opening chapter eight – hello august
Holiday mode. Summer’s here. Out of office on? I think so. Open windows. Open doors. Weather depending, of course! Trail through fields. Wheat wet, patiently waiting to dry. Bees buzz from flowerbeds brimming with life. Ripe and ready. Fruit falls. Greedy snoots gorge below. Pimms pours. Bank holidays ft. friends, feasts and fun. Clouds gather. Air thick. Hot, humid and heavy. Heavens open. Dash outside. Learn to dance in the storm. Light dims. Soak up sunshine. In the distance, Autumn nears. Leo season. Be brave. Throw your head back and roar.
It’s always strange when your job is to share your life, your life gets taken over by a huge project LIKE WRITING A BOOK and you have to keep it under wraps for months on end but alas! Here we are! The news is finally out and I am so excited (and relieved!) that I get to talk about it openly with you now.
Catch up on my book announcement here
If you regularly watch my vlogs and are subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll know that I’ve been tip toeing around this news for so long. In fact, it’s been on my mind daily since the first email came through from my amazing publisher somewhere around late summer/early autumn last year. It’s accompanied my thoughts on every dog walk, work trip and journey to the greenhouse. It’s been there when I shut my eyes each evening and open them first thing as the sun starts to rise. And in a physical sense, my laptop and journal haven’t left my side on every long car journey, flight, train ride or spare evening/weekend, this year! (Long haul flights back from Kentucky, and short stints to and from Italy, Ireland and Ibiza make for excellent ‘make final revisions to book’ sessions, I’ll have you know!)
As I mentioned in this announcement though, despite having done a few things throughout my career that I’m truly proud of, Evergreen is without a shadow of doubt my proudest accomplishment to date and for that reason alone, has been so worth the effort.
With that in mind, as we open chapter eight and say hello to the final month of summer, I plan to embrace the final few weeks of fun and freedom that this season provides and well and truly celebrate the work that has gone into making this book a reality (keeping some of the lessons I share in Evergreen in mind, as I do!) Though we’re still technically finalising the illustrations for each page (so in reality, the book isn’t 100% finished yet!) the past few days have felt like one big, very welcomed exhale. Seeing your excitement has only made me more determined to make it as special as it can be for us all. And I am so grateful to see how many of you have signed up for the pre-sale!
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Did someone say “a glass of rosé to celebrate?!” Don’t mind if I do…
As always, I’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to this month. Let me know in the comments below!
PS. Want to get your mittens on a copy of Evergreen?! Click here
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You are such an inspiration! I am 81 years of age and wish that this whole blog/vlog thing had happened during my younger years. luv u
Diane, your message has made my day! Thank you so much for reading. I hope you are having a wonderful week x