It all started with a free press jolly to Estonia. My husband occasionally throws wild cards into our singular blend of happy-go-lucky chaos. Occasionally he returns to his old hunting grounds on a regional business desk, when the resident business guru heads for sunnier climes. And as a thank you, one day, the paper offered … Continue reading »
Posted in August 2010 …
Al Fresco
As the Radio Four pips sounded for 9am, my husband appeared with uncharacteristic speed. His eyes were unflinchingly trained on the cooker clock. My old cooker does sterling service, but state-of-the art it’s not. It was once star-wars-white, probably originating somewhere early in the nineties. It has a big oven, little oven and grill and … Continue reading »
Sniff
Today I must issue a health warning as you read my opening sentence. I am about to be base. Proceed with caution, all ye who enter here. Today’s subject is both the most, and least edifying of life’s facets. It is our ability to smell. I think I mentioned the dog’s focused attitude to walking … Continue reading »
Rest
I don’t know where the tradition of a Rest in the middle of the day came from. In the land of the umbrella, there is no need of a temporal bolthole from the cruel midday sun. More’s the pity. But I can trace the Rest back through three generations of my family, on the female … Continue reading »
Against the clock
It is 17:40, and I usually have this blog wrapped up by now. On most days, I am tweaking delightedly with sentence structure and inference, checking my tenses are consistent, chuckling along with myself at a moment from the past. It’s a cosy time for me. No so, today. Today I have that wild-man-of-the-sea, ragged … Continue reading »
Dave the Dolphin
There are many attractions to be had, here on the South Coast of England, on the last full day of our holiday. We could tramp off to Marconi’s flagship lighthouse, from whence the first radio broadcast was made. I could hop from Napoleonic fortress to Napoleonic fortress, marvelling at their strength and ingenuity. I could … Continue reading »
Role play
“Felix! Felix! It’s OK!” Unable to contain the tremulous triumph in his voice, Phil stood at the bottom of the stairs post-teatime. For some reason my son, whose bedtime it was not, was tightly curled up in his duvet, oblivious to the stunning sea view just inches away from him. That’s an expensive view, I … Continue reading »
Pilgrimage
We all have our heroes: those whose life story has touched ours. Those whose characters and actions truly resonate with our own, just as the guitar strings hum when you sing across the other side of the room. Brunel the resilient problem solver, the charismatic ideas man, is one of mine: as is Churchill, dogged … Continue reading »
Storm Clouds
Before I start, I would just like to register a possibly excessive amount of self congratulation. I have reached my fourty-first entry into this cyberjournal of mine without talking about the weather. If you’re British, you will know immediately the inner struggle this represents. We protest otherwise, but many a conversation here in Britain starts … Continue reading »
Just ask
Self- help books? I lap ‘em up. I’ve felt the fear and done it anyway: I’ve creatively visualized with Shakti Gawain: I know several Daniel Goleman books by heart. I’ve sampled the Dalai Lama- although, does he count as a self-help author? Maybe he’s a bit too profound and universally true for that. But I’ve … Continue reading »
