His voice is the first thing I hear when I walk into the shop. “Mina.” He is calling to her down a book-lined corridor to the back room where volunteers are sorting through bags of donations. “Those shoes I bought here before Christmas – remember? The size thirteens? I nearly didn't take them. Haven’t they’ve turned out … Continue reading Glass Half Full
Wrap your hand around the pen, put your pen on the paper, begin to make marks on the page, and keep on going. Lace up your trainers, walk out the door, put one foot in front of the other, and keep moving. One helps me figure; the other helps my figure. Suffice to say that … Continue reading Night Running
It was J.’s idea to go. I would have missed it, or should I say, overlooked it, as I walk past there all the time. However, whilst I like to think I take in my surroundings, it seems I’m beginning to become blind to what’s in front of me. It was a photography exhibition in … Continue reading Photograph In A Drawer
Only the good die young; it’s an idea that has been around forever, or since about 445 BC, when dying young must have been a lot more common than it is today. The origins of the saying go way back to a proverb by Herodotus, who, all those millennia ago, wrote: ‘Whom the Gods love … Continue reading Where Have All The Good People Gone?
I’m sitting in Edinburgh’s Poetry Library. I often sit here. I sometimes work here. It is modern, bright, quiet, and never too warm. Like being at home, I need an extra layer here. The soundscape moves from quiet footsteps and soft tapping keyboards to the gentle hubbub of staff dealing with visitors’ enquiries. They speak … Continue reading Even The Simplest Poem
“Could you send me the name of the wine you brought when you came for dinner the other night?” Ping. Back came an immediate response: “Canny Mind.” Gone are the days of wines being named after the vineyard, the land where the grapes are grown or the winemaker himself. Château Des Maures, Cloudy Bay and … Continue reading Canny Mind
To pursue whatever you set your mind to with the joy of a six year-old child: that’s said to be how we should seek to live. This supposes that every six-year old child embraces all of life joyfully, which they probably don’t, as personality and nature come into play. Largely, though, small children do seem … Continue reading Innocence
“I’m passionate about baking, singing, cooking, dancing, sewing, potting.” Insert whatever activity you like according to whatever cook-off or dance-off or bake-off is airing these days, and you can be sure that you’ll hear every contestant tell us they are ‘passionate’. Which is as it should be; after all, no sane person would put themselves under the spotlight … Continue reading Lukewarm
I opened an old journal the other day and out fell a dried, pressed leaf, small and red; so dry that the edges crumbled when I handled it. I studied the entry dates of the journal to find a clue as to the provenance of the leaf, perhaps I’d picked it up in Canada. I … Continue reading Nurture Your Quirks
‘Men grow cold as girls grow old, And we all lose our charms in the end, But square cut or pear shape these rocks don't lose their shape, Diamonds are a girl's best friend,’ Am I shallow? Of course I am, because I know Marilyn was right: every girl, including me, does love a diamond (or … Continue reading Aspirational Bed Linen
