Last week was the 5th week of working from home. The cheerful confirmations from senior management that we as an institution have an important part to play in responding to and eventually helping recovery from this crisis don’t seem to be filtering down to my team. This was the first week that several people admitted… Continue reading tHe wEEk tHAt wAs (16.2020)
The old, anew
Today we did some rearranging of things in the dining room. The dining room is not a large room so there's not a lot of space to do anything. We were thinking to move the sideboard from one corner to the other, but of course once we'd moved it, we didn't like it in the… Continue reading The old, anew
Teach, Speech, Reach
I never wanted to be a teacher. I have two sisters who are teachers, and that's not what I wanted to be. I fancied myself in some kind of high-flying corporate career. Which is why it's surprising, after 20 years working for an international development bank (and let me be clear, this is not as… Continue reading Teach, Speech, Reach
My “books to read” shelf
I love books. I can't help myself, I buy a lot of them. Mostly I buy them second hand from charity shops, so I can persuade myself there is some justification for my addiction. I read somewhere around 35-40 books a year, so this represents more than a year of reading for me. I track… Continue reading My “books to read” shelf
Absence of Light
Never was a condition so aptly named as S.A.D. - Seasonal Affective Disorder. I experienced it for the first time about 20 years ago. It was not my first winter in the UK - I had been living here several years by then, including parts of two winters in Scotland. But that particular November and… Continue reading Absence of Light
Adventures in fermenting #3
Four 500ml bottles of ginger beer made and one drunk. It was definitely gingery and also kind of beery. Certainly interesting. I put the bottles in the fridge to chill a day or so apart as the longer they sit at room temperature the more the bacteria consumes the sugar and the more sour the… Continue reading Adventures in fermenting #3
This week (15/2020)
This week I came to a breakthrough with yoga. Thursday morning I sat down on my mat and our teacher said "Just be the pose. Don't 'do' the pose. Just be." This must have been what I needed to hear because for once I didn't feel stupid for wobbling, or for feeling weak, or for… Continue reading This week (15/2020)
Bite
Beware the Jabberwock, my son!The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! I'd caught a frill neck lizard in our yard. I must have been about seven. At the impressionable age where I'd seen movies and read books where someone traps a wild animal (a wolf, a horse, a bird) and makes it their friend.… Continue reading Bite
Orchestration for strings
A few years ago i saw the Carole King musical, Beautiful. There's a scene where she and her husband Gerry Goffin are talking to the Shirelles about a new song they've written for them, "Will you love me tomorrow". The Shirelles were a bit hesitant about the song at first because the demo version they… Continue reading Orchestration for strings
Ain’t got – I got
Today's writing challenge word - pairs - was a challenge for me. It took me a while thinking about it before a song came to me - Nina Simone singing about what she ain't got and what she's got, and lots of those things she's got come in pairs: "Got my arms, got my hands,… Continue reading Ain’t got – I got
Tales from Tobhamhor 