The blog

The donkey shortlist
Plans / The blog

The donkey shortlist

Today I met Lilly and Dolly. They might not be called Lilly and Dolly – owner Bill, whilst clearly very fond of his donkeys (to the extent that I’m worried he won’t go through with it and sell me one), isn’t too bothered about names. I’m sure that last time […]

How to buy a donkey
Plans / The blog / Uncategorized

How to buy a donkey

Early on people said, “How on earth does one go about buying a donkey?” “Easy!” I said, deliberately breezy for laughs, but also blissfully unaware of the pain to come. “Horsemart!” Horsemart exists, but I’ve not looked at it recently – instead I’m doing the rounds of donkey dealers and […]

Eddie Izzard et al teach donkeys to play lacrosse
Miscellaneous / The blog

Eddie Izzard et al teach donkeys to play lacrosse

I had the rather good fortune of being at the Altitude Comedy Festival in the Alps last week. The first event was an improv show with special guests Eddie Izzard and Marcus Brigstocke, and improv stalwarts Andy Smart and Steve Frost. It may be proof that I’ve been going on […]

A donkey at the Costermonger Harvest Festival in London
Miscellaneous / The blog

Donkeys and Cockneys in the City of London

Back in the autumn, not long after I’d starting harping on about donkeys, my studio-mate Jasia came across a whole bunch of them right in central London. They were accompanying the Pearly Kings and Queens of East London on a procession through the City to the church of St Mary-le-Bow […]

Follow me on the newsletter and Facebook
Miscellaneous / The blog

Follow me!

The journey around Wales with a donkey is going to begin in May. Until then I will be getting ready – trying to win the donkey’s heart, buying her panniers, planning the route, being alternately worried and excited. If you want me to let you know when the big milestones […]

I walk therefore I am
Miscellaneous / The blog

I walk therefore I am

Is it for the views, the challenge, the exercise? Or the zen-like calm and hearty appetite? Hannah Engelkamp on word duty and Sarah Steinhardt on picture duty take two weeks and 190 miles to consider in some serious depth whether they actually like walking. And if they do, then why? […]

1027 miles in hours, steps and calories
The blog / The journey

1027 miles in hours, steps and calories

I’m going to walk a thousand miles this summer. That fact makes me feel unequivocally good. I’ve walked 200 miles before, on the coast-to-coast path across Cumbria and Yorkshire (read about that here, if you like). It took two weeks, and we figured out – my walking buddy, Sarah*, and […]

Reasons to be nervous, one, two, three…
The blog / Uncategorized

Reasons to be nervous, one, two, three…

It’s happening. After four months or more of talking about it, I’m off to meet Mali the donkey. It’s been at least two months of me showing a pixelated picture of her to people on my phone, and now, the first weekend of January 2013, I’m going to meet her. […]

Ordnance Survey maps for the whole coast of Wales
Plans / The blog

Useful Christmas presents – no going back!

Christmas has really marked the practical beginning of this scheme. It now must either happen, or I will have to tell my whole extensive and enthusiastic family that it’s not. And find something else to do with a pony grooming kit, a bridle, a farrier’s knife with many different hoof-digging […]