I have always been “into gardening”. When I was fourteen I was employed to tend a neighbour’s beds, after I put a hand-written sign on our gate post touting my (very cheap) services. The neighbour seemed surprised that me – Read more
My mother has always been a fan of words. On regular occasions throughout my life she has furnished me with little titbits of etymology that have stuck in my brain. When I was a child, she had a particular penchant Read more
In the Easter holidays, something magical happened. Something so out of the Seymour norm’ that we surprised even ourselves as we left for a family holiday – all six of us – to the Costa Blanca – and Benidorm, to Read more
I will always remember my mum taking me to buy school shoes. It was a very tricky recurring event in my life and I think the mental acrobatics that it caused in my brain at a young age has a Read more
… about thirty years ago, I received my very first Valentine’s Day card. I was a gawky, lanky, overly serious and extremely studious teenager, and the notion that someone might “fancy” me from afar was utterly incomprehensible. Yet there it Read more
Right now, as I gaze out of my window at the mess that is our front patio, I can totally understand why the Romans left Britain. Imagine the scene; it is January, Blue Monday no less, some time around 408 Read more
The new year has begun, as we knew it would, and once again I am filled with a desire to be better. A desire, yes. But an action plan on how to achieve this enhanced me – no. There are Read more
I vowed not to write about my kids but… The conundrum of Boy Seymour is a curious one. He is everything a teenaged chap should be and more: a doughnut devouring, untidy, loud, contrary, lanky, lovable, clumsy, antagonizing and often Read more
Somewhere in my house is a notebook – one of many- in which I have diarised significant events in my life. Some notebooks are full of scribbled teenage angst, others are laden with self-doubt, offloaded confessions and repeated resolutions. But Read more
In spite of always trying to be aware of the world around me, and to keep up with developments, especially the kind of developments that may be relevant to school-aged children, I must admit that I have now drawn a Read more