Ways With Words - Dartington

So what's all this Daphne madness in aid of then?
Well I will be taking part in a Daphne event with Justine Picardie at Ways With Words at Dartington in July this year. The event is to be chaired by Rachel Kiddy (nee Trethewey) so that's another delight in store for me because Rachel wrote Mistress of the Arts , that excellent book on Georgina, Duchess of Bedford. Georgie (we like to think we would have been on terms, so adopt the familiar locally). Georgie, the lady who had the common sense to realise she needed a holiday home in Devon, almost next door to dovegreyreader, and had Endsleigh built for the very purpose. I'm sure Georgie also had it in mind that there would be a lovely reading group looking for a home on the second Tuesday each month 200 years later.
There is to be a dovegreyreader event at Dartington too.
Me on my own, with bookmarks, talking about all things dovegreyreader-ish on Sunday July 13th.
Then I shall be chairing a couple of other events too. One in particular is already keeping me awake with excitement because it's a book I knew I was exactly the right reader for, Dream Babies Childcare Advice from John Locke to Gina Ford by Christina Hardyment. I'm reading the book thoroughly at the moment and formulating my hopefully fascinating questions to ask Christina.
So that's probably enough excitement for one blog post, except I have to add the best bit.
Fear not all you far- flung blog readers who pine for the lanes and hedgerows, the lush and verdant pastures of leafy Devonshire for ten days in July and a setting so gloriously and breathtakingly medieval as to take you on great flights of fancy every time you enter that elegant courtyard...where was I?
Oh yes, I've booked two weeks away from the NHS and Ways With Words have very kindly given me a ticket for the entire festival, launch party to closing event and all things for the ten days inbetween, start to finish.So I will be taking the blog along too and tip-tapping on my laptop inbetween events each day to bring you up to the minute reviews of as many talks as I can manage to get to, with of course glorious pictures of the idyllic setting, so you can all enjoy a vicarious virtual festival and won't feel left out. The programme is now available here and it's stunning, we will all be spoilt for choice.
We'll be driving across here

To get to here

And will probably occasionally sit in the shade here.

Thank goodness someone was prepared to make the sacrifice and do it.