Bore da Chickens, I know you weren’t expecting to hear from me today after all the drama about my flaps (really, that joke never gets old). I could get badges made, ‘Ask me about my Flaps!’ You know how I might have mentioned I’d written a book? You know the one with the fabulous…
Bore da, my lovelies. Did I mention I was writing a book? Funny, it must have slipped my mind... Well, the day is finally here, and I can reveal the cover and title of my new book. I am so excited to share it with you guys first. I can’t tell you how much I…
The great declutter has taken on Olympian proportions as the son is down from Glasgow to empty the attic. Long-time readers will be aware of the oppression of the attic. It's not so much what's up there, though there's a lot of shite that isn’t mine, but not being able to get up there and…
What are you reading my lovelies? Continuing to share books and writers I love, let me introduce the wonderful Vik Bennett and her memoir. I loved this book so much, an exploration of grief and motherhood and the making of something wild and magical to heal and grow. More than a book about gardening, this…
Brightest blessings for the season. Mid-winter is, for me, the perfect pause, a chance to rest and recharge. This year, struggling with my health, I’ve rested for the whole of December, getting writing work squared away so I can make time for nourishment, - a little yoga, a little knitting, - readying myself for…
I have been undertaking serious research. Ok, I asked a few of my friends on Facebook. And I know, according to some, that counts as ‘research’ but let’s not get carried away. Let me ask you, how often do you speak to your kids? Obviously, if you still live with them, then it’s a constant…
The grandson came for the summer. Three weeks with an eight-year-old. I’m still bloody exhausted, but we squeezed every bit of joy from it. We are all geeks here. It’s wall-to-wall Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, (before she-who-must-not-be-named went off the deep end). We’ve had Pokémon, Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Disney, Witchy,…
Next-door’s back fence has blown down and because the house is empty the council haven't been around to fix it, despite me telling them. With the fence down I can see more of the path that runs through the estate and more of the people on it. Dog walkers throwing sticks, some failing to pick…
My husband and I fall back onto the bed hot and panting, sweat glistening our skin. Oi! Eyes up top. Get your mind out of the gutter, it was nothing like that. We’d just finished putting the duvet cover on. This is what counts for excitement in middle aged life. I feel I should point…
Love is in the air and with this in mind I thought it time to return to the Housewife’s Handy Book and explore all things love and marriage in the letters section. Romance is blooming, or not, as the case may be, for our two young lovers Harry and Agnes. Let me remind you that…
I had a total crush on Danny Kaye when I was a kid,- another kind man. Combined with the perfect Christmas song, today's movie will warm even the most Bah Humbug! of souls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QW65Amj0vM
It can't be Christmas without the Doctor. Oh my heart, in no paticular order here are some of my favourites. (and I know some of them are not strictly speaking Christmas Specials) https://youtu.be/BgVJDd5vHfw?si=BVHI93bePV-7q0iF https://youtu.be/9pG3XcazIys?si=R6Z9ayBcdj2Cis-1 https://youtu.be/Op7isR-5x0Q?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYNpUEdEJkhRmUwhfKT6LWUB https://youtu.be/s1cun-FULdk?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYORxF77FmLwBVoi0RyLpKPE https://youtu.be/2-zzmtGYL-4?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYORxF77FmLwBVoi0RyLpKPE https://youtu.be/a1pmF1PCisU?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYORxF77FmLwBVoi0RyLpKPE https://youtu.be/WJqE2onQUSk?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYORxF77FmLwBVoi0RyLpKPE https://youtu.be/5eVj_wrq8Kc?list=PLKEzuOOEQvYORxF77FmLwBVoi0RyLpKPE https://youtu.be/TWwYLlcPekA Apologies I just couldn't stop - I'd have added more but the dog needing…
Late Christmas Eve, early 2010s. I'm sat in the car with my two youngest children, both under ten, waiting to pick up my middle son from his shift at the local CO-OP. Stars litter the sky with sharp, tight light, our breath sends dragon smoke clouds into the black frozen sky. The heater is dodgy…
I miss my kids. Not just as they are now -the funny, bright, annoying, boring people they have become with their busy lives, exciting plans and lives far away. I miss them, for how they used to be, when they were mine, when I held their hands and wiped away their tears. It’s not all…
I seem to be losing my marbles. Have you seen them? Do you know where they are? Answers on a whats-a-ma-call-it!
The dog died at the beginning of December. There was an accident. It was quite sudden. On the Monday she was fine. On the Thursday she died. I am heartbroken. Now over the initial shock of it all, I am left living without a dog. There is a silence in the house, no not a…
Something about this time of year lends itself to exclamations – or is that just me? It is time to make the Christmas cake!!!! Facebook memories tells me I’m behind the curve, - in 2018 apparently, I’d time to crystalise oranges and lemons to make homemade German Lebkuchen. To be fair they were magnificent Lebkuchen…
The lingering effects of Covid are curtailing are usual culinary delights. We are too tired to cook - eating pilchard on toast and a lot of jacket potatoes. Researching for my next novel, I’ve been struck by mentions of food and shopping from the 50s and 60s Rationing was in place until 1954 and food…
Sunrise over Treown The cool grey light of 4 am seeps beneath bedroom curtains. No matter how I straighten them the night before - battening down the hatches, blocking out the light - by morning cracks have appeared and sunlight pierces the room, refracting into rainbows. This morning I rise before the sun, before even…
Warning: This post is about grief and child-loss. It is the anniversary of my lads’ death, the scent of May blossom lingering in the air. I lost two of my children, within five years of each other - one age16 and the other 24. They were both adopted, which doesn’t make any difference, though a…
I’ve been thinking about school dinners today. I think we’re divided into those who loved school dinners and those who did not. I loved my school dinners. A hungry child, I loved the smell of cooking wafting up the hallways after break. The scent of puddings baking, dinners roasting, was almost too much to bear…
Bordering Grey 