If you’re a fan of the Artist’s Way or The Right To Write by Julia Cameron then you’re going to love one of her latest books Letters To A Young Artist.

Letters To A Young Artist comprises of Julia Cameron’s responses to an imaginary young artist that she is mentoring. It is written in easy to read bite-sized pieces so that you can read a few small sections a day as inspiration. Whilst it doesn’t present any new creative ‘methodology’ it is a wonderful reminder of Cameron’s techniques that are laid out in her other books and are certainly responsible for my development as a writer.

One of the things I have found most useful is her view that you don’t need oodles of time to get on and make your art. Even a few minutes a day keeps your momentum up, and in her words, ensures that you continue to “lay track” with your writing or artistic practice. In fact much of the book is about her drumming this into the young artist (and hence drumming it into me!).

The other benefit I have gained from reading the book is that I have returned to writing morning pages. This is something I have not done that regularly in the last couple of months and it is so wonderful to return to it. There is something about morning pages that helps you connect with your intuition. I find that morning pages helps me to make difficult decisions and be at peace with those decisions. Having worked very hard over the last few months on my Countess book I have recently felt quite ‘dried up’ on the creative thinking front. Somehow I think that a few days and weeks of morning pages is going to fix this!

Thankfully I am recovering from the flu now and am gradually getting my energy back. My other health worry at this time of year is hayfever as I am particularly susceptible to tree pollen and to a lesser extent, grass pollen.

Having been hit so badly by the flu I was thinking at the weekend how I can protect myself against hayfever. One way is to eat locally produced honey. However, I live in Central London, not far from the Elephant and Castle on the south side of the Thames, just a few minutes walk from the Houses of Parliament. In this urban jungle, how the hell does one find locally produced honey?!

Thankfully one of my friends me yesterday that just down the road from me is a local gardening community project called Roots and Shoots. This site is also the home of The London Beekeepers Association and they have hives on site and sell honey in their shop. On my morning walk today I decided to investigate. Luckily the shop, which is staffed by volunteers and is only open three days per week, was open. Unluckily there had been a problem with the bees last year, thus reducing supplies, and the honey is already sold out. However, the lady checked under the counter for me and found one remaining pot. It was obviously destined to be mine!

A quick google of the term ‘london honey’ revealed that there are many hives on rooftops and in gardens around London and the number is growing. Apparently city dwelling bees are healthier than their country cousins because they ingest less pesticides. This article proves very interesting reading.

I’ve had a taste of my London honey and it is very light and sweet. It has much more flavour than the supermarket bought honey that I usually eat. Now all I have to do is find out where I can buy more.