YOU GUYS I went falconing for the first time yesterday. We went to Arran and got to handle four birds: a hybrid falcon, an eagle- (or, in North America, Horned) owl, a Harris hawk and a buzzard. The falcon was amazing, she ate a chick from my hand (a somewhat disconcerting experience for vegetarian me. And, as it turns out, chicks are full of recognizable YOLK). The owl was adorable, I'd take him home in a second. And the hawk and the buzzard are the ones we actually got to fly, which was a whole other kind of amazing, watching the way they adjusted their flight to land on you. The whole thing was quite thrilling, and I absolutely recommend it for those without crippling fear of birds...

Were you aware that if enough people buy my new book then I will be able to buy a houseboat! PICTURE IT!

I spent the last couple days trying to figure out how to show the alt text to people on mobile phones and touchscreen devices! I think I've figured it out. Just tap the image. Some older mobile browsers still won't be able to view it. But we are only human.