Freefall.

Nothing can prepare you for the shocking moment of crystalline clarity at the tipping point, leaning out into the void and beginning a free fall at 10,000 ft. Despite my early training as a Brownie Guide, and a life-long propensity to embark on spontaneous and not always advisable ventures, ‘preparedness’ is a skill that continues...

‘I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS…‘

I wrote a few years ago (All That Glitters) about the Chinese lacquer wedding baskets that have been part of the furniture in my parents house, both in KL and the UK, for as long as I can remember. I wrote of the secret treasures to be found within their layered tiers, principally the beads...

SLOW DOWN

In December 2020 I wrote about the benefits of getting out of my ‘comfort zone’ in a blog that was perhaps a subconscious preparation for what was to follow. In it I extolled the virtues of all sorts of peculiar therapeutic practices that are difficult, painful or scary, my favourite being cold water immersion in...

Unstuffing

So, I’m going through some stuff at the moment. Big stuff, niggly little stuffs, life-changing stuff and stuff of nightmares. There’s also some amazingly wonderful stuff too. Which, though marvellous, unexpected and joyous, adds to the general weight of stuff. All that stuffing can get to feeling quite uncomfortable, like in the story of Fred...

HACKED OFF

Get a load of ME! I am self-aware enough to recognise that much of my existence these days, particularly in this post pandemic world of physical isolation from other hoomans, is lived increasingly through the demon conduits of social media platforms. Like everyone else, I sat through The Social Dilemma aghast, appalled and sickened, only...

COMFORT ZONE

Writing from my cozy spot on the big blue sofa by the flickering fire while soft furry animals snooze like farting scatter cushions across the floor, a wilting Christmas tree beams a warm twinkling aura that settles on the room like gold dust, and I muse on some of life’s less comfortable experiences. I’m not...

A Funny Thing Happened At The Beach.

I should know from experience that, as with your children, one should never assume that one’s dogs, (if you are lucky enough to have multiples) will all behave in the same way when faced with certain situations, simply by dint of belonging to the same family. Readers of my earlier blogs might remember a phenomenon known as...

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Just your average dog-walking outfit. My mother stored dressmaking and embroidery things in a large Chinese wedding basket of lacquer compartments scented with a nostalgic fragrance I’ve come to believe must be a blend of nepthalene and colonial antiquity; an aroma I still associate with snooping about where I shouldn’t. It was like a giant...

Feathered Friends

I am usually met at the garden gate by a flock of racing hens, it’s like a slo-mo scene from a Race For Life promotional ad; buxom breasts bouncing, bingo wings flapping and each of them determined to greet me first with an inquisitive peck of the boot, or a long friendly “Braaak?" Yesterday afternoon...

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE TREES

In my earliest recollection of the special relationship we have with these plant giants, I am hiding, perched like a little owl, maybe only three feet off the ground but feeling the excited thump in my chest from being completely concealed from adult view among the large leaves of a thick-set flowering tree in the...