Living In Hope – facing a different future

I have an aversion to camping which stems back to my time in the Scouts. A series of flooded tents and deflating air beds combined with angular hips that press …

Surviving the storm – an allegory Read More

This is a tricky question. The columnist India Knight commented that she found the most frustrating thing about Christmas is the way that everyone else in her family stops being …

Disabled, or just a lazy biped? Read More

I went to my first ‘muscle cafe’ the other day – a singular name for what was a gathering of muscular dystrophy sufferers for whom muscles are a distant memory! …

I am not alone Read More

I used to work with a Health & Safety manager with a wry sense of humour. When I accused him of being a ‘glass half-empty’ sort of person he replied …

Glass half-full Read More

Today I mowed the lawn for the last time. I don’t know if this year has been unusual in the West Country but the grass has grown relentlessly since Spring. …

The last cut Read More

Friends visiting for the weekend commented “It was amazing – within five minutes of arriving people had introduced themselves, offered us something to eat and drink and given us a …

Community matters Read More

Today I cried. I cried as I tried, and failed, to erect the rotary washing line in the garden. I no longer have the strength in my arms nor the …

Today I cried Read More

(Warning: this blog contains strong Christian content) It was an overcast day in 2010 and looking up I saw an elderly couple walking towards me along the canal bank. The …

Hope for sale Read More

We have become sheep farmers. Well, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but we have joined a merry band of locals that look after the community flock of …

Channelling my inner #33 Read More

One of my favourite cartoons is by Birkett, which first appeared in Punch magazine. It shows a group of Daleks, stymied by a flight of steps, lamenting its impact on …

Sympathising with Daleks Read More