Tomorrow is my first US book signing!  As we often do on this island full of artists (especially after the fire at A Bunch of Grapes Bookstore), the event is being held at a friend’s house.  Let’s all pray for a beautiful DRY evening! But the hostess told me that yesterday she decided to “cut her lawn” in anticipation of the great event, and how did she choose to do it?  With a scythe.  Yes, a scythe…you know, those old, long, curved sharp cutting things often associated with Russian peasants dutifully working the estates of the Tsar and his friends hundreds of years ago? (Well, you would expect my friends to be a bit quirky, wouldn’t you?).  Why she has a scythe in the first place should be left for her to tell herself, probably over long family dinner parties. But the fact is, she has one, and she’s used it on my behalf.

Now, there are many things that I love about this idea, but two are foremost in my mind.  First, there is the wonderful synchronicity between the fictional Russian setting of Tangled Roots, and the historical image of Russian peasants wielding their scythes.  Some of you may remember how much I love these sorts of convergences from this one of my blog postings.
But the other great thing about my friend and her scythe is the way she taught herself to use it.  How?  On the internet, of course.  And, of course, on the internet there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sites all about scythes.  I have been called naive before, but it has been the internet and the blogging world which continues to show me just how many people there are in this world, and how many amazing things they get themselves up to. So I must now call your attention to the website The Scythe Connection.  It will tell you everything you would ever need to know about scythes and the people who wield them, plus (of course) they have their own video on You Tube….and here it is (what else are friends for?).

Call me old fashioned, but I just love this!

And now fellow time travellers, I will say goodbye for a couple of short weeks while I devote myself to hanging out with my husband and kids, friends and family, and see out the end of another wonderful summer, a summer which has brought world travels, plenty of work accomplished, a wedding and the birth of a new family member – a special big welcome to my new little great-niece!!!!!
See you all soon……..