A bit of December colour on this morning’s walk.

Beanie, feeling quite relaxed on this grey and damp #Caturday

Books read in October, all of which I really enjoyed. As a side note the Alan Garner book contains a chapter called ‘The Valley of the Demon’ which is hands down one of the most unsettling (in a good way) things I have ever read. #BookSky

Best season of Doctor Who ever? It has to be right up there. I watched the documentary on Ian Marter last night and was really quite moved by it. Beautifully put together and with plenty of insight but it’s incredibly poignant. #DoctorWho

Books read in September. All terrific, and there isn’t one title here that I wouldn’t highly recommend, but Rhine Journey might be the standout. Beautifully written, very subtle and very perceptive. Great to see it back in print. #BookSky

Eric Ravilious jigsaw puzzle completed. Great fun to do with the woodwork being easy to complete, the upholstery being difficult and the landscape being somewhere in the middle. Such a beautiful, evocative painting.

Books read in August. It was a quiet reading month but these were all great. Bonus points for the two Maigret novels on the grounds that the cover designs are so beautiful. #BookSky

Went to see the Ithell Colquhoun show at the Tate but the same ticket gets you into the Edward Burra show as well. Quite a bonus! Loved his paintings of Jazz Age America. Also appreciated the way the exhibition highlighted Burra’s taste in music and literature and how that shaped his art.

Loved the Ithell Colquhoun show down at Tate Britain. Particularly enjoyed her paintings inspired by the Cornish landscape - a mix of stone circles and folklore viewed through a veil of magic and surrealism. It’s so good to see her work being brought to a new audience.

Beanie, demonstrating the correct way to spend a damp and windy #caturday .

Charity shop finds from Friday. Some childhood memories in here in that I loved The Three Investigators books as a kid and I remember really enjoying the Ellery Queen TV series back in the day. Happy times …

Suzan Farmer, born on this day in 1942. Such a talented and underrated actor, often playing the nice, pretty blonde girl opposite scene-stealing raven-haired vamps. Always a tough ask … Great in shows like The Saint and films like Hammer’s Dracula Prince of Darkness and The Devil-Ship Pirates. ❤️

Inferno Carnival of Monsters The Pyramids of Mars The Seeds of Doom The Robots of Death I’d just like to put it on record that this was horribly difficult…

Fashionably late, as ever, but here are the books I read in May. It was a quiet reading month but I enjoyed all of these. The Affirmation made me think, One Fine Day made me reflect and the two Christie novels were just brilliant fun.

Repost with five TV shows you’d happily watch for the rest of time as your sole TV diet. Doctor Who The Avengers The Saint The Professionals The Twilight Zone

My neighbour’s cat, just settling in for a little nap in my spare room. He wanders in most days if I’m at home, has a look around (including checking out the wardrobe - I have to open the doors for him) and then he has a little snooze before heading home. Sweet! #Caturday

Had a visitor in the garden this morning …

Books read in April. All great but purely in terms of enjoyment Table for Two, a collection of short stories and one novella, was probably the most fun. Towles has those old-fashioned virtues of writing elegant prose and of being able to tell a story superbly well. #BookSky

The World of the Romantics jigsaw puzzle. Really fun to do. Bright and colourful, with a few darker Gothic moments thrown in.

Absolutely loved this. It’s terrific on how John and Paul brought out the best (and occasionally the worst) in one another. Also loved the way it merges personal histories, musical genius and the cultural landscape when discussing songs like Eleanor Rigby and Strawberry Fields Forever. Fabulous!

I know they often get a bad press from gardeners who like a neat and tidy look but I must say I’m really rather fond of dandelions …

Books read in March, all of which were terrific. Inadvertently I seem to have gone on a literary crime spree as even the Andrew O’Hagan novel deals with some shady characters. The Ross Macdonald has some great lines: ‘Come in. The place is a mess but then so are you’.

Went to the #TirzahGarwood show at Dulwich Picture Gallery today. Absolutely gorgeous, and well worth a visit if you have the chance. She obviously liked cats as they appear in several pictures, including this splendid creature seen here.

#WorldBookDay So here goes with a few cover designs that I rather like.

Books read in February. Loved them all so it’s impossible to pick a favourite. Parade was the most challenging - I suspect I could read it a dozen times and still not reach all of its depths. The Poirot novel was fun, as ever. Cosy crime at its very best.

Books read in January, all of which were excellent. I thought the Christie was one of her best and Sweet Dreams allowed me to relive some of my distant youth. The Girls was like Barbara Pym meets Stephen King ( in a very good way ) and the VanderMeer books will haunt me for months. #BookSky

Recent charity shop purchases. Very happy with these, especially as they all look to be in pretty good condition. #BookSky #Books

Fashionably late as ever but here’s a photo of the books I enjoyed the most last year. Plenty of old friends in there ( Graham Greene, Iris Murdoch, Agatha Christie … ) but also some relatively new discoveries too including Celia Dale and Joel Lane. #BookSky #Books

Always buy a few DVDs and blu-rays to watch over the Christmas break. This year I seem to have gone for French New Wave, delightfully creaky old horror films, some early Doctor Who and a bit of Godzilla. Something for every mood, hopefully.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 20

Choose 20 books that have influenced you or stayed with you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 19 📚💙 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. #BookSky #BookChallenge Day 18 💙📚

Choose 20 books, one per day for 20 days … This is the first novel that I read cover-to-cover for pleasure. The price on the back is 35p. Those were the days! I would have been six or seven and it marks the moment a lifelong love of both reading and Doctor Who began. 💙📚. #BookSky #BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 16

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 📚💙 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 15

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 14

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 📚💙 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 13

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚. #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 12

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 11

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 10 💙📚

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge 💙📚 Day 9

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky 📚💙 #Books #BookChallenge Day 8

My mum’s cat, Beanie, demonstrating the correct way to spend a damp, grey and windy #caturday.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers 💙📚. #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 7

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. 💙📚 Day 6 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. Day 5 📚💙 (and a bonus point for featuring Louise Brooks on the cover). #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge

20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 📚💙 Day 4 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 3 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 📚💙 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge Day 2

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you - one book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 📚💙 #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge