According to a recent Ipsos study in conjunction with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College London, 47% of Britons think things have gone far enough in giving women equal rights with men. They go further, saying that men are now being discriminated against. Pause while I adjust my what-the-fuck-face, as the…
Over the Fence.
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…
Balancing Chakras
In a recent magazine article a woman was explaining that she'd been struggling with life. A difficult pregnancy while already having a toddler, she'd been working freelance from home, when the little one slept. Then new baby came along and feeding was hard and she had to go back to work early because they were…
Any Old Harry
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…
Just Breathe
I am not very good at not being good at a thing. Do you know what I mean? Like, I know we all have to start somewhere, learning something new. But I would rather learn and be rubbish in the privacy of my own home, only sharing learning with others when I am good at…
Too much on
I have too much on. It may not seem like a lot to many of you, but it is too much for me. There is writing, of course, writing this my priority, our weekly little one-sided chats. And of course, there is the puppy, who is settling into a routine – not my routine –…
A Spring in my step
Spring is here, despite the inclement weather. With it comes the endless dance – do I need a coat or sunblock or a balaclava? Is it too hot/ too cold to put the delicate seedling out in the garden, a sigh of relief as the dining table-come-potting bench is free of clutter if only for…
Whose that walking over my bridge?
Facebook is trolling me. I don’t mean anyone on Facebook, but Meta itself. It started like any other morning. Yoga finished, I decided to check in with my online world and see who was up to what. It was great to see that a friend had knitted her pubic hair into a jumper, and another…
To All My Sisters
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. A chance to celebrate the women in your life. It’s a day to celebrate all of the achievements women have made – achievements that impact us personally, historically, economically, scientifically, politically and culturally. It’s a day to look with pride at the women around us, holding up the world, to…
A Storm in the Cutlery Drawer
My husband is looking after me. This is not a new thing, he’s nice like that – that’s one of the reasons I married him. That and the fact that he came for Christmas one year and literally wouldn’t go away - six kids later I figured I was stuck with him. We were sat,…
Missing their song
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…
Losing Sleep
Insomnia strikes again. Waking at 3 am rather than my usual 4 am seems spiteful and futile. One can conceivably get up at 4 but 3 is just bloody ridiculous. I turn over and try to go back to sleep, my mind racing as I groggily scrunch up pillows and gently elbow my husband to…
No Peeking!
I treated myself to one of those beauty advents boxes. In true working-class fashion, I need to tell you that I had a voucher, and there was a deal, so it hardly cost a thing – why do we do that? If someone compliments my dress I have to tell them that I got it…
Undercover
My bras have turned against me. All at once, as if they’d set a date, they have decided to pop their seams and send sharp spiky wires jabbing into the tenderest parts of my flesh. My draw is full of bras with escaping wires, ones I keep meaning to mend. The fix, sewing soft felt…
Seriously ?
My husband is doing my head in. Not in a ‘I need to lay a new patio’ kinda way. Nor in ‘I need to look for one bedroom flats’ though the latter is certainly appealing. I should point out for fairness and balance that my husband is a lovely bloke – kind and supportive, a…
It is time you knew…
I have a terrible confession. I mean, I don’t think it’s terrible, but the way people react you think I’d shoved a cat in a bin or something. And it’s not like my thing, this thing I’m confessing, really impacts anyone else. It’s not particularly weird or gross. I don’t think it is even that…
Having it all.
Image chosen by my Grandson, pointing out that we need to hurry so we can play another game. I used to really admire stories of women who’d get up at 5 am, before their kids woke, to write their novel - banging out 2000 words before breakfast or staying up into the wee hours to…
What’s cooking?
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…
The long and short of it.
It has happened again. I swear to god, this is the last straw. Never mind insomnia, mood swings, the midlife spreading in places I didn’t think I could spread any further, this -THIS- has tipped me over the edge. What, I hear you say? You always do this – make these grand announcements and then…
Women’s rights are all our rights
I, like many, stand horrified at the overturning of Roe versus Wade in America last week, seeing abortion made illegal in many US States. This appalling act sees the rights of women everywhere undermined, and their lives made second best. I don’t care why a woman needs an abortion. For me, this is not about…
Social care.
I meet her down the bottom of the alley. Litter needs picking again. She’s off to get her paper, leaning on her stick, dodging curled lottery tickets and discarded masks. She’s a bit Daily Mail, if you know what I mean but she’s always out in her garden. Her roses are stunning, not a black…
I have become a writing bore
I have become a writing bore. Of course, I was boring before writing, I’ve just changed the subject. All I can talk about is writing, and the novel, oh and name-dropping Michael Sheen at the snarky woman who said she was glad they had special writing awards for ‘people like me.’ The lovely people in…
Bordering Grey 