I got stung around 6 or 7 times before the age of 11, and the last time I had quite an allergic reaction, so I react rather scared around bees and wasps, just in case. Allergic reactions have a habit of getting worse. Pellinor just sits there and makes like a stone, and they tend to get bored with his lack of encouragement and fly away.

If there is indeed a rift to the World of Snails, it spreads right across the Isle of Wight. Someone on the far side of the island was talking to me yesterday about squashed snails littering her doorstep. Hmm... Maybe that's the downside of living here. We don't get the triffids, but we do get the snail invasion. Maybe it's something to do with the lack of tough and rugged grey squirrels who would show them who's boss.