Attic finds - an old painting and its memories
(Aka: Provence part one) I painted this picture many many years ago, sometime in the months after I first lived in southern France and,...
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- May 31
- 3 min
Things that are hard to talk about
Some things are hard to talk about. Like lichen. I mean, I love it, but how exactly do you say it? Do you ‘like liken’ or ‘itch for...
- Apr 28
- 3 min
Taking the plunge
Things a cold water swim can teach you about life I felt it in my toes first. The cold slipway underneath my bare feet showed no mercy...
- Jan 14
- 2 min
Evidence or experience?
I hesitated. I’d planned to do a walk. All day, rain had clattered at the windows but now the sun had burst through and I had 40 minutes...
- Nov 9, 2021
- 2 min
The smugness of wellies
Smug. That’s what I was. The water swirled and fizzed around my feet but I was completely dry. While others played ‘chicken’, running for...
- Jun 22, 2021
- 2 min
Book review: Stories from the heart
Stories from the heart for older generations by Olusola Sophia Anyanwu I have always loved short stories – the way you can dip in and out...
- Apr 1, 2021
- 3 min
Ten (and a bit) things I’m learning from Walk for Water:
A few reflections as we amble contentedly towards the end of our 10,000 steps a day Walk for Water challenge*: 1) It’s actually pretty...
- Feb 3, 2021
- 3 min
Picking up pebbles
When my children were small, a trip to the beach always meant coming home with heavy coat pockets: pebbles and shells scraping and...
- Dec 9, 2020
- 1 min
I was a stranger...
There’s a woman waiting in the doorway of the Amnesty bookshop. At first I think she’s queuing so, obediently, I stand myself and my son...
- Nov 27, 2020
- 4 min
Ticket to Avignon
‘Avignon, aller-retour’ my friend pronounced clearly as we got on the bus. She took her ticket and moved on. My turn. ‘Le même, s’il vous...
- Nov 11, 2020
- 3 min
Autumn Carnival Cakes
I have wanted to make Frittelle di Carnevale, or at least to eat them again, ever since a brisk bright February morning in Venice nearly...
- Oct 23, 2020
- 3 min
Foreign Kitchens: the life-changing potential of welcoming the outsider
When people ask me where my love of language came from I say it all began in foreign kitchens. One in particular. In a pretty white...
- Oct 14, 2020
- 3 min
Weaver and child
One of the first linocuts I ever made, dabbling in a college art course way back in my twenties, was this African weaver and her baby. I...
- Sep 2, 2020
- 2 min
Cup of tea?
If I had the chance again, I maybe would have said one more thing. Five years ago, I had mere days to write a eulogy, to summarise a...
- Aug 2, 2020
- 3 min
On ditching the Satnav
Fiesta at Els Àngels (2nd August 2015) It was the satnav - or rather our disdain for it - that took us to Els Àngels. Scoffing at its...
- Jul 14, 2020
- 2 min
Give up your dizzying potential
There are few things I love more than buying art and writing materials: vibrant inks, chunky cartridge paper, pencils, shiny new...
- Jun 22, 2020
- 3 min
La Mer - Charles or Bobby?
The sea was Mediterranean aqua this weekend, blatantly masquerading as somewhere far more exotic than the south coast of England. They...
- May 13, 2020
- 3 min
A six-year-old's lesson in hyphenation and grief
Mum and the roundabout Standing in the British Library bookshop, a year after my mother died, I had a nostalgia rush so strong I could...
- Apr 23, 2020
- 2 min
Quiet Garden
I’m sitting with a memory. A different time, a different season. It was one of those gifts of an empty calendar day that can sometimes...