A ‘Dam Fine Weekend

The alarm rudely shakes me from my slumber: 2.30am. I groan and roll over, noticing the bed is empty. Andy’s not only up, he’s showered, dressed and sitting by the front door next to his suitcase. Someone’s excited for our Amsterdam city break….An hour later and we’re on the road, hurtling towards Gatwick and a […]

I’m a guest on Sip and Shine Podcast

Some weeks ago an email randomly popped into my inbox from a girl called Carrie, saying she was a podcaster interested in interviewing writers and bloggers for her Society Lounge (Sip and Shine) podcast, she really liked my blog (having discovered it via Twitter) and would I be up for an interview? Of course I […]

We’re All Broken

You are the star in the theatre production of your life; whether you’re the extrovert lead in a high-octane, all-singing all-dancing performance, a stand-up comedian using humour as your armour or an autonomous one-man show: it’s your gig. How you live it is entirely up to you.For the most part, we get up and at […]

Go For Your Smears, My Dears!

“There are different types of cells: healthy ones, slightly ugly ones…..and then there are the really dodgy-looking kind. As you have stage 3 pre-cancer, well…..yours are the type you’d cross the road to avoid…..”Oh. Rightio.My GP carried on talking, but, having dropped the C-bomb, all the other words she was saying seemed to be dissolving […]

Cheeky Breeders

photo credit The Peaky Blinders may have terrorised Birmingham and beyond in the 1920s, but these days there’s a current gangster threat much closer to home: The Cheeky Breeders. photo credit This gaggle of bottle-toting bandits operates far and wide, a network comprised of minacious mothers with an overblown sense of pride and entitlement at […]

Thou Shalt Not Take Shit

I’m no religious nut, but indulge me in a moment’s imaginative thinking here, if you will. When God/Allah/Will o’ the Wisp/(insert name of your chosen deity here) was sitting on a cloud, idly coming up with his “commandments” during a quiet moment when he wasn’t inventing a flesh-eating spider or unfairly distributing the world’s drinking […]

Behind The Smile….by Anon (A Non-Mother, that is)

There are two halves to most women’s lives, clearly divided: BC (Before Children) and AD (After Delivery). As was the case with Jesus (should you be religiously inclined), welcoming a child into your life causes time to start all over again. Such is the significance. For most, as soon as that second faint blue line […]

Life’s A Catwalk, Baby!

   In the impressionable early years of my life my biggest role model, as is the case for most young girls, was my mother. During those few short years when she was actually taller than me (only until I was about 6 you understand – she’s tiny!), I would crane my neck upwards to admire […]

Let It Go

When the long-awaited day finally comes for you to stand before your beaming congregation of family and friends, feeling lighter than air, wearing the most expensive dress you’ll ever own and full of hope and optimism for the future, it’s easy to repeat those solemn vows. The hard part, as I was to discover, is […]

Buy Less, Do More

Having travelled to some far-flung places and met people from all walks of life, I’d say that some of the happiest, most grounded people I’ve ever met were the ones who had the least ‘stuff.’  helping at a school in Vietnam Now don’t get me wrong, I like nice things. Who doesn’t? I’m like a […]