Today I have been painting again. I had been feeling that perhaps I might not ever want to paint again, or at least, might not ever find joy in it again. A daunting prospect, given it’s such a huge part of who I am. I was afraid that it was another lost piece, gone forever.…Read more »

I am writing this at 2.01am on a foggy, starless Mother’s Day morn. Well, it was 1am precisely one minute ago, but the clocks have jumped forward and an hour of my day is lost already, just like that. I am listening to Alexandre Desplat. I have his haunting “Lily’s Theme” (from Harry Potter, in…Read more »

I can feel Spring in my bones. Standing at my back door in the sunshine, sheltering from the wind, and peering at the Angel of the North way off in the distance that will soon to be obscured by the leafy green of all the trees in between, I can almost feel the sap rising…Read more »

I’m going to admit right now, I’m a bit of a butter snob. Even before the days of feeling at odds with plastic packaging, and trying to limit the things we buy in plastic, I’ve preferred a good, organic, salted butter over a tub of margarine. There really is nothing better than a piece of…Read more »

I imagine your social media was as full of #internationalwomensday posts on Friday as mine was. Memes and inspirational quotes in great abundance on my Facebook news feed. I spent some of Friday out in nature, with some wonderful women, under flowering Blackthorn trees, their petals beneath our feet as we walked. This tree’s determination…Read more »

If it’s not too personal a question to ask, what’s under your kitchen sink? If it’s anything like mine, probably dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, dishcloths by the dozen, an ancient sink plunger maybe? A bottle of Brasso that, like me, you’ve maybe used twice, a million years ago? (Do I even own anything made…Read more »