The headline that struck me this morning at 6 am was that 1 in 9 UK children are reported to be disabled, and the politicians are worried. A...

Thank God for the chink of light that came from the International Court of Justice yesterday. Perhaps it’s the beginning of the end of the l...

 

Please will you watch the prize-winning poet Fiona Benson read one of her poems on Youtube? It's here

I expect you would prefer to arrive at my blog and find a cheery post about everyday life at Hepworth Towers and the harmless humorous skirm...

Last year I was given a five year diary/journal with a difference. On each day you are asked a question. Yesterday’s was ‘Do you prefer the ...

What should I write on this blog? That I am glad that there is at least one country - South Africa - that will not only condemn Israel for i...

I like Meryl Streep. I liked her in Out of Africa  and I liked her in Little Women. So I hope it’s clear - I like Meryl Streep. And I love N...

You know I said I'd been reading the beginnings of my novels? Well...I got sucked into Zuzu's Petal s and I have just finished read...

I’ve just listened to a fascinating edition of Open Book on BBC iPlayer about the beginnings and endings in fiction.  Three writers were cho...

Dave said yesterday that he hates the week between Christmas and New Year because it feels like a week of Sundays.  I love it because it’s t...

Well friends, I finished the painting. It’s not perfect, and there may be some tweaking, but it’s 95% done. How are you doing this week? Th...

Excerpt from an email I wrote to Het this morning: I am in a weird mental state. I feel I have nothing to say to anyone apart from Dave.  I ...

Do you ever come home from spending time with a good friend and feel you’ve been a boring conversationalist with not much of interest to say...

Sitting in bed at 6.41 am with a box of tissues on the bedside table, which has rapidly diminishing contents.  My current painting is provin...

Yesterday’s letter to our Tory MP:  

I was sitting in bed writing the post below and Dave walked in before I had finished and told me two dreadful snatches of news he’d heard on...