Thanks for dropping by. I'm a writer and teacher with interests in education, mental health and community. I like to wonder aloud about everyday life, hope and the silly, incongruous things that shape us and make us who we are. I also like hats, cake and those tiny little snores cats make when they sleep. On the Home page, you'll find around 100 wonderings, all different in length and content. Click on any post to keep reading and to subscribe, if you'd like to. You can click on the tabs to find out more about me and my other writing. Have the best kind of day. Deborah x
I don't know what it is about daffodils but they're such HAPPY flowers. The colour of a smile. Not that yellow is the actual colour of a smile (unless you have bad teeth) but it should be. I'm not going out much at present, but my husband came back from the supermarket again with a … Continue reading Lifting the heart on a grey day
I am never going to be the kind of person who cleans the cutlery drawer. I would rather write an essay/sit an exam/retake my driving test (I might have to by the time this is over). The only thing I would consider swapping it for is an OFSTED visit but even that would depend on … Continue reading Revelations in isolation
"What colour is snow?" The child had topaz coloured eyes and dimpled cheeks like punched dough. "Well," I looked down at him, puzzled, wondering if the cold had turned his head. Building snowmen on the field with thirty nine and ten year olds had pretty much turned mine, but I didn't want to be rude. … Continue reading The Colour of Snow
The Vaucluse is the most beautiful place on earth. Well, perhaps not THE most beautiful. Cappodocia, Turkey probably is....then there's Holy Island. Well, alright, there are quite a few beautiful place on earth and the Vaucluse is one of them. In fact, on our recent holiday, I found it so beautiful, that it actually hurt in … Continue reading From there to here…
I have scars in my eyes. Particularly the left one. If I were to wink at you with my right eye, you would have no nose. You might argue that this is a good thing in a way, but I assure you however misshapen your nose (I have one nostril higher than the other), it's … Continue reading Happy Valentine’s – Scars in our Eyes
At what point do you stop saying Happy Christmas and start saying Happy New Year? I'm never quite sure. After all, the Twelve Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day so perhaps we shouldn't say Happy New Year until 5th January, when incidentally, you're supposed to take down your decorations and NOT BEFORE (but who … Continue reading Happy Old Year and the Little Painted House
We're climbing the Malvern Hills, and I'm wheezing like a catfish. I briefly consider whether dropping dead on a narrow path between trees in sight of the summit, is a good way to go. An action exit, so to speak, in pursuit of something beautiful. But decide against it. There are few walkers up here … Continue reading Hills and giving thanks on All Hallows Eve
So it wasn't the best weather, and it wasn't the best place. The windscreen wipers squeaked double-time all the way there and there was rain on and off all week. It was cold. The upstairs shower didn't work and the toilets were dodgy. The roof in the conservatory leaked in three places and the smoke … Continue reading A lifetime of holidays and I’m still learning…
I've had a revelation. About signage. It happened the other day at a church in the middle of Derbyshire. Despite the cold, and slicing rain, the approach was beautiful - a thumb of stone, a fist of graves and beneath the lychgate, crocuses. Inside did not disappoint either. There was amber light, wood and brass, … Continue reading The Blessing of Good Signage
I've been struggling with semantic honesty lately. Don't know why, but I've found myself analysing what we say and imagining what would happen if we took each other at our word. For an English person this could be social suicide because so much of what we say is cultural, not literal, as in, I really should … Continue reading How Merry is Yours so Far?
