Something in the Water by Ben Starling

Opening with a chase prompted by a dropped, mysterious box, this novel follows investigative journalist Teal as she is sent on assignment to the South Pacific to interview the mysterious Thurston Morfil.  On this journey she takes her (totally unappealing) boyfriend Bear and the memory of her recently deceased grandmother, who had a deep bond with the ocean:

"I leaned back against the headboard of our bed, my mind wandering to the last real

conversation I’d had with Grandma. Staring over my shoulder at the frothing surf, she’d

described how, in unguarded moments, the ocean had “sung” to her. I fingered the ripples

of my bedspread, remembering her description of erratic harmonies that drifted in on a

flood tide. Sometimes she’d heard it in her seafront cottage, above the cry of the gulls on

those condensingly hot nights." 

Teal and Bear stay in a remote resort, where Teal discovers a lot about the local wildlife and how it's threatened by human activities, while Bear remains self obsessed and boorish. While Bear wanders off, Teal becomes involved with Perry, a marine biologist and eco-activist. Together they become aware of mysterious and possibly illegal activities going on in the area with tentacles stretching globally. As they investigate what is going on, they encounter an old native islander, Bob, who seems to be a custodian of the local ecosystems and who may hold insights into a better relationship between humans and nature.

This is an engrossing story, a well balanced mix of romance and thriller, with believable characters (even the vile Bear is (sadly all too) believable!) It's beautifully written with wonderful descriptions of marine life, especially whales. Information about wildlife issues is woven seamlessly into the story and the environmental message is made more powerful by being embedded in the development and actions of the main characters.And yes the mysterious box dropped at the beginning does reappear.....

Something in the Water by Ben Starling

 Self-published on Amazon on January 21, 2016.

ASIN: B016ZXTRM2
Print Length: 330 pages

Formats: links available in mobi, epub and pdf
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other web pages where you can find out more.  

Frogs!

We got a phone call yesterday from Crafty Green Boyfriend's Mom to say that the frogs were starting to get active in her garden ponds. So we went round today to have a look - the first thing we noticed was this lovely clump of frogspawn in the small pond

 There were lots of frogs in the big pond, though they took a while before they started showing their faces. We sat by the pond and waited, listening to the birds singing. This frog seemed fearless.

More and more of them appeared

some of them mating

Meanwhile up in the tree, a pair of magpies (one of them on the right in the photo below) and a crow (on the left in the photo) were harvesting twigs for their nests

Pele the neighbour's cat came along to join in the activity

He's just a year old and very playful, here he's found a feather

and here he's leaping for a stick

***

I'm delighted also that one of my poems is now included in the Frogs Book, part of the Maligned Species project managed by Fair Acre Press.

Another of my frog poems has just been highly commended in the Barn Owl Trust poetry competition and is included in their 'Wildlife Words' anthology. 

Water Rail, crocuses and the first rhododendrons

It's a dull but mild day today, brightened up by the lovely shows of colour from crocuses and the first rhododendrons of the year.

Our first stop today was Inverleith Park, where we were greeted by these lovely crocuses

We made our way to the Inverleith Pond, where the crowds of photographers and birdwatchers suggested that the water rail was probably visible, which indeed it was, and quite happy to pose for photos too. (Well, happy to pose for Crafty Green Boyfriend, none of my photos turned out!). The water rail is generally an elusive and shy bird but this one will run around quite happily in full view of everyone

It even gave a quick yoga demonstration for us!

We then went into the Botanic Gardens, where there are more wonderful crocuses

The Botanics are famous for their rhododendrons and the first ones are just coming into bloom. I took far too many photos, here's just a small selection

We made friends with this cheeky grey squirrel

 who enjoyed burying all the peanuts we gave it.

and this moorhen (a more common cousin of the water rail) was happily floating round the Botanics Pond.

Nature inspired art along the River Esk

As part of the lead up to the Musselburgh Riding of the Marches, one of the bridges over the River Esk in the town has been yarn bombed. Here are just some of the lovely knitted artworks

At the point where the River Esk walkway joins up with the John Muir Walkway along the Firth of Forth, there's a much older (and more durable) little artwork

The skylarks were singing beautifully above the walkway, and the reed buntings were excitedly chasing each other. Meanwhile on the Lagoons, the shelduck were performing their courtship displays.This was the first time I've ever seen these large, strikingly patterened ducks displaying. They look quite comically awkward as they throw their long necks back and forward. Lots of other birds around too!

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

My latest earrings

I've really caught the earring making bug! (Helped by the fact that my earrings seem to be pretty popular in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop.) Here are the three most recent pairs of earrings I've made, by refashioning elements of old jewellery (with brand new nickel free silver plated earring hooks from the local bead shop).

These earrings are available in my Etsy shop here.

This pair is available here.

and this pair sold within four hours of me listing them in my Etsy shop!

as a woodpecker drums....

It was a dull and damp morning in Colinton Dell today. Signs of Spring were however, everywhere

raindrops glitter on these silver birch catkins

the buds on the ash are very prominent just now, and the remains of last years keys are still hanging on, even more so in the photo below 

I was interested to find these oak apples, which are galls formed by small wasps. I was curious to read here that these are usually only found in May and June. I assume those in my photo are old ones. Though as I've never noticed them before, perhaps they're quite new (but then even though I do this walk every week and am observant, there's no way I can notice everything every time).

This lichen is very pretty and very common, I thought I knew what species it was, but actually I don't, so if you can help with identification, please feel free to add a comment!

A great spotted woodpecker was drumming and lots of birds were singing, including a dipper and several song thrushes. Song thrushes are declining quite badly across the UK, it's always nice to know they seem to thrive in Colinton Dell.

haiku

rainbow -

jackdaws chatter round

the water tower

high in the tree

rooks argue over where 

to put the next twig