Here’s a headline to start a conversation :) Deep thanks to Roma Robinson and @amplifystroud.com for such a thoughtful and nuanced piece on my chat with Nick Hayes last month - going beyond trespass and into a discussion on home, housing, and the hard work of belonging in rural places xxx

Of course our very own Emma Kernahan @crappyliving.bsky.social popped up throughout the weekend, hosting an interview with Nick Hayes and performing as part of the Lost Mythos Mythical Entities crew with poet JLM Morton and all round incredible musician, sound tech and singer Mara Simpson

My *favourite* thing is the level of contempt levelled at you by British charity shop staff when you come to donate and they’re not accepting donations that day. Why did you even think about going in there with a Tesco bag for life full of tops and board games, this is TUESDAY you fool

The mythical entities have made the Ledbury Reporter - if you’re over 500 years old and want to join parish council then come along on July 12th ✨⭐️ www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/2509619...

The Basic Income Movement hosted a briefing on basic income and regrowth to MPs in Westminster last week It was wonderful to have the chance to speak to MPs about why #UBI is good for the economy and society. We hope that MPs continue to explore the possibilities of basic income!

I celebrated Valentine’s Day this year by writing about my most romantic act - never getting married. It’s my first ever post on Substack, and you can follow me there if you like ❤️ open.substack.com/pub/crappyli...

DATELINE: Friday 7 February 2025 TOPIC: Sudan: Understanding the Crisis WRITER: DAVID DREW | Former MP for Stroud amplifystroud.com/2025-02-suda... #INTERNATIONALISM #SUDAN

Brilliant things happening in Manchester 👇

Please help me! I’m on X because that’s where my paintings sell. I shift about 95% of my work there. If I could just get my followers up to the same level here, it would release me from the swamp. I live in the middle of nowhere so I rely on social media to share & show my work.

Take my money

Come and join me on Instagram if you want to witness my descent into insanity/attempt to flick the v’s to 2024 with daily bits of joy in real time

Holy smokes(long)

In my head I read wellness influencer posts on Instagram in the voice of Tony Soprano and nobody can stop me

Is everyone aware that it’s 90% off in Homebase, I’ve been in for a tree stand and come out with a trolley stacked so high I’ve had to fast push it to the car for momentum, it’s mayhem

What I like about 24 Hours In Police Custody is how many police officers have mugs on their desk that say things like ‘Adulting!’ and they say stuff like ‘you can’t die from harassment but you can die from other crimes that’s the main difference’ I genuinely can’t tell if it’s real

Wordle did us dirty today

Went for a long walk, had to go through a few hedges too and afterwards felt a spider moving *under my top* so congrats to everyone in Tetbury Tesco who saw me rip off my jumper and rummage frantically in my own cleavage, only to find a rogue bit of tinsel 👌

TONIGHT at 7pm! Sarah Brooks, author of ‘The Cautious Traveller’s Guide To The Wastelands’ is joining me online for our last Dialect Dinner of the year! 3 imaginary courses served up with a side of literary discussion - £5 or payc. Come and pull up a virtual chair www.dialect.org.uk/events/diale...

Well well well if it isn’t my exact cup of tea

Beware uneven ground holes

I’d like an app to give me memes but make them seventeenth century engravings ok thx!

A remarkable stat: Heidi Alexander’s appointment as Transport Secretary means the cabinet is now 100% state-educated for the first time in history.

Dear algorithm, I have been here for a while and am still here to connect with writers, performers, publishing industry, theatre makers and venues, event hosts and other respectful people with big hearts. If you could restore my faith in algorithms and the human race more generally, that would be ❤️

Finally

My new goal in life is to stick out as unapologetically as this branch that they purpose built a little hole in the hoarding for

Now would be a good time to remind people that applications for the bursary for January's course are now open. jerichowriters.com/jericho-writ... 55 courses since April 2011 and 645 alumni! Please apply if you're eligible.

Mentally I am here

Found an only slightly chewed up deer leg on the canal path by Sapperton tunnel this morning, and the dog’s behaviour was bizarre (well, more than usual). All round a very relaxing stroll to Gloucestershire’s most cursèd abandoned portal, 10/10 (hell-hound friendly) 👍🏻

Gloucester can build all the new shopping centre cafes it likes, I am here to eat a jacket potato in a 12th century crypt and I won’t be stopped

Wild to me that after just over 350 years all the romans in Britain got a letter from the emperor saying ‘everything’s gone tits up guys sorry and best of Romano-British to you’ and without a system of government it took about 5 minutes for the Cotswolds to go full Mad Max 🤘🏻

MILF = Manuscript I’d Like to Finish

Reminder! Our next online festival day with workshops by @kathyfish.bsky.social @stephaniecarty.bsky.social & @nivenaudrey.bsky.social is this Sat 30th Nov. Also incs contest with prizes, readings, yoga with @sudhab.bsky.social 11.00 am till 6.30 pm. GMT £30 for everything flashfictionfestival.com

Someone in my neighbourhood is out strimming in this *named storm* and it has to be respected - people’s roof tiles are flying off, i just saw a rook flying backwards and they’re out there tidying up their conifer, fair play

What a wonderful night it was! Such a great crowd and a brilliant speaker:) So chuffed to have had the chance to chat all things folklore, queer history and connection ❤️

A rare sighting of the beast

8am every Saturday I host an online writing hour for Dialect, to bang out some words in the quietest bit of the weekend (before the kids get up). It’s our most popular session, absolutely love the ritual of it, the accountability, and the incredible people I get to chat with. Winter nourishment:)

Fridays are Crow Fridays over in the Dialect community WhatsApp, where we all have a good crow about the literary stuff we’re pleased with. I was very chuffed about scoring this beautiful book in Oxfam this week. A crow about a book about crows is a bit meta but can’t recommend it enough 🖤

Stone cold incredible piece - a must read 🔥

more users are joining and the hog grows longer

Can’t wait!

Tag yourself, I’m Choughed To Grits ❄️✌🏻

From the roadside honesty florist (stick a quid in an old pan) in Wicken,July. My photo’s inspired by the work of Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). Research shows that when we look at something we find visually appealing dopamine’s released in our brains, lifting mood & improving mental health slightly:

My favourite fact about Iceland is that we have many, many crime writers but only one forensic pathologist, and he was so busy answering all of their questions that he decided to have a small seminar for writers to get some peace. It immediately sold out so he had another one that also sold out.

I grew up around farmers in the 1980’s and anyone with any real knowledge of rural life knows you should never look at Andrew Lloyd Webber in his mortal form directly or the crops will fail

What a day to be the owner of not one but two electric blankets

Always a packed out and brilliant night - and check out the fantastic guest poets this evening!

Our Christmas tradition is absolutely nobody can listen to Mariah Carey All I Want For Christmas until *December 1st* when we have the great early morning Mariah session in the kitchen, marking the start of the season. Currently in the danger zone, dashing out of shops when I hear the opening bars

Two weeks until submissions open for the #WelkinMini 100 words Free to enter Deadline = 2nd January Will you be a "micro wizard" or a "disco comet" or "tiny romancer"? www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...

👌