I dithered about allowing Boy Three to go to his after school club’s Christmas Party – and here’s why… Claus for concern pic: Kevin Dooley via Flickr It’s supposed to be magical. Children waiting for the kindly, bearded chap to deliver their heart’s desire into an old sock on Christmas Eve. Then they ooh and […]
Cloak of invisibility and other people problems
A woman, on her own, is walking home. A perfectly reasonable thing to do, necessary even. How else is she going to get there? She’s wearing flat shoes, a coat. Sensible and brisk. She’s looking eyes front, all purpose, yet her ears are tingling with the effort of straining for the rustling in the undergrowth and […]
What am I going to write about?
Well, write something. Go on. You’ve got nothing else to do. A soundtrack of puppy snores and rain. But there’s a problem. The ideas have fled with the sunshine. Where there used to be jostling dozens muttering at me, there is bleached rock and silence. Maybe a cup of tea would help… Or an actual […]
Things I have learned from 21.5 hours of dog ownership
You can’t have Narnia without first stepping into the wardrobe
The snow’s all gone now. Four tiny degrees (the buttoning of a meteorological cardigan) and we’re back to watery grey and green, plough lines and mud. It’s making me think about all the small things and their big consequences. You know – the lines that create a novel, the chocolates resisted and the pennies not […]