One of my favourite books as a kid was Burglar Bill, a Janet and Allan Ahlberg classic, with colourful, cosy illustrations and very likeable protagonists.The Ahlberg duo made me – an anxious child – less scared of burglars, and even Read more
Full disclosure: I hate the winter! I am a bit of a Grinch, nay a Scrooge, tbh*. But… I am trying to embrace it, and for a while there I was stoic: autumn leaves, golden colours, fresh air, bonfires… Nah. I Read more
Jilly Cooper, woman of the moment, one of my favourite people and all round legend once wrote a book entitled “How to Stay Married”. I must confess, I have not read it. I thought, perhaps naively, that it might Read more
In an assembly last week (I still go to school, don’t forget) I was staring at a big screen on which was displayed a photograph of ancient deeds dating back to 1614. Our school is old, man! I have seen Read more
What are these kids doing? Yes, it has happened. I have got old. After years of clinging on to some notion that I may still be “with it”, I must admit defeat. Why? Social fu@#ing media of course. I understand Read more
I have no idea where to begin with a post, after so long without one. I could write about my current obsession with sea gardens. I should write a list of all the unfinished projects at the the current Funny Read more
I have reached the stage in my children’s lives where they mind most of the things I do. Well, to put it more precisely, some of them (one of them in particular) mind all of the things I do, and Read more
A couple of weeks ago, my mother had a big birthday celebration in our garden. This celebration has been over a year in the planning, conceived as an idea back when May 2024 felt like an age away, and when Read more
Boy Seymour has been meddling. He meddles with lots of things: cupboards with food in, bicycles, TV remotes, and more recently – my hairdryer. This is a new development, prompted by fashion, I believe. Boy carves things up, smashes things Read more
I think I have mentioned here before that I think I must be a witch. Eerie things happen often in my life, good eerie things, but eerie things nonetheless. And I am more than happy to be a bit witchy, Read more