We were shopping for Christmas present ideas for my nephews at the local market town of Bromley.  I have managed to convince hubs not to go full out with buying and sending gifts home to America, “Let’s just do the money flinging thing and send gift vouchers…” I suggested. “Fine by me,” he said. So…

In the full darkness of an Autumn night I don’t bother about turning on lights as I wend my careful way around a flat that is large enough for two and then not really big enough to swing much of a cat, or a hamster for that matter. Littering the walls, in sockets, are strategically…

The dark nights have me cleaning out closets. Not that there’s much to clean out, I’ve been quite good at maintaining empty drawers and keeping the few items of clothing I brought with me, off the floor of the fitted wardrobes. The main place I had to look out for was the top drawer of…

A reading I particularly related to this week was about Jesus setting his face to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The divine Jesus knew only too well what he was getting himself into, but I bet he still wanted to skip the in-between bits.  As a human he used every ounce of faith he could muster to…

My friend, Sandy Fowler, from the Toginet radio show Heartfilled Holidays live on Mondays at 1pm Central, invited me to do an event with her. It is called, Your Beautiful Holiday. I had so much fun doing my interview with Sandy and it would be a shame for you to miss even one word of…

Hubs and I went into Bromley today, not a long trip, not even an exciting one but I wanted to go to a Christian bookshop for Advent calendars.  They may stock more reverent ones than the stand in the mall or W.H.Smiths, I thought. The rain was steady to heavy paying me back for remarking…

I’ve been introduced to a lot of elephants recently.  Pachyderms is such a lovely word for what is now an obsolete order, almost sounds as prehistoric as the Olifant (its archaic spelling) looks. My son took me to the Dublin Zoo where I met five and was given a story about each one and how…

Today is All Hallows, yesterday was All Hallows Eve, commonly known as Halloween, another high holy day that has lost its sacred meaning amid the secular. As we walked through the graveyard to mass at 745 this evening there were nightlights on some of the gravestones.  Remembrances of real life, ordinary saints who had dwelt…

Posting and other writings go by the wayside when there are guests at home; even more so when those guests are offspring. Today has been the first full day in almost a month when I have been able to write undisturbed.  I did, for two hours, then I had to walk.  I’d run out of…

For the first time since I can remember in my decision making history I realize I have made a bumbling mistake. My judgment, carefully weighed and measured, missed its mark.  For someone who usually makes reasonably good decisions, which work themselves out over time, I am utterly perplexed at the enormity and sheer completeness of…