You know you want to!Following a Blog is like saying, 'Thank you, I really enjoyed reading that. I'll pop in again when I have time.' The way to do this is twofold:1. You can enter you email on the Subscribe by Email box on the left, just above my lovely Honest Scrap Award. You'll get an email … [Read more...]
The Honest Scrap Award
I'm away from blogging for a few days and what happens? I get not one, but THREE awards.I am honoured and humbled and must first of all thank Wildernesschic, Looking Fab in Your Forties and Oneof365 each for giving me this most prestigious award. And I must thank my family, and gosh, gather, gather. … [Read more...]
Men about the house
It's a very exciting day in the middle of nowhere in deepest darkest Blogshire today. Man and son are erecting a scaffold. In face of forecast gale force winds and torrential rain, they're optimistic a paint job which has been planned for months will go ahead today. The object of their DIY:ing is … [Read more...]
A sign to save us all
Ernest Hemingway said, 'The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-resistant shit detector.'My sign is looking a little worn out now. I put it up above my screen in November 2007 after spending a weekend at Westminster College, London. Together with 200 or so other would-be … [Read more...]
Soup recipes please!
I've made 5 soups in two days. My daughter had maxifollical surgery on Thursday. The hospital sent her home with a pack of 24 Nutri drinks (which taste disgusting), because she's not going to be able to eat anything solid for about two weeks. I believe in the healing qualities of home cooked and … [Read more...]
Broadband problems and too much time in hospital
Apologies for my online absence. Daughter had her long awaited operation on Thursday and at the same time BT Broadband went down. Not sure if these two occurrences are connected.As we spent most of the time in the car between home and hospital, being off-line didn't matter that much. When we brought … [Read more...]
Best Shop in Oxford
I've never been much of a vintage shop lover. I know it's all the rage but I've never got past the door because of the smell. (I have a very sensitive nose)But this shop changed my mind. I popped in for several reasons. It's opposite son's college and he said it was run by a 'Mad French Woman'. I … [Read more...]
Exams and The Hangover
The house is gripped by exam panic. Today, at this very moment, it's English (Lit or Lang...I should know). I'm meant to be getting on with Lost Daughter, the sequel to The Red King of Helsinki, a spy novel which at this very moment is being spectacularly ignored, rejected or laughed at by several … [Read more...]
Hay and the state of our democracy
At my first Hay-on-Wye literature festival we were reduced to camping having booked too late to get a nice B&B in Hay itself. Well, I thought, sometimes you need to suffer for your art woman, what's so terrible about sleeping under canvas for one night? The weather was wonderful but my back … [Read more...]
‘Stolen’ by Lucy Christopher
Last night I was invited to attend a fellow Bath Spa MACW 's book launch. I'd really been looking forward to this as I think Lucy is a great writer, and it was a chance to see old friends and tutors again.The room upstairs at Waterstone's in Bath was stiflingly hot. Groups of people were talking … [Read more...]