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janelythellwriter.bsky.social
I write novels. In THE EXES, Holly inherits a rundown house and invites her ex-lovers to help her renovate it. Eek! My debut is THE LIE OF YOU. Family, books, nature, birds, walking, football.
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Spring is coming.

Sometimes, looking at a tree thrills me. This was a misty day in the grounds of Luton Hoo hotel.

🎢 I've loved #Bob Dylan since I was 17. Two favourite tracks: To Ramona, released 1964 And Changing of the Guard, released 1978. Tell me your favourites.

🚨BREAKING NEWS Government decision to approve Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas sites has been ruled unlawful by the courts in a major win for all campaigning for action to tackle the climate crisis.

Took my three-year-old grandson to the Moon exhibition in St Albans cathedral. He asked how they'd managed to get the moon in. Felt I had to explain it was a copy, and the real moon was much bigger.

While many struggle to make ends meet, the wealth of the super-rich has soared. It doesn’t have to be this way. There’s another wayβ€”one that prioritises fairness, sustainability, and equality. It starts with making those at the top pay their fair share. Find out more ➑️ bit.ly/40FunBq #Davos

🎬 Film performance that stayed with me: the brilliant Tommy Lee Jones in The Executioner's Song. Contained and poweful.

Good news for nature! 😍 RSPB Wallasea Island is expanding by 100 hectares: creating a freshwater lagoon and wild grasslands for Lapwings, Redshanks, Avocets, and more! This huge boost for local wildlife will also support migratory birds on a global scale...πŸ‘‡

William, who lives next door with our neighbour, paid us a visit. A curious and delightful cat.

πŸ’™πŸ“š My Classic read over Christmas was Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. I like the understated way Turgenev writes. He makes the reader work. Recommended.

My bedroom is at the top of the house under the eaves. There are three large skylights. It was very cold last night. I woke to iced up skylights. Then the sun came out, and the ice started to melt so beautifully.

This Michael Craig-Martin painting is called 'Pricks' #art

I am halfway through Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and am learning much about the philosophy of Nihilism through the character of Barazov. Nihilism: the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. πŸ’™πŸ“š #Booksky

πŸ’™πŸ“š Re my plan to read a classic novel over Christmas: I asked friends to tell me their favourite classic novel. Some great suggestions were offered and I will read Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. These should keep me well entertained. 🌲

Apologies to those of you who love Anna Karenina, but I've given up 195 pages in. Too breathless. Too much detail. I don't care about these characters. Plan was to read a classic over Christmas. Now I need to select another. πŸ’™πŸ“š #Booksky

πŸ’šπŸ“š My reading buddy, Julia, suggests we read BALLET SHOES by Noel Streatfield over Christmas. A much loved book from both our childhoods. An unusual choice from her, perhaps because The National Theatre is showing a production based on the book till February 2025. 🩰🎭

My friend Peter, who lives in Cornwall, sent me this pic of #Penzance. It's like a painting.

It is bitterly cold here on Long Island. I’m unable to be outside for long. Ponds and lakes are freezing over. I came across this Great Blue heron yesterday! Long Island, NY #πŸͺΆ #birds #nature #wildlife #birding #photography #greatblueheron #heron #birdsofbluesky

"Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." Thomas Mann

I love this image - 'Fresh from the Vine' 2022 by Holly Newman. What makes it so appealing? #Art

Yesterday was the last day of the Michael Craig-Martin exhibition at the Royal Academy. Exhilarating. Here is one of his iconic objects, the earphones, as a mural round the arch. I'd never got his work before, maybe because I'd only seen it in books or on postcards. Loved it this time.

I lived in Sheringham in Norfolk as a child. Population then was 5,000. We had the seafront and the Lifeboat station and we had Sheringham library, a single storey building. I read my way through its fiction shelves. This has given me a lifelong love of #libraries πŸ’™πŸ“š

I'm trying to get by train from St Albans to Sutton to see dear friends. Chaos on the tracks. Storm has caused flooding and other obstacles. Fellow travellers and I are trying to stay cheerful. #StormDarragh

A gentle read that pulled me in. It's the isolation period of the Covid pandemic. Lara and Joe's three daughters are helping pick the sweet cherries on their parent's farm. Lara tells the story of her love affair with a man who later became a famous actor. Well developed characters. #πŸ’™πŸ“š

Recommending the meditation app Insight Timer. I've been using it for five years. A rich source of guided meditations to help sleep, stress, anxiety and relaxation. And even some bedtime stories. πŸ’šπŸŒΏ #meditation

I read CONCLAVE in 2019 and was amazed at how entertaining the election of a pope was made by Robert Harris. Yesterday I saw the film. Fantastic powerful cinema. Not to be missed.

A perfect cold and bright morning in St Albans yesterday. Took my grandson, 3, to the Orchard, a green area near the Cathedral with magnificent trees. He wanted to feed the birds. We had sandwiches and pulled off the crusts. We saw one robin and one blue tit.

I πŸ’™ Spurs. www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/no...

Do you know The Pains of Sleep by Coleridge. It is such a powerful poem and has stayed with me. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43995/...

A damp dark Sunday brilliantly illuminated by a trip to the Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery. The painting I loved most is The Sower 1888.