Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

Yarnbombing. In a churchyard. That's a first for me. Get to St Mary's in Hitchin if you can. All in aid of Hitchin Festival. It's not all about music.

A beautiful day spent scoping out a couple of new jobs for October this year and June 2017. Fingers crossed they'll both come off. Exciting times.

It'll probably take another year, but the side of London Bridge, in the shade of the Shard, is starting to take shape. New arches going in where the old arches were. There's a sense of bustle around the top of Bermondsey Street and hopefully eventually that road will get open again and a few more businesses will move in.

We all need exercise, right? Can't find time for the gym? Get a dog. I kill two birds with one stone and find a morning dog walk both helpful for fitness and inspirational. The author Judith Kerr said recently that she gets most of her best ideas when she's out walking. And she's a lot older than me. I consider it a soft reset for my brain. Sometimes I start work early and then take a break when I'm getting stuck on a particular story. If the creative juices don't flow, get out in the fresh air. Especially when the sun's shining.

Despite an annoying delayed start and therefore shorter set, The Brand New Heavies were simply amazing on stage at the end of Rhythms of the World 2015 last night. I felt a bit jealous that a new generation is discovering and loving the Heavies. A bunch of 17-year-olds behind me were jumping along with those of us who remember the band when they started. Overhearing one of them describe it as the best gig he'd ever been to was actually quite moving. Dawn Joseph is a spectacular vocalist and I'm fairly sure the backing vocalist was younger than the band. What I love about ROTW is that closing headliners can be jazz artists (last year, it was Courtney Pine) and they absolutely rocked the main stage. In front of audiences who would probably tell you they don't like jazz.

Saturday at Rhythms of the World was damp but nothing could rain on the enthusiasm of the audience or, it would seem, the performers. All six stages were thronged from 12pm through to the final notes just before 11pm. It's more of the same on Sunday, with better weather promised and some great artists still to perform. Saturday highlights were CC Smugglers , especially with their audience participation in their encore and Neville Staple , with too many great local acts to mention. My personal favourite, though, was always going to be The Shires, who are both world class and local. Fresh from their performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and Isle of Wight festival, they performed an acoustic set which kept everyone singing along and dancing. The singing along surprised Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle, who seemed unaware of how big their album Brave is and how much airplay the single State Lines has had. "It was amazing," Ben said. "We didn't expec...

The sun is trying to shine and summer is on the horizon. Whether in Hitchin (poppies) or London (roses), there seem to be flowers blooming all over. There is something deeply positive in the air and even when it rains, it brings out the perfume even more. Here's hoping we don't get too much rain as Rhythms of the World kicks off at lunchtime tomorrow. Another muddy weekend would dampen the festival vibe. Fingers crossed!

Hitchin. Thursday night before Rhythms of the World and you can hear Baz from The Stranglers in one pub courtyard and local singer songwriter Pete Woodroffe in another bar. Music is an amazing thing and this weekend is going to be great. So much music filling the town.

I spent the best part of 24 hours helping my parents move into their retirement apartment. It was worth every minute. They're genuinely delighted to be in their brand new flat, just across the road from me (although I'm not sure if their delight actually goes that far!). They have far too much furniture and general stuff but it'll get sorted in time. This is definitely a very strange time for me - Fred has finished school and Flo is getting established in her career. Mum and Dad are settled in a much more sensible home for them. I'm making changes to my business and feeling very fulfilled. It's really not all about the money.

I picked up a free newspaper this morning and quickly regretted it. There was little actual news and a lot about celebrities and clearly regurgitated press releases. Lunch yesterday was a very swanky affair at a nice restaurant everyone raves about. I've had a few poor experiences there before but I was willing to give it another chance. Shouldn't have bothered. The food was average at best and I left feeling ripped off rather than indulged. What both of these experiences have reminded me is that content is key. A newspaper that loses sight of what is really news is bound to disappoint. Similarly, a restaurant without great food is bound to be more than half empty on a Monday lunchtime when other places in town are thronged. I'm working on some really interesting projects at the moment and it's great when one of my clients really 'gets' content and comes up with some good ideas. It makes delivery so much easier. Over the course of just a few weeks, we'...

I do use the word 'inspirational' a lot. Is it a fault that I find inspiration in so many places? I loved Sesame Street as a child and never really thought about the people behind the muppets. Which is probably right. I guess any film around one of that team is going to be moving. The story of Caroll Spinney who actually is Big Bird really is inspirational. He is so close to Big Bird he says he does "own his soul" even though Matt Vogel became the apprentice Big Bird for when Caroll can't do it any more. I spent most of the film with a lump in my throat and several times tears fell. I had no idea that there had been plans for Big Bird (and Caroll) to go up in the Challenger which were cancelled due to lack of space. Seeing him and Debbie, his wife, talk about how that ended was terrible. When Judith Nilan was viciously murdered on Caroll's property, he and Debbie created a garden in her memory. As a couple, they seem so in touch with tragedy and real l...

Sometimes, you find yourself sitting in a room surrounded by a group of people who are part of the reason an organisation is great. They're either great at team work, or coming up with great ideas, or they use their skills to help the local community. Or they can be heroes who step up when they need to, for their own reasons or for the needs of others. All these people are ordinary. In a good way. You could walk past them in the street and not know the contribution they make to the world. That's probably the way it should be. It's an honour to talk to them and hear their stories. Only a few will ever get told, but they all touch others. Every day.

This is what dedication looks like in our house. Looby Loo is applying herself to destroying an antler. She probably won't stop tonight until it's disappeared. Maybe we could all learn a lesson.

Some days just ARE productive. Collaboration is easy with some people and Dawn-Louise is one of those people. Working together, our skills gel well.

Now, I've visited Champney's Henlow (or Henlow Grange, as it used to be known) more than a dozen times. Probably more than 20. And yet, I've never found this spot before. It's a tiny bower near the river running along the edge of the lawn. Actually, let me stop there. If everybody knows where this little piece of heaven is, I'll never have it to myself again. Although this day was all about relaxation, I couldn't stop a sneaky bit of writing and this was the perfect spot. Close to running water, the ubiquitous pot of green tea at hand and a comfortable chair. What more could I want? A cushion, perhaps, to sit there much longer. If anyone feels particularly generous, a few Pamper Days at Champney's to keep me sane through the summer would do it.

Behind the House of St Barnabas in Soho's Greek Street lies a hidden haven of a garden and a private chapel. One of the most beautiful spots in London. The SohoCreate series of events was a great opportunity to see behind some of the usually closed doors of this special part of London. I was fortunate in being able to see Alan Yentob interview Judith Kerr, writer of The Tiger Who Came to Tea . I had no idea of her background - forced to flee Berlin as a girl of nine because her father spoke out against the Nazis. Hearing her talk - guided by the informed Yentob - was a true inspiration. Both of them are interesting and accomplished people. One of my next tasks is to watch the film they made together: Hitler, The Tiger and Me . Kerr described herself as "a bit stupid" in having no idea of the fear felt by people in Berlin as the Nazis gradually came to power in the early 1930s. She found it "incomprehensible" that a law should be passed initially banning ...

June is definitely blooming and the colours are just beautiful.

Interviewing and drinking green tea. Nice work if you can get it.