It was an ordinary Thursday evening just after 7 p.m. And, as on every Thursday evening at that time, my choir was warming up for its two-hour rehearsal to come. All eyes were on the conductor, including mine. But one of the tenors was very slightly late and was just coming into the room. A […]

Actually, that’s not quite true. I dislike almost all presents, whatever the time of year. I don’t much like giving them, and I certainly don’t like getting them. It has been ever thus. It is wonderful to give presents to children. You generally know from their parents…

So, you have become a grandmother! Congratulations! How are you feeling about it? Excited? Apprehensive? Not ready to see yourself as a grandma? Join the club. Many of us feel that way at first. Just after my second grandson was born, I decided to write…

We don’t think about it much, but we go through our daily lives with a huge range of assumptions about what is going on around us. At least I do. And I expect you do, too. You’re in the supermarket and a mother is yelling at a little boy…

I am struggling with an old roll of scotch tape. The end has been lost, so I am trying to dig out the thin membrane of tape to allow me to get it working again. I get a small bit and then, instead of a large useable piece, I find myself with a narrow strip…

What brings us happiness? There are so many things that money will buy – a foreign cruise, a new car with all mod cons or lots of bling. You can have all that. I recently had two moments of pure joy, which cost not a cent. Each made me a very happy woman…

It was a very ordinary night. I was undertaking a very ordinary activity. I had gone into the bathroom to get my pyjamas, which were hanging on the back of the door. My mind was completely elsewhere, as minds can be when you’re doing a routine task…

In the modern world – and probably the ancient world for that matter – a lot of weight is given to worldly achievements. We want to become rich, important and famous and we want our children to accomplish these things, too…

My very friendly next-door neighbours moved back to the US. In many ways, it was not a surprise, as they were always going to be visitors in London – here because of the husband’s job. Yet it came as both a shock and a loss…

My husband had been in hospital for three days, having had a partial knee replacement operation on the morning of the first day. Everything had gone as planned, he was very happy with the surgery not to mention the kindliness and competence…