Illness and creativity can so often be mutually exclusive. I know. But @annelouiseavery.bsky.social has continued to give us her wonderful tales—tales that express the best of humanity—throughout. If ever her stories have touched you, please show her your support. (Ko-fi is really quick and easy.)

Happy fall! 🧡🍁🍂

A signed copy of my book, Reynard the Fox, its accompanying journal, A Fox for All Seasons, a fine bar of Apple & Blackberry chocolate, a box of cinnamon knots, a packet of Caramelised biscuit tea & a charming & fluffy fox companion.

🍁🦊Competition time! To celebrate the coming of autumn, win a cornucopia of delights! A signed copy of my book, Reynard the Fox & accompanying journal, A Fox for All Seasons, Apple & Blackberry chocolate, cinnamon knots, Caramelised biscuit tea & a fine fox companion. Follow, like & repost to win! 🦊🍂

Two Eggs My boys like eggs for breakfast. So every morning, in the cheerless light of not-quite-day, I crack two eggs into a bowl and whisk them with a fork until the whites and yolks have all become a mottled yellow soup that I can use to cook the little omelets that they love. There can be such a difference in the shells. Some eggs have shells of rock, craggy-coated things that fight against the breaking. My normal rappings only leave them dented, crazed but whole, and I must hammer them into the lip before they shatter. Some are paper-thin, and feel as if they might give way before the lightest touch. Like sunlit wings of some too-fragile moth, they almost tear instead of crack. It is an easy thing to make them weep their heart into the world. They look alike, the hard shells and the soft, and it is only in the testing that you know. My boys like eggs. So every morning, in the rising light, I make them little omelets and we break our fast with slow and quiet talk about their lives. It does not last. The clock slips by us while we sit and all-too soon it’s time for coats and socks and teeth and hurry; “Did you remember that permission form?” until they’re gone into the hustle of the world, leaving me behind to hope that I have done enough, and that, at least today, their shells are strong. -- John Wyatt Greenlee

A poem for this morning, about my boys.

A selection of late spring garden finds and my illustrations of them & their names in calligraphy alongside.

A selection of autumnal nature and botanical finds, my illustrations of them and their names alongside on a double page spread of a sketchbook. Drawing materials and other small nature finds are nearby.

Cornflowers, Nigella, sweet peas and Russian sage in shades of blue, mauve and purple on one page of a sketchbook and my illustrations of them on the opposite page, along with the fountain pen I used to draw them nearby on a wooden table.

Various spring nature and botanical finds with my pen and ink drawings and watercolours of them on pieces of sketchbook paper. A watercolour palette and fine paintbrush are nearby.

My 14 June botanical illustration & mental health w'shop's now enrolling
I'll teach you:
🌿How to break down plants into simple shapes & add shading
🧠How time spent creatively alters brain biochemistry to improve mental health.
Limited spaces,earlybird price:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/bota...

Please boost! The NOEL PRIZE, in memory of the great and good and much-missed Will Noel.

Celebrate your (or any) open access library project. No project too small, or too big. Full details here, deadline 8/1, extremely low-effort Google Form: pacscl.org/what-we-do/f...

A still life of prizes: Reynard the Fox book, A Fox for All Seasons journal open at a map of Flanders, a toy fox, Dorset tea and biscuits.

🦊 Competition time! To celebrate the beginning of summer, I'm giving away a signed edition of my Reynard the Fox, a Fox for All Seasons journal, packets of Dorset biscuits & tea to honour my other main character Old Fox & a charming & fluffy fox companion! Simply like, repost & follow to enter! 🌷🦊

If, like me, you find the carefully-crafted, compassionate stories of @annelouiseavery.bsky.social help in difficult times, I know you will agree that it’s great to have such a simple way to give something back to her, or just to say ‘thank you’ for her work.

Please consider joining @annelouiseavery.bsky.social 's patreon. Her posts have enriched my days for several years now and I've been able to finally, officially, happily subscribe. Best day ever.

Get thee to a nunnery ✝️

If you've enjoyed my advent calendars, then why not buy me a hot chocolate over on Kofi! It would be very welcome and help me to carry on writing into the New Year and beyond! ko-fi.com/annelouiseav...

1/5🧵 How to Make a Book Bow

You will need:
▶️ That book you spilled coffee on
▶️ A ruler and scalpel* or scissors
▶️ Double-sided stickytape or glue (tape is much easier)

*available art/hobby shops

🦊Competition Time! For Christmas, I'm giving away a special wintry prize! Win a copy of my Reynard the Fox book, a 'Fox for All Seasons' journal, a charming Arctic fox, a tin of Christmas tea & some raspberry dark chocolate! Simply like, retweet & follow & a winner will be drawn on the 15th!🦊

A rabbit in the snow by a branch of rosehips.

There was once a rabbit who dreamt of wild adventure, of liners sailing to Brazil, carrot fields in Norfolk, creameries in Normandy. I have a small life, he said. But before he died, he looked up at his beloved human & he realised that a life of love is never slight, not at all.

Text of the story

A photograph of a wolf looking straight to camera

A manuscript illustration of the Martyrdom of St Edmund, showing his head being guarded by a wolf.

A wall painting of the martyrdom of St Edmund, depicting his body pierced with arrows.

Facing the camera, a wolf is standing in a field of yellow flowers.

Wolf & I share a birthday on the 23rd. I'm feeling worn down by everything, not least the mammoth effort to stay alive through draining treatments. So if you feel like buying me a hot chocolate on Kofi, joining my patreon or visiting my Etsy shop, we would both be most grateful. Links in my bio.

A black silk dress by Madeleine Vionnet overlaid with pitch-black swallows.

A black silk dress by Madeleine Vionnet overlaid with pitch-black swallows, seen from the front.

A black silk dress by Madeleine Vionnet overlaid with pitch-black swallows - a detail of the birds.

Made on the cusp of war, a last design before she closed her atelier & escaped from Paris in 1940, a shadowy silk dress by Madeleine Vionnet, self-confessed "enemy of fashion", overlaid with pitch-black swallows, far-fallen from the pale, untroubled skies of high summer.

I'll give away a set of all three of the brilliant Indiana Bones books to one person at random who retweets this and follows @trouteyes.bsky.social.

Winner will be chosen on Sunday 17th November at about 6pm.

Good luck!

www.biggreenbookshop.com/index.php?se...

I'll announce the winner of this in about an hour.

Happy to be here.