Baltacha, bluebells and butterflies on a Bank Holiday….

Morning,

So very sad to hear of the death of Elena Baltacha, the British No.1, who succumbed to liver cancer yesterday. She suffered from a chronic liver condition from the age of 19, but she did not let it stop her achieving amazing goals in the British tennis world. A wonderful ambassador for the sport. A true champion in both tennis and life. I'll be seeing you in the locker room soon, Bally. xx

Am looking forward to writing with World Championship snooker in the background. The sound of clunking snooker balls is surprisingly therapeutic. Anyway, as promised, more photos. A beautiful butterfly captured on my travels yesterday:

I have no idea what type of butterfly this is. I am not David Attenborough. Or David Bellamy. I wonder what has happened to the latter? He used to emerge through massive foliage sporting a permanently gurning expression scaring the life out of a very young me! Anyway, you don't need to be Messrs Attenborough or Bellamy to appreciate bluebells in the woods:

Truly inspiring and so beautiful to admire. You cannot recapture their beauty on film. They proliferate year-on-year. The contrast of the dark woodland only serves to make them appear even more vibrant. Speaking of vibrancy, another delightful sight is a field of rapeseed oil:

I assure you I was not driving at the time whilst taking these images! I can remember seeing these yellow fields on a trip to Haddo House in Aberdeenshire when I was eleven and staring at them in wonderment, mistaking them for a genetically-modified form of buttercup. They have captivated me every year since. I certainly wouldn't advise walking through a field of them, which I did whilst under the influence of alcohol as a nineteen year old, ruining my old stonewashed Levi's 501!

Anyway, more writing achieved today, with even more ideas springing into my head for future novels. More will be revealed at some point. I need to focus on the task in hand and do the best job on this series first.

Hope you are all enjoying a fabulous Bank Holiday.

MJ xx

p.s. At the time of posting: Selby is 12-11 ahead in the final! Go Selby!

Don't be a follower - be a leader! xx

Montpellier, Trinh Duc, Selby, Snooker and what a load of horse chestnuts…..

Morning people on this gloriously sunny Sunday! It's a peach! It's a damn cold wind though, so I have donned the thermals again before going on a brisk walk on the Downs.

Meanwhile, it's the time of the week for a bit of a sporting round-up. Well, sports that I'm interested in. Some readers have asked me about Darya's interest in Montpellier… Why Montpellier, for heaven's sake? Well, why not? They have finished second in the French Top 14 this season with a stunning 44-10 victory over the array of stars at Racing-Metro Paris. May I remind you that amongst Racing's glittering ranks are Irish first-choice fly-half Jonny Sexton, Welsh international centre Jamie Roberts and the fantastic French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski.

In the book, I mention the impish fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc. He also happens to be the captain of the team. Here he is:

There we are. An 'impish' kind of face, as described in the book. Very cute. He also scored a try yesterday. He's been capped numerous times for Les Bleus since his debut in 2007. Yes, yes yes… what? This isn't the photo you wanted? What? You want nudity? Certainly not! Not on this blog. Never mind what goes on in my book. Book and blog are not one and the same and no, life should not follow art….. oh if you insist, just to get you off my back!!

Satisfied? On a Sunday as well?! You should all be ashamed of yourselves, and shame on me for succumbing to such pressure!! I'm sure you can appreciate Darya's 'appreciation' of Montpellier rugby now…. Anyway, she'll be packing her Lulu Guinness case and clearing off to France for the semi-finals no doubt, with her Montpellier scarf neatly folded in amongst her Passionata lingerie, chanting 'Ici, ici, C'est Mont-Pel-Lier!'

Writing has been somewhat interrupted by all the sporting events going on this weekend. I watched Perpignan (aka USAP) slide out of the Top 14 with Biarritz. Two big guns with three titles between them in the last nine years. Oh the times, they are a changing…. Brett and Felix would be gutted at their beloved Everton succumbing to the irresistible Pellegrini's Manchester City 2-3 at Goodison Park. Manchester United's fortunes at Old Trafford don't seem to have completely reversed as they lost 0-1 to Sunderland. And I am trying to write whilst cheering for Mark Selby in the final of the World Snooker Championships at Sheffield. He has such a cheeky smile and the tightest buns I have seen on a snooker player bending over a long stretch of green baize in a long time…. and here he is….

Anyway, I have bored you enough with my sport. I also have another obsession that is growing at the moment. Horse chestnut trees. They are everywhere. I was out last night and found a lovely horse chestnut tree by the sea. I found another this afternoon on my travels. They are like white lupins in the sky. Candles at the end of their branches. Absolutely gorgeous, and incredibly early due to the incredibly mild winter we had. 

Aren't they magnificent? I also have photos of my other seasonal obsessions: butterflies, bluebells and rapeseed oil fields. But I think you have been treated to enough for one posting. I must get back to this writing….. and snooker….. 

A demain readers,

MJ xx

p.s. Delighted to welcome my first visitors from Darya's Motherland - Russia! Looking forward to taking my story to St. Petersburg…..