Did you know it’s only 9 weeks until Christmas? When I heard this on the radio the other day I was surprised, but then this year has been so strange that maybe I should have been more surprised if Christmas had already gone! We can guess that Christmas 2020 will be very different. There was a radio story that farmers were putting turkeys on diets as they expected smaller birds would be needed with the reduced numbers at family gatherings. […]
‘What was the most important thing I’d done?’ Tricky question that. I was still pondering David’s query as I drove away from the New Quays after lunch. Somehow our conversation had meandered onto our, now redundant, Linkedin profiles and the plethora of notifications about professional, busy people viewing them. Then, David posed that question. But it didn’t seem right. I struggled to answer. ‘Important,’ in what context? What is ‘important’ anyway? As I turned left at the primary school and […]
When Margaret Thatcher died in April 2013 there were calls for her to be given a state funeral. Although she was undoubtedly one of the key politicians of the 20th century, she was also a divisive figure and it was decided that she should have a ceremonial funeral rather than a full state funeral. For some this was still controversial and in his Guardian newspaper comment on the funeral, Giles Fraser quoted Canon Mark Oakly. Canon Oakley used this example […]
Hello everyone! Before beginning writing I thought about how I could use the words I was given to really say something. This led me to think about God’s words. They are so few and yet so many. We know them and yet time and time again they become like new, challenging and encouraging through all life brings. I would love to use my words to explore a key theme or story that runs through the Bible. One key story is […]
Three weeks ago the Ulster hospital called me in for some tests. It was my first real foray out of my ‘shielding bubble’ since early March and it was a very surprising and uncomfortable experience. My daughter, a retired doctor, had warned me in no uncertain terms that if I caught the virus I would not survive because of my age and health conditions. As I walked round the hospital a very strange feeling came over me and I began […]
In a collective experience, inescapable by almost every youth on the planet; in the past 6 months I have grown 6 years… maybe 10. Status didn’t matter, for when the world stops turning, it does tend to interrupt your schedule or lack thereof. As James Lane Allen apparently liked to say, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it”. Well, revealed I was. And there was much I saw which was not to like. Realising you have been asleep takes […]
My father died 24 years ago in November. People still say I’m like him. I cringe. So, I examine my reflection in the mirror every morning. Up close. I suppose, if I wipe the shaving gel away, imagine myself bald, not a ‘number 4 bald’, real bald, and of course, smile more, there is a likeness. Looking more closely, mmm, yes, I need to straighten my nose. Dad never played rugby at school. He was out to work at fifteen, […]
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 […]