It wasn’t until I watched Call the Midwife that I realized the National Health (NHS), a social service that has been a part of my life since I can remember, was still dealing with teething problems when I was born. It was brand new for my parents. My grandparents had raised their children without it….

I’ve been grooming and bathing horses for a year now and this one was in desperate need of a good rub-a-dub scrub. While I enjoy my new skill there have been a few times when the horse I’ve been washing has ‘sat-back’ and I’ve stepped aside to watch the situation abate. No-one wants to be…

Each morning when I write my journal I address it to God. It’s a stream of consciousness effort, limited to one page of my ruled exercise book and always ends with the same set of words, a mantra of sorts: “I love you above all things, keep me always safe and close to you.  Thank…

I don’t know about you Daughts, but on December 31st I always ask myself the same question, “Where did the year go?” I flip through my diaries and make a note of the highlights just to prove to myself that I didn’t spend it being a couch potato or hanging out a tad too long…

Prayers: For most of us they are cries for help. World-wide. Just look at the prayer lists in any given church, upwards of 40 or more people each prayed for, probably on a daily basis, by loved ones, prayer-chains and whole religious communities, wanting God to fix things! Our liturgical service gives over a whole…

On re-reading last year’s letter I had to open with the prophetic words I ended with: “We are ready to let the dust settle and become by-standers. May you be blessed this season with appreciation for the simple things in 2020.” We’ve put aside the life that ‘used to be’ and adapted to a confusing,…

Cats are nappers.  My two boys sleep most of the day and I would even venture to say, they are Masters of Repose. No matter how comfortable I think I am in my warm, soft and cozy bed, lounging with Hubs, sipping my coffee, chatting and enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning, I look in on…

Our bird keeping son, Simon, bought a barn. It came in a kit with everything included –  rather like an IKEA delivery only with more technical instructions – I couldn’t make head nor tail of the blueprints, I didn’t need to because I wasn’t the one putting it together. Hubs and I, looking for any…

Just thought this pretty tactless flyer that plopped into my mailbox today warranted a comment. Touting Black Friday, …which is going to be different this year with the CDC recommending us to refrain from large gatherings… it was a simple mailer bursting with discounts… Before the Friday after Thanksgiving became the traditional day when red…

I absolutely do not wish to compare myself to the great Spanish Mystic,  St John of the Cross. A Carmelite friar and priest (1542-1591). No way me!  But I do every so often refer to my awakenings, in the middle of the night full of despair and dread, as my dark nights of the soul….