And Still It Rains....

Where is all the rain coming from?? Its seems like it has been raining for weeks and weeks now. I have planted loads of flowers and stuff in the garden and they are like ENOUGH WITH THE RAIN, i mean i know we need some water but blimy!!! I am going on a BIG WALK -i'll tell you more about that later -in two weeks and i'm hoping that this wet weather is going to break and all the clouds shake hands and call it a day!! Come on Mr and Mrs Cloud, be friends will yer!!!!!I have forgotten what the sun looks like, er a banana? or it is an orange?? Dunno, i think i might open a shop that sells umbrellas and wellies and call it Umbrellas are US!! Or Wellyland or something. I'm just glad that my skin is waterproof. 3 Wet things that i don't like 1) Wet Bread 2) Smelly Wet Dogs 3) Socks

Mountains

I have just read a brilliant book called Mountains Of The Mind and its by a bloke called Robert Macfarlane. Its all about,er...mountains and why people want to climb them. Its great to discover a nerw writer that gets you thinking. Its like learning to read all over again!! If you like mountains then you should read it. I am reading another book by the same bloke called Wild Places and thats brilliant as well. There is a bit in it where he talks about a snowflake landing on his sleeve and melting away like a ghost passing through a wall. Wild Places, its brilliant!!

Other Peoples Back Gardens

I was in Walsall this week at Whitehall Infants and got the train there and back. On trains you go past lots of peoples back gardens and as i was looking out of the window this poems kind of appeared.....

Sneak out in your back garden
and peep over the wall
in other peoples back gardens
you can see it all....

I've seen a rabbit hutch
and a sports car on bricks
I've seen an old ambulance
that nobody wants to fix

I've seen a million trampolines
with kids bouncing up and down
I've seen an old boat
going rusty and brown

I've seen a shopping trolley
and a mattress for a bed
saw a bloke in a vest once
painting a shed

I've seen a paddling pool
and a big pile of tyres
a donkey, some ducks
and a load of bonfires

i once saw a cat
that got stuck up a tree
in other peoples back gardens
who knows what you'll see...

I'd Rather Make Flapjacks

I have another new book coming out soon and at the moment i am reading through it to make sure that everything is OK before it gets all printed up. Doing this is called proofing and you have to read and read and read to make sure that everything is right and all the bits are in the right place and everything!! You have to put full stops where they should be and all that kind of thing. Its one of those writing jobs I'm not that fond of to be honest but you have to get it right. I like writing and having ideas and i like making those idea as good as i can but putting dots and dashes in the right place.....i think I'd rather make flapjacks.
The book is called POETRY BURP and will be out soon!!!!!
I hope.

Kayak V Canoe...which ones bestt??? FIGHT!!!!

Just come back from a great overnight do in East Barnby with North Yorkshires Looked After Children. I stayed over in a little bunk bed about as big as , er, me!! I spoke to young people about poetry and had a laugh and they went canoeing and kayaking on the river Esk, all dressed in wetsuits and all the great. They looked like Umpa Lumpers or something!!! I asked the expert, a great bloke called mike, what the difference is between a kayak and a canoe and its all a bit complicated. It can depend on where you live and how you paddle it!! You can actually canoe in a kayak and kayak in a canoe...so now you know..... It was a great day out, it rained a bit and got a bit cold but still great fun. A BIG thank you to Helen at NYLAC for asking em and allowing me!!! to come along in the first place...by the way kayak is the same spelt backwards.....yeah man!!!

The BIG WELSH WALK 2012

Last year i walked the Coast To Coast path, all 200 miles of it. I performed in 8 schools along the way and raised £1600 for CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity. This year i am walking the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and doing the same thing!! My old mate Andy The Trudger Amos is coming along again. So far i am visiting 5 schools along the way. I hope to get the permission to go into a couple more. If you are reading this, and live in Pembrokeshire and can help, then please let me know!! I am doing the walk from May 14th to 26th. They will be loads more about the walk on my website soon.

Back To Norn Iron!!!

Last week i went to Belfast in Norn Iron -Northern Ireland. I flew there on a little plane with propellers and everything. I have been to Norn Iron 4 times before, visiting schools and i always enjoy it. This time i was performing at the Northern Ireland Children's Book Awards. The event was held in a big, serious college where everyone whispered and looked important. There was 2 hundred young peeeples from schools all over the place. Everyone voted for their favourite book and the winner was Gansta Granny by David Walliams. My son Ben has a copy and i told everyone that i would read it when i get the chance. I have a big wobbly pile of books om my desky-wesky and i have to read all them first!! So HELLO to everyone i met in Belfast and a big TA to the people from the libraries for asking me along.