My sister and I walked to school in the fifties. About a mile. Uphill. Took us about fifteen minutes. Mostly heads down, focussed on getting there quickly, avoiding puddles or rapid storm water in the winter, running our hands along the rosemary or lavender hedges which would have helped subdue the ... READ the POST

It is becoming evident to me, even at this later stage of my life as a single, that I am developing my spoken (as opposed to written) voice. As the partner of a vibrant, excited-about-life man who usually filled the room with his ebullient sharing of what each day had brought him, I was the ... READ the POST

( ... and some more poetry) As a child, the Christmas gift I was always most delighted with was a book. It hadn't taken my parents long to discover that, after having learned to read, I just wanted books, and there always was one - a give-away by its wrapped rectangular shape - under the tree for ... READ the POST

It's in a writer's nature - well mine at least - to want to edit and polish their work until they are satisfied enough to send it off into the world. I look back at my early poetry and think 'What on earth was going on in my head at that time?' The temptation is to bring it up to date, but now I'm ... READ the POST

In this phase of leaf-soft Autumn weather, I am gloriously in love with where I live. As a young girl, the traditions of our European ancestors were strongly woven through our valley - food, music, family gatherings, picnics, mushroom-gathering, baking, wine and small-goods making, church-going, ... READ the POST

I'd had my amazing Mum for a long time. First word that comes to mind in describing her is, simply, beautiful - inside and out. We called her our Queen of Love and Laughter. The matriarch who kept our family stuck together like glue. She was born in 1926 - hard times world-wide - but despite ... READ the POST