I am annoyed. We could change the name of the blog to I AM ANNOYED, as I’m pretty much always annoyed, but that would be really annoying, as ANNOYED is one of the words I struggle to spell. Mind, so is the word RESISTANCE, and I put that in my book title. So, I’m annoyed.…
Phone on loudspeaker, in the olden days it was tucked under my chin, now with more chins, it’s more likely to be a video call, I call the kids in turn. ‘Make a wish,’ I sing down the line, sometimes waking them, sometimes catching them at work. ‘Make a wish,’ I shout at voicemail as I stir the cake mix for each in turn. They thought me magical as kids, mad as teens, making them wish on cake mix. ‘But it can’t be Christmas without wishes,’ I’d whisper, hugging them in reply.
30 Days of Giving begins today! If you remember, I give a gift a day to make the run up to the Solstice. You can read more about it here https://borderinggrey.com/2023/11/21/30-days-of-giving/ Despite my love of giving, I am not good at receiving gifts. When faced with gifts (and that language says it all), when faced…
The world feels scary right now, the threat of social division simmering, barely contained on our streets. With everything going on, I retreat to the calm of the garden to take stock. The early sweetcorn, tidied away now, was lush. The courgettes and beans were plentiful, the raspberries and tomatoes have been endless. With all…
This month, we're talking to Rebecca Beattie about her writing practice. I have loved reading The Way Through The Woods: A green witch’s guide to navigating life’s ups and downs. Immersed in nature, this is a deeply nourishing read, full of compassion, wisdom, and rituals for meeting life's challenges. I know a few of you…
Do you ever feel like you are doing life wrong? Like you should be doing loads of stuff, but instead you are quietly just doing you? July started with a much-anticipated trip to Barry in South Wales. There to perform an extract of my work for Folding Rock magazine, I took the chance to catch…
Can you guess what I'm saying? Ooh, I have news! Top secret news! I’m not allowed to share it with anyone, but you, dear reader, are not just anyone, so I will tell you anyway. But first, in other news, I was temporarily banned from Facebook. Do you want the long or the short version?…
The dog and I are wintering. Well, I am, the dog is being a dick but more on that another day. I am embracing the season and have slipped from the winter festivities into the warming embrace of hibernation. My health, always declining in the darker days like some Victorian invalid, requires this time of…
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…
Hello! How are you? I hate that we don’t chat as much. I miss you. And I can never remember if I've written to you or not - so here goes. It’s that time of year again. It is the time of coat roulette. The summer has long gone, pumpkins and fireworks are mere wisps…
The end of summer came down with the heavens, washing out the beaten path across the fields, sliding me and my wheelchair out of the mud and onto the tarmac. Normally, with a few good frosts, I can eek out the last few weeks of freedom until mid-October, but this year the kids had barely…
In another part of my life I hold Women's Meditation Circle's. Meeting on the New and Full Moon we gather for an evening of meditation, guided visualisation and journelling. For the New Moon we meet outside, even in the winter, in a beautiful communal space, all of us bundled up with covers and cushions and…
Just wanted to say… ❤️❤️❤️
Okay, I know today's movie is Love Actually, but I find that movie problematic in too many ways to go into today. I will conseed the scene when Emma Thompson realises the jewellery is not for her, breaks my cold heart a little, but the rest of the movie leaves me with a shudder, -…
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
Am I doing your head in? Has the whole 30 days of ‘gifts’ been too much? I know it’s a lot. I thought it was a good idea at the beginning, but I can see now that a message from me every day for a month might be a bit over the top. (just think…
So often we are told to be serious, to grow up, to let go of childish ideas and actions. Today I invite you to let go of all of that and just for today try to see the magic in the world. You are such a powerful, beautiful soul. Imagine what your world would be…
OK, I know I did a post about Christmas movies last year, but bear with. Christmas is all about traditions. Christmas is all about those little family rituals that make the holidays special. There’s the advent calendars, and the cakes and the mince pies and Christmas is absolutely about movies. If you missed my post…
It's that time of year again. I can barely contain my excitement. My mind working overtime to come up with this years plan. I wrote to you last year about 30 days of giving. Don’t tell me you don’t remember! ‘The idea is to give a gift to someone every day for 30 days. It…
I would like a round of applause. No really, I mean it. Stop sitting there drinking your coffee and give me a clap. A standing ovation would be nice, but I recognise we’re all busy people so, you know, a hearty congratulations will be just fine. Have you done it? I’ll be able to tell…
It is that time of year again. Not the time of year when the grass is too soggy to hold my wheelchair and I am relegated to the confines of the path, - that came a few weeks ago. (Still it helps me avoid the dog-walking mafia.) No, I am talking about apple season. This…
This is my last blog post for a while. I’m taking the summer off. The grandson is coming for a few weeks, and I’ve other writing I need to focus on, and books I need to read, and while I love hanging out with you on a Tuesday morning over a quickly grabbed coffee, we…
I started too early. I always do. Despite appearances I am not a patient person, (what do you mean no kidding?) I strive to keep all my impulsiveness in but with gardening, each year, I fail. Gardening is not a sport for the impulsive. Gardening is slow. Gardening is measured, gardening is seeing today what…
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…
The fairy lights are on, there’s hot chocolate in my mug, a tin of roses on the sofa and Lebkuchen sitting daintily on a Christmas plate – with breakfast sorted it’s time to turn on a Christmas movie. Most of the year my early mornings take on a slightly different vibe, - walking the dog,…
Oh, my days, I am so excited! It’s begun! It started yesterday! Oh, I can’t tell you how excited I am! (I know that’s a lot of exclamation marks, but this is exciting!!!!!!!!!) I look forward to this every year. Planning as the summer ends, by now I have reached a fever pitch of giddiness.…
The one where I forget to write a blog.
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…
Star Trek Communicator Badge (badge) by Unknown maker is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 Today is National Caramel Day. – I don’t know where? Everywhere, I guess? Are you prepared? Do you have a box of caramels, robed in chocolate, soft and sticky enough to rip a filling out? Are you planning on making caramel sauce…
Sunrise over Newtown I am writing this at 7.30 on Sunday night and it is still light. In the garden I can hear a chorus of blackbirds serenading the setting sun. On the distant hills a kite calls, underpinned by the thud, thud, thud of some distant party beat. The clocks have sprung forward. Spring…
Bordering Grey 