Dear All,

How are you? This week my kids head back to school and college and this morning was my last weekday lie-in (well, 0800) for a while! This moment is pivotal for us all - trees have been hinting at autumn for well over a month thanks to the parched ground, but now, leaves are turning - the large willow I can see from my desk is yellowing.

So the first BIG ASK is - PLEASE ... ignore the 'cult of tidiness'. These leaves, when they fall, are bedding for hedgehogs! And they are also where the invertebrates that hedgehogs need for food will take shelter - so leaves also become a larder! Please leave the leaves!

Obviously, use some common sense! I sweep the path down to my shed - putting the leaves into the border. 

The last few days have really been getting busy - reminding me that while I might have no 'job' I do have a lull in the summer. So last Monday I got to speak at Shepreth (from the tiger cage) about hedgehogs and also gave a lecture to around 100 people. My treat for doing this was a trip to meet the capybara and the aardvarks ... meet, as in feed and cuddle these massive beasts. Utterly amazing - thank you so much Liz for showing me and Zoe around.

There would have been a photo of an aardvark for this update if Keyworth had not done what has to be the largest hedgehog in the world! In support of the Tour of Britain, Wild Things Keyworth worked with artist Liz Waddell to create this magnificent cycling hedgehog ... Jennifer, who has been the driving force behind the amazing hedgehog highway initiative in the Nottinghamshire town, was generous enough to say how it was my book Linescapes that helped inspire her vision ... while I am so proud of that book, I would have NEVER imagined it leading to this gorgeous piece of art! 

My Saturday night was in stark contrast to that of my daughter ... while she was at Wembley Stadium meeting Brian May, Sam Ryder and many other rock'n'roll luminaries ... I was talking to 100 people in the Oxfordshire village of Kennington - Wild About Kennington organised this event and it was great to see so many people out enjoying themselves ... I got home to catch some of the amazing Taylor Hawkins memorial concert on YouTube ... I am not in any way jealous of my daughter ... nope ... not at all ... I loved the Kennington talk ... 

If you have capacity to toss a few coins my way it is much appreciated - but, given how tight things are for all of us, ONLY if you are comfortable.