It's been a lovely afternoon here in Suffolk, so perhaps summer has arrived...
But whether the sun shines or it rains once more, we know it's June because of the huge amount of activities and events taking place.
This weekend there have been open gardens and open studios, exhibitions, fetes, fairs and festivals with many more to come. And this month will also see the start of the Euro 24 competition and the lead up to Wimbledon. Oh, and the political parties are campaigning for our votes in the General Election.
There's a lot going on and my weekends are filling up.
So perhaps I'll see you out and about this month?
On 15 and 16 June it's the fabulous crime writing festival that is Slaughter in Southwold, organised by Suffolk Libraries. The wonderful Elly Griffiths will be there, the Rev Richard Coles (who joined us in Woodbridge in the autumn) and also husband and wife team Nicci French (read my article here), but lots of other writers too, and it's a great way to discover authors who are likely to become firm favourites.
And at the end of the month, it's the Felixstowe Book Festival with another packed and wide-ranging programme. I'll be interviewing a number of speakers there: the novelist Emily Howes about her book about Gainsborough's family 'The Painter's Daughters'; theatre director Dominic Dromgoole (scroll down for more details about his book 'Astonish Me!'); Nigel Toon explaining 'How AI Thinks' (I'll be saying more about that next week); and barrister Michael Mansfield telling us how now is the perfect time to act on his book 'The Power in the People' (this event is selling fast so don't delay if you wish to come along to that one).
Hopefully you've not filled your diaries already and will be able to join in some of these events, and all the other activities on offer in Suffolk this month. But while you're planning ahead, do think about booking your seats for our visit from Iwan Thomas on 8 July (details below). It'll be perfect to get us in the mood for the Olympics which start a few days later. It's going to be a busy summer!
Thank you for reading.