Theresa’s Writing

We all have things that drive us mad, or make us furious, or send us into ranting mode, some unreasonable and petty, some just plain silly, but it’s a fact of life that what one person might find amusing or acceptable may well send another running for the hills to find their shotgun Todays pet…

I can hardly believe we are at the beginning of September, and that almost on cue there were crinkled leaves that had fallen on my windscreen this morning as the chestnuts are beginning to turn. And today it feels crisp and chilly and makes me think it might be time to find some socks I…

Last night we watched an old episode of a Keith Floyd TV series from the early 80’s where in order to overcome a nasty hangover, he attempts (and in his mind, though not that of the viewer ) succeeds, in devising a three day detox programme by cooking and eating a selection of his very…

This weekend I did my usual amount of bicycling up and down towpaths, currently the Oxford Canal. We have a pattern now with our boating which involves working out where we think we are going to end up at the end of each day and then I drive the car there, hunt about for somewhere…

Yesterday I went to our local post office, a small friendly place that doubles up as a Costcutter and is a million miles more appealing that the main one up the road,  which feels a little like entering a war zone. This building itself is depressing beyond words, with stained carpets and stony faced employees…

There is something wonderful about being up early before everyone else is out and about, the morning shimmering with the promise of impending heat, the cats stretched out like open accordions on the kitchen floor. I am sitting on the balcony overlooking T’s newly cleared garden listening to the noisy parakeets who are hopping about…

So here we are down in North Devon, in the field that we have camped in every summer for the past 25 years or so. As I sit here under Colonel Poppit ( our ex army dining shelter , so called because when I bought him from an army surplus store and opened him out…

Over the weekend as we gathered in Portugal with a herd of old friends to celebrate J’s birthday, a lot of conversations were had about elderly parents. Every single person there had a tale to tell,some poignant and sad, sometimes funnyand uplifting, but mostly downright depressing.  Yesterday I drove down to visit my 90 year…

Last night I watched the final series of ‘The Island’, a reality TV series hosted by Bear Grills. A group of strangers are  marooned on a desert island,  where armed with basic tools, a days supply of water, cameras  and some cooking pots and left to get on with it. In this particular series they…

We have a mystery noise in our street. It starts at around 6.30 am and continues just long enough to make sure you are wide awake,  and then it stops. Half an hour later, just as you are drifting off again off it goes again. And so on until the time when you would be…