A Chance Encounter (Julianna Baptiste #1) by Rae Shaw #CoverReveal

 

We are counting days until the lockdown is eased enough for the book shops to be open. I miss browsing the new arrivals. When you visit the books shops, what makes you buy a book? Is it the author and/or the series that you love? A recommendation from a friend, newspaper or social media? Or is it the cover design that grabs your attention? For me, it's a mix of all of the above, but the cover design often plays the essential part. It has to pique my curiosity to read the blurb on the back to make the decision. 

A new thriller by Rae Shaw has a cover that would definitely catch my eye. And today I'm delighted to take part in the cover reveal for A Chance Encounter.

A Chance Encounter

Julianna Baptiste, a feisty bodyguard, finds her new job tedious, that is until her boss, the evasive Jackson Haynes, spikes her curiosity. Who is behind the vicious threats to his beautiful wife and why is he interested in two estranged siblings?

Mark works for Haynes’s vast company. He’s hiding from ruthless money launderers.

His teenage sister Ellen has an online friend whom she has never met. Ellen guards a terrible secret.

For eight years their duplicitous father has languished in prison, claiming he is innocent of murder. The evidence against him is overwhelming, so why does Mark persist with an appeal?

Keen to prove her potential as an investigator, Julianna forces Mark to confront his mistakes. The consequences will put all their lives in danger.

Pre-order Link

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08X1PN4VH

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X1PN4VH

Publication Date: 24th March

Trailer - https://youtu.be/g2U11opEcqs

Author Bio –  

Rae Shaw is a pen name for the author Rachel Walkley.

 

Rachel is based in the North West of England. She read her first grown-up detective novel at the age of eleven, which proved to be a catalyst for filling many shelves with crime books, which still occupy her home and grow in number whenever she visits a book shop.

As well as crime, Rachel likes to unplug from the real world and writes mysteries that have a touch of magic woven into family secrets.

 

Social Media Links – 

https://raeshawauthor.com/

https://twitter.com/RaeShawauthor  

Rae Shaw Facebook page

Rachel Walkley

And now - the cover reveal! What do you think? Where do these mysterious steps lead to? Are we going down to some creepy dungeon or are we ascending to the light and escape? The dark palette screams danger.

Death at Rainbow Cottage by Jo Allen

 

No-one should die alone. She must do something, if only to cradle him while he died; but when she tried to lift him she succeeded only in pulling his dead weight against her. Fighting for balance she saw a macabre vision of herself, trapped under the body of a dying man, and pushed him away from her. He flopped onto his back in the emuslion of mud and blood and muck that had accumulated in the lane. It took a second attempt before she managed to cradle him against her.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered to him. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I don't know what to do".

A murder is a starting point for Jo Allen's Death at Rainbow Cottage, set in Eden Valley, Cumbria. This is the fourth book in the DCI Satterthwaite crime series, but it reads well as a standalone (I haven't read the previous books). 

The murder occurs on the tucked away rutted track outside the house of the equalities activist Claud Blackwell, and his mentally vulnerable wife Natalie. 

DCI Jude Satterthwaite and his team are investigating the murder. The body is identified as Len Pierce, a local baker known for his excellent cakes and abrupt manner. 

Natalie Blackwell who used to be a ballet dancer and an actor, is severely neurotic. She runs to help her with anxiety. It is while running towards Rainbow Cottage, their home, that she stumbles upon dying Len. She seems to be dependent on her husband in everything. The relationship between Natalie and her husband is "a one-way dependency he seemed to accept without question".The Blackwells moved recently to the village, and the locals find them a bit odd. 

The post mortem reveals that Len died of the stab wound. His sister blames the death on Len's sexual orientation. She is quite openly disapproving.

This event shakes up the local community. When another apparently random murder happens outside Claud's office, DCI Satterthwaite has to figure out whether Claud is the intended victim, or the killer.

Alongside the main investigation, Jude and his partner Ashleigh have to deal with the ambitious new boss, who intends to prove her mettle, and change the departmental politics. She is a bitch disagreable, hostile woman, insecure in her position, who quickly antagonises lots of people. She is one of those woke people who claim to be bring more diversity to the workplace, but are in fact insufferable bullies. Her attitude causes many complications at work.

When a threatening note arrives at the police headquarters, Jude has a real cause to fear for the safety of his friends and colleagues.

Death at Rainbow Cottage is a multi-layered, satisfying read. It's a skilfully constructed crime story, with an insightful police procedural and well-developed characters. It is also an intelligent meditation on relationships, sexuality and freedom of choice. First-class crime fiction.

Purchase Link - 

https://amzn.to/3fl0tJj

Author Bio – Jo Allen is the author of the successful DCI Satterthwaite series of detective novels set in and around the English Lake District, where she lives. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read – crime. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she's a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.

 

Social Media Links –

Twitter @JoAllenAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoAllenAuthor  

Instagram @JoAllenAuthor

This post is part of the blog tour.

Many thanks to Jo Allen and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Monster Max and the Bobble Hat of Forgetting by Robin Bennett (review + giveaway)

 

"He burped.

It was a huge burp: it rattled all the car windows in the dump and echoed off the tower of washing machines.

"Roar!" said Max the Monster, turning around to face two very surprises robbers. "Roaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Monster Max and the Bobble Hat of Forgetting by Robin Bennett is a comic tale about a boy who is different. 

On the outside, Max is pretty normal, he lives with his parents in a normal terraced house, on an ordinary street in a quiet town. He "does all the boy things", whatever they are, "but sometimes he is a monster who does all the monster things". Max has a special talent, you see, "he can turn himself into a monster whenever he wants - he just has to BURP. And he can turn himself back into a small, grubby boy again just by SNEEZING".

Being a monster could be a great fun, but Max's parents are not always amused with his antics and lecture him on being a responsible person, with an aim in life. They inspire him to use his monster skills to do good stuff, like stopping a vandal from destroying the town, or saving two little girls from the fire.

"His dad was right, he needed to be more responsible. Besides anything else, he did not want to get his parents into trouble. Max was smart enough to know that being different made stuff harder sometimes".

Unfortunately for Max, there's a super smart (and super annoying) kid his age called Peregrine who's intent on catching the monster as he holds him responsible for all the damage in town. Peregrine is a brainy chap who invents gadgets. His latest invention is a Portable Operating Omni Prison or POOP, for short. He is Max's Nemesis, who presents himself as a seeker of the truth and a genius inventor.

Tired of trying to outsmart brainy Peregrine, Max is almost ready to give up on his monster-ness and behave like an ordinary boy, saying that he "can't be hairy ans scary anymore". To which his Mum replies, "No, Max, you must never say that. You have this gift and it's a big part of you. Always, always be yourself, even if it has risks, even if it is very hard sometimes". 

Max's Mum knows about it from her own experience, she comes from a distant land where shape-shifting is common. In fact, she still likes to prawl the streets in her wolf-shape.

If Peregrine discovers the truth about his family, Max and his Mum might well end up in the Zoo, or worse. The real culprit should be caught before Peregrine has a chance to catch him. 

This is the first book in the series, and as it ends on a cliffhanger, we get a little hint of what new adventures are there to come.

We discovered Robin Bennett's books a couple of years ago. The Hairy Hand is an absolutely brilliant story, quirky and original, rather philosophical and wise. Space Dragons is another magical story, with a clever plotline and intriguing characters. We loved both books very much, and I was curious to see that Robin has written a book for younger audience, aged 6-11.

This book will appeal to the younger children, who relish stories with fart/burping/poo jokes, à la David Walliams. You cannot but root for the eccentric Max and hope he will continue be a neighbourhood hero.

The book has delightful illustrations by Tom Tinn-Disbury. As we received an uncorrected proof, our copy has some missing illustrations, but what we saw, we found fun and wonderfully whimsical. The illustrations complement the story and add an extra comic touch to this magic action adventure.

This magical adventure story is both amusing and captivating.

Many thanks to Robin Bennett and Rachel's Random Resources for our copy of the book!

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monster-Max-Bobble-Hat-Forgetting-ebook/dp/B088BJLLTM/

US - https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Max-Bobble-Hat-Forgetting-ebook/dp/B088BJLLTM/

https://fireflypress.co.uk/books/monster-max/

 

Author Bio

 

Aged 21 Robin was all set to become a cavalry officer; aged 21 and a half, he found himself working as an assistant gravedigger in south London wondering where it all went wrong. Robin has gone on to start and run over a dozen successful businesses from dog- sitting to cigars, tuition to translation. The list is quite exhausting. Robin is married with three young children. He spends his time between Pau in the Pyrenées and Henley-on- Thames.  

 

Monster Max and the Bobble Hat of Forgetting is Robin’s first book with Firefly Press publishing in February 2021. He has also written other books for children, published with Monster Books. 

 

Rampaging Rugby, first in the Stupendous Sports non-fiction series for 7-11-year-olds will publish August 2021. 

 

Follow Robin on Twitter @writer_robin and Instagram @robinbennettauthor/

Giveaway to Win a Monster Max Cuddly Toy (UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries only, welcome.  

Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  

The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. 

If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. 

Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  

Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. 

This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  

I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Please note this giveaway is being promoted across several blogs, taking part in the blog tour. Chez Maximka has no access to the data on the gadget, and hosts the Rafflecopter widget for free for the purposes of the blog tour. 

I am not responsible in the winner's selection process or dispatch of the prize.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bad Blood by Lily Hayden #BlogTour

 

"...looking at the family that you gave me, I know that there's no such thing as bad blood. Some people are meant to be parents, but some people just aren't that good at it. That's not our fault; it's just your loss".

Bad Blood by Lily Hayden is an unsettling mystery full of family secrets and twisting turns.

Synopsis:

Tim, Rose, Will and Belle led a charmed childhood growing up together on idyllic Bluebell Farm, but everything changed when their mother died. Sixteen years on, they're practically strangers.

An unexpected invitation from their estranged father brings them back together giving them an opportunity to heal past wounds and start afresh.

But when Frank is found dead on the morning of his wedding, suspicion turns to the four siblings' motivations, and the bad blood of the past resurfaces.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blurb is a bit misleading, as it's not a crime story, but a social study of a dysfunctional family. The four siblings are all emotionally messed-up to a certain extent. None of them seem to be able to hold a meaningful relationship. 

One may wonder, is this the fault of their aloof father, who didn't care much for them when they were children, and totally ignored them as grown-ups?! Their late mother was a wonderful, loving parent, but it's the messed-up relationship with their father that all the siblings seem to believe has had the most profound effect on their own lives. Can we really blame our parents for all the mistakes we make ourselves?

The reader is introduced to the drama from the very beginning, then they are taken back in time to unravel the family secrets. We watch the main characters, each of them receiving a wedding invitation, and the torrent of emotions it releases, from deep resentment to a glimmer of hope. They all have problems, financial, emotional, social. 

Tim, the eldest son, is the most onbnoxious. He's well off, but it doesn't even cross his mind that he could help any of his poor relatives financially. He is a narcissictic buffoon, who also happens to be a cheat. In fact, he has none of the redeeming qualities, and it's not clear why his wife would tolerate his appalling behaviour.

Rose has given up on her dreams in order to be a stay at home mother for her two sons, but is unappreciated and taken for granted by her offspring. Her husband has left her for a younger woman, and she is unable to find a good job. Trying to earn money in a job which makes her miserable, she is drowning her sorrows in a bottle of cheap gin. "Somehow, she'd gone from wearing her "middle-class stay-at-home Mum" badge with pride to feeling like a lonely, washed-up forty-year-old with no social life, no family and a job she hated." (From the four siblings it's Rose I can relate to, having made a conscious choice to stay at home to look after my sons. If I could go back in time and be presented with the same choice, I would opt for it again, but in a way you see that in the eyes of many this removes your own identity, you become X and Z's Mum, not a person in your own right).

Then there's Will, a freelance photographer who lives with his partner Craig, and who hasn't seen his father in many years. "He'd genuinely believed that his siblings had some semblance of a relationship with their father, and that he was the family outcast. From what he'd heard over the past week though, it seems like they were all islands in the stream".While in his 30s, he still behaves like a teenager. There is nothing wrong in having dreams of travelling round the world, but you need to be honest with yourself and those who you claim to love. 

Belle is a single mother, with a night-time job in a seedy bar. She lives in a shabby flat with her unscruplous thug of a boyfriend, who is a parasite and sponger. Belle is bitter and resentful that none of her family show much interest in her life. She loves her son Toby dearly, but she struggles to get a job that works around her child's needs; she is desperate to keep the job to pay the bills, and tries to suppress her niggles about the sleazy boyfriend. "She knew there was no magic solution to her problems, and no amount of pining for her family would make them any closer. That ship had sailed long ago. The only person she could rely on was herself".

It is truly sad that the father still yields the power to upset them. In his 70s, he is playing power games, by sending out the invitations to his wedding with a woman none of the children have ever even heard of. "He held the power, disrupting their lives when he summoned them back here, snatching their safe place". The four siblings are invited to the wedding, but they are treated as unwanted visitors in their childhood home. "The Bluebell farm was more than just a portfolio or an investment"; it was their home, "and it was all they had left of their mother". 

The new wife-to-be Linda is a gold-digger who prays on the old vulnerable man. Though the Bluebell Farm had been in their mother's family for over a century, now there is bound to be an impact on the will which will disadvantage the children.

When four of them meet again, there is a lot of tension and bad feelings between them. They are suspicious of Linda's motives, and are worried about their father's frailty. His sudden death is a catalyst for feelings that have been buried deep. 

Will "recognised how much he had craved the collective sense of belonging that had died with their mother. She had been their anchor, and without her they had been cast adrift. the hardest part, he thought as he regarded his siblings, had been knowing that Frank could have been the tie that they needed, but he had chosen to turn his back on the role".

Frank's death draws suspicions on the family, when the accusations of murder are launched against them.

What has happened to Frank? Was it truly an accident, or is one of the siblings hiding a dark secret?

Bad Blood has a vividly drawn cast of characters, each of whom has motives to get back at their father. The tension is high, as the truth is slowly revealed. You sympathise with them (to some extent), you judge them (quite a lot), you hope that they succeed in their plans. 

It is written so convincingly, I can easily imagine heated debates on Mumsnet's AIBU which could happen in real life - AIBU to expect our mother's inheritance to go to us and not to be given to the second wife? AIBU to expect help from my rich brother when I am totally broke? AIBU not to settle down and move to the sticks from London, if my partner pressures me to, as I feel we are at different stages in our lives? AIBU to feel peeved that I am unappreciated by my sons? The list of questions could be endless. 

Bad Blood is a gripping story, hard to put down, and it will keep you guessing - just who's done it?

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08SL9KD5K/   

US -  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SL9KD5K/

 

Author Bio

Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick.

Modern day women want modern day heroines and Lily's characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers and equal partnerships, but like all of us, they face many challenges and it isn't always easy.

A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books.

Her debut novel Butterflies, a heartwarming alternative to the traditional boy-meets-girl story, was released in 2018, reaching readers all over the world and she is the author of seven books, including a Young Adult Dystopian novel Project Terra under the alias SJ Woods (because who doesn't love a bit of action and defeating bad guys every now and again).

Follow Lily on social media for the latest releases, promotions and occasional photos of her dogs.

Social Media Links –

Lily Hayden (facebook.com)

Hayden Woods Creative (@hwoods_creative) / Twitter

Lily Hayden (@hwoods_creative) • Instagram photos and videos

Lily Hayden (Author of Butterflies) (goodreads.com)

This post is part of the blog tour, you might want to check out the other stops along the tour.

Many thanks to Lily Hayden and Rachel's Random Resources for an e-copy of the book!

Gordon Square by Tracy Martin-Summers #BlogTour

 

"Three weeks he had waited, wondering, surmising, coming up with unimaginable reasons for finding a girl, age unknown, in the depths of a blisteringly cold winter's night in Gordon Square. He had been unable to concentrate on anything else since he found her...

What brought her here, he wondered, , what brought her to him. He found her that night and now he found it impossible to let go. He wasn't going to let go, he was going to find out the truth".

Gordon Square by Tracy Martin-Summers is a horror-tinged psychological thriller. This is not the supernatural kind of horror, but one that comes from the hideous cruelty of the twisted mind, which chills the marrow.

The story opens with an endearing, almost idyllic scene of a family's outing. Two daughters with their parents enjoy their lunch at an Italian restaurant, visit the market and drive back home. The older daughter Roberta seems to be precocious and cheeky, but she always has a way of making her father laugh. She is a budding artist, while her younger sister Anika is a talented ballet dancer, chosen for a leading role in a junior production. 

This perfect day ends up in a tragic accident. 

Fast forward to the present. Detective Sergeant Mike Brugge and his partner Detective Constable Mel Bailey come across a girl, age unknown, in the depths of a blisteringly cold winter's night in Gordon Square. She is frail, malnourished and dirty. Doctor who is observing her reports, "She is lethargic, disinterested, non-compliant... My gut feeling is... that this girl has undergone some sort of physical and mental trauma, so emotionally disturbing that she is in shock and will need professional ongoing support to bring her back... from the place her mind is now taking solace, time out. I feel her mind has slipped away, somewhere dark and unreachable and it may takes months if not years to restore, if at all".

What has happened to the girl? She is completely uncommunicative, non-verbal and presents a total mystery.

Mike and Mel are determined to find out where she might have come from, if anyone is missing her, and to try help her, but they don't even have a name to work with. So, they name her Jane Gordon, after the Square where she was found, for the purposes of documenting their findings.

"The problem we have", says Mike, "is that we have nothing at all to go on. We don't know her ethnic origin or her age, albeit she looks somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five, and is Caucasian, but she could be much younger. She is so malnourished, it's difficult to determine if she's even gone through puberty". She's so pale she may have been kept in the dark.

They are doing house-to-house enquiries, as well as research each household and their owner's history and past to find out if anything has been flagged, but that is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Then another victim is found in the same circumstances. Same age group, not speaking, lethargic, dirty.

The investigation team are hoping for a breakthrough. Mike feels certain they will soon get some answers.

To accelerate progress with the patient, doctors decide to put Jane under hypnosis. Mike is sceptical and has reservations as to whether it's real, but the team observing two girls explain to him that it's a complicated process and needs skilful handling. "It can be very painful emotionally for the patient and you need to know where to draw the line at each session". They need something to work with and help them come to terms with, ultimately, to heal.

Hypnosis reveals harrowing details from the girls' past. The pain these girls suffered is unimaginable. 

The detectives are about to uncover the most unspeakable cruelty inflicted upon the victims, which has spanned for decades. 

On top of the investiagtion, the detectives have to deal with their own tragic events, which bring them even closer together.

Gordon Square is a terrifyingly dark study of the family relationshios and the brittleness of the human mind, a heartbreaking tale of memory and loss.

Purchase Link - 

http://getbook.at/GSQ 

Author Bio – 

Tracy was born in Harrow Weald, Middlesex in 1964, growing up in a loving family home. She married her first husband in 1990, has two grown up children and a granddaughter. 

She studied a variety of topics via module learning, embarking on City and Guilds and NVQ courses, ranging from a brief spell in hairdressing to administration and now works for a utility company in North West London. 

Tracy has numerous hobbies consisting of landscape painting to landscape gardening and always likes to paint the scene, even if it’s changing the colour scheme, yet again, within her home. 

Tracy has always enjoyed writing and used to write short stories for her own children's amusement but it has only been in the last few years that she has taken this more seriously and has gone on to write her first debut crime detective Novel called Gordon Square. 

Tracy Married her second husband in 2014 and now lives in Bedfordshire in a sleepy hamlet where she writes whenever she gets a spare moment. 

My website is: 

www.tracymartinsummers.co.uk and www.tracymartinsummers.com 

This book review is part of the blog tour, you can check out what the other book reviewers thought of this book, following the route.

Many thanks to Tracy Martin-Summers and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Breakfast and On the Go Degustabox (January 2021)

Since the introduction of the third lockdown and resumed remote learning, our mornings are not rushed and we can enjoy a more leisurely breakfast. Breakfast and On the Go was the theme of the last Degustabox.

Degustabox is a monthly food and drink subscription box. It's an excellent way of discovering new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which have been around for a while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the monthly box arrives, its contents are a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet, and would like to have a go, I have a £3 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code DKRLN when you place an order/

What did we find in Breakfast & On the Go Degustabox?

Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles Vegan Friendly Sweets Sharing Pouch (£1.29) are chewy, fruity-flavoured sweets. Each sharing bag includes five classic flavours: blackcurrant, lemon, strawberry, lime and orange.

Rowntree's are passionate about making sweets bursting with flavour since Joseph Rowntree launched the original fruit pastilles in 1881. These sweets contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Available in all supermarket chains.

St Pierre Millionaires Waffle and Brioche Waffle (£1) are tasty little treats, great with a midmorning cup of coffee or an afternoon tea. They are sweet, buttery and moreish. Millionaire's Waffle is made with the real Belgian chocolate and creamy caramel. 

Available at selected Tesco, Sainsbury's and WHSmith stores nationwide.

Whitworts Shots Fruity Biscuits (£1.60) are packed full of a fruity mix of sultanas, cranberries and white chocolate coated shortcake biscuits. Each small sachet is less than 100kcal. They come in handy sizes, ready to enjoy anytime, and make a lovely treat in a lunchbox too.

Available at Sainsbury's, ASDA, Morrisons Poundland, Savers and Wilkos.

Sun-Pat Smooth Peanut Butter (£1.50 for 200g) now comes in a brand new design. Sun-Pat is packed with 96% peanuts. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans, it is a natural source of protein. Spread it on toast, bagels or pancakes, and add any toppings you like, from a classic peanut butter and jam combination to bacon sandwiches. It is a versatile ingredient in many cuisines, and will work perfectly in a peanut sweet potato stew or chicken satay.

It is also a fab ingredient for many bakes and cakes. Recently I baked a batch of Peanut butter slices with Reese's Minis.

Available in all major supermarkets.

Grey Poupon Dijon Vegan Mayo (£2.50) is the latest product in a brand new range of mustard flavoured vegan mayos. Made with finest French mustard, it is a great ingredient for sandwiches, burgers, salads, dips and many other meals. It contains no artificial flavours or colours, and is made with sunflower oil, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, pea protein, lemon juice and more.

Nutritional information: 563kcal and 2g of salt per 100g

NAT Bears (£2.90) are a wholegrain Oat cereal baked into fun bear shapes. Each bear has ingredients sourced from natural origins, no artificial colours of flavours, WholeGrain oat as no.1 ingredient. Serve with milk and enjoy! Available in Chocolate and Honey flavours. The bears look cute and will appeal to younger children.

Nutritional information: 139kcal and 4.8g of sugar per serving.

Available at Tesco & Saisbury's, and will be coming to new retailers later in the year.

Baker Street Rye & Wheat Bread (£1.69) is a tasty stone-baked bread with a rich flavour. Made with a sourdough starter and kneaded to a light texture, it's a good source of fibre, low in fat and has no added sugar. Really lovely with roasted tomatoes and cream cheese.

TREK POWER Millionaire shortbread (£1.75) is a plant-based, gluten free protein bar. Each bar is covered with a natural chocolate alternative, has 15g protein and 100% plant-based ingredients. A handy snack to when you're feeling peckish.

Available at Sainsbury's, Tesco and on Amazon.

Mallow Puffs Salted Caramel Mallow Bar (£1.59) is a super-puffy vegan salted caramel mallow bar dunked in Belgian dark chocolate. V-label certified, made with UTZ certified cocoa and natural flavours and colours.

Available in selected Whole Foods Market stores and in independent health food stores. 

Lizi's Focus Super Muesli/Boost Super Muesli (£0.75 for a 50g or £3.50 for a 400g pack) are made from a mix of toasted and untoasted oats. These tasty muesli are packed full of fruit and nuts. High in fibre and vegan friendly, they have added vitamins and minerals.

Available at Waitrose, on Ocado and lizis.co.uk

Gregory's Tree Organic Strawberry Fruit Twists (£0.89) offer a healthier alternative snack. Twists are made from juicy organic fruit, are gluten free and suitable for vegans, and contain just 60kcal per pack.

Available at WHSmith stores, East of England Co-Op, Planet Organic and on Amazon.

BarleyCup Cereal Drink (£2.50) is made with cereal grains (barley and rye) and chicory roots. It's a natural choice for those who love tea and coffee, and are trying to cut down the amount of caffeine in their diet. It is free from caffeine and suitable for vegans. 

Nutritional information: 17g of fibre, 3.9g protein and 339kcal per 100g.

I'm not a big fan of coffee substitutes, and was a bit hesistant to open the jar. It is surprisingly nice. It doesn't taste like a proper coffee, but it is a pleasant drink.

Available at Holland and Barrett, independent food stores and online at Amazon, as well as www.dolphinfitness.com, superfood-market.com and www.realfoods.co.uk

Photo diary: week 6, project 365

 Another week of monotony, when one day is hardly different from another. "There has been an airless quality to the last few weeks. "Family time", once a precious fantasy just out of reach, is now a sweaty weighted blanket under which four of us must live. Like potholers we shuffle our bodies from room to room, looking for escape routes - a chink of light, a foreign sound, anything that means we do not have to stare into each other's beloved faces for another year-long minute", writes Eva Wiseman in the latest Observer Magazine. While it's slightly exaggerated for emphasis, I find myself nodding in agreement with her article. 

I love my guys to bits, and would fight to death for them, then why do I crave solitude and just hide in the toilet for an awkwardly longer spell with my iPhone. I also dread the never-ending circle of meals. What to cook for lunch, dinner, what to offer as snacks in-between? 

I fantasise about winning a lottery and living with a Mrs Patmore equivalent who would cook all our meals, with me only occasionally doing forays in the kitchen to bake a cake as a hobby rather than a duty. Though we would need a bigger house too. With a library, where you can get lost. Keep on dreaming, girl! 

While the amount of books we have can compete (-ish) with the Downton Abbey's collection, the rest of the house definitely lacks in comparison. I love our old house, I truly do, but it's so much work.

Last week we tried to walk as much as possible to get some fresh air, which was quite nippy. We didn't get any proper snow last weekend in the end, as promised in the forecast, but the snowflakes were floating in the air. We walked home with masks on, for warmth.

My Mum has been quite unwell in the last week, and I have been ready to hit the wall to relieve the pressure from feeling so helpless - there is nothing, absolutely nothing I can do from such a distance. 

To de-stress, I find baking helps. I baked a batch of peanut butter slices with Reese's Minis. They were not lookers, but tasted lovely and were gone in an instant. The next day my husband asked if there was a slice left for him to take to work in his lunch box, and I had to say, Sorry, it's all gone. I should bake another batch and ration it.

A battered wall by the Church Green is a reminder of the old glory. It would have seen many generations of Witneans walking around in the finery on the way to the church.

We cannot still go through the fields on the way into town, but we walked in that direction to check what the flood situation is. Unless you have wellies up to your amrpits, it's unpassable. What looks like a stream in the photo, is in fact a path towards the bridge.

A shame we cannot walk there, as it's an area where we can find good Pokemons usually, and there's a good Gym too.

Eddie was checking his Whatsapp (he only uses it with the family), when he said, Mum, just look at the date of this missed video call from you, and I laughed and said that I'm a time traveller, who was calling him from the past. No other explanation.

As the RAF base is not far from our town, the aeroplanes tend to fly very low above Witney. 

Yesterday's mail brought a surprise envelope for Eddie, it was the certificate from school, saying that his name was entered in the Golden Book for a mature approach to his home learning, submitting work that is thoughtful and accurate. Please forgive me for showing off my child's achievemnets, but life is so lacklustre in the last few months, that I need a little boost. I'm truly proud of my child, and he totally deserves it. On top of his school work, he has been reading a lot. I'm so happy to have another generation of readers in our family.

As a special treat for the boys I placed an order with Uber Eats. I haven't ordered with them before, and there is not much of a choice in our town, but they have McDonald's. Boys were very happy.

We found Murder on the Orient Express on Amazon (with David Suchet). I've seen it ten years ago when it was shown on TV, and I think Suchet is the best Poirot ever. No comparison to John Malkovich, Kenneth Brannagh or Peter Ustinov. 

We can't travel in real life, but books can take us anywhere. I have a big collection of books set in Cornwall. Beneath the Fear is a psychological thriller, which begins with a murder in Oxford, and then the action moves to Cornwall. It made me think, if we'd be able to travel there later this summer. We have booked "our" cottage almost a year ago, in between lockdowns, when we were hoping that the situation would be better by now. Sash shows me the pictures of Cornwall every day, it's his way of asking if we're going soon. I have no heart to tell him that we might not be able to go at all.

Hope you all are doing OK.

 

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