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California Adventure Pt 5 – Mt Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory

Posted on August 18, 2026 | Leave a comment

I mentioned in a previous blog that I had had two trips pre-planned before I flew to LA a few weeks ago.

The second of those was to the Griffith Observatory to see the Hollywood sign and to hike to the summit of Mt Hollywood (all those Witchwood trail miles back in May had planted the seed) The observatory itself could wait.

From Venice Beach, where I was staying, it was a 45-minute Uber ride to the Griffith Observatory. As the driver made his way up the winding road, he paused to point something out to me. It was something I hadn’t bargained on seeing – a coyote was standing on the pavement!

The start of the trail was clearly marked from the carpark in front of the observatory and I could see it winding up the side of Mt Hollywood.

Before I set off I paused for a walk around the outside of the observatory to admire the view from the roof terraces while it was still quiet. (This was around 10:30am and the observatory was still closed) It was quite a hazy morning but the views were spectacular!

As I headed back to the start of the trail I paused to admire the Hollywood sign which sits high up on Mt Lee off to the north-west.

My initial plan had been to hike to the top of Mt Hollywood and find a trail that crossed over to Mt Lee so I could admire the view from behind the sign but, going by my reading of the map, which would have brought me out quite a way from the Griffith Observatory itself and I did actually want to visit it while I was there.

With that plan abandoned, I set off. Walking up was an easy hike to be fair. The path was wide and even most of the way and the views were fabulous. What was slightly un-nerving were the numerous signs saying, “Caution Rattle Snakes.” EEK!!!

Eventually I reached the summit, apparently named Tom La Bonge Panorama and what a panorama it was! According to a guy who was sitting on top of one of the picnic tables you can see the Pacific Ocean on a clear day. The Griffith Observatory seemed extremely far below!

Now, how to get back there?

There were several paths leading away from the summit. I could have easily opted to go back the way I Came but instead opted to head down what looked like the opposite side towards Dante’s View and the Hogback Trail.

I’ll be honest, after a few hundred yards, I almost turned back. The Hogback Trail was far narrower than the trail I’d come up and more challenging. I gave myself a talking to, reminding myself that I had decent shoes on and I ket going.

In the spirit of continued honesty, parts of that trail really stretched me. It had ridge walk sections and a particularly challenging descent but I took my time, kept calm and kept going.

(Looking back up the way I had just come down)

Eventually, the trail evened out and widened. I’d made it!

The next signpost indicated I was now on the Riverside Trail. I’ve still to see or hear any rivers!

The trail led me out onto Vermont Canyon Road, across the street from the Greek Theatre. Not exactly where I’d planned to be but at least I knew where I was. Now to find my way back up to the Griffith Observatory.

I started up another trail but it wasn’t signposted and I wasn’t 100% convinced that I was on the right one. A local Hawaiian gentleman was coming towards me so I asked him if the trail led up to the observatory. He had the softest, most gentle voice that I think I’ve ever heard. He said it did but that it was a very long way and very steep and advised me to walk up the road instead. For a moment or two I swithered. My left knee was protesting loudly after the steep descents on the Hogback Trail so I erred on the side of caution and doubled back onto the road and walked the last half mile or so up the easy way back to the Griffith Observatory.

It might not have been the longest hike that I’ve done but I was pleased with myself for doing and for not getting lost. It had taken me quite a distance out of my comfort zone.

The Griffith Observatory was busy when I returned to it. Having travelled all this way, despite being tired and a bit grubby from the trail dust, I decided that it would rude not to visit it…plus it had a café and I was hungry! (Yes, I know to some folk that makes me sound like a Philistine. Sorry.)

After a quick wipe down with a baby wipe to remove the worst of the dust from my legs, I took the steps back up to the roof to go and see the observatory’s famous telescope. Lord, climbing those stairs that I had climbed so easily in the morning felt tough!

The 12” Zeiss refracting telescope is the most viewed telescope in the world. More than 9 million people have looked through it. Obviously, as my visit was during the day and the dome above it was closed, I am not one of them. Another time…

Downstairs, in the main building, it was crowded. The first key exhibit to catch my eye was Foucault’s Pendulum. There’s something hypnotic about watching it, waiting for the next peg to fall. Spellbinding.

I followed the signs and found myself at the Leonard Nimoy sponsored theatre. For once in my life, my timing was perfect- the next film slot was about to start and equally important after my hike, it meant a seat in an air-conditioned theatre for twenty-five minutes. (I know…I sound like a Philistine again.)

The film itself was fascinating as it gave the history of how the observatory came to be there, its importance to Hollywood, listing several films that it has featured in, the most famous of which is Rebel Without a Cause. (That explained the James Dean statue outside… I had been wondering.) During WW II, the planetarium was used to train America’s pilots on the art of celestial navigation and in the 1960’s it was used to train the original Apollo astronauts.

Having initially opened the public in 1935, the art deco building needed renovating and expanding by around 2000. In 2002, the Griffith Observatory was closed for four years to allow a $93M renovation and expansion programme to be undertaken. With limited space available (no pun intended), the engineers expanded downwards into the hillside. The original building was jacked up to allow this excavation work to take place- no mean feat of structural engineering! The very theatre that I was sitting ion was one of the results of the expansion programme.

My stomach was grumbling something about starvation by the time the film ended so the café was my next stop for a rather disappointing, over-priced egg sandwich. Rookie mistakes were made too. I opted to picnic on the terrace and sun very quickly turned my bar of Hershey chocolate into chocolate sauce. Oh well! The apple juice and Lays crisps were great! LOL

After a quick obligatory trip the gift shop, I took a final look around the remaining planetary exhibits then decided it time to head back to my hotel.

With a final pause to take some photos of the observatory garden and statue, plus a few extra shots of the Hollywood sign, I ordered my Uber and called it a day. Happy days…

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California Adventure Pt 4 – VROOM! VROOM!

Posted on August 10, 2026 | Leave a comment

I only had two outings pre-planned for this trip before I flew out to LA.

The first of those, at Boy Child’s prompting (I’ve still to figure out why he never thought to visit this place himself when he was in California two years ago) was a trip to the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Yes, I was indulging my inner petrolhead.

And the added bonus to this plan… there was an exhibition running featuring some of the cars from The Fast & Furious film series. Vroom! Vroom! What’s not to love about those films?…well, the first seven of them.

Visiting the Petersen Museum wasn’t the cheapest museum. I bought my ticket online the night before for $40 but that included access to “the vault”, an underground level featuring around 250 rare vehicles. (We’ll come back to that thought.)

When I arrived, I checked in at the admission desk, was given a “P” sticker for my shirt and wristband confirming my vault access. The guy behind the desk gave me a floorplan and advised me to start on the top floor and work my way down. Seemed as good a plan as any.

The top floor is badged as “History” on the floorplan map along with a section for Hollywood cars. The various exhibits certainly take you through the automobile’s history and the history of tyres. I had always though that “run flat” tyres were a 21st Century thing. I was more than a little surprised to learn that they’ve been around since the 1930s.

In a prime spot on the top floor, there’s one of the museum’s most popular cars… well, most popular with the younger visitors that is. I’d shared the link to the museum’s website with a car loving friend when I’d first planned the visit and they’d confessed that they would go just to see this car alone… I kind of hope they were joking but I’ve a sneaky feeling they weren’t. And the car?…Lightning McQueen from Disney’s Cars. Too cute!

Nearby there were other Hollywood icons – the Ducati motorbike from The Matrix, the yellow Fiat 500 from Mission Impossible, the Batmobile, the Delorean Time Machine from Back to the Future and the first of The Fast & Furious cars- Dom’s 2009 Dodge Challenger from Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6! You could almost hear Bohemian Rhapsody echoing out of the Mirthmobile from Wayne’s World!

On the floor below, I found what I had really come to see- The Fast and Furious car collection! Oh, I had died and gone to Dom, Brian, and Letty heaven!

There was Brian’s orange 1993 Toyota Supra from 2001’s The Fast and The Furious. There was Letty’s pink 1995 Nissan 240SX from the same film.

There was the only surviving 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX from 2006’s The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. Ten were made and the museum is proud to host the only surviving “Tokyo Drift Evo.”

A flash of bright green and I’d found Brian’s Mitsubishi Eclipse from 2001’s The Fast and The Furious. Then there was Dom’s 1970 Chevrolet Charelle that was used in 2001’s The Fast and The Furious and again in 2009’s Fast & Furious.

Dodge Chargers are synonymous with Dom Toretto and there was another one on display nearby – a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T used in Furious 7.

Another star of the film series was nearby- Brian’s 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R from 2 Fast 2 Furious from 2003. This was the first car that Brian was seen in in the film series. Parked beside it was another of Brian’s cars- the Toyota Supra from Furious 7. The last car he drove in the series. I had a lump in my throat looking at them both. R.I.P Paul Walker, gone far too soon.

On the walls around the exhibition were film posters, stills from the films and quotes from Dom and Brian. They brought a smile to my lips.

I’ll be honest, I stopped watching the film franchise when Paul Walker died. It was never going to be the same without Brian O’Conner so the cars from the more recent films, although impressive, were wasted on me a tad.

There were countless more cars to see! Mercedes, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Cadillac, Ford, and every other manufacturer that you can possibly think of were on display.

On the ground floor, I found another Furious 7 car -Letty’s 1970 Plymouth Aar Hemi Cuda. It was next to an elaborately painted 1953 Mercedes Benz 220 Cabriolet.

It was time to head to The Vault!

When I descended the stairs down into the bowels of The Vault, I was met at the foot of the stairs by the Michelin Man, LOL

The James H Frank Family Vault did not disappoint, It set the bar high with the first car I stopped to admire – a 1947 Ferrari 125S, the first one fully designed and built by Enzo Ferrari to bear his name. That model was one of only two ever built.

Deeper in The Vault, I found a 1957 Jaguar XKSS formerly owned by the late great Steve McQueen.

There was another iconic movie star car hiding in the midst too – Herbie!

More cars from The Fast and The Furious family were secreted in The Vault, including a 1959 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning driven by Brian in The Fast and The Furious back in 2001.

Potentially the most sinister movie star car sat quietly off to one side- a red 1958 Plymouth Fury better known to Stephen King fans as Christine…. perhaps it was time to go.

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California Adventure Pt 3- a Roman villa and giant thistles

Posted on August 4, 2026 | Leave a comment

What to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon in California?

At a bit of a loose end, I got an Uber out to the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades.

No, this isn’t some fancy Hollywood home. This villa is a Roman villa…well, one built in the 1970s to house J Paul Getty’s collection of Greek. Etruscan and Roman antiquities.

You could argue that there are two distinct reasons to visit the Getty Villa – either to see the contents or to see the villa itself. I was curious to see both.

My Uber driver dropped me off at the top of the driveway in front of a beautiful colonnade, a hint of the architecture to come. I followed the signs and eventually came out at the top of an amphitheatre. The outdoor theatre faced the entrance to the villa itself. Walking down its steep steps felt like making a dramatic entrance!

The Getty Villa is a recreation of the Villa dei Papiri that was buried in Herculaneum, Italy when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. While not identical to the original, the Getty Villa is the epitome of a Roman villa and has been built to the same scale.

You enter the two-storey villa via a vestibule then step into the impressive atrium, the heart of every Roman home. The coloured marble floor is laid out in a geometric pattern that is a replica of the floor found in the House of the Faun in Pompeii. The villa’s stunning inner peristyle and gardens were just visible beyond the atrium.

For the next hour or two I explored every inch of the villa and found the most incredible collection of artifacts that I think I have ever seen.

One of the key highlights of the ground floor is the Temple of Hercules. This temple is a domed room and its complex, circular, geometric patterned floor is a copy of a floor found in the Villa dei Papiri. The life-size statue of Hercules was originally discovered near Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. Getty purchased it from the Marquess of Lansdowne in 1952. It’s an impressive sight!

The various rooms in the villa house a magnificent and varied collection of artifacts. The faces of some of the marble sculptures are incredibly lifelike and expressive. I’m not the biggest fan of Greek pottery (it seems to fill every museum the world over!) but the examples on display in the Getty Villa are second to none.

What struck me in general about many of the pieces on display throughout the villa was the level of detail that had been achieved in items that were more than two thousand years old.

Having visited all the rooms, including a temporary exhibition on the first floor featuring an Egyptian Book of the Dead, it was time to explore the inner peristyle.

The inner peristyle is essentially a private garden surrounded by thirty-six ionic columns. It has a long narrow pool in the centre. Replicas of statues that would have adorned the peristyle of the Villa dei Papiri are sited around the gardens and pool. It is a uniquely beautiful space and it didn’t surprise me to find one newlywed couple having some of their wedding photographs taken there.

At the far end, underneath the east stair, through two bronze doors, I found one of the most peaceful areas of the villa, the East Garden. It’s a small, secluded space and in the centre is a circular fountain. Along the east wall there’s a niche fountain adorned with mosaic and shell tiles. This spectacular fountain is an exact copy of one originally discovered in the House of the Great Fountain in Pompeii, complete with two theatre masks of Hercules. Truly a special space.

The Getty Villa had one more surprise up its sleeve for me.

Running down one length of the villa is the Herb Garden. It’s a recreation of a Roman kitchen garden with many of the plants used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. Imagine my surprise to find several huge Scottish thistles in one of the beds! They were the biggest thistles I have ever seen.

I also saw something else growing in the garden that I had never seen before- papyrus.

As I climbed back up the amphitheatre steps, I paused to take one final look back at the villa and found myself thinking back to my early Latin classes in high school (Yes, Mr Bicket, I still remember those days.)

“Caecilius est in atrium.”

Yes, he was and I could almost see him walking round in his toga, his wife, and the family dog at his side.

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California Adventure Pt 2 – Hunting down a cactus….

Posted on July 27, 2026 | Leave a comment

Before I left home Boy Child asked me to take a specific photo for him while I was In the Venice Beach area.

Back in 2024, he had spent a week in Marina del Ray, the town to the south of Venice Beach and had seen a huge cactus plant outside a house near his Air BnB. He was curious to know if it had grown any taller.

How hard could this be?

The Venice Beach boardwalk was gradually coming to life as I walked towards Venice Beach Pier. All along the way, the vendors were setting up for the day ahead, the shops were opening, joggers and dogwalkers were out in force. Every now and then, I would pass one of the local homeless community, each of those souls a stark reminder of the darker- or should that be sadder- side of this town.

When I reached Washington Blvd, I turned left and headed inland. As I walked, I was conscious that the shops and cafes were gradually getting smarter, more upmarket. Conscious that I was on a mission, I walked past Starbuck, ignoring the temptation of a second morning coffee.

The further inland that I got, the more RVs I spotted parked at the side of the road. There were also an old yellow school bus and a few cars with the windows all blacked out. Outside one large black RV, there were several bicycles under a tarpaulin, a small paddling pool on the pavement/sidewalk beside a collection of “sidewalk chalk” kids’ drawing. A sad looking dog kept an eye on me from an open window.

These weren’t just parked vehicles.

These were people’s homes. The owners most likely held down several jobs and earned more than I do.

A few minutes later, I turned off the road into the street where I had been told the cactus plant was growing. In a few short minutes, I had become surrounded by million-dollar homes. It wasn’t sitting easy with me.

I found the cactus plant, took some photos of it to send home to Boy Child then began to retrace my steps. As I passed the black RV for a second time, I felt the saddest dog eyes in the world following me….

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California Adventure Pt 1- Venice Beach Canal District

Posted on July 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

 This blog is the first in a short series of blogs that I wrote while I was on holiday/vacation recently.

This year I had decided to venture further afield than in previous years and had booked 11 nights in Venice Beach, California. It was my first trip to the West Coast of the USA.

My first walk along the beach to the Venice Beach Fishing Pier then back along the boardwalk had been an immediate overdose in all things California-palm trees, pelicans, surfing. They were even filming Baywatch on the beach! It was all a bit overwhelming to wee jetlagged me!

After lunch I ventured back out for another meander (OK, I was actually in search of a liquor store and some white wine!) and decided to explore a bit.

Hidden a couple of blocks inland from the craziness that is the Venice Beach boardwalk is a tranquil oasis of European-influenced calm. The Venice Canal Historic District is a small network of six man-made canals, originally designed to recreate a corner of Venice, Italy in Southern California.

The canals were built in 1905 by developer Albert Kinney and originally covered a much larger area. Albert Kinney’s vision was to create a seaside resort with canals, gondolas, and Italian-style architecture. Sadly, many of the original canals were filled in during the 1920’s to make room for more roads as automobiles grew in popularity. (More about cars later in this blog series)

Now over a hundred years later, the remaining six canals (Carroll, Linnie, Howland, Sherman, Eastern and Grand. I’d expected more Italian names to be honest) are connected by nine arched footbridges. The gondolas of Kinney’s vision have been replaced by kayaks and small floating docks. Most of the architecture is more modern than I’d expected but nestled among these modern properties are some beautiful homes oozing character.

I’ll be honest, the shallow canals smell a bit. There didn’t look to be a lot of water movement but you could see that the levels were low.

The canal district is a wildlife haven for wading birds like herons and egrets plus other birds. As I wandered along the narrow walkways, I only spotted one lonely egret and a single duck. Apparently according to the signs there are seals and occasionally sharks spotted in the water. What I hadn’t anticipated seeing was a coyote warning poster on one of the bridges!

It’s easy to see why this area is popular with photographers. The romantic author in me could easily visualise a couple posing for their wedding photos on the quaint bridges and among the plethora of flowers overhanging the narrow pathways…. hmm…now there’s a thought…storyline!

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Silently Watching under a Waning Blooming Moon

Posted on July 6, 2026 | Leave a comment

Antique books lined three walls from floor to ceiling in the small room that Stefan had order them all to an hour before. A rectangular oak table dominated the centre of the room, its top ink-stained with ancient graffiti scored into it, suggesting that this was a former classroom rather than a meeting room.

“Have there been any fresh sightings at all?” demanded Stefan from his position at the head of the table.

“None, sire,” replied Alessandro, who had been summoned back to the castle from Florence. “There were several dead rats found in the stables yesterday suggesting that Anna had been there in the previous twelve hours.”

“Someone must have seen or sensed something!”

“Not necessarily,” pointed out Meryn calmly. “She’s clever. Very clever. Anna’s an expert at shapeshifting. Plus, she could be changing into any living creature within the castle walls.”

“So how do you propose we find her?” Stefan snapped. “I will not have my family threatened like this or my home infiltrated!”

An awkward silence filled the room. Eventually Alessandro spoke, “We know she is arrogant. We know she is cleaver too. We need to find her weakness. We need to use it to lure her out into the open.”

“How do we find out what her weakness is?” asked Michael, inwardly seeing the logic in the Italian vampire’s words.

“Her weakness is Luna,” stated Jem simply.

“I agree,” added Meryn before her son retracted his words. “I do sense that she wants to teach the child rather than harm her. She’s shown no malice there so far.”

“You are not using our daughter as bait!” raged Trine, her blue eyes blazing with fury.

“I agree,” stated Stefan. “It’s too great a risk. There must be some other way.”

“What about Beth?” suggested Trine.

“No!” shouted Jem and Michael in unison. The two vampires stared at each other for a moment. It was just long enough for Jem to recognise the look in the American vampire’s eyes. He was infatuated with Beth.

“We could be onto something,” began Meryn. “But we need to be extremely careful here. Beth isn’t strong. She’s barely begun to come to terms with what Anna’s done to her. There’s been no time to teach her anything about our ways. She can’t even hunt for herself. She would be totally defenceless and that’s a huge risk to take with my grand daughter’s life.”

“If we can guarantee Beth’s safety, how would this work?” commented Stefan. “How quickly could she be taught to protect herself?”

“Stefan,” snapped Meryn, “Teaching Beth will take time. Time we don’t have here.”

“Bubbles,” said Jem randomly.

All of them turned to stare at him.

“Explain,” ordered Meryn, not immediately grasping where her son was going with this train of thought.

“Beth hasn’t had time to learn anything about magic but Luna has,” continued Jem, scarcely believing he was about to voice is mad idea. “We use them both to lure her out. Luna has been learning to create bubbles. If we teach her to catch things that she wants or likes in the bubbles she makes then she could catch Anna for us. Well, catch her long enough for some of us to disable her with stronger magic.”

“We could throw a second impenetrable bubble around the first one,” said Meryn. “Jem, we could adapt the spell we used to contain her in her mausoleum.”

“That idea might just be crazy enough to work,” observed Michael. “I vote we give it a try.”

“No!” yelled Trine angrily. “You are not using my daughters in that way. It is far too dangerous.”

Hearing Trine refer to Beth as her daughter made Jem’s heart swell with pride.

“If we were all to work together nearby, we could step in at any moment to rescue our daughters,” Jem pointed out.

“Can Luna even create a bubble yet?”

“She can,” answered Meryn. “I vote we give this plan a try. It’s crazy enough to work. Anna won’t be expecting us to lure her in with play.”

“I agree,” said Alessandro, nodding his agreement for good measure.

“It’s so damn crazy it could work,” added Michael. “I vote we give it a try.”

“Same,” said Jem.

“It could have the element of surprise in its favour,” conceded Stefan reluctantly. “I vote that we try it but it needs to be strictly controlled. There needs to be some of you nearby to intervene.”

“I can disguise them,” assured Meryn, her mind already thinking ahead to the spells and ingredients that she would need.

“That’s decided then,” stated Stefan in a tone that left no room for debate. “When do we want to execute this plan?”

“How quickly can Luna learn to catch things in a bubble?” asked Michael. “It all hinges on that.”

“Give us three days,” replied Meryn, confident in her grand daughter’s ability to learn. “Stefan, can you create a play area in the kitchen courtyard? We need to set a scene that looks natural. Beth could innocently take Luna out to play for an hour or two. That way we don’t need to tell her and risk frightening her. The poor girl is terrified of Anna.”

“Leave that with me,” said Stefan.

Teaching Luna how to master the bubble spell proved easier than any of them could have dared to hope. Within an hour, she was sending bubbles soaring all around Meryn’s study then giggling when they burst. Using small sweets at first, Meryn then taught her how to trap something inside the bubble and then how to float the bubble to another person to catch. Gradually they increased the size of the object being placed inside until eventually on the morning of the third day, Luna succeeded in surrounding Jem with an iridescent bubble.

After the little girl was asleep at night, Meryn worked with Jem, Trine, Michael, and Alessandro, teaching them how to work together swiftly to create an impenetrable bubble. Fundamentally, it was the same spell as she had cast with Jem to trap the dark angel in her woodland mausoleum, only this time the entire shield was woven about ground. It took teamwork and precision to create a secure enough bubble prison that they hoped and prayed would hold long enough for Alessandro to bind himself to ger again. Once he was bound to her, the plan was to return Anna to Level Zero beneath the castle.

Convincing Beth to take her little half-sister outside for an hour to play proved to be more challenging than Jem had anticipated. His older daughter was still nervous about being in the castle and looked close to tears when he first suggested the excursion. Despite still being uncomfortable with using her daughters as bait, it was Trine who succeeded in convincing Beth to help by looking after Luna for an hour.

“I’ll take you both downstairs,” Trine began. “Don’t want you getting lost in the castle.”

“Tas- Gwynn got me a surprise,” piped up Luna excitedly. “It’s an outside surprise.”

“Yes it is,” agreed Trine warmly. “Why don’t we take Beth with us to find out what it is?”

“Please, Beth! Please!” pleaded the little girl, grabbing her sister’s hands.

“Ok. I know when I’m beaten,” Beth sighed wearily. “I give in. Let’s go and see what your surprise is, Moonbeam.”

“We’ll all go,” suggested Jem, lifting Luns up into his arms.

“I’ll go and find Meryn. See if she wants to come too,” suggested Trine calmly.

As Jem had hoped, the kitchen courtyard was in the shade as the sun had begun to set for the day. In the centre stood an impressive wooden play set with a swing, a slide, and a climbing wall as well as a cubby for Luna to hide in. Thoughtfully Stefan had laid a rubber mat under it and set up a picnic bench beside it. A veritable feast was laid out on the table.

“WOW!” shrieked Luna when she saw it all. “For me?”

“All for you,” replied Jem lowering her to the ground. “Tas-Gwynn heard how hard you had worked on your bubbles. This is your reward for being a clever girl.”

“I love it!” declared his young daughter before running off towards her new play set.

Both Jem and Beth took a seat at the table and watched Luna easily climb the ladder to the top of the slide then squeal with delight as she slid down.

“Oh, to be that age again,” sighed Beth wistfully as she accepted a glass of lemonade from her father.

“Doesn’t seem that long since you were that age,” mused Jem remembering how Beth had looked at Luna’s age.

“A lifetime or two ago…”

They sat watching Luna play for a few minutes. Out of the corner of his eye, Jem saw shimmers of magic in the shadows as the others took up their positions around the courtyard. He couldn’t sense Anna nearby but he still felt confident that if he left his daughters alone for a few minutes that she would make an appearance. A large part of him, his paternal instinct, felt guilty for exposing Beth to this without her consent but he also knew that she would never have agreed to come outside if she had suspected that Anna would appear.

“Do you think Meryn could teach me some magic?” Beth asked, disturbing his daydream.

“For sure,” he replied. “I think she’s keen to train you to become a healer too.”

“I’d like that,” said Beth quietly. “Would that mean that I would need to stay here when you leave?”

“Most likely,” nodded Jem. “Would that be Ok with you? You don’t need to stay if you don’t want to.”

“I think I’d like to,” revealed Beth hesitantly. “There’ something about here… I don’t know what it is. Feels more natural to be here than at home.”

“Would it have something to do with a certain American?” quizzed Jem playfully.

Beth blushed and remained silent.

“He’ll be happy if you decide to stay,” laughed Jem getting to his feet. “Can you watch Luna for a few minutes? I want to go and see where Trine and my mother have got to. They should have been here by now.”

“Ok. Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t be.”

From his position in the shadows on the far side of the courtyard, Jem watched and waited in silence. Suddenly the whole scheme seemed insane. How could his young daughter capture Anna when all the adult vampires had failed on more than one occasion? He watched Beth get up from her seat to go and push her little sister on the swing. It warmed his heart to see his daughters getting to know one another. Knowing that his sons would never share in this world was a bittersweet thought.

Suddenly his sixth sense twitched. A large crow had flown down onto the edge of the picnic table. The air around the bird shimmered for a split second before he saw Anna sitting on the chair that Beth had vacated.

“Anna!” cried Luna excitedly. “You came back!”

Seeing the dark angel, Beth froze with fear.

The swing came to a stop. Luna jumped off and ran towards the dark angel.

“I missed you,” declared Luna as she flung herself into Anna’s lap.

“I’ve missed you too, moonbeam,” said Anna. “You’ve grown.”

“I learned new magic,” boasted Luna proudly. “Mamm-wynn showed me.”

Before Anna could react, the little girl had spun her bubble spell encasing her in a delicate sphere of magic. Without hesitation, the five vampires who were hidden around the courtyard added their impenetrable bubble spell to Luna’s, creating a second layer around the dark angel. Stepping out of the shadows, Alessandro cast a second spell that shrunk the entire sphere and bound it to him.

Inside the dark angel screamed but no one heard her through the thick layers of intricate magic.

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A Flower Crown to Mark Litha

Posted on June 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

June 21st, the longest day in the Northern hemisphere, otherwise known as the summer solstice or Litha.

In the UK, the solstice is widely associated with Stonehenge and the druids with crowds gathering ever year to watch the sunrise. Stonehenge dates back to 3100BC with the famous standing stone circle itself dating back to 2600-2400BC but did you know that the summer solstice has been celebrated around the world for over 10000 years?

The ancient Celts worshipped Bel, a god associated with the sun, light, healing, and fire around the time of the solstice although there is a strong connection now to Beltane which is celebrated around 1st May to mark the mid-point between the spring and summer equinox.

The Romans honoured the goddess Vesta around the time of the solstice by celebrating a weeklong festival, the Vestalia. Vesta was attended in her temple by the Vestal Virgins who tended her sacred flame. It was said that if the fire went out then Rome would fall.

The Vikings also celebrated the summer solstice with fires and feasting. They believed that at the solstice the veil between worlds was thin and used it as a good time to communicate with the spirit world to divine the future. They too lit bonfires that were intended to drive away any malicious spirits.

In Celtic mythology, it was believed that the summer solstice (Litha) was a time when the veil between our world and the faerie world was at its thinnest. Mythology also marks the solstice as the time of the annual battle between the Oak King who ruled for the first half of the year and the Holly King who ruled until Yule (winter solstice).

Slavic nations historically celebrated Kupala Night at the summer solstice. This was a celebration of fire and water where young couples would jump over the fires to ensure fertility and single girls would float flower crowns down rivers to attract love.

Modern day Litha is celebrated in s similar way by Pagans and Wiccans with bonfires and feasting, the wearing of flower crowns and with rituals to honour the sun and the earth, showing gratitude for a successful harvest to be gathered in.

It fascinates me to see how ancient traditions, myths and rituals remain entwined in 21st Century life.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make my flower crown and to build a bonfire. Anyone got a match?

(Images sourced via Google – credit to the owners)

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The Measly Jar of Motivation – what if you gave yourself permission to dream?

Posted on June 18, 2026 | Leave a comment

Oh, now there’s a question! Who among us doesn’t dream?

I dream on a regular basis. No, I’m not talking about the snatches of dreams that we recall after a night’s sleep but instead I mean our hopes and dreams. If you could wave a magic wand and bring your dream life to life what would your world look like?

Personally, I would start with my kids. I’d love to see them both settled in their dream homes and following their dream careers and living their best lives. All I want is for my kids to be healthy and happy.

For myself, I dream of finding my “and she lived happily ever after” life. This isn’t a pity post, but those who know me, know that life hasn’t always dealt me the kindest hand. Let’s leave that thought there.

In an ideal world, I’d live in an ocean front house like Jake and Lori’s house from my Silver Lake series of books. That really would be my ideal house and location. I’d have enough pennies in the bank not to have to worry about money. (I’m not putting a figure on it.)

I’d be a beach bum cum author. No surprises there!

Every morning, I’d walk the beach at sunrise before enjoying breakfast on the sun deck with my book before spending a few hours writing. There would be no writer’s block! Words would flow effortlessly onto the page. (Well, this is my dream life so why not. LOL)

It goes without saying that there would be at least two large fluffy cats sharing my home in my dream world too.

In this dream life, my books would be on the shelves in the bookstores and be selling well. If I saw any in the stores I’d autograph whatever was on the shelves as a surprise to the reader who eventually picked it up.

Life would be filled with family and close friends and unconditional love.

Evenings would be back lit with stunning sunsets and sleep at night would be sound and uninterrupted.

Oh well…..a girl can dream…..

What would your dream life look like? Please comment below.

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An Open Letter of Complaint to Meta…Mark Zuckerberg are you listening? Are there any humans left in Meta’s customer service departments?

Posted on June 8, 2026 | Leave a comment

To Whom It May Concern

Since mid- March 2026 I have been corresponding with the Meta Pro Team in an effort to resolve an issue around unauthorised payments that were debited from my bank card. These potentially fraudulent payments total around $200 with a further $10 remaining as an outstanding balance on my Meta account.

Despite literally hundreds of emails over the past 12 weeks, I am no closer to a resolution or even an explanation about these payments thanks to the AI generated nonsense that the Meta Pro Team issue by way of a response.

I have refrained from going public with this up until now as I believed naively that I would eventually reach one of the remaining humans at Meta and get either a satisfactory explanation and hopefully a refund of these charges.

As a rule, I do not advertise via Facebook as historically adverts have failed to generate an increase in sales. However, in February 2026, for the first time in 5 years, I set up an advertising campaign for  my book, Riley. I paused it after a few days as it was not generating the anticipated result and I paid the bill of around $25.

At the start of March over a period of 8 days, my account was hit with multiple charges ranging from about $3 up to $18-$20 and coming to a total of circa $200. As soon as I spotted these I reported it to Meta and froze my bank card.  Trying to get a response to my report of potential fraud proved challenging but eventually case 1206XXXXXXXX7513  was created.

Please see below some examples of the Meta Pro Team’s responses to my complaint –

Hi Coral,

Greetings for the day!

This is Patricia from Meta Pro Team and I am contacting you in reference to your ticket number: 1206xxxxxxxx7513.

Thank you for your response .This is to inform you that we have already worked on your issue and the case has been closed as necessary information have been provided from our end .

You may initiate a new chat if you have any issues : https://www.facebook.com/business/help


Thank you for contacting Meta Pro Team. We wish you and your business well.

Regards,
Patricia
Meta Support Pro T
Hi Coral,

Greetings for the day! This is Elias from Meta Pro Team and I am contacting you in reference to your ticket number: 1206xxxxxxxx7513.

Thank you for your response .This is to inform you that we have already worked on your issue and the case has been closed as necessary information have been provided from our end .

You may initiate a new chat if you have any issues : https://www.facebook.com/business/help


Thank you for contacting Meta Pro Team. We wish you and your business well.
Regards,
Elias
Meta Support Pro 
Hi Coral,

This is the final decision.

This is Gracie from Meta Pro Team and I am supervising the team that was assigned to handle your case earlier. We have well received your request wherein you have contacted us in regards to your hacked Account and your reference number is: 1206xxxxxxxx7513.

Coral, kindly accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience that may have been caused during the chat interaction with our representative. We definitely know how important this is for your business and we are willing to help you as much as we can. We also do apologize on the extended time it’s taking for your concern to be resolved. I understand how important it is for you to get this issue fixed as soon as possible. I will be more than happy to assist you.

To help you best to get this issue sorted for you, we had raised the concern with our specialized team to review the compromised of your Business Manager, and we got an update on the review as well where after the careful review we don’t believe there is evidence to suggest there was a compromise.

As a workaround if you lost the access on this business, you can check with the other known admin of the business to assign you an admin access. I am sure this should work in your case.

Finally, please be aware that the case shall be closed after the indicated solution.

We hope that we have provided you the necessary information. Since the problem appears to be clarified, we will proceed to close this ticket.

For any other issues, please feel free to initiate a chat support session at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/business/help

Thank you for choosing Meta Support Pro and all the best in your business.

Regards,
Patricia| Meta Pro Team
To learn more about supporting your business with Meta visit: https://www.facebook.com/business/help and https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/courses

Thanks,
Patricia
Hi Coral,

Hope you’re doing well!

This is Akruti from Meta Pro Team. I just wanted to follow up with you on Email for the same Reference Case ID: 1206xxxxxxxx7513.

I’m sorry you’re having trouble logging into your account. If you think your account was taken over by someone else, enter your Facebook password at this link and we’ll help you secure it:

https://www.facebook.com/hacked?ref=cr

Once you’re able to log in to your account again, let us know and we’ll help solve your problem.

If there is anything else that you need help with, you may reply back to the email thread and I should be happy to assist you.

Thanks & Regards,
Akruti

Meta Pro Team

Is this the standard of customer service that Meta advocate? This is only a small selection of the nonsense replies that my emails have attracted.

I had a chat with the Meta AI bot and it advised asking for the complaint to be put to the Appeals Board or escalated to the Meta Oversight Board. That sounded promising but the Meta Pro Team have failed to escalate this to anyone.

The consequences of this ongoing concern are that for the last 12 weeks I have kept the usage of my Facebook author page www.facebook.com/coralmccallumauthor to a minimum for fear of incurring further unauthorised charges. This has restricted my ability to connect with my readers and generate potential sales resulting in a loss of income.

I am going public here and now in a final attempt to track down a human being at Meta who is capable of investigating and resolving this complaint case.

Regards

Coral

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A walk in WitchWood….

Posted on May 26, 2026 | Leave a comment

Sometimes in life you need to pull up those “big girl panties” and step out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you need to challenge yourself. It’s never easy but it’s there to be done.

I did just that recently.

I stepped so far out of my comfort zone! So, what did I do?

I took part in my first ever trail race.

It’s been almost a year since I last ran but when I entered the inaugural Witchwood Run at festival level, I felt confident that I could at least walk a couple of laps of the 5.9km course. The event was being run by a friend so I had also volunteered my services as a marshal for later on in the day. (In fact, when I submitted my entry weeks ago, he messaged and asked, “why have you entered my race?”- a very good question!)

The Witchwood Run was badged as a family affair so we took that literally – Girl Child also offered her services as a marshal while Boy Child took things a step further and entered the full 24 hr event, despite never having done any trail running and only ever having run 20km on the road.

Shortly after 7:30am on the Saturday morning, we made our way up to the event’s base camp at Everton Scout Camp in Inverkip, weighed down with bags full of clothing, food, juice and a pop-up tent. Least said about the walk up that hill the better.

We set up camp then Boy Child and I went across to the scout hut to complete our race registration, collect our numbers and our all-important timing chips. The whole area was buzzing with runners arriving and making their final race preparations. From the size of the tent village near the start line, many of them had camped out the night before. Hardy souls these trail runners.

Weirdly I wasn’t nervous. I can get nervous about going to Tesco so feeling calm felt bizarre. That calm feeling lasted until the race directors gave the assembled runners their pre-race briefing then panic rather than nerves hit me like a tidal wave!

What was I doing there? Running races were the late Big Green Gummi Bear’s territory not mine. I felt like an imposter! Fear flooded through me that I was about to make a total fool of myself. Riddled with self-doubt and anxiety, I let the whole scene play out around me. Could I do this?

Still feeling totally panicked I walked across the start line.. well, the clock was ticking. Time to find out what I was made of.

Boy Child crossed the start line with me but quickly forged on ahead. He had his own target in his sights.

My target? I’d told myself I could complete three laps.

As I climbed the stile at the start of the first ascent, I continued to question my sanity. The initial climb up a narrow steep trail criss-crossed with tree roots was tougher than it needed to be. Still panicking, my breathing was shallow and I was quickly gasping for each breath.

My inner voice of reason kicked in and told me to stop being a wimp and to get the job done.

The trail emerged out of the trees onto a fire break road that the course followed downhill for over a kilometre before it took a turn through a gate onto a forestry track. At the end of that undulating track was a gate that led into a field. It was all uphill as the route followed the field’s perimeter round to a second gate that led into a very boggy uneven field to be traversed. Once out of “Shrek’s swamp”, it was across a cattlegrid, back up the long drag of a hill on the fire break road (that gentle downhill on the way out became an endless hill on the way back) then it was back down through the trees, over a second stile then downhill over the timing mat.

At one point while I was walking down the fire break road on the first lap there was a hoarse crow flying above me cackling loudly. I swear that that was The Big Green Gummi Bear laughing at me!

What was I doing there in among all these experienced runners!

Gradually, as I talked myself down, I realised that several of the other competitors were walking with many of them looking as out of shape as me. Whew!

The course was tough going but after two laps I felt ok. Conscious that I hadn’t eaten much, I decided to take a pit stop for dome food before tackling lap three.

As I descended down towards base camp, my calves began to cramp up and I really struggled to get over the second stile without falling.

Duly fuelled up for a third lap, I set off again, cursing that first ridiculously steep section under my breath. This lap, I felt more relaxed and was even enjoying the whole experience. The fear was subsiding thanks to largely to the encouragement of my fellow competitors. Everyone was rooting for everyone else and there were lots of shouts of “well done” and “keep going”. Seeing and hearing such camaraderie warmed my heart and helped to raise my spirits. Halfway round lap three, my brain began to contemplate that maybe there could be a fourth lap…

As I crossed the boggy field for the third time, I could feel both knees protesting. Walking back up the fire break road seemed to take forever as my knees grew sorer and sorer and my calves began to tighten again. The descent down into base camp was agony. It felt as if someone was stabbing knives into the sides of my knees with every step I took. As I climbed over the stile at the end of the lap, common sense prevailed and I decided to call it quits, (I knew I still had to be on my feet for several more hours to complete my marshalling stint.)

I had done what I set out to do. I had put my money where my mouth was and completed three laps (18 km or thereabouts) and had earned myself a stunning bronze Witchwood medal. 

Go me!  LOL

Reflecting back on the event, with my knees still aching, I’m proud of what I achieved. That’s not something I acknowledge very often.

While I had been undertaking my marshalling duties deep into the night, I had been swapping timing chips for medals. It planted a seed. The silver medals are very pretty….. to earn a silver medal, you needed to complete six laps… could I manage that in a couple of years’ time?  Was four or five laps a more sensible target for 2027? Time will tell.

As for Boy Child, I’m super proud of him! He managed a fantastic fifteen laps (88.5km) and earned one of the coveted black medals. Quite the achievement for him and a proud mummy moment for me.

To find out more about the event and 2027’s event details please check out.

The WitchWood Run – 16th May 2026 | 24hr Lap Race in Historic Inverkip

(credits to the owner of the above image )

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