Thanks for dropping by. I'm a author and teacher with interests in education, mental health. faith 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. On a pc, you'll see a 'Select month' menu at the side where you can choose a piece from the last 12 years. You can find out about my books on the Books tab. Miracle! I'd love to hear your comments below any posts you read. Have a good day. Deborah
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
It was the biggest summer since we'd grown sunflowers from seed. I'd got a new job, my daughter got great exam results and two days later she was going to be a bridesmaid for the first time. These things in themselves would have had me doing an Eric and Ernie style dance up the garden. … Continue reading The Unexpected Cost of Celebration
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 am one of those people who sometimes puts things down and can't find them again - lesson plans, cheques, small children. I once left my son in the meat aisle in a supermarket while I popped round the corner for salad, then couldn't remember which meat aisle (Chicken? Beef? Delicatessen?) He turned up eventually, … Continue reading Things I’ve lost and the art of growing down
Now I know I am a skinflint. I can't help it. Actually I didn't used to be before I was married. I was the kind of person who would put unopened bank statements in the cupboard just in case there was bad news. One day my then-fiance opened the cupboard and they all fell out. … Continue reading Smug Painted Toes and the Smile of God
It's Bank Holiday Monday. As we wander round the shop, alongside people in shorts with trolleys of plants and barbecues, and kids clutching garden toys, my husband whispers, "The older I get, the more I think we're not like most other people." Looking down at our replacement lampshade - I elbowed the old one while … Continue reading The Humble Transistor – how to shed forty years.
It's been a strange week. I'm on my way home from work after what is called a challenging day. It's a fitting end really; that is to say, there is darkness, traffic, and rain-galloping cats and dogs. And the lower lid of my right eye keeps doing this thing where it moves without my help. Like … Continue reading Advent, sheep and a kiss from a stranger
The international happiness expert (yes, there is one), Paul Dolan, was on Radio 4 this morning. He says true happiness is finding the balance between things we find pleasurable and things we find purposeful. He cited having children as an example, saying that according to all the happiness data, we shouldn’t bother. At best they … Continue reading Habits of Delight and the Myth of Joyful Parenting?
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