Where there is a will...

Here is Spartacus - a real fighter of a plant. I had given this Crassula ovata up for dead, after my experiment to train its branches downwards failed bigstyle. But, just as I was about to throw it on the compost heap, a few tiny leaves have sprung up. I am going to give this warrior a lot of love now and see if I can raise it into something spectacular... 

Knighton Honesty

 Remember this post? Well, this is what the look like today:

15th Armada Ghost Book

1983 saw the 15th Armada Ghost Books appear on the bookshelves.





Despite reintroducing the iconic running child from the early entries in the series, the new cover design, introduced in the previous entry in the anthology series, does little to encourage fingers to open the book. Which is a shame, as there are some genuinely series stories contained within. I especially look forward to reading 'Who's a Pretty Boy, Then?'


Alas, all good things must come to an end. But the Armada Ghost Books remains in the hearts of many who grew up in the 1960's, 70's and early 80's, as well as the bookshelves of second hand book trade. My hope is, after reading my short guide to this fascinating slice of publishing history, your fingers will search out these well-read volumes and you feast your minds on the work of som very fine masters of the supernatural genre...

14th Armada Ghost Book

The 14th Armada Ghost Book, released in 1982, was the penultimate in the long-running anthology series of children's ghost stories. 



The first nail was already in the coffin of this popular series as the public were starting to turn their backs on supernatural and horror tales. A new artist was brought on board, whose illustrations appealed more to children, but the book cover art was a firm step down from the series' more iconic imagery.



That stated, the stories themselves are on par, with a couple of them edging on the dark side of children's fiction.


Unfortunately, the change of  book cover designs is difficult to get past.

Up 2 Date

My Seth's illustrated Ghost Stories for Christmas collection is now up to date, thanks to the arrival of this little book:


Clevedon Beach

Our final stop off en route to Bristol was the estuarine beach at Clevedon, where I was able to partake in a little seaglass hunting:


My finds:



And then, our family holiday over, we headed for the trainstation for my daughter and her fiance, before driving hole to good old Swansea.