This tale has been knocking around in my head for years.
It is based on a real occurrence.
It is set in Glasgow, just off Byres Road in a posh red sandstone tenement close.
Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
It is the very long hot summer of 1976.
Suitable for older children and adults.
Click here to download the PDF.
This tale came to me as I sat in our hotel room in Melrose (the gem of Scottish Borders towns) on Monday 1st April, 2024.
In my normal routine I was up, toileted, showered and shaved, sitting in near darkness with a mug of coffee to hand, tapping on my iPad.
Nearby, my princess was still fast asleep.
The delight of a Full Scottish breakfast would follow, available from 8:00 am.
Outside, I could hear the dawn chorus in full voice.
As explained in the tag, this piece wrote itself, a story for adults and older children.
Hopefully you will give it a go and find something of interest in it.
Click here to download the PDF.
We are just home from Melrose (April 2024) where there is an excellent small museum displaying artefacts recovered from the site of the Roman Fort called Trimontium.
The museum is run by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable team of volunteers, most of who are active amateur archeologists.
If you visit, you should take a few minutes to watch their excellent video presentation.
This was our third or fourth visit and it sparked an idea for this story.
The tale concludes on slopes of Lago Trasimeno, a place with fond memories of a stay in an ‘agriturismo’, self catering accommodation in a converted farm steading. All those years ago (late 1990s), I convinced myself Lago Trasimeno is located at the exact centre of Italy.
I hope my historical context is entirely correct.
I also suggest this story is suitable for children aged about ten and above.
Click here to download the PDF.
This tale resulted from a Writer’s Circus challenge:
“A Fishy Story”.
During January in Bearsden we had some heavy snow and a few mini blizzards.
An idea came and I began to tap out this tale.
It wrote itself.
Not a fish in sight, though. No mermaids either but definitely a shaggy dog and other snow loving wildlife.
Click here to download the PDF.
This is a tale written while holidaying in our tiny caravan at Silverdyke Park near Cellardyke, in the East Nuek of Fife, (September 2023).
The idea came from noticing spider activity and their desire to hide indoors as autumn turned to winter.
From Cellardyke we had a great view of the Isle of May.
Suspend your critical faculties and enjoy this fantasy tale of the tiny Clan Deft spiders as they seek to outwit their huge Clan Brag spider neighbours.
Click here to download the PDF.
Drew our seven year old grandson was heading for footie training but he had lost his gloves.
Reluctantly he choose another pair from the Hat and Glove box but he was not happy.
This is a tale which tells what transpired.
Click here to download the PDF.
Here you will find a PDF song sheet and an MP3 music file of A Capella songs sung by me over the last few months and sent individually to Zac (Isaac Rory Bonthron) our grandson born on 4 August, 2020, in Abingdon near Oxford.
I am keen to ensure Zac gets a chance to hear and sing these songs.
They are all Scottish gems except Edelweiss, a song I love to sing.
Why not grab a copy of the words and sing along!
Here we go. I hope you like them.
A Gordon for Me
Ally Bally Bee (Coulter’s Candy)
Bee Baw Babbity
Bonnie Dundee
Katie Bairdie
Red Yo Yo
Braes o’ Killecrankie o’
The Jeely Piece Song
Three Craws
Edelweiss
Ye canny shove yer Grannnies
Wee Cooper o’ Fife
Skye Boat Song
Will ye no’ come back again?
This is a story written for our grandson Ethan (7) and Drew (5) who are both gifted young artists.
Ethan has recently made a start on is own story writing career which you can find here by searching for
Spy Fox or clicking on Updates and scrolling down.
The story was developed with the boys, as explained in the preface.
Suitable as a read to for younger children of as a self-reader for P£3 and upwards.
Click here to download the PDF.
Our grandson Ethan is in primary 3 and was asked to write a story about a spy, as an exercise in
creative writing.
Here is his story, complete with his own illustrations.
About a year ago, Ethan got the reading bug and has become a voracious reader.
At school a few weeks before this story, he began a project about The Vikings.
When the topic was first introduced, Ethan was already well informed. Invited to tell the class what he knew about The Vikings, he launched into a ‘lecture’ which prompted his teacher to say,
“Well, if anyone needs to know anything about The Vikings, just ask Ethan”.
Thank you Ethan for giving me permission to publish your story on my website.
Click here to download the PDF.
Below is the introduction for the English version of this story which I hope will explain the background to this story.
The German text has been provided by Google Translate. My apologies for any errors.
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“Eli Celli and Mario” wurde vor einigen Jahren zum ersten Mal geschrieben, als Eli Celli ungefähr 4 Jahre alt war. Eli Celli ist jetzt 7 Jahre alt und die Geschichte wurde entsprechend aktualisiert.
Es spielt in der Schweiz, wo er mit seinen Eltern Fiona und Haki und seiner kleinen Schwester Nuria Melek, die 4 Jahre alt ist, lebt. Sie wohnen in der Nähe ihrer Großeltern Stef und Pia, deren Heimat das nächste Dorf ist (Meierskappel im Kanton Luzern). Fionas Bruder ist Onkel Simon und er hat einen Hund namens Gwin.
Fiona lieferte die Illustrationen in Umrissen und Stef fügte Farbe hinzu. Ich hoffe, Sie werden mir zustimmen, dass sie wunderbar schrullig und “Swiss Perfect” sind!
Es gibt auch eine deutsche Version dieser Geschichte auf dieser Website. Die Übersetzung und Adaption dieser Version wurde von Renanta Bachmann geleitet, unterstützt von Stef und Pia.
Als Nuria die Geschichte von „Eli Celli und Mario” hörte, wollte sie eine eigene Geschichte.
Diese Geschichte heißt “Nuria Melek und Mario”. Es gibt es auch in Englisch und Deutsch auf dieser Website. Ich sollte hinzufügen, dass die englischen und deutschen Geschichten nicht identisch sind.
Die Familien Hagmann und Bonthron sind seit 1978 enge Freunde, als Stef und Pia einige Jahre in Glasgow lebten.
Click here to download the PDF.
