A busy week in Edinburgh
I won’t be writing much this week. Summer’s cultural season is at full tilt (despite the inclement weather), so I’ll mostly be on the road. In case you’d like to get on board with some of Edinburgh’s exciting offering, here’s a selection of activities to try: <br> Leith Festival This gem runs all week, with … Continue reading
Gertrude Bell
I was in the library the other day. I found myself wandering aimlessly among history, politics and travel sections partly in research mode, but also craving a little inspiration. And in my meandering I discovered Gertrude Bell, an enigmatic and wandering adventuress. A contemporary of TE Lawrence (as in ‘of Arabia’) she is, by turns, … Continue reading
The Book of Awesome
Do you ever have these people who are on the fringes of your life – acquaintances, maybe, or folk in your work network – who you think are just totally awesome? The sort of people who light up rooms and change the world and smile with their eyes. You’re not really close, but everything you … Continue reading
Inherit
Inheritance. A funny thing. Did I expect to inherit my Aunt Karen’s laugh? Or my Bonmama’s index finger? Can I lament the kink in my eyebrow, which mirrors my mom’s, even when it’s a mother to tweeze? People write books about inheritance, but they always mean money or titles or yachts. Which is sort of … Continue reading
A Minty May Treat
May is one of the very, very best months. There is sunshine and there are flowers and barbeques and a bounty of good, juicy wild foods for foraging. One of the first welcome friends I find in the hedgerow (after the prolific wild garlic) is mint, in all her varieties. Foraging is not a skill … Continue reading
Hello, Monday
It’s a dreary Monday morning. It hasn’t rained for one day out of the last, I don’t know, fifteen? I’ve lost count. A blustery haar is rolling across the city and I am loath to separate myself from my pjs. Haar: an excellent word. Imagine outside looks deeply foggy. Imagine that fog is actually lowlevel … Continue reading
Originally posted on Morning, and Other Stories.:
Sometimes I think I am a whacking great coward. I haven’t done the scary things – sent poems to be published, read them aloud, re-established a reading group, for ages. In fact the last thing I made I was proud of was a string of bunting made of…
Platters of wholesome goodness
It is a bright, stormy day and my head is full of heavy things. And while I want to believe being all grown-up, facing these things head on, and standing up for what I believe in will always turn out for the best, I need a mini-hiatus. The kind made of toasted crumpets and fuzzy … Continue reading
Oxford
We spent the last four days (and Ollie‘s first 1069 miles) driving to and then around Oxfordshire. It was very beautiful, which I expected. And quite posh and snobby, which I also expected. But after a couple of days I also found lots of other, quirkier things that make me think I might really like … Continue reading
The Perfect Bagel
I cannot profess to have made the perfect bagel. Not yet, anyway. But these were pretty damn fine if I do say so myself. Making them from scratch was easier than I expected and the results, while imperfect, have made every store bought bagel seem a pale reflection. Honestly. They taste like nothing else. So … Continue reading
Que Sera Sara? 