Would squash the toughest of peas. Let’s be clear: I’m not rooting for the princess here. Show a little heart for the poor legume!

I’ve been thinking about lost or disappearing people recently. Lost because illness or age are swallowing up who they once were, disappearing because few are noticing what is happening to them.

Sitting here watching my daughter in her ballet class, I’m reminded that even though I’ve lost grace myself, I can take delight in hers.

I don’t know why, call it the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon if you will, but I keep on seeing quotes about worry these days.

Choose contrast instead. Recently I’ve been getting so down every time I’m on Twitter. So many people are winning writing competitions or getting books published. It’s got to the point when I’m thinking seriously of following accountants or something. Anyone who I can’t compare myself to. I was at my kid’s sports day today and…

Saturday was a very sad day, as we said goodbye to our uncle John. He was the kindest man I have ever known, noticing and wanting to fix the things that other people wouldn’t.

The pity party’s been cancelled. I knew early on today that there was going to be a fight. Between self-pity and gratitude. The rest of the family headed off to climb a mountain and I was left to my own devices at home.

‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.’ What way do you live yours? I’m afraid to say, I’m a glass half empty kind of a girl. But I have discovered that expecting the worst, focusing on…

Jamie tugged at his collar. Tonight was the night. Matt had put some kind of gel in his hair and looked, quite honestly, an eijit. He was also smelling like he’d had a bad encounter with Semi-Chem. Julie looked different too. Jamie squinted at her, trying to figure it out. Legs. They weren’t the usual…

Be a lion, not a mouse If I only had the nerve. So says the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz. I wonder how many of us can relate to that? Since the heartbreak of the fatal shooting of Lyra McKee last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about courage, and how much we…