To buy or not to buy
Trying to sell our house is proving to be an interesting experience. There’s the living on the edge of your nerves, waiting for the phone to ring and then having to leap into action to make the house look vaguely presentable. Having to clean the house regularly so you don’t have to leap into […]
Dressed for Drama!
Tipped off by writing pal and ace writing tutor Alison May, I went along to see this at the weekend. Curated by Worcester Cathedral, it’s an exhibition of costumes made for recent film and TV period dramas. On display are 30 or so costumes from productions ranging from Wolf Hall to Mr Selfridge. They are arranged […]
To tattoo or not to tattoo
Graham Norton said recently that the best age to get a tattoo is 80 as you have fewer years left to regret it! I’ve long toyed with the idea of getting one. I don’t have any strong feelings pro or anti tattoo. I suppose, if pushed, I don’t find skin completely covered with ink […]
Brain stretching at the Hay Festival
Breaking your souvenir Hay mug the week before you go to the festival doesn’t augur well. Neither does accidentally running over a rabbit on the way. So, being the suspicious kind, it was a nervous drive to Hay on Wye for the annual festival of literature, music and all goodly things. Thankfully, all went well […]
Fold that towel, tidy that dog
Ooh, this house selling malarkey is stressful. It’s akin to organising a party but one to which only occasional people bother to turn up and who can come at any time. Without warning! I’m permanently on tenterhooks waiting for the phone to ring. Desperate to hear those magic words from the estate agent, ‘We’ve got […]
How to downsize a spaniel
‘We’re downsizing.’ Words that must spring terror into any estate agents’ mind. You know the type of house buyer I’m talking about. Middle-aged couples, childless or childfree with equity wrapped up in a large house somewhere and looking to de-clutter, downsize and re-value their remaining years. That’s us! As (she says in a hopeful whisper) […]
The De-cluttering v Memories Battle
So reader, I did it. In the interests of de-cluttering, finding my inner Zen, following the lead of Marie Kondo and in the hope of having to downsize soon, I took another bootful of bags to the charity shop yesterday. Except this time it included my wedding dress. Gulp. I’ve attempted this many times before. […]
My Bridport Prize – it’s not what you think!
Remember I said a while back I’d post occasional pieces about my elephant collection? Well, the dreadful fire which, last week, decimated the cinema in Lyme Regis got me thinking about this little chap. I bought him in Bridport, a market town not far from Lyme and which has just been listed as one of […]
In which I am completely star-struck
Warning: there is copious name dropping in this post. Sometimes I love Twitter. My affair with it began during the last series of Downton Abbey. The television series itself wasn’t all that enthralling but I loved the live Twitter feed. Some people can be amazingly quick-witted and funny in forty characters. Mentions of Lady […]
Zara Stoneley’s Beastie Bestie
When asking writers about their working spaces, it amazes me how often an animal features. I suppose it’s inevitable that as we work from home and alone, we are able to have a dog, cat or even parrot friend to keep us company. This is the first in an occasional series of posts about writers […]
