Eating Spiders in New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope I live to see the next one. I have eaten a couple of spiders, perhaps even more, in the last few days. Here’s how…

Currants

Grapes on the vine

We grow two kinds of grapes in our garden: green grapes outside the kitchen window, and currant grapes across the front of the house—see the picture of the growing currant grapes and the picked grapes, to the right. We also grow figs, lemons, olives, herbs and tomatoes in a garden that’s really a sandpit as we’re so close to the beach. Back to the currant grapes: they’re so tiny that the way everyone eats them is to put a bunch in their mouths, crunch on them and pull out the stalks that remain. It sounds primitive and probably is, but it’s the best way to do it. So I washed and washed and washed the grapes and then put them in the fridge overnight and assumed that any living creatures would have departed in a hurry. But TWICE, just before I put a bunch of grapes into my mouth I saw spiders, little ones, different ones. I presumed therefore that I had already ingested some wildlife without realising it! AARRGH!!!!!!!!

The big news, apart from a new puppy and a great Christmas, is that I have a new set of CDs available from Bolinda in Australia. (See information below.) When I say ‘a set’ I really mean two. One is for younger children, called BABY MAGIC; and the other, for older children, is CLASSIC MAGIC. You’ll be able to hear most of my best-known books on these CDs. A few have yet to be added because getting the rights was difficult. I don’t own the broadcast rights to my books even though it’s my voice and they are my stories. Weird. Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy them, and that their repetition doesn’t drive you crazy.

CLASSIC MAGIC: Bolinda.com | Audible.com

BABY MAGIC: Bolinda.com | Audible.com

In the meantime of course there are three different stories to listen to on the website this month: NIGHT NOISES, HARRIET, YOU’LL DRIVE ME WILD, and TEN LITTLE FINGERS AND TEN LITTLE TOES.

Green sheep quilt

An admirer of my books, Naomi Reiter, has sent me photos of a divine quilt she has made for her son, based on my book WHERE IS THE GREEN SHEEP. The detail is amazing. The main photo appears to the right but if you’d like to see all the photos, of the different sections, contact Naomi via her website: www.chillihouse.com.au. She assures me she’d be delighted to hear from you!

All the very best for 2014. It’s already feeling good to me: today I/we have been married for 45 years, even though I feel as if I’m only 45 years old. And summer is my favourite time of the year. Hurrah!

Mem Fox