After many of you lovely people told me how you say “garage” in a poll, I concluded that it has too many pronunciations to work in a rhyming poem.

Which meant, of course, that I had to try.

Looking for that unique gift this upcoming holiday season? 🔍 Look no further, Planksters! This is what you were after! (Obviously! 😉)

Available at my Etsy shop! Buy now, while the impulse is still there! 🤗

etsy.com/uk/shop/Thalam…

#giftidea
#totebag
#holidaygifts

Inga Moore's heartwarming illustrations for The Wind in the Willows

Word that’s making me smile again today: soothfast. It’s an Old English word that has existed since before 900 AD, but it’s been lost for about 400 years. It means strong and steady in the truth.

Term that’s making me smile today: sea sparkle. It’s the name of a tiny plankton that grows in calm, warm seas. When the water is disturbed, the plankton bioluminesces, giving the waves an otherworldly glow.

📷: Doricono, CC-BY-SA-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In Dijon, where an artist is transforming potholes in the city streets into tiny, beautiful mosaics.

RT @ianduhig: The arts committee have considered your application and decided it is not right for our sort of audience at the present time.…

Wonderful blog by Albie - winner of the Poetry by Heart competition - Albie: My Journey into Poetry By Heart childrenspoetrysummit.com/2026/10/29/alb… via @kidspoetsummit

Expression that’s making me smile today: I can feel that in my clogs. It’s how people in the Netherlands point out that an outcome is glaringly obvious.

It’s spooky poetry season! 🎃👻 I’ve rounded up some fun, not-too-scary poems, books, videos, & poetry resources for kids!

Featuring scary-good poems by @BardyMum, @JulieAnnaPoetry, & more!

Check it out here: stefankarlssonwrites.wixsite.com/author/post/sp…

#kidlit #poetry

When the Oxford children's dictionary discarded dozens of nature-words—"dandelion," "fern," "starling"—as irrelevant to children's imagination and replaced them with words like "broadband" and "cut-and-paste," this inspired act of resistance was born: themarginalian.org/2019/06/17/the…

After many of you lovely people told me how you say “garage” in a poll, I concluded that it has too many pronunciations to work in a rhyming poem.

Which meant, of course, that I had to try.

Word that’s making me smile today: hypaethral. It’s an architectural term for an ancient temple with a central space wholly or partly open to the sky, from the Greek words for “under” and “pure air.” But why confine this beautiful word to architecture?

I feel sorry for the people who will never see a storm that bears their name……

The new “In the Dark” issue of @LTPmag is live! 💫

I’m honored to have a reverso poem included in this wonderful magazine 🔦🔄

Check out the full issue for children’s poems & stories full of magic & mystery 🪄

#kidlit #poetry #childrensbooks

Night noises, moths in the moonlight, the darkness of the ocean depths, and more...

The new issue of Little Thoughts Press is here, just in time to light up the imaginations of young readers during spooky season. 🔦👀🔦

littlethoughtspress.com/issues

RT @ImMCarvalho: Old barn in autumn —
Dressed up in bright finery
She feels young again

(My 📸) #HaikuSaturday

#HaikuSaturday #haiku

howling wind--
a scarecrow dances
in a cornfield

Please add a version if you feel like it. If you want your version posted with the other versions please include the hashtag #VersionsHaikuSaturday.

OED #WordOfTheDay: noctuolent, adj.

Of a flowering plant: more strongly scented at night than during the day.

View the entry: oxford.ly/4imHaR4

Terms that are making me smile today: lamb’s tail, grey kittens, house moss, and ghost feathers. They’re all names for the soft rolls of dust that collect under beds.

Word that’s making me smile today: envermeiled. It’s a lost word that means to be suffused with a brilliant scarlet colour, as if with vermillion.