John Byam-Shaw - The Boer War (Birminhgam City Art Gallery) referred to in the story. An easterly wind swept along the coast, wheezing and rattling through the old sash windows and breathing life into the dying embers of the fire. The mantle clock chimed twice as the house seemed to sigh of a [...]
“There was no moon that night. The air was still. The darkness was intense. There was no sound, save the distant murmur of the sea….” And then it began again! The bloody awful snoring, as loud as a jet landing, but with short, staccato, breaks for inhalation. He was the reason she was awake, reading [...]
As a post graduate trained biologist and a former teacher of psychology, I get incensed by the approach of so-called experts to the obesity problem. I have a vested interest, despite exercising almost daily and being unable to recall the last time I ate chocolates or a cake, I have a BMI of 29. With [...]
Our boo-mobile ready to take us travelling Well, it all started as a bit of a joke really. “when we retire we will get a camper-van and see all the parts of England we haven’t seen” But then we thought: “A camper-van! Wasn’t that something that old people do?” Indeed, I have fond [...]
Most people who know me are aware that I am a person of faith, but one who struggles with the concept of Heaven. As a biologist and a committed Darwinist, I have read up and tried to get a better understanding of what this means for me. Michael Ruse book on this topic was very [...]
You, our firstborn are getting married in a little under two weeks. As is the tradition, my husband as father of the bride will get to give the wedding speech whilst I look on silently, as you know this isn’t a usual habit of mine. We never had speeches at our wedding so my experience [...]
Last night I was woken from my sleep by my son Tom yelling at me that the house was on fire. The memory, still like a “flashbulb” moment was terrifying. We rushed downstairs in our nightclothes and after shutting the door to the integrated garage (the seat of the fire), I picked up the phone [...]
I spend a lot of my increased leisure time indulging my twin passions of animals and heritage. The former makes me travel all the way to Plankendael, Belgium to see their wombat. The latter brings me into contact with many people who give their time and skills to make the world a better place and in return gain [...]
Robin Hood’s Bay is less of a bay in the sense of English seaside resort and more of a crack in the edge of the smooth rolling Yorkshire Moors landscape down which the old town has slid into place. The arrangement of homes and shops at first glance, appear to be more in the [...]
Well this current period of creepy stalking has gone on for 11 months now. It started with an email asking me to write his mum’s biography and then when I refused a whole torrent of abuse came my way and it was linked to everything you could find about me on the [...]