Rupert Stewart Cox

My father was a soldier in the Royal Artillery, back in the day when soldiers were posted all over the world, so I’ve had that old travelling bone in me forever. My childhood was spent between England, Malaya, Kenya and Germany. Then Australia, the Caribbean, India, the Far East were added to destinations for that bone. My working life has been spent on farms. Sheep, arable, beef and dairy farms. I have always been enamoured by the countryside and animals.

With a base in England, I now spend time in southwest France with my wife Mary. We have two daughters and four grandchildren. I’ve been telling them all stories for the last thirty odd years and, more recently, stories about Blob and Babu. I fill my days restoring and making chairs, benches, stools, baskets and the like. I have only recently begun to write and draw picture books.

I have now passed the travelling bone on to Blob and have begun documenting his travels.

My other interests include cooking, reading, fly fishing, repairing things, sticking it to the man, wildflowers and wilding.

During Covid 19 lockdown, my mower broke and couldn't be fixed. We let the garden go feral and it is becoming a haven for creatures. Three years on and it is the garden is now totally wonderful. It is now frequently visited by deer, hares, egrets and an absolute plethora of insects. I have never received such pleasure from a walk in the garden, in the last forty tears of having gardens, as I get now.

I am fascinated by all these insects and photographs of these wonderful creatures are the inspiration of my latest stories.