I have been really fortunate this year in that many of my presents for Christmas, birthdays etc were actually subscriptions or tickets. As I get older, I find I need less and less stuff, so gifts that are experiences or, like magazines, are treats that I would usually get myself with spare cash make great gifts. The Simple Things is one of my favourite magazines. … Continue reading Magazine Monday: The Simple Things January 2020
2019 was crap. Can I just say that straight out: from beginning to end I’m not sure I could string together more than 3 weeks when I wasn’t stressed, sad, low or simply burdened. I’ve taken over a month off: Christmas has that effect on me, between the business of life and the extra work load, I find December escapes from me if I’m not … Continue reading 2020: New Year, New Intention and a New Feature: Magazine Monday. Breathe Issue 26
My daughter is in Year 13. In the UK that means she is working hard (I hope) for her A levels, which she will take next May. She has homework, mock mock tests in the next couple of weeks, mocks after Christmas, a dislike of working at revision, a desire to get decent grades so she can go to the University of her choice and … Continue reading Elastic Band or Diamond? Both have their breaking point.
I was born in 1968, which means when Jane Fonda hit the news with her revolutionary aerobics exercise I was about 14. At that age I was into sci fi (still am, but not in quite as big a way) and the idea of moving to music was anathema. I hadn’t even had a proper dance with a boy, so I hadn’t got fond memories … Continue reading Feel the burn? Then you’ve gone too far. Get fit for hygge in a sensible way.
Virginia Wolf wrote in the early years of the 20th Century that “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.” She was talking about the people who couldn’t afford any food, but the principles apply even to those with plenty of food. Sometimes the issue isn’t the quantity of food, but the quality. A diet rich in added sugar … Continue reading Virginia Wolf had it right…. food is a fundamental for a good life.
I have been quiet, haven’t I? I think my work has been quite demanding recently: I’ve had a sort of promotion, plus we have more work coming in to the office which leads to more typing which leads to more work…. I’m complaining again. It’s a nasty habit that I seem to have got into recently. I know life isn’t all sweetness and light, I … Continue reading November: Mist, grey cloud and dark nights moving in. Sleep beckons.
What’s the weather like with you? Occasionally we get a shot of sunshine, or a day that seems to hint at an end to winter. If you believe in Old Wives’ Tales, according to the folklore connected to 2nd February we are in for another blast of winter before it finishes (that’s the superstition that says if you can see a shadow on 2nd February, … Continue reading February Meh.
It’s Blue Monday again! Perhaps it’s a sign of advanced age, but it doesn’t seem like a year since last Blue Monday…. I’m at my desk writing a new book, so I have little time for writing a new blog post, but I read one I’d done on Blue Monday two years ago and the advice is still the same. Here’s the body of that … Continue reading Blue Monday again?! So Soon?
