Category Archives: Writing

On receiving some wonderful old news……

Posted on December 18, 2012 by

As some of my regular readers may be aware, I was commissioned earlier this year, by the new social history imprint of Pen and Sword Books, to write a book about the impact of the first world war on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, Family History, History, London, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Finding a little ‘Kindness’ in a terrible world…

Posted on December 17, 2012 by

Even as we enter the ‘festive season’, and many of us are thinking about how best we can bring a smile to the faces of friends and family in the coming days, we have, in the space of one weekend, been faced … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Poetry, Random musings on family life, love the universe and everything, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Health anxiety’ or ‘hypochondria’? Fear or phobia, it’s a killer…

Posted on December 4, 2012 by

Perhaps my title exaggerates; perhaps it doesn’t. All I know is that whether you worry at every possible sign of illness and go to the doctors, or worry about illness and avoid the medical profession until a crisis occurs, these are … Continue reading →

Posted in Breast cancer, Charities, Dandelions and Bad Hair Days, Mental health, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The start of a new collection? Guest post: Trish Hurtubise talks mental health…

Posted on November 23, 2012 by

Introduction Dandelions and Bad Hair Days: Untangling lives affected by depression and anxiety was published on 10th October 2012. Regular readers of my blog will know that many of the pieces in that book started life as guest posts on … Continue reading →

Posted in Dandelions and Bad Hair Days, Mental health, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On preferring Sicilian Sun to Scandinavian Noir – ‘Inspector Montalbano Sono’

Posted on October 19, 2012 by

Wallander, Sarah Lund, Lisbeth Salander, Harry Hole et al – we are now in thrall to the Scandanavian detective. Introduced to the characters via the wonderful BBC4 I have since escaped into the novels of Henning Mankell, the lead character … Continue reading →

Posted in Random musings on family life, love the universe and everything, Reading, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

I don’t know what it is but I’ve lost it…the evaporation of the blogging mojo

Posted on October 2, 2012 by

Over recent months visits to my blog have doubled, but the number of posts I have written has halved. What could the explanation be? It is easy actually, to know why this has happened. I am not sure how to see my … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, Dandelions and Bad Hair Days, Random musings on family life, love the universe and everything, Writing | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

10, 9, 8… Now the ‘clocks’ really are counting down for Dandelions and Bad Hair Days.

Posted on September 6, 2012 by

Well it is definitely happening now. No longer an idea, or a manuscript or a virtual, social media entity. Dandelions and Bad Hair Days is a physical book – with a cover and everything! It has an ISBN number, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, Dandelions and Bad Hair Days, Mental health, Poetry, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sarah’s story – family history and poetry from the darkest places…

Posted on August 25, 2012 by

In a previous post, I wrote of Sarah Hardiman, the first (and only legal) wife of my Great Grandfather George Hardiman. George Hardiman was a journeyman silversmith, born in 1839 in an impoverished part of Clerkenwell, North London. Sarah (nee … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, History, London, Mental health, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

To be ‘a friend of Keats’ – a very Romantic circle

Posted on August 15, 2012 by

John Keats is now known as one of the greatest poets in the English language. Often included in the great ‘triad’ of younger Romantics with Shelley and Byron, his life and work has arguably retained a larger and more interested audience than either of … Continue reading →

Posted in Keats, Poetry, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Temps Perdu – on deja vu and Dorothy Parker

Posted on August 1, 2012 by

I have been experiencing some odd feelings of deja vu in the last few weeks. Trying to explain them to a friend, I struggled and frankly  sounded slightly odd. Perhaps this was because in every day terms we have come to use … Continue reading →

Posted in Mental health, Poetry, Random musings on family life, love the universe and everything, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments