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 →

I was talking to my Osteopath recently and she spoke of how she spent her days during the pandemic's lockdown. She walked barefoot on the grass and swam in the sea every day, read stacks and stacks of books, ate when she felt hungry rather than according to a meal time schedule, was not governed... Continue Reading →

On my fiction blog, we've a feature on reading our way around the UK, but seeing that Goodreads published a reading across the USA list, I thought I'd see how far I'd gotten to date. I was surprised to see that only 8 states remain unticked off, although I don't know what it says that... Continue Reading →

I really didn't think I'd revisit this, but doing one is surprisingly cathartic 🙂 Thanks, as ever, are due to the lovely Kari at A Grace Full Life for inspiring this list. On now with an A-Z indulgence of my grumpy old woman side... Adequate - despite the dictionary meaning of the word as sufficient,... Continue Reading →

I've first hand knowledge that the responsibilities, stresses and strains of elder care are no joke, nevertheless I'd like to share with you a couple of lighter memories from my experience. My father had a pacemaker which involved regular check-ups. What turned out to be the final check-up was when his dementia was relatively advanced... Continue Reading →