A year spent in a wild water garden in the Cotswolds

The cherry tree over the River Frome that flows past Baker's Mill

The mill pond in April.

And in June

The garden is unique.

High summer is when the teasels are in flower. They were originally grown to card Cotswold wool spun on the site.

September, with the first cold mornings.

October

The first frosts

The first snow

Mid winter

Filming our tame otters

Filming with otters is never easy. You can imagine what happened 0.05 seconds after this photograph was taken. On the other hand, our tame otters will spend ages drying off after a swim.

The easiest way to photograph our Asian short-clawed otters is when they are elevated in some way. Rudi is good at climbing but will descend with caution as he is not built to jump.

Often the script calls for an otter to be swimming underwater. Whilst this is possible it takes a long time to capture a sequence. A whole day was needed to take one underwater photograph for the scene in The Waterbabies. Here the little boy playing Tom is letting a young otter smell his hand. 

Much depends on the confidence of the actors appearing with the animals. Whilst Belinda is completely relaxed in my father's arms, she remains a wild creature and it takes her time to get used to strangers.

This little girl who appeared in the drama series 'The Secret of Eel Island' was wonderful with the otters.

Many of the scenes were set on a houseboat which worked well as they could not jump off it and there was no chance for them to off run into the woods.

Oddly our otters don't like swimming in our lake. I think Adam Henson must have lost one here.

No, he was after a pig.

At least you can carry an otter about and hold one in your arms.

To read more ~ click here

More about our tame otters who appear in 'Funnily Enough'

We still keep two tame otters at home in the Cotswolds. Bee and Jims who appear in 'Funnily Enough' passed on some time ago but Belinda and Rudi are just as delightful. Belinda is the tamest otter we have ever kept. Here she is, sitting on Mum's shoulder.

Rudi is exceptionally energetic, a real climber.

Belinda is now fourteen, which is a great age for an otter. Their life expectancy in the wild is only about eight years at the maximum.

They are in good condition and eating very well - on a diet consisting of raw trout, day-old chicks and rare beef - but as a result must be the fattest otters you have ever seen.

Casting for the new film adaptation of 'Swallows and Amazons'

Sophie Neville with Swallow on Coniston Water, Cumbria

Nick Barton of Harbour Pictures, in collaboration with BBC Films, is planning to make a new adaptation of  Swallows and Amazons this summer - 2015. They hope it will be akin to the Harry Potter movies or the Chronicles of Narnia.

I joined him and his wife on the first recce to the Lake District, staying at Bank Ground Farm, sailing Swallow on Coniston Water and taking a boat trip down Lake Windermere. He has been looking for locations with his Director, who has been busy working on the new script written by Andrea Gibb. 

If you want to know what it was like to be in the film made back in 1973 ~ click here: http://sophieneville.net/category/autobiography/

A video of Theatre Projects filming Swallows & Amazons in 1973

iBelieve, the Christian lifestyle magazine full of interesting testimonies

I was dazzelled to find that this month 'Funnily Enough' is being included alongside feature articles on such great Christian authors as Joyce Meyer, Nicky Gumbel and Sarah de Carvahlo

And there is an hilarious cartoon of me, looking GLAMOROUS and organised.

I'm always packing things up for the post but never this neatly.

For two issues of iBelieve please click here

To subscribe to iBelieve please click here.

Sophie Neville on Channel 4

'You've reached that stage!' my friends keep telling me.
I think they mean that it's my turn to look after my parents.

'I haven't reached a stage. It's been a constant battle.'
'What battle?'
'A battle against mould. I'm allergic to mould.'
'Mould?'
'Black mould. It gets everywhere, especially in fridges.'
'But don't you clean them?'
'Yes, but I'm allergic to the cleaning fluid.'

Don't bother to watch too much...
I can't think why this constituted prime-time viewing but Cynthia was great.

...but my apron is quite swish. Please note the spotty apron from Seville.

Facts about ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or M.E. affects 250,000 people in the UK. Typically the most active and talented people are afflicted. More than 33,000 children are affected in England alone, causing them to miss school for long periods, often years. About 20% of the total number of patients have severe ME, lying so ill they are unable to move. It can last for decades. 

Very little progression has been made in last 21 years. I suffered from it in 1991. There is still no test for it, no cure, standard treatment or drugs available. We urgently need to raise awareness about the disease (known in the US and Canada as CFFIDS) to ensure Government funding is made available for research, tests and treatment. The danger of total trust in alternative medicine also needs to be highlighted. 

For more information please see:

  CFS Research Foundation website

and 

Action for ME 

Suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not funny at all.