» Personal Change

So it is now 3 weeks since it happened; it has been a whirlwind of doing and organising, interspersed with a whole load of sitting around in a state of semi-collapse.  This week was back to college for daughter no2, and my first day back to work too.  I’m still busy in the ‘business of […][...] read more » Getting back to normal (whatever that means!)

Richard Wiseman, in his book “The Luck Factor” says that we can learn to be lucky. There are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune: Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both […][...] read more » You can learn to be luck

So if you have been following this sad saga, you will know that my wife of almost 24 years passed away the other day.  Today we had a more empty house (though we still had two guests!)  it was much quieter and less frenzied.  The days was gobbled up in all sorts of silly chores […][...] read more » Two days on… Strangely, absurdly normal

You may have read in yesterday’s blog that we suffered a grievous bereavement.  An event like this knocks everyone concerned for a six.  The thing that I had not realised, was how wide those ripples spread.  I have heard from neighbours, friends, friend’s children how this has affected them.. just how much they saw and […][...] read more » Being weak so that others may be strong

On Sunday, my wife of nearly 25 years, Carys & I went off to watch a rugby game.  That in itself was a total change, as she had historically hated the game and my love of it.  However, she decided ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ and came with me.  It was a lovely.  […][...] read more » Overnight, everything is different

At this time of year the earth nurtures the seeds that were formed in the autumn.  They sit there waiting for their time to come; when the soil warms up and Nature tells them that it is time to begin.  These tiny packages of potential were created full of purpose and only wait their opportunity […][...] read more » Winter Seeds

Regular readers will remember that we had the kitchens in Cook Towers refurbished some time ago, and this was accompanied by a wholesale  replacement of our pots, pans etc.  Much to the chef’s dismay, we discovered that both sets of new pans have started to lose their coating /surface.  It caused some distress as we […][...] read more » It is worth asking for what you want

So in deepest Surrey we haven’t quite lost all our snow yet, but there is more green than white on view now.  The world has reverted to its more familiar form, but the bushes are looking squashed, there are tree branches on the ground and other bits of detritus.  The snow came, changed everything and […][...] read more » After the snow

[To be read to the dulcet tones of Stealers Wheels singing “Stuck in the Middle with You”…]  Have you ever had a time when despite your very best efforts some big cosmic finger [visualise a Monty Python intro  style finger]  keeps punching your pause button? There are times when you have a plan, and then […][...] read more » Stuck in the Middle

I know that the schools are closed today, and there are no lessons, but there are Snow Lessons. One of the things that I find breathtaking is the transformation that this weather brings about.  It covers up all manner of things and makes all these new shapes, the light is different, and we can literally […][...] read more » Snow Lessons today