Back to Penrith recently and much delight to discover that our favourite fried food purveyor has gone mobile. Thank you, Shap Chippy. And – at long last – family gathered a bit. Simply wonderful to see everyone and, for a bit, forget about some of the more interesting bits of the past few months. Boy […]
Weaning can be fun – and other big fat lies
This week’s half-arsed sorting out took the form of clearing book cases and checking whether any of those online book buying businesses were interested in paying hard cash. You’ll notice that I was vague about who was doing the actual work of this decluttering as it wasn’t me. Boy One was tasked with this important […]
Distraction diaries – write what you know
Write what you know, they say… So I’m trying, simultaneously, to craft a poem about kindness – which I don’t always understand, a short story comparing women to tuning forks, and to empty my head onto the page. Only none of it’s working. Write what you know, they say… I’m too damn distracted. Can’t concentrate. […]
Escaping the curse of the to-do list with a ta-da list
It may be another universal division – the list-makers and the, well, frankly mysterious people who don’t have to write their tasks down. (If that’s you… please explain how it works?) I have lists. Sometimes I have lists of list. I have systems of lists. I have lists with different timescales (today, tomorrow, sometime – […]
Coronavirus: Things I’ve learned from school at home
How long has this been goin’ on? asked Ace in 2975. Flippin’ ages, comes the answer in a warble. Yes. It all started so suddenly, so unthinkably, with our usual lives unceremoniously parked. Nothing was normal – work, going to the shops, school. Nothing. No more school bags, PE kit, packed lunches or 11th hour […]