Tara Westover in her award winning memoir Educated outlines her journey out of a harrowing childhood in the mountains of Idaho. Now 35, she first set foot in a classroom at age 17 and had her Cambridge University PhD 10 years later! A formidable intellect. The overweening power of a bipolar deeply religious father distorted her understanding of most things and most people – including herself. His concepts of truth were used to dehumanize her and others outside his self-selected […]

I had big plans for 2020! I love going on holiday and my priority for 2020 was to do as much travelling as possible before my 30th Birthday. I was completely unaware that come March, my perspectives would change. As an NHS employee, I faced possible re-deployment and I felt anxious about passing Covid-19 onto my vulnerable parents. I knew I had to be sensible and live apart from my parents during the peak of the virus but the thought […]

Well folks, here I am again, the lady who can do all things! Now, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I must say that I am more accomplished, with a lot more things, than I was at the start of the Pandemic. My husband, God Bless Him, looks at me in a different light now and sees me as the answer to most of his needs. Hair cutting, not a problem! Supplying him and the family with tasty […]

As lockdown reduces, I suddenly realise it is now three months since I wore any of my work suits. I am now semi retired, but this was not how I imagined my first year of retirement. However, although it has meant the absence of planned visits to family in UK and Australia and getting used to new technology and remote meetings, I know I have so much to be thankful for: good health, the time to enjoy nature and all […]

There are in fact very few of the world’s animals that have ever been domesticated, and those that have all share a set of characteristics. They are easy to feed; grow at a reasonable rate; breed in captivity; aren’t too bad tempered; don’t panic at the slightest threat; and are socially tolerant of each other. This would rule out the great majority of animals. Elephants grow very slowly; hippos are extremely aggressive; pandas don’t breed easily and only eat bamboo, […]

The tragic, unacceptable circumstances which led to the death of George Floyd and the worldwide condemnation which followed, has dominated news broadcasts over the past two weeks. Black communities in England, Belgium and other European countries which have an imperial past, have expressed their disapproval of statues which commemorate the lives of individuals who were involved in the lucrative exploitation of African people who were shipped to the Caribbean islands and southern states of the USA to work as slaves. […]

I am minuscule, so tiny I cannot be seen by the naked eye. Almost invisible. My beauty is as bewitching as my heart is malevolent. Flaunting my crown, I strut back and forth across this world, subverting order, destroying commerce, and upturning civilisation. No place is too remote. No one is safe. I feed on weaknesses. My proper title is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Don’t you ever forget my name, for I am a remorseless killer. And me? […]

Reboot. An action that I usually associate with my computer. Due to the frequent use of Zoom, I have been restarting my desktop more often to guarantee that it will run smoothly and reliably while hosting a meeting. To reboot, I must close all the running programs on the computer, and then reopen them when the restart is finished. Rebooting takes extra time, but it is worth it. At the end of the process I have a more efficient device […]

We’ve all got the message now, social distancing is important and we need to stay 2 metres apart. But what is 2 m? Well it’s about 6 feet, 72 inchs, 0.009 furlongs or even 1 fathom. So how do we know when we’re at the right distance. This is much harder than you might think and it is why we use comparisons. How often do you hear on the news that something is the length of 2 football pitches, or […]

Everyone loves spring, leaves unfolding, seeds sprouting, birds singing and busily building nests. Spring always arrives, we appreciate and enjoy it or it passes us by, because we are so busy, travelling here and there, with little time to notice anything or stop to look. This year it’s different. We garden, dig, plant and sow and, like children, watch for new growth, for a mist of green. Every day we take a walk along the Comber Greenway, an old railway […]