Tavelling and walking around London without children I find I have become every young person’s mother. I smile, I nod, I pass a comment if we are sitting somewhere, about a book they may be reading, or the boots they are wearing, the weather, or, in one young lady’s case, the fact she wasn’t plugged…

Looking outside this morning I saw a clear sky; bright sunshine leaned against my windows showing up every smear from not cleaning with vinegar and newspaper.  My face glowed as I dried my hair in a pool of warmth.  The frost had left the grass, there were yellow chaffinches flying in the bare branches of…

My walk today took me through ancient woodlands. Every bit as historical as Kew gardens and completely free. One of the park entrances is close to the flat and all I have to do is open a gate, fasten it behind me and the streets of London fade. I have been walking along the gravelly…

Today is Pearl Harbour Day. I asked hubs if he was going to get upset when no-one wished him happy Pearl Harbour Day and he laughed. Probably this is not a day widely known about or celebrated in England and more than likely half the population of America doesn’t know about it! However, there will…

Hubs and I decided we needed a break.  What from we don’t quite know.  Except for the weather this rather reminds me of the year I spent in Spain.  Every day is a holiday! Twenty some odd years later we are not so footloose and fancy free but a whole lot further away even if…

The folks living in the same house my daughter shares asked if  she can cook? I wonder why since she really doesn’t need to be able to cook as her weekly rent includes full board. “There are times when I need something for lunch, or dinner isn’t being made because the family is going out…”…

The Bromley council has decided to green up its act. A few weeks ago we were sent notices through our letterboxes about food waste with ideas on alternative ways to deal with it other than just throwing it away. Hard on the heels of this brightly coloured ideas pamphlet came a two gallon plastic caddie…

At the bottom of the road where we live we passed parents on their way down the hill with their two year old daughter snuggled securely in her pushchair. Mum was at the helm behind her and Dad was walking alongside.  They were chatting, as young married couples do. The Northerly wind was taking all…

Today I saw the cygnet again.  In Danny Kaye’s famous song about an ugly duckling it is referred to as a “he” so I will liberally refer to my cygnet as a he too to save a battle in pronouns. The first time I saw him, in the summer, he was about as big as…

On the way home from the seaside the day before Thanksgiving, after we had watched our dancer daughter, Malia, act so well she had reduced herself and an audience member sitting next to me, to tears, while keeping a flawless American accent throughout her monologue, we got lost! We had taken her to a small…