Apologies for not writing on this blog for a while, but I’ve been focussed on writing my first novel, and the great news is that it’s now available on Kindle! (Paperback version should follow in the next couple of weeks.) It’s called Friends for Life and is about three women who meet after their husbandsContinue reading “New novel news”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Out of the picture
Isn’t it interesting the way each of us deals with grief in sometimes polarising ways. A relative, whose husband died several years ago in circumstances very similar to mine, filled her living room with pictures of him, including one taken on their last holiday together. She says she found comfort from being surrounded by allContinue reading “Out of the picture”
Celebrating women all year round
This blog is taken from something I wrote for my local Women’s Institute – Lee Green WI – as part of our 10th birthday. I was asked to recall a special WI memory from the last decade, and there were plenty of fun and memorable things to choose from, but there was one event theContinue reading “Celebrating women all year round”
Out with the old…
Can you hear me cheering? After what seems like an interminable number of weeks, finally dreary January is over and we’re into the much more brisk and cheery month of February. I can’t tell you how relieved and chipper I am to see the back of the first month of the year. What it isContinue reading “Out with the old…”
Is widowhood a question of black and white?
How does one be a widow? I am one, but I don’t know how to be one. It’s a horrible word, isn’t it, conjuring up images of black, spiders, weeds and danger. Things that are dark, mystical and to be avoided. But I don’t want to be avoided. In the olden days, widows dressed inContinue reading “Is widowhood a question of black and white?”
In the pink?
Today it struck me that my world has turned pink. I was fitting new bedlinen – a blush coloured sheet and duvet cover with tones of blush and raspberry interspersed with a very pale teal – when I was overcome with a rush of emotion. The bedding looked so warm, inviting and protective, I justContinue reading “In the pink?”
Why being Selfish at Sixty changed my life
It’s two years since I started this blog and in that relatively short space of time, so much has changed. I wrote it to mark my 60th birthday and to kick off my year of being ‘Selfish At Sixty’ – where each month I was going to do something lovely, new or adventurous. Where IContinue reading “Why being Selfish at Sixty changed my life”
Letting go
Today, when I was getting my coat from the rack to go on my daily exercise, I noticed that my husband’s leather jacket is still hanging in the hallway. Some of his shoes are also in the shoe rack. Most of his clothes have gone, to charity shops, homeless shelters. So why am I hangingContinue reading “Letting go”
The virtual life
So this week I’ve sung in a choir every day, sweated in two pilates classes and taught another, had afternoon tea with my cousin, chatted to all my nieces and nephews in Scotland and Yorkshire, had a game of bingo with friends, enjoyed a gin-and-tonic- fuelled girlie evening with another group of friends, and spentContinue reading “The virtual life”
Seasons of sadness
There’s a tree at the end of my back garden. A giant horse chestnut. It’s my barometer of the seasons. Each year since we moved into our house 23 years ago this month (March), I’ve looked out at it longingly, waiting desperately for the first buds to appear on the bare branches, the first signsContinue reading “Seasons of sadness”
Selfish At Sixty 