🏞️ Somerset Scenes

Looking through my photos, it seems we haven’t been anywhere or done anything since we got back from the US. So I’m going to share something a little different this time.

If you’ve read my welcome emails, you’ll know my beloved mum died of Covid in April 2020, and my wonderfully eccentric dad followed in 2023. My darling cats, Jemima and Harley, died in 2022 and 2023. It was… a lot.

Because Mum died during Covid, only nine people could attend her funeral, which made an already sad occasion even worse. The lockdowns that followed meant I kept her ashes here in Somerset, waiting for the day we could all gather to scatter them. Then Dad died, and I found myself looking after his ashes too, along with both of the cats. Our parents also had a lodger when I was little — her name was Anita, and until I was six, she was like a second mum to me. She died of Covid as well, all alone, just like Mum. It still breaks my heart.

In the midst of all this, I began creating a memorial garden.

Mum loved the poem Desiderata, which I read at her funeral, so I had its opening line carved into the back of a bench. I found a wonderfully talented artist on Etsy who made a beautiful glass installation inscribed with my favourite passage from the poem. We added a fountain, and placed stones in it in memory of each of them — and of my lovely friend Penny, who also passed in 2023. We planted roses for everyone, and a special salvia called Penny’s Smile, with bright pink flowers — perfect for my pink, sparkly girl.

This little garden is my loving memorial to all the people (cats included) who have meant so much to me. They are not forgotten. They will never be forgotten.

After a bit of argy-bargy over arrangements, the garden is finally ready, and my whole family is coming down on June 6th to scatter the ashes together. One of my brothers has even bought a special ashes scattering gun for the occasion (EEK!).

I know it will be an emotional day, but I hope it will also be full of love and laughter. I’ll let you know how it all went in the next newsletter. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the memorial garden (complete with some furry photobombers…)

Pics: my favourite passage from Desiderata, Coco under the rose pergola, Indy under the Desiderata bench, and George at the fountain. (I’ll wash the bench before the 6th, but there’s no point doing it too soon – we get a lot of birds in the garden!)

Polls, Surveys, and Questions

There’s a slight change in this newsletter – instead of a poll, I’m asking a question instead, just to mix things up a bit and keep you on your toes!

I’m guessing you might have read my angsty MM romance, Dark Water by now. If not, run, don’t walk, to grab it! If so, you’ll know all about that broken bad boy – Alex Lytton and his tragic but ultimately redemptive and romantic story. So, my question is – if you could ask him ANYTHING, what would you ask him? Just hit the submit button to pose your question – I’ll feature the best ones (and the answers) in the next newsletter. (Goes off to get into my Alex headspace again to answer those burning questions – eek!).

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🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Featured Author

Caleb Marks

When trust breaks, love has to be reforged.

He took down my walls. Then I learned he was the voice behind my favorite late-night messages. So why do I still want him?

SETH

I never meant to fall for him. Troy does not let people in. He is blunt, brilliant, and built like a fantasy in work boots. In person he keeps me at arm’s length, so I tried another way. I talked to him online. No real name. No pressure. Just us. I did not plan to keep the secret. I just wanted a chance before he shut the door. Now he knows. If I want him back, I have to earn more than forgiveness. I have to prove I am not just a pretty face with a wallet and an apology.

TROY

I do not fall easily. Especially not for men like him. Wealthy. Charming. Untouchable. Seth crashed into my life, and when he touched me, everything changed. I let him in. Then I found out he had not been honest. I should walk away. But I cannot forget the way he listens, the way he sees me, the way we fit. Maybe I am ready to risk my heart on the one person who broke it.

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🐈‍⬛ Iz my birthday! I iz three!

Indy had a birthday on May 25th – which was also an impossibly HOT day here in Somerset. Here he is sunning himself… in the memorial garden fountain! Luckily, it wasn’t on.

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👋 That’s All, Folks!

Until next time, my lovelies!

XOXO
Xanthe
P.S. Did you vote in the poll?!