I have had three personal trainers in the past five years – all young, all men and all so lean you would use a vat of olive oil should you ever need to fry them.
I’ve liked them all, and I’ve learnt different things from each. Continue reading “My ideal personal trainer” →
I’m a writer. I write books. I write for newspapers. I write for the web. I’m a writer. I am – honestly.
Just look in my loft. There are boxes packed with all the pages I have written. Continue reading “There is nothing as hard as writing” →
I recently watched Who Does She Think She Is? – an award-winning film by Pamela T Boll about motherhood and creativity.
I found the film a little disappointing because so much of it was about the politics and practicalities around women as artists. These are important issues for sure, but they aren’t the questions that I’m asking at the moment. Continue reading “How has being a mother affected my creativity?” →
Last week I had the following conversation with a friend.
Friend: Are you coming on the coach-trip to Blackpool?
Me: No. I didn’t fancy it with Arch. He hates being strapped in a seat. Making him sit still for three hours there and three hours back is something I’d rather avoid. Continue reading “If adults are different why should children be the same?” →
I went up to my study last week and screamed. For reasons, that perhaps only a five-year-old can understand, Arch had pulled every one of my books from my shelves and hurled them in a spine-bent, cover-ripped pile on the floor. Continue reading “If I can’t remember it, is it still a part of me?” →
Sometimes the best things are those that we stumble upon.
It was never part of my plan to play the organ for funerals, but it just so happened that I became a church organist because I could play the piano and there was a vacancy on the organ stool. Continue reading “Why I love funerals” →
You know that feeling of relief around 21 December, when from now on, the evenings are going to get lighter? Today I have a similar feeling as the nights start to draw in. Continue reading “The days are getting shorter – hooray for the summer solstice” →
There I was making all the preparations for Arch’s fifth birthday – cake (tick), presents (tick), balloons (tick), card (tick).
“Now darling,” I said. “There’s something you need to learn and it’s very important. Continue reading “Arch says “thank you” – and makes me sad” →
For me, there have been few surprises about motherhood. There have been some, for sure, but in general Arch, who is now almost five, has brought me the awe, exhaustion, love, fun and general all-round blissedoutness I had always anticipated. Continue reading “Having a baby has made me want a baby even more” →
Why is a 5km run known as a fun run? That is a question I used to ask myself as I sweated it out on the treadmill – panting, smelly and desperate to sit down after a mere 3km’s interval training.
A 5km run is said to be for families and beginners. But despite years of working out at the gym, I would feel defeated after running little more than half that distance. “How do other people do it?” I wondered. “I can’t carry on any more…” Continue reading “My first “fun run” in Kings Heath Park – how I did it” →