RECOMMENDED READING: BOB The ROBIN By TONY PUTMAN...

Photographs copyright TONY PUTMAN

Unfortunately, I no longer read books as often as I used to when I was younger.  When I try to read a book nowadays, I find my mind wandering off a few sentences into a paragraph, requiring me to go back and read it again in order to grasp what the writer is saying.  I suspect it's the 'brain fog' that assails me from time-to-time, when my mind essentially starts to close down and it's almost like I'm in a trance.  (Happens when I'm speaking as well sometimes.)

Anyway, I saw mention in a newspaper last week of a book titled Bob The Robin, which tells the heartwarming tale of a gardener named Tony Putman and his friendship with various Robins, in particular the Bob of the title.  I forgot about it almost immediately, but when I was leaving a bookshop a few days later after popping in for a look around, I happened to see the Bob The Robin book on a table as I passed and promptly stole it.  (Nah, just checking to see if you're paying attention.)

It had £2 off so I bought it immediately - what Scotsman can resist a saving like that?  (Though it would probably have snared me at 2p off.)  Anyway, it's not an overly long book, it has fairly large type, but is very well written with some great photographs.  More importantly, I could read it in short bursts when I felt like it, so my mental energy wasn't compromised and I didn't find myself falling asleep a few paragraphs into each chapter.

The point of this post?  It's an emotionally rewarding book that will enrich your heart and make you appreciate nature a little more than you perhaps already do, so I have no hesitation in recommending it to you for your own bookshelves, Mellows.  Only £16.99 and worth every penny.  Buy it today, either for yourself or someone you love.  (I bought mine for the someone I love most in all the world - me!)

Incidentally, a few months back, a fearless little Robin would alight on a branch inches from me when I was out in the back garden filling the bird feeders.  It once alighted on my hand for a second to snatch some bird seed and I have to say I felt enormously privileged, almost as though I'd won a Blue Peter Badge.  Sadly, I haven't seen him or her in a while (though have seen other Robins) and find myself hoping wee Robin is okay.  Below is Tony Putman's YouTube channel about Bob.