Unbeknown to her, Ruth's pupils dilate. The threadbare reclining chair in her field of vision unseen as her mind reels off painful images like a kaleidoscope. A mask of horror replaces her usual scowl. Gordon notices this. He is not known to be a man of any real insight, but the flash of dread across … Continue reading The Anatomy of Leaving (a short story)

I've been putting this off as long as humanly possible, but finally my eldest daughter wore me down and we agreed that she could do the school German Exchange trip. The German child arrived in England last night and we duly took her home. Johanna seemed a little shell-shocked at first as she disembarked from … Continue reading German Exchange

On February 18th I gave up FaceBook for lent. To some of you, that would be no great hardship, but form me - let's just say it was a wrench. You see, I love FaceBook. I am the (self-professed) 'Queen of the Status'. I like to sit and ponder over the perfect one-liner for longer … Continue reading Social-Networking Technophobe Much?

 I don't have a best friend. Don't misunderstand me, I have good friends - very good friends. But I don't have a BFF. Perhaps I just have BFRN (best friends right now). I've been thinking about this a lot lately, I know a lot of people (mainly women) who have a definite best friend. It's … Continue reading Always the Bridesmaid, Never the BFF.

  I wrote this short post on an old travel blog in 2012 whilst travelling around Brazil. It was torturous to write because the bereavement was still so raw - but extremely cathartic to expel those feelings. I hope it stood the test of time. Thanks for reading...   I was hoping this blog would … Continue reading Meanderings

I apologise, I pretty much fell off the grid yesterday when I'd hoped to blog on alternate days forever more (ha ha). But I have a very good excuse! I'd foolishly contracted the d&v bug my daughter bought home from school at the weekend and had spent the better part of Monday night/Tuesday morning curled … Continue reading Armitage Shanks!!

The clink-chink of glass on glass burst the bubble of Kate's day-dream. She had been quite enjoying that brief break from Helena's party, just a fanciful muse about meeting Mr Right tonight. Still, that wasn't going to happen amongst a room full of women! Kate observed the twelve-or-so unfamiliar girls, except Helena of course, warming … Continue reading Hen Night (a short story)

This piece is actually an 'about Flags and Lucky Bags' kind of deal (see the last post). Well, no it isn't really, it's more a tale of how the short story came about and how I managed to bag a local literature competition with it! In January of 2002, our local library were running a … Continue reading How to win a literature competition by default

It isn’t easy being six. It isn’t easy being dragged out of the coolness of an infant school classroom, plasticine models left half-fashioned, painted murals abandoned. All we leave behind is a dormant school, empty of life. Wind whistling down the corridors, with maybe a tumble weed or two rolling by. It is the summer … Continue reading Flags and Lucky Bags (a short story)

I wouldn't call myself overly fashion concious, but now I've hit my 40's, I believe I know what suits me - and I wear that. A lifetime of mistakes has seen to that (let's just say I fully embraced the 80's). But I can't help but feel there have been past fashion faux pas' (well, … Continue reading Function Over Fashion