It was a dreich late December day, cold and damp and gloomy, and Algy was feeling cold and damp and gloomy too. He decided to fly down to the Mill burn, to perch in one of his favourite spots in the old alder tree which overhung the water.

As Algy gazed at the water gurgling around the tree’s roots while it passed by on the final stage of its journey to the sea, he thought about his crowdfunding campaign. The wonderful kindness of those friends who had already contributed made him feel warm and fluffy, but he was worried about the progress of the campaign. Of course he was determined to publish his stories for children no matter what happened, but the lack of adequate funds was concerning. Algy realised that some of his friends simply couldn’t spare any money (although one or two of those had very kindly contributed regardless!) – but it seemed that other friends who followed his adventures regularly, and who he was sure could spare at least the price of a cup of coffee without noticing the difference – were apparently not interested. This was disconcerting for a fluffy brain, and Algy felt discouraged and sad. Perhaps they didn’t really like his Adventures after all…

Algy felt especially perplexed by his American friends (with a few notable exceptions!), because he had always believed that Americans were generous people, and so many of his American friends had expressed enthusiasm for his Adventures. As he understood it, crowdfunding was actually an American invention, and a common and popular way of funding projects in the USA. And yet only seven of Algy’s numerous American friends had so far made any contribution to his project, while many more friends – and strangers – in Europe and elsewhere (who were less accustomed to crowdfunding) had responded generously and enthusiastically. Had he made a trans-Atlantic faux pas? Of course it was a dark and gloomy day, and everyone in the northern hemisphere was feeling depressed at this lowest point of the year, but it was all very puzzling and worrying…

So if you have not already contributed – and if you enjoy Algy’s adventures on Tumblr – please take a moment to consider whether you couldn’t spare a little loose change to help a fluffy bird in the wild West Highlands of Scotland publish some of his Tales from The Adventures of Algy... Every single contribution, large or small, really does help and is truly appreciated!

Algy’s crowdfunding campaign runs until the afternoon of 7th January 2015, on the British crowdfunding site Sponsume.

In case you missed Algy’s cute campagin video, which was published at the start of the campaign in November, he will reblog it immediately after this post 🙂

Thank you xoxo

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Algy’s Mid-Campaign Update

Algy’s crowdfunding campaign to fund the production and publication of his forthcoming children’s books series Tales from The Adventures of Algy has almost reached the half-way point, so he felt that it was time to provide all his kind friends and supporters with an update.

The campaign got off to a wonderful start in the first two weeks, with pre-orders of books, donations, and purchases of Algy’s Christmas gifts from many kind friends on and off Tumblr. But in the stormy third week the campaign hit the rocks, and temporarily ground to a halt, like so many other things have done here in the past week, when 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded in northern Scotland and the Western Isles in just two days…

On 13th December 2014 £943.64 (GBP) has been raised, out of a target total of £2500. It’s a fantastic start, but there’s still a way to go…

Algy is now hoping that his campaign will be able to refloat in due course, and maybe sail home triumphantly after Christmas. The campaign runs until 7th January 2015, and he is planning an exciting finale for the final weekend… providing, of course, that there is some electricity here to power it…

Check out Algy’s campaign page at Sponsume – there are lots of nice things there, some exclusive to this campaign.

Please signal boost – on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, anywhere at all…

If you would like to track the progress of Algy’s campaign without visiting Sponsume, the Sponsume panel on Algy’s Fluffy Hugs page is updated in real time, and shows the campaign total and progress bar.

Fluffy hugs to you all xoxoxoxo

Algy had begun to feel that although it was unquestionably exciting and a lot of fun to help his assistant with his crowdfunding campaign, it was also very tiring, and a challenging occupation for a fluffy bird. He longed to be out and about adventuring in the wild places again, so when he noticed that his assistant was fully absorbed in her work, Algy slipped quietly away and flew over to the old oak woods, where everything was peaceful and calm. The hillside woodland was very open, especially now that the trees had shed their leaves for the winter, and among the rocky outcrops there were many banks of deep heather where a weary fluffy bird could find a soft perch. So Algy picked a spot where he could rest comfortably, and for an hour or two – or three – he dozed there happily, pretending that he too was an ancient rock among the woodland heather…

Algy was fascinated by his jigsaw puzzle, and made excellent progess with the central part of the image that showed himself :-)) 

But he seemed to be having a wee bit of difficulty finding the right places to put all the less interesting pieces that made up the background of the picture. Maybe it was because the sun was so low in the sky at this time of year that it was difficult to distinguish the pieces clearly… or perhaps it was  just because it is really rather tricky to manipulate jigsaw pieces accurately with fluffy feathers…

Algy hopes that you are all enjoying a relaxing – and not too frustrating – weekend xoxo

[Algy’s 60-piece jigsaw puzzle for children is available to buy from Algy’s crowdfunding campaign page at Sponsume.]

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to all Algy’s American friends today! Algy hopes that you will all have a truly joyful and peaceful holiday xoxo

As Algy and his assistant perched on a rock by the water’s edge, watching the sea swirl around their toes while the sun sank down behind the clouds, they too gave thanks – for all their amazing and wonderful Tumblr friends who have provided so much encouragement and support for Algy’s fundraising campaign. Algy has been deeply touched by the extraordinary response he has received, by the numerous reblogs on blogs on which he does not normally appear, and by the sweet kindness of those friends who have included his campaign launch post on their own personal photography blogs. Thank you all from the bottom of Algy’s fluffy heart. He sends lots and lots of fluffy hugs to you all xoxoxox

When Algy and his assistant finally managed to launch their crowdfunding campaign for the forthcoming Tales from The Adventures of Algy, they were feeling very happy, but completely exhausted. So they went down to the beach together, to rest on the sand dunes in the golden afternoon light and discuss how the project was going.

It got off to a great start, and Algy and Jenny would like to offer a HUGE THANK YOU and lots and lots of fluffy hugs to everyone who reblogged the campaign launch post, and especially to those very kind friends who have already contributed to the fundraising. All of your efforts and kindness are truly appreciated xoxoxoxo

A Fluffy Hugs page will be published soon :-))

And if you haven’t done so yet, please…

Check out and share Algy’s campaign page at Sponsume – there are lots of nice things there, including some beautiful calendars, cute mugs, and children’s jigsaw puzzles for Christmas gifts :-))

Algy is proud and happy to announce the launch of the crowdfunding campaign for his forthcoming series of children’s books Tales from The Adventures of Algy.

Check out his campaign page at Sponsume – there are lots of nice things there!

Algy has made beautiful calendars, mugs and a children’s jigsaw puzzle for you to buy as gifts, and is also offering some very special “Rewards” to backers who would like to pre-order signed books, limited edition prints, or even a surprisingly fluffy book :-))))

And the image above shows the collectable limited edition campaign postcard :-)) (The Sponsume URL doesn’t appear on the card, of course!)

To avoid confusion, Algy would like to make it clear that the books are not available yet – the point of the campaign is to support their production and meet the up-front costs. The postcard, calendars and other gifts will be despatched within a couple of days of ordering.

Sponsume is a small but highly respectable British crowdfunding site for creative projects. Algy took a look at the big American crowdfunding platforms and was very concerned about the large number of scams and sleazy projects, so he decided to avoid them. But Algy knows that the majority of his friends live overseas, and would like to reassure you that payments can be received from anywhere, and gifts and “rewards” can be shipped to most international destinations (shipping costs are included).

Algy is terrifically excited about the whole project, and about the campaign itself, and he hopes you will be too :-)) He is going to work very, very hard with his assistant to ensure that everything goes smoothly and the books get published more or less on schedule.

Please signal boost – on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, anywhere at all…

Fluffy hugs to you all xoxoxoxo