Theresa’s Writing

On Remembrance Sunday I drove down to Wiltshire, to meet up with my elderly dad in the village where he, and his fathers family before him, were born and lived. My grandfather Walter was the youngest of eleven, and three of his brothers were killed in the first world war. Along with their names on…

So we had five days driving down to the Dordogne for a wedding and back again, avoiding motorways and wiggling our way through villages past pumpkin patches, acres and acres of dried maize and the remains of sunflower fields, brown and shrivelled. Like here it is apple season and everywhere you looked there were trees…

So, the active get up and go bit of my holiday came to a halt with a thump ( literally) when I tripped on the two ( yes, two) steps getting out of my van and broke my wrist. I knew I had done something bad because I felt it break ( sorry if you…

After a long and sweaty night of tossing and turning in what felt like an oven ( attic bedroom) I got up and went for an early lido swim which was gloriously cool and sparkling. Even at that hour there were lots of people, in particular my favourites, mums and kids who swim before school.…

Hearing of the tragic suicide of Anthony Bourdain last night made me think of his wonderful book ‘Kitchen confidential” which I remember devouring one summer  in North Devon. To me, having a good book on the go  is up there with cooking on the beach, outdoor swimming, Earl grey tea, Japanese rice crackers  and cheese. …

So we seem to have had the driest couple of days on the Kennet and Avon, while the rest of the country seems to have had the wettest. I have to admit feeling a little cheated when hearing  of torrential monsoon like showers, when all around us the skies were heavy and grey, it was…

There is a bird who lives in the hawthorn tree outside the bedroom window, who wakes me up as it gets light,  with its piercing and intermittent  song, which sounds exactly like someone blowing up their air mattress ( a sound I used to associate with the first day of our summer camping in Devon,…

If you look up ‘canal boat holidays’ I can guarantee that somewhere there will be a photo of an idyllic boating  scene, as a quaint narrow boat chugs slowly up the canal, alongside ducks and swans,  the golden evening sun casting long shadows over the rolling hills in the distance, a sun kissed and relaxed…

I have just been watching a Netflix documentary about a totally gorgeous small boy who travels the world with his parents who in turn are effortlessly beautiful and ( obviously ) fantastic surfers, though his dad could also double up for James Taylor so I immediately loved him.   The blonde five year old  ( whose…

So, my lectures and workshops are cancelled for the next four weeks, which is pretty much up until the end of term. I suppose it might get called off and not go the whole time but who knows ?  It’s a tricky one. I wholeheartedly support the strike action because they are protesting  against an…