Apr 283 minTaking 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 142 minEvidence 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, 20212 minThe smugness of welliesSmug. 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, 20212 minBook review: Stories from the heartStories 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, 20213 minTen (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, 20213 minPicking up pebblesWhen my children were small, a trip to the beach always meant coming home with heavy coat pockets: pebbles and shells scraping and...
Dec 9, 20201 minI 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, 20204 minTicket 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, 20203 minAutumn Carnival CakesI 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, 20203 minForeign Kitchens: the life-changing potential of welcoming the outsiderWhen 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, 20203 minWeaver and childOne 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, 20202 minCup 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 31, 20201 minYou'll find me at the ocean - Book ReviewWhen I heard that Martha Black’s entire book tour had been 'Covid-cancelled', I was so disappointed for her. When I heard that her book...
Aug 2, 20203 minOn ditching the SatnavFiesta 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, 20202 minGive up your dizzying potentialThere are few things I love more than buying art and writing materials: vibrant inks, chunky cartridge paper, pencils, shiny new...
Jun 22, 20203 minLa 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, 20203 minA six-year-old's lesson in hyphenation and griefMum 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, 20202 minQuiet GardenI’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...
Nov 22, 20192 minHow to failThey’ve put a spin on it. Made it sound like a good thing. You learn so much more from your failure than from your success. It’s what...
Jul 17, 20192 minswimming in the middle laneSome years ago a friend wrote to me. Previously she had dropped her faith like a heavy coat in summer, finding it uncomfortable,...