Someone I work with has started dating a guy who grew up in my village. She was surprised I didn’t know him. I claimed that being five years younger than me I probably threw stones at him in the local park.
Then again, by the time he was going to the park on his own they’d [...]
It doesn’t surprise you, I’m sure, that I utterly adore my Nain.
I see so much of her in me, her sense of fairness, her knowing smile, the stubborn independence. I only hope that I can live up to being half the woman she is.
I realise that I am over protective of her at times. I [...]
Talking about your coffee experience reminded me of my aunt’s first evening behind the bar in the hotel she worked at one summer. She’d been taught how to pull a pint of draught and get a proper head. She’d been shown how to carry the drinks properly.
Her very first mistake however was when she reached [...]
I have always had a pretty healthy interest in nature. I can remember geeking out about fish in the river and lichens and mosses at a pretty young age. It is what led me into biology in the first place. One thing I never really understood ‘though, was people’s fascination with birds.
Some friends of mine [...]
I am talking to a couple about recycling plastics. They are amazed by how little goes into their bins now that they recycle most of their waste. I ask them whether they compost their kitchen waste. I already know their answer as they were looking questioningly at our compost display earlier, but sometimes people need [...]
I shall be spending a lot of time dancing over the next weekend. This time last year I danced the soles of my feet raw. The weekend was kicked off tonight with a ceilidh. I always enjoy myself. We go in a big group
and mix up. I usually end up dancing with everyone, whether I [...]
There’s a saying told to me long ago by Mrs Jones as we were walking to her farm. It is meant to predict how wet a summer we’ll have. It goes:
If the Oak is out before the Ash we’ll only have a splash, but if the Ash is out before the Oak, we’re in for [...]
Whilst at University I worked behind a bar. It was very much a locals pub rather than a studenty one, and I worked on Sunday afternoons which were pretty quiet. I’d usually be in sole charge of the bar and lounge, whilst the landlord and his wife got quietly sozzled in the corner. There were a [...]
You may have already worked out, clever thing that you are, that I have a tendency towards being sentimental. Some would say overly sentimental on occasion, but hey, we’re not here to judge.
There are times when this exposes itself in the most peculiar places. Take this morning. I was clearing up after the removal of [...]
This evening I recalled a conversation I had with a colleague one morning a few years ago. A generation older, her daughters are about my age. She’s fab although she has a tendency to mother me on occasion. I’m not always against that. What I find interesting is the fact that I remember this particular [...]