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 – a lanky, awkward slip of a girl – got stuck 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 for pointing out words of Indian origin (pyjama, gymkhana, bungalow), 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 be exact. I can hear you asking – why Bendorm? 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 lot to answer for. It may have been partly responsible 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 was. A Valentine’s card, a real one, written in an 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 AD, and Gaius looks at Julius and says, … “What 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 many things I’d like to change in order to succeed 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 adorable young man. He fits the stereotype, but throws in 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 some of the best were written many years ago, when 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 blank. Not only have I drawn a blank, but I Read more