James - by Percival Everett. Just stunning. If you’ve read Huck Finn, you must read this. If you haven’t read Huck Finn, you must read this.

SEND day of action in Stafford today, nearly 130 pairs of shoes representing just a fraction of the children who have been failed by the current SEND system. Some heartbreaking stories and many of our children still not getting the education they deserve and are entitled to.

I am not unaware of the irony.

Gliding into a perfect sunset. Whoever that was up there, I hope it felt as wonderful as it looked.

I’m lucky enough to have a very talented baker for a daughter. I thought her lemon cheesecake could not be bettered, then she only went and put blooming Marti hue on top of it. Dogs are not invited to sample it, no matter how interested they are.

Chris Whitaker’s novel All the Colours of the Dark. Had this for Christmas, read in two days! Easily one of my favourite reads of 2024. Wonderful writing and great characters. Loved it as much as his last one, We Begin at the End. The guy can really tell a story and find great titles for them.

Perfect storm of LA underfunding, better diagnosing of neurodivergence, and schools becoming high demand environments pressured about attendance and league tables. LAs unlawfully creating barriers to EHCPs, parents desperate to get the right education and at the heart of it all, children in crisis.

Do not leave books where the puppy can find them. Do not leave books where the puppy can find them. Do not….luckily (!) I had read past page 13 of M W Craven’s The Botanist! Gus clearly likes Tilly and Poe as much as I do!

When a dog feels safe they have no shame. #Dogsofbluesky

My first Dr Who episode was Spearhead from Space. Those shop dummies coming to life with guns as hands was bloody terrifying and I was hooked. #drwhoday

Next from TheMadLibrary is Wedlock by Wendy Moore. A very satisfying look at how one man got more than he bargained for at a time when he could have safely assumed that he could behave just as he liked…hmmm.

Book 5 from TheMadLibrary: Elektra by Jennifer Saint. Excellent modern retelling of Elektra’s story - have Saint’s Hera on my Christmas list.

Book four from The MadLibrary. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. An enthralling and intelligent vampire story which I have read a few times.

Families have been dealing with this for years - I know of several families placed on child protection plans, accused of emotional abuse for trying to get the help their children so desperately needed. They were taken of the CPP very swiftly but the damage done... www.wm-adass.org.uk/improvement/...

Gus the Bernese Mountain Dog (with 13 months of growing left to do 😱) and Milo the Goldie. Bloody gorgeous the pair of them, in spite of the hole-digging and skirting-board-chewing. #dogsofbluesky

Book three from the MadLibrary, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. A poem of a book about Shakespeare’s son who died young. A study in love, grief and family. Beautiful.

My word of the day (and personal recommendation) is ‘snerdling’ (18th century): nestling cosily beneath the covers and holding off the day a little longer. Morning.

Book two from the library and it’s all going terribly well…I had a like for yesterday which is one more interaction than I’m used to! Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s The Square of Sevens, great historical mystery. Fabulous heroine and even fabulous-er twist.I love Laura’s writing - hope she moves here!

I’m a shameless book hoarder. In the other place I was nervous of even posting replies but here I’m going to engage positively, posting a random book daily from my library, and saying something nice about it. Justin Cronin’s final and best novel in The Passage Trilogy, City of Mirrors. Stunning.

Good morning. Word of the Day is as beautiful as it is underused. ‘Confelicity’ is finding joy in the happiness and success of others.

My daughter is a talented amateur baker and made a cake for a friend’s wedding today. At the last minute of assembling it she decided to make each tier two layers instead of three so today, my friends, there is an abundance of cake in the kitchen. Vanilla sponge for breakfast.

World leaders have to acknowledge the holder of arguably the most powerful office in the world (even if through gritted teeth) but I like very much what Sadiq Khan says here.

I am drinking whisky and hoping that felons belong in jail, not in the whitehouse. Husband in US on business; after a big meeting, head of HR urges everyone to vote: ‘even you’ ( indicating my husband’ ) My Hubbie: ‘I’ll be the third candidate. If you want to rejoin the colonies?!’ No takers.

Utter dangerous nonsense from Badenoch, only appealing to those with no experience of neurodivergence, disability or MH issues.The lazy assumptions, the dismissal of barriers to support, all of it breathtakingly ignorant. She should never be anywhere near power. bsky.app/profile/dr-r...

I have a very talented daughter who makes the most amazing desserts in her spare time. No calories in home baking right? And don’t give me the puppy eyes Milo, this lemon cheesecake is strictly for humans…

This is wonderful. Family, love, it’s complicated, insecurity, bad decisions, great decisions, humour, heartbreak. It’s all there.

It's been ten years since I last visited Jodrell Bank; the new exhibition and theatre spaces are fantastic but still, nothing prepares you for the scale and ambition of the Lovell telescope. Such a peaceful place, even on bank holiday. Great value too, as your ticket price includes an annual pass.