I look at some of the young people and listen to them on the bus and wonder how their lives are going to pan out? They have left school and are working, maybe they’ve been working for a few years now, and they can hardly talk.  No job as receptionist or even waitress for them….

I desperately wanted to leave school at 16 along with slightly more than two thirds of my classmates. My parents would have none of it.  I had to remain on the university track for another two years and then endure three years at the university whose track I was on.  Then my obligation to my…

On our tourist excusion to London with our Oyster cards, we crossed the Millenium Bridge instead of walking underground to catch another tube. The views from the bridge are breathtaking but you have to be there to really appreciate them, the atmosphere is part of it. Our heads get in the way of the skykine,…

On Saturday it was Simon’s birthday, our zoo keeper son, and for the first time in his 24 years of life we weren’t there to celebrate with him.  Instead of moping around and reminiscing alone while he slept through the night we decided to be tourists for the day and hang out in London on…

I am woken in the middle of the night by fretting. It’s every bit as urgent as a loud bang on the front door or a ringing telephone would be. I take a practiced deep breath and rest one hand on my belly and one on my heart which is beating furiously. I continue to…

The Welfare System finally came through for hubs. When we would come to England, regardless of how long we stayed, anyone related to me benefited from the Welfare state of existence in my homeland. To a degree…I doubt any of us could go on the dole or get short listed for a council house or…

On Saturday mornings we lie in bed or at least I do, I shove hubs out at about 8 something to put the kettle on and pop the pain au chocolat in the oven.  He beetles back to bed to wrestle with the 25 tog goose down comforter.  What is a 25 tog comforter? Tog…

My school teacher daughter has returned to school, college as they refer to it here. She sorted through all the financial aid papers and came up with a grant and refers to the experience as, “Putting myself through college.  Who would have thunk it?” I laughed at her poking fun at my teaching skills. She…

I belong to a reading/critique group in America where five of my best friends gather every month to alternately discuss read books and critique writing attempts. We’ve just started an annual writing retreat in a cabin up in the mountains of New Mexico.  We go for a whole week of uninterrupted composition, walking, reading or…

When I return from walking in the afternoons I start to peel off the layers.  The flat stays warm although we have had no heat on from 10am-5pm. It is south facing so even on the grimmest days I am sure we benefit from some of the sun’s heat that forces its way through the…