my feelings, listening to the birds that visited its boughs & left with such a sense of peace.

Narcissi bend their heads to the frost while the morning sun hits the burn. (which is what a small river is called in these parts). Love my morning wanders listening to the sound of rushing water, birdsong and the calling of sheep to their new born lambs. #GoodMorning

Planning a van trip from Caen down through France to the Pyrenees - any advice for good spots, park ups, things or places we should see etc.?We like it remote & wild! My husband has a rule of thumb never to stay where they mow the grass!