In this year of strange, one of the most strange things has been the lack of ceremony. Normally we’re cartwheeled from New Year to Christmas via back to schools, end of terms, birthdays, annual thises and celebratory thats plus a host of other unavoidable calendar signposts. Without proper Halloween or the planning, packing, sunburn peeling […]
The tooth, the (no longer) whole tooth…
The Boxing Day words
It’s the limbo of it. Christmas Day was full of traditions and purpose. Even the anarchy of consumption and indulgence is ambitious: A systematic approach to emptying fridge and filling belly. Boxing Day, though. That’s a different story. The plan never rolls this far. Shiftless drifting from chocolate box to small screen, pottering, with a […]
The Christmas post
Here we are in the quiet between the unwrapping and the overeating. And as the rest of the world seems to feel compelled to write a festive message, usually, because I’m contrary, I don’t bother. Instead, I’ll tell you a story. Once upon a time ((the day before) yesterday), a dashing prince (the Panther) and […]
Where was the last place you had it?
That, along with ‘just tidy up and you’ll find it’ or ‘retrace your steps’, are what my children hear every time they mournfully tell me that they’ve lost something or, worse, that ‘it’s gone…’. Apparently, among the many other things that mothers are supposed to be is the role of Finder, Rememberer and Keeper, particularly […]