This week I was – at least briefly – to be found strutting around in a rather fetching gown and feeling like queen for the day. It was my graduation – MLitt in creative writing at the University of Glasgow. While feeling an appropriate level of chuffed, there was a slight hint of sadness that […]
Short story: The Third Age
Climacteric NOUN 1 A critical period or event ‘the first major climacteric in 21st-Century poetry’ 2 Medicine The period in life when fertility and sexual are in decline (in women). ‘most women do not experience significant psychological problems at the climacteric’ 3 Botany The ripening period of certain fruits such as apples, involving increased metabolism […]
What did you do at the weekend?
Anyone else over 50 find it takes considerable effort to answer this one? A grinding of gears and a cranking look round at the two days of domesticity and idleness peppered by parental duties. “Pretty quiet. Nice, though,” does the job. I suppose no one is really that interested in anyone’s weekend until the answer […]
Hopes for Indian summer fade…
There it was, the first proper weather of the season. Storm Ali romped across the country causing considerable inconvenience. I had to change my plans and catch a bus. Heaven forfend. Boy Two abandoned his bus stop vigil when his hands went numb, and the garden is in more disarray than usual. It wasn’t always […]




