Y'all know I love everything about Christmas - and music is a big part of that. I grew up with Christmas music rather than carols - mostly Rat Pack, 'cos that's what my parents liked. But I've come to love the more traditional stuff, and to abhor British favourites like Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody, Wing's... Continue Reading →

My family enjoyed an old Hollywood musical and, as we spent most of our Christmases growing up in warmer climes, we were particularly drawn to White Christmas, believing it to be how Christmas was meant to be - snow, cozy jumpers, open fires, log cabins, and pine trees. While we did have the traditional fare... Continue Reading →

This year has been a bit tricky, such that I considered skipping over my (now regular) Thanksgiving post as a result. But the reason I decided it was important to continue with it forms the first item on my list.... During a casual conversation with a coach friend, upon hearing things were tricky, she asked... Continue Reading →

My trusty workhorse desktop PC died last Friday morning... It's given me multiple years of good service, but has been slowing down in the past few months. I've considered whether it was time to replace it but - you know what it's like - it's a faff, an upheaval, a downright PITA in fact. Also... Continue Reading →

In 2016, I decided that as a self-proclaimed reader, it was time I celebrated my favourite season with Christmassy books and not just Christmassy films. That little experiment worked so well, I've continued it year-upon-year. In 2019, I expanded the experiment to include wintry reads - books which take place in the darker months of... Continue Reading →

Twelve years ago, when my father was diagnosed with two forms of dementia, my mother decided he would be cared for at home. But my Dad was a big man - 6' 4" and broad of build - while my mother is only 5' 2", so I moved in to help with his care. I... Continue Reading →

Ridden in a cable car?I rode the cable car from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in NYC to have dinner with work friends, back when I travelled down the east coast of America some 40 years ago. Despite being so close to 24-hour-on-the-go Manhattan, Roosevelt Island was such an oasis of calm that the experience has stayed with... Continue Reading →

So many books, so little time. Nevertheless, we can still eke out ways to talk about them... can't we? 🙂 What's your favourite book from childhood?The availability of classic children's books was decidedly limited during my early years, so it's pretty much Enid Blyton. I'm going to cheat a bit and nominate a series called... Continue Reading →

... or let's talk about podcasts 🙂 I don't tend to cast around for things to do, or things to listen to while I do other things, but I did suggest to Himself that he listen to podcasts during the day while he drives. Much to my surprise, he's taken to them like the metaphorical... Continue Reading →

While "home" at the time was Bangladesh, where my father was working, we children were at boarding school in the UK. We had an agreement with my parents that they would not book us on two particular airlines: Aeroflot (because of their dire safety record) and Bangladesh Biman (because even their own nationals were decidedly... Continue Reading →