A capsule rucksack

I’m an avid follower of mid life fashionistas and love nothing more than perusing their daily outfit choices on Instagram and their blog critiques of new season cat walks – or SS19 as we say in the trade. Naturally I never follow their advice, and wear the same old crumpled, elasticated slacks I have worn…

I said…

My job this weekend has been to chauffeur my (very nearly) 93 year old mother from Oxfordshire back to her Hereford homeland.  The occasion is the memorial service for her 95 year old sister; the death of my aunt on Mothering Sunday left my mother as the eldest in her family and, when I arrive…

She’s back

Sensing you will have been anxious since I left you on a rhino-infested blog precipice last week, it seems only fair to declare that Canary Wharf  is now behind me and that I am back wearing ‘normal’ clothes, albeit a little creakily. It’s ten years since I last ran a marathon on this scale (yes,…

Runners’ Rights

It would be illegitimate to milk my marathon musings for much longer. Indeed, I may test the bounds of friendship if I stay addicted to conversations about the mileage and blisters I have clocked up.   However, because I acknowledge that I may have unconsciously morphed into a long-distance runner, I intend to stretch this blog…

My Lighthouse Family

You just know that the Bank Holiday is going to be mellow when you pick up Favourite Son (FS), Favourite Daughter (FD) and Favourite Jimmy (FJ) from the train station; the sun is shining  and, without a fight,  they give Mama J permission to listen to her own play list music on the journey back…

Our Kind of Yoga

I’m wondering what is the collective noun for a group of yoga teachers.  If we have a parliament of owls, an exultation of larks and a smack of jelly fish, then surely we can come up with something original for a gathering of lycra-clad bendy folk who teach yoga? The reason for my pondering is…

Glad bags

Although I’ve written about her obsession with knitting underwear for our dolls, I don’t think I’ve ever written about  my Grandma Ida’s collection of handbags and matching hats.  I’ll do this now. The hats were not an extravagant fancy, for all Ida’s purchases came from ‘thrift shops’; she was probably the founding mother of all…

No help

I’m feeling rebuffed after repeatedly having my offers of help turned down. It’s proving challenging being a Good Samaritan in a world not necessarily wanting help. I may have to start tactically avoiding situations where medical assistance is needed – let’s just hope Brown Owl doesn’t track me down to reclaim my Community Action or…

Cosy

On my dragonfly journey I am definitely learning to savour the best moments in life; one of these moments arrives this week when a special friend gifts me a crocheted cosy for my chocolate orange (I know, me neither!). This gift (see photo) delights me on so many fronts: I LOVE chocolate oranges – as…

Comfortably uncomfortable

My week has comprised a conference for sports and business leaders, a Year 13 Parent Evening and a 20 mile road race, so I feel justified when I congratulate myself on pushing my dragonfly boundaries into the comfortably uncomfortable.  It’s not all positive though; so varied was each event that the aftermath has been nocturnal…