I wrote a while ago about being 'that parent'. I'm sure you know what I mean. Think back to the days when you didn't have snot on your top, crayons in your handbag and a small child welded to your shin. The heady days when you used to go out to restaurants on the spur of the moment, when you used to be able to take handluggage for a week's beach holiday and you got to go to the loo on your own (and lock the door!) I have clear memories of … [Read more...]
Autumn leaves are falling down
It's peculiar: you leave the country for a week and you miss the seasons changing. Or rather you miss the leaves turning. We got back from Kefalonia last week to find that Britain was expecting a heatwave: it got as warm in our back garden in the last few days as it had been by the pool in the Greek Islands! Which is why The Girls could be found painting in their underwear in the back garden. Painting the leaves falling from the trees. I ask … [Read more...]
How Colin Jackson became my Nearest and Dearest
How not to act when attending a Press Conference with National Media Coverage: 1. Nearly trip up one of the Paralympic Champion's children 2. Walk into a room filled with professional looking people saying "Oh I'm just here for Colin Jackson" 3. Proclaim to a casually-at-ease pair of women "Oh my God, you are THE Susanna and THE Jen. Oh My God, you are BritMums". Without first swallowing the mouthful of cake. 4. Drink two cups of … [Read more...]
Bakestone Baked Goods
Among the many weaknesses I have is a fondness for carbohydrates. I'd like to take this opportunity to lay the blame squarely at my parents' door. If they hadn't spent my formative years dragging me across the globe to exciting and interesting places, I'm sure I'd have gotten over my utter devotion to the sliced white loaf years ago. I can't help it. I get ribbed by friends, all of whom follow the acknowledged advice that you should give your … [Read more...]
Orange is the only colour
I think that giving a prompt like 'colour' and then casually saying after it 'just one' is mean. Because a colour immediately springs to mind. And another one, a third hot on it's heels. "That's OK," you say to yourself "I'll do them both." Except you read the small print which clearly states 'only one.' Bugger. So this evening, having gone through almost every chart on the Farrow and Ball colour chart, which features such intriguing … [Read more...]
Dear Gatwick Airport
Dear Gatwick Airport, I know that you have spent and are spending a lot of money upgrading the airport and I thought you'd appreciate feedback after my recent trip to Kefalonia. I imagine you will also appreciate the fact that I have taken a few days to get round to writing this since the first draft in my head on the way home from the airport in our car was a little....blunt. Firstly I'd like to commend you. Frequently when travelling we … [Read more...]
Homeward bound
I wrote recently for another Gallery prompt that the best thing about travelling was the coming home: I love to see Canary Wharf in the distance and know that I will soon be on my front doorstep. It's a strange thing to grow up overseas. Not just overseas, but travelling, so that every three years you have a new home, a new school, a new social life, a new set of friends. My background meant that I was a good nanny: quick to settle in, get the … [Read more...]
