Notes from the Pink Egg

WORDS, IDEAS - AND A FEW SURPRISES.
WORDS, IDEAS - AND A FEW SURPRISES. 20th March 2017 It’s a week exactly since the Words by the Water began to pack up and leave town; a week since I did my last chairing; a week since I assumed the recovery position and retreated into a darkened room to think. The festival certainly delivered what it promised – words and ideas in plenty. As usual it came full of surprises. Richard Cohen arrived for the very first talk of the festival – How to write like Tolstoy – with a long wooden box which he had brought with him by car, by air and by Virgin t... Read More »»
Writing
Writing 3rd March 2017 It’s hard to find a place  to write and work without a distracting view here in the Lake District. The view up the north end of Skiddaw from my Pink Egg was glorious but our new panorama is even more spectacular (see above and you’ll see what I mean.) I have had to relocate to a small back room facing a tall, dark green, boring leylandii hedge for any serious writing as the changing light is a fairly continuous distraction. I don’t know the collective noun for writers (a volume?) but there will... Read More »»
FESTIVAL TIME IN KESWICK 27th January 2017 The postman’s kept busy at the moment delivering books by authors I’m chairing at Words by the Water - A Festival of Words and Ideas. When the programme was revealed in December, potential chairs scrambled to send in their list of preferences. The fun starts as books arrive. How to write like Tolstoy immediately took my eye. If only … I’d love to write with the elegant conciseness of Ian McEwan, the humour of Roald Dahl, the imagination of J K Rowling and the sheer brilliance of Zadie Smith. I w... Read More »»
FLOWERS FOR CHRISTMAS
FLOWERS FOR CHRISTMAS 16th December 2016 Thank you so much everyone for such a quick and intelligent response to my mystery flowers. They are Chincherinchee or Star of Bethlehem (proper name is Ornithogalum thyrsoides ) They are known also as a florists nightmare as they last a very long time as we have discovered. They are still cheerfully flowering as they work their way to the top. It is now 6 weeks since I bought them but I cant find any more  which is a shame. Maybe they have been boycotted by florists.  I have now ordered bulbs b... Read More »»