What a year it’s been for women. And NOT in a good way. We’ve had to watch a smart, capable woman being bullied by, frankly, a total arse of a man for months. Remember those TV debates with Trump lurking oddly behind Clinton like a mad orange stalker, or blurting out that she was a …
Sponsored post Now that Child One and Child Two are more of a peripatetic presence at home, I spend a lot of time fretting over the cats instead – I suppose I have a space for worrying in my head, which just gets filled by the nearest dependents. If they’re cute, furry, and a bit …
Sponsored post There’s a rather lovely Christmas campaign from Sainsbury’s this year all about spending time with family, which I heartily approve of, or will do until we all fall out (probably around 10am on the first day when we are all safely gathered in). Although, of course, it’s a commercial from a company that …
I’ve been thinking a lot about competition, or competitiveness, of late. This is partly because I’ve embraced the inevitable and joined a bridge club, and partly because our beloved cat, Blackjack, keeps getting into fearsome fights. You might remember that Blackjack had big trouble a while ago when a neighbourhood bully decided to sink a …
Sponsored post Terrific excitement in the post today as I opened a humble jiffy bag, only to discover this cornucopia of Cadbury’s delights inside: I do love the elves at Cadbury’s, especially as they are working extra hard this year as Cadvent has just been launched. Cadvent is a unique Cadbury’s twist on Advent …
It’s all been going a bit pear-shaped since the weekend when Something Bad happened to our local water main and the taps dried up. Though the supply got going again by nightfall, we had a very brief taste of how difficult life must be for the millions of people who don’t have access to running …
What a joy to catch up, finally, with the film Brooklyn. Lots of people had told me it was brilliant, and I actually bought the DVD a while ago, but for some reason (life) we hadn’t got round to it …. last night its moment came. I was quite confused for a while as I’d …
We went to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden last week and had a gorgeous time that for me, naughtily, had very little to do with what was on stage. The show we were seeing was Chroma by Wayne McGregor, with music from the White Stripes. Wayne McGregor has been resident choreographer of the ROH …
Had a terrifying dream last night that somehow I had ended up sharing a uni flat with Child Two, who is going to start her degree next autumn. How on earth this ever seemed like a good idea, I don’t know, but it rapidly proved to be a Bad Move for all kinds of reasons. …
One of those eeeek moments at the weekend when we found ourselves accidentally watching a gang-rape-and-murder movie, when all we’d really wanted was a nice cuddly feelgood film. You know how it is, someone’s watched one of the suggestions, another isn’t showing at the right time, and before you know it a family is being …