Michael Morpurgo’s wise words came my way today:

The first six years of my teaching career were spent in primary schools, mainly the wonderful Plover Primary School, and I remember story-time at the end of the day  with great affection. My 10/11 years olds and I  escaped into some wonderful worlds – those of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Hobbit, of A Child’s Christmas in Wales and that of Flat Stanley among many, many more. After 10 years at home bringing up our four children (and reading more wonderful stories)  I moved into secondary education and was able to introduce generations of young people to the wonders of literature – to story, poetry and plays. What a beautiful way to spend my working life! And what a shame that the practice of reading for half an hour at the end of every day has apparently been lost.

Walking up from town this afternoon, we spotted some crocus buds, golden and gorgeous in the evening light.

The rain had stopped but the grass still held little jewels of glittering rain drops.